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Callis finds running for president 'very therapeutic'
Lloyd Jones
CONWAY—Who were the 14 Republicans who ran in
the 2000 N.H. primary? Most probably know the top three finishers: John
McCain, George Bush and Steve Forbes. Some remember the next three: Alan
Keyes, Gary Bauer and Orin Hatch. But what about Dorian Yeager, Andy Martin,
Sam Berry, Ken Capalbo, Timothy Mosby, Dick Harnes, Richard Peet and Tom
Oyler?
Next year, Eaton's Michael Callis wants to be on the list. Any U.S. citizen
35 years or older can get their name on the primary ballot by filing a
declaration of candidacy along with a $1,000 fee. The filing period is
Nov. 3-21.
The accomplished free stone mason, a 14-year Republican, announced his
intention to get his name on the Republican presidential ballot this summer.
"Right now I'm focussing on the local level," Callis said in an
interview in the Sun's conference room. "I'm working the Conways to
get support before I go to the state level and onto the Internet. If I'm
invited to speak anywhere I would certainly take the invitation seriously."
Callis said his goal is to run a "constructive campaign," in which
he offers solutions rather than creating controversy or stirring up problems.
He had a wide range of thoughts and ideas on everything from the war in
Iraq to righting the domestic economy.
"Running for president to me is very therapeutic," Callis, an
amateur historian, said. "For so long things have been very frustrating
to me ? from growing up and reading I've been concerned why we were in
Vietnam; why we were in Cambodia; what was Panama all about and on and
on. I went and analyzed those sort of things over the winter... As an
amateur historian I enjoy researching history if I'm able to read first
hand accounts or court accounts and written text at a certain period.
What you have to do is connect the dots and I'm very good at connecting
them."
Callis doesn't believe weapons of mass destruction will ever turn up in
Iraq. He feels the U.S. government hasn't given the Iraqis enough credit
for knowing this country's technology. "You have to think that they
would be acting adversely," Callis said. "This has created so
much commotion, (the Iraqis) would be insane to come out with weapons
of mass destruction now... If they aren't producing them then it's truly
an intelligence failure of incredible proportions."
Being a history buff, Callis said he can see "history repeating itself"
from the Bay of Pigs which he called a failed assassination attempt on
Fidel Castro, to the plot to assassinate Bin Laden in 1998. "Then
we jumped the gun two days early in Iraq because we were given a tip we
could get Saddam," he said. "It turned out to be just another
failed assassination attempt."
Callis calls the CIA "a rogue agency left to go on its own without
oversight," and he's been asked along his campaign trail what he would
do in Iraq right now if he were commander in chief. He again uses history
in his problem solving, dating back to the 1600's when tradesmen formed
the order of the rose cross with the goal of liberty and free trade.
"In Iraq right now if we sent over 1,000 civilian ambassadors,"
Callis said, "it would require the support of the Bush administration,
but more importantly it would require the support of the Islamic community.
The ambassadors, who would be tradesmen or engineers, would create a cell
of 10 Iraqi salespeople who will work to revive the country. For every
cell of 10 Iraqi people, it's the equivalent of two US servicemen coming
home... I anticipate in 90 days you could have 400,000 Iraqis working
and at that point tell them that Saddam 'is yours for the taking.' We
need to send engineers and masons of the highest order as our ambassadors.
Who is going to build a road ? a politician or an engineer... I think
it's simple to do. Unfortunately, the current administration didn't plan
for peace."
Callis isn't afraid to call himself a liberal. "I refer to myself
as a liberal who will put ideas on the table for consumption," he
said with a smile. "I'm not force feeding anyone ? it's not an agenda
forced down anyone's throat. All it is is thinking outside the box."
Callis believes Americans can and will right the economy. "Americans
have unlimited potential ? they've proven it in the past," he said.
"When they have a true focus, and use science and technology for the
benefit of humanity ? for the people ? not for worldwide power, anything
is possible... We must make sure that the technology we use is safe. As
long as technology is left unchecked it's left to be a rogue. Technology
is definitely a part of my platform."
Callis laughs when asked if he has the financial resources of his opponents.
"The only thing I can depend on is getting my material out there and
hoping that it will have legs and it will take off on its own... Last
month I was on (Face to Face with Mark Hounsell) and held up my bumper
sticker and said it was available for a $15 donation. Well, I was wrong,
donations are for soup kitchens and libraries. As long as I have my wit
and I can get out, I can campaign. The president has to overcome challenges
? what better challenge then to run my campaign on my own budget."
Callis believes Bush is vulnerable. "I've been talking to independents
and Republicans who say they will not vote for Bush again," he said.
"I've yet to meet anyone who said they're so impressed with him that
they'll vote for him this time around although they didn't the first time...
I call my campaign, 'Operation Rose Bush,' and have told President Bush
my number is in the phone book and if he's going to call (to set up a
debate) to use the red phone."
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These are Letters to the Editor of the Conway Daily Sun.
Media Alert!
Nov, 2003
I am registered as a Republican for the NH Presidential Primary. I was
born on January 17, 1953 in Nashville Tennessee. From the first grade
to the present I have lived and worked in New Hampshire. From High school
to the present I have been a stone mason, with the exception of 1980-82
when I was employed by the University of NH as a Grounds and roads foreman
and acting supervisor for the Department of Works. I have a passion for
New Hampshire history, the Republican party was started in Exeter NH in
1853. I play the fiddle and recently played for the Conway Pine Tree school's
reenactment of the Oregon trail. I also like to run and completed a half
Marathon put on in October by the White Mountain Milers and a Five K race
for the benefit of project succeed an after school program. As a skier
I am a volunteer gatekeeper for the MT. Cranmore ski team.
I love America and am proud to be an American, but I am not proud of
the covert foreign policy implemented by Intelligence agencies over the
last 40 years in the name of America and this is why I am running for
President.
President Bush is the legitimate leader of America but the Supreme court
decision in the Bush - Gore election needs to be challenged. The election
process is a simple and ingenious process that should not have been tampered
with by the judicial branch of government. The election process has a
built in redundancy. If the republican process ( electoral ) fails than
the democratic process ( general vote ) is there to fall back on, not
the judicial branch. The dissenting opinion in the split decision was
written by David Souter, a NH Republican. I am an American first and a
Republican second.
Michael Callis for President
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UN Made mistake creating Jewish state of Israel.
Nov, 2003
The United Nations made a mistake in creating the Jewish state of Israel,
Israel should have been designated a country not a religious state. The
U.N. should take the initiative to correct this critical roadblock to
peace, blocking the whole Middle East. I am not alone in this observation,
an influential Jewish Zionist has also expressed concern that Israel was
not intended to be a religious state.
There is an important action that should be taken by Israel and I would
frame it with the following statement. "Mr. Sharon tear down that
wall, walls are appropriate for prisons and cemeteries, walls do not create
a free state."
I am not anti-Semitic, my mother was an American German Jew, she served
America in the second World War and I share her pride in our heritage.
She was not afraid to criticize a perceived injustice that was being committed
by her Jewish Rabbi elders. When she was 13, her father died and the Rabbi's
were refusing to allow her father from being buried in a Jewish cemetery
because of a scandal involving the infamous Mayor Curley of Boston. In
tears she said, "No wonder they are doing what they are doing to
us" she now rests beside her father in the Jewish cemetery.
My research of early American history clearly shows again and again the
importance of the separation of church and state. It is a battle that
is easily forgotten judging by the actions of the UN and by the Fundamentalist's
in recent times. It is not enough to have the appearance of the separation
of church, state and, most importantly, the courts, it requires the diligence
of a free people that craves liberty for all.
Michael Callis
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