Former Sen. Mike Gravel’s (D., Alaska) staff gave me the run-around months ago when I tried to interview him (and yes, I really did have better things to do). But Dorian Davis got a chance to chat with the man behind the rock-and-pond ad. Did you know that Gravel supports the Fair Tax? It’s a fun read. On the Fair Tax:

[T]he biggest problem we have domestically is our tax system. Under the current system, if you’re poor and have no income, you get nothing. Average people carry the load, and the poor are unattended. So, I advocate a Fair Tax. What we’ll do under this plan is send you a check every month for the sales tax that you will pay on the essentials of life. This will protect the poor. It will cover their basic expenses. The rest of us will pay as we spend. The more you spend, the more you pay. If you don’t want to pay, don’t spend. So, this will create a cash flow to the poor, not only to the average citizen.

On the consequences of withdrawal from Iraq:

All the statements made that it will be a bloodbath are correct. There is no question. But we instigated it. We brought it about. There is nothing we can do about that. Now, we must dislodge ourselves. The answer is to engage with Iran. We forget that Iran helped us to whip the Taliban in Afghanistan. So, countries like Iran and Syria ought to be engaged. These countries have a greater stake than we have in the stability of the Middle East.

On the FOX News debate — will he be there?

I sure will. The Fox News debate is co-sponsored by the Congressional Black Caucus. The fact that the others won’t attend is rank hypocrisy. There is no question that Fox News leans conservative, but think about this: Fox News is owned by Rupert Murdoch, a greedy expansionist, who has dumbed down the world’s media. He has held a fund-raiser for Hillary Clinton. Now, she won’t go to the debate because Fox News is biased. Is there anything that rings truer with respect to Hillary’s character?