I’ve recently become part of a grass-roots political adventure sponsored by the most popular political blog in the world, The Huffington Post.  In honor of Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters, the project has been aptly named Off The Bus.

The explosive growth of the Internet is changing our world, rapidly.  Arianna Huffington’s website has already demonstrated tremendous power to inform citizens, and directly influence America’s convoluted, and heretofore mostly camouflaged political scene.  Almost by definition, politicians do NOT want you to know the real facts, particularly when it comes to the all-important subject of how (your) money flows into their campaigns, and sadly, into their wallets.

Off The Bus is an effort to change this unfortunate, and even deadly (for our troops in Iraq, for instance) state of affairs.  If a politician chooses to enter the U.S. public arena, with the ultimate goal of procuring power to make crucial decisions affecting your life, then you should know who his or her wealthy donors are;  the identities of the proverbial men “behind the curtain” should be a matter of public record.

Off The Bus aims to remove any soft, woolen garments--the “sheep’s clothing,” and expose who the “wolves” really are.

The idea is incredibly simple.  Simply enlist “normal” people like you and I, who have access to the Web, to read through public documents pertaining to campaign donations, and identify who the donors are.  I am presently a member of the team assigned to review Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), but every politician with presidential aspirations, both Democratic and Republican, is being looked at.  Our team has eight members, and my Yahoo Inbox is currently being peppered with emails from my teammates, describing their findings, which are being collected in places like this.

In my opinion, projects like Off The Bus will be routine in the near future.  Using the World Wide Web, the Power will now be returned to where it belongs, To The People.  Somewhere, Thomas Jefferson has a big grin on his face.  Or, in the words of the Fantastic Four’s Ben Grimm:  “Whatta revoltin’ development this is!”

If you have some free time, click on the links provided above, and get on the bus.

	Web useless-knowledge.com