“We need a new PRECEDENT – government of the people, by the people, for the people where the government does OUR bidding, not the bidding of the highest bidder.”

– Swami Beyondananda

Front and Center podcast “podner” Michael Maxsenti, a self-declared “Rebel for Truth” is running as an independent thinking Republican for Congress in California’s highly-contested 47th Congressional District – and he actually has a chance to win!

“Rebel” is an acronym for:

Recognize the status quo has failed us.

Educate yourself with nonpartisan facts and possible solutions.

Be aware most representatives no longer represent US.

Engage diverse sources of information and people.

Lend yourself to the movement in some way.

If you’ve tuned into our Front and Center podcast, you recognize Michael as a thoughtful, dedicated, independent thinker, a one-time Reagan Republican who started a conversation with a young #occupy self-described anarchist about a dozen years ago, that vastly expanded his political purview.

Since that time, he has worked to bring all sides together in fruitful conversation, and is now a leader in the new United Independents movement. Most recently, he worked to organize the California Common Sense Party, Andrew Yang’s Forward Party, and then Robert F. Kennedy’s presidential campaign.

And now, when he should be enjoying his “reclining years,” he is running for Congress in a district on both parties’ “must win” list as an independent thinking Republican – and he just might win!

The main thing he has going for him – in addition to being a successful businessperson, active in community service, dedicated to both individual freedom and community wellbeing – is, he is not a politician.

Most elected representatives are professional politicians, meaning they must follow their party’s line or risk losing their career. Michael is beholden to no one other than “God, the Constitution, my conscience, and my constituents.”

Michael is running in a district – where incidentally he has resided for fifty years – that is almost evenly divided, red and blue. And a time when people have had it up to here with the status quo, his populist view and “real person” persona might very well prevail over career politicians who represent the two-faced “uniparty” that keeps the public divided around the culture wars so that we the people don’t unite to hold our system accountable.

And even though he is running as an independent thinking Republican without benefit of the party apparatus, he is not running alone. He is part of a new United Independents organization (https://www.unitedindependents.us/the-united-independent-movement) seeking to elect enough independent and corruption free candidates (Democrats, Republicans, and others) to create a “people’s wedge” to bring truth, transparency and accountability. If you stop and consider that more than 50% of American voters now identify as “independent”, and there is now a coherent voice to that independents movement, this is an idea whose time has come.

And even though he is running in just one district, Michael is in a sense representing all of us.

“I am,” he says, “a populist, meaning I respect the rights, the dignity, and the wisdom of everyday people. Right now, our representatives don’t represent us. They represent their political party establishment, and the major donors who finance that party. I’m running so that Americans from all sides can work together to solve real-world problems.”

If you’re curious to find out more – about Michael's successes and setbacks and how they’ve shaped his candidacy – please tune in and find out for yourself.

Want to find out more about his campaign and how you can get involved?

Go here: https://www.maxsentiforcongress.com/

The cliché says we get the government we deserve. Well, Michael says we deserve better. He invites you to help him deliver it.

“When you find yourself on a vicious cycle, for goodness sake, stop pedaling and get off.”

-- Swami Beyondananda

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXBh9F8Iunk

From Steve Bhaerman:

One of the biggest challenges for me in the wake of the election results has been speaking into the field of grief, anger, profound disappointment, hopelessness and despair so many of my progressive co-hearts have been experiencing.

And …I’ve been watching this slow-motion train wreck for nearly four years, so I was not surprised.

I began this election day by taking my own advice and following my conscience. I abstained from voting for President. My choice was neither of the above. My prayer was for the American people to make the wisest choice possible – and I let it be with that.

I went about my business peacefully, spent time in nature, watched inspiring, entertaining and educational programs Tuesday night and went to bed without following the “hearse-race.”

In sharp contrast to my rage and horror when it happened in 2016, I awoke to the news peacefully, and – please hear me out – relief that uncommon common sense prevailed, and the American people soundly rejected what has passed as “progressivism” in recent years.

Am I pleased Trump was elected? Well …there’s a reason I didn’t vote for him. (Check out Bill Maher’s rant on this very topic)

Where to begin?

I keep thinking about a conversation I had just over a year ago with a long-time friend who was such a rabid anti-Trumper that if he bit you, you’d have to get a shot. After he informed me that Trump was evil incarnate, that anyone who supported him was evil, and anyone who didn’t believe he was evil was evil as well, I asked him a few questions.

We’ll call him DINO, which stands for Democrat In Name Only.

“DINO,” I asked, “How do you feel about ‘woke’ and all of the new language we are being told to use?”

“I hate it!” he replied. “I hate people telling me what I can and can’t say.”

“And transgender?” I inquired.

“I can’t even comprehend it. Absolutely fucking nuts!” he said.

Then I asked, “What’s your take on the immigration issue?”

“Are you kidding?” he responded. “You can’t just have open borders and let everyone in!”

This was at the time that gangs of youngsters were descending on stores and stealing everything they could get their hands on, and no one was being prosecuted. “How about the ‘catch and release’ policing?”

He rolled his eyes. “Incomprehensible,” he said.

I said, “DINO, I don’t know how to tell you this, but … you’re a Republican. The only thing keeping you in the Democrat fold is …Donald Trump.”

He didn’t say anything. What could he say? Several months after that, when he found I was supporting Bobby Kennedy’s campaign, he called to officially terminate our 40+ year friendship.

There’s a lot more that can be said – and you can go deeper into the conversation by watching our Front and Center podcast, where Michael Maxsenti and I explore both the critiques of the Harris campaign and Democrats through the sharp eye of Bill Maher (the closest thing we have to George Carlin these days) and the heartfelt words of reassurance about the Trump administration from Aubrey Marcus.

Bottom line -- 51% of American voters now identify as independent. That is the future of politics in America, if we are to have one. There is no “political savior” on any side … rather what will save us is the collective wisdom of we the people.

Join the upwising!

Support our work at Front & Center, where we set three parameters for a wise and independent body politic:

From political battlefields to cooperative playing fields.

Seek the whole truth together.

Put government on the side of the people.

We have met the solution – and it is us!