Working the field, part XVI - Greens (Brown, McKinney, Kann, Ball)
October 17, 2007 — wickleThe Green Party, as its name implies, is primarily focused on environmental interests — at least, theoretically. In truth, the Green Party could be any of several Green parties … the Greens, the Green Party of the United States, or the Green Party, USA.
One could understand getting mixed up, I suppose. I am not going to put enough effort into determining to which Green Party anyone belongs. I think that all of these people are GP of the US.
The Green Party is probably best known for supporting the Presidential runs of Ralph Nader in 1996 and 2000. Some Democrats blame them for Al Gore’s defeat in the 2000 race, since Nader surely absorbed some votes that would have gone to Gore if Nader had not been in the game.
Understandably, the Green Party is concerned about ballot access for small “third parties.” This is probably the one common concern between the Libertarian, Green, Constitution, Socialist, Reform, and Prohibition parties.
I also share that one. I do think that we grant too much power to the two major parties by allowing them to restrict who is and isn’t on the ballot for races, in debates, and such.
So far, the Green Party’s web site doesn’t have a page for 2008 elections. So, I’m relying on other sources to find out who their potential 2008 candidates are.
The Green Party itself is generally to the left of the Democratic Party. Their ten stated “key values” are grassroots democracy, social justice, ecological wisdom, non-violence, decentralization, community-based economics and social justice, feminism, respect for diversity, personal and global responsibility, and future focus/responsibility.
The Green Party platform is predictably socialist and individual-focused. There is a lot of emphasis on reducing military interests and increasing the role of other nations and international bodies in our government.
Interestingly, they seem to support granting Hawaii independence. I haven’t seen that one in a while … although I do grant that they have a point, Hawaii was annexed criminally and dishonestly.
They also specifically target the Boy Scouts in their party platform. I wonder which has more members nationwide … hmmm … I’ll have to look that up sometime.
Not only pro-choice, but in favor of funding abortions for women of all ages with no interest in parental consent (because letting girls get abortions shouldn’t be subject even to the controls of ear-piercing), the Green Party platform is rather predictable. They support gay marriage. I’m sure you’re shocked.
They also specifically call for the removal of all religious displays from public property, and removing all mention of God from public documents. I wonder who gets to take the White Out to the Declaration of Independence.
No, not that Elaine Brown. This Elaine Brown is the former chairperson of the Black Panthers Party — not only a former chairperson, but the only female chairperson the party had, and the last chairperson it had. (One hopes that the US would not choose to disband under her leadership were she elected …)
She’s the author of two books, her own memoir A Taste of Power and The Condemnation of Little B.
She was and is a radical, and is a member of several activist organizations. Former Black Panthers supporter David Horowitz believes that Elaine Brown was involved in the murder of Black Panthers bookkeeper Betty Van Patter.
Brown derides such African American figures as Colin Powell, Sean “Insert-New-Nickname-Du-Jour-Here” Combs, Oprah Winfrey, and Chris Rock as “New Agre House Negroes.” I can only imagine what she thinks of Barack Obama.
(Link to her Congressional campaign site, because I don’t see one for a Presidential bid.)
As far as I know, she hasn’t yet formally declared. For reasons that defy explanation, though, there are strong movements within the Green Party to convince former Rep. Cynthia McKinney to run for President.
Maybe you’re reading her name thinking, “Isn’t she the one who hit a cop?” then you’re right. Yes, she did. In the infamous incident, she wasn’t wearing the lapel pin that marks her as a member of Congress, and so she was asked to step through the metal detector. When she refused to stop for the police, he caught her, and she hit him. Sounds like Presidential material to me …
After her defeat in the Democratic primary in 2002 to Denise Majette, she did what all responsible and honorable political leaders do — she sued and claimed that the results weren’t fair. When she returned to the House in 2004, she was one of the Representatives whose commitment to democracy led them to vote against counting Ohio’s electoral votes in the 2004 Presidential election.
On the Issues page of her campaign site, she actually states a position on hip-hop.
I think I’ve wasted enough of my life on this woman, but I suppose it’s worth mentioning that on her last day in office, she became the first Representative to introduce articles of impeachment against President Bush.
But there are candidates who aren’t black women from Georgia with a history of violence …
His Presidential platform calls for the impeachment of Bush and Cheney … I think his timing needs work.
A freelance copy editor and writer, he has run unsuccessfully for the New York City council three times, which is pretty much his political resume. On the other hand, he spends some time on issues, which gives me more to work with.
I actually appreciate his commitment to principles, and belief in doing what he thinks is right. He takes on directly the charge that the Greens undercut the Democrats in 2000 with the statement “The Greens did the right thing.”
While I think that the Green Party is wrong on just about everything, I do think that he’s right in that: one should never settle for the lesser of two evils, and the whole point of democracy is that people pursue what they believe. Democracy is undermined by thinking otherwise.
Kann calls for a $12/hour minimum wage, increasing taxes on large corporations, cutting military spending by 50%, universal health insurance, and the immediate withdrawal of all troops from Iraq. Under “criminal justice,” his only point is about impeaching Bush and Cheney.
Maybe he doesn’t get that Bush and Cheney won’t be in office once he’s inaugurated. Who knows?
Anyway … his page also calls for Cynthia McKinney and Ralph Nader to get into the race as Greens.
He joined the Green Party/DC Statehood Party because it’s the only party that overtly supports DC Statehood. An assistant professor at Morgan State University in Baltimore, journalist, and radio host, he’s rather thoughtful in his writing and puts forward a great deal of honor to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., asserting that his famed dream has been buried by other pressures.
He talks a lot about the political prisoners held by the United States, and claims that he would pardon them on his first day in office.
He would, though, heavily monitor broadcasters and install reporting staff at radio stations.
My favorite note from his platform is:
I would seek to immediately raise the requirements and pay of those in education (pre K - 12) to rival professional athletes. By capping salaries of both athletes and team owners we could fund the proper education of all our children.
Make no mistake … I’m all for it. It’s insane that people who throw balls around make millions of dollars and teachers make barely-living wages. However, they don’t get paid from the same pool of money. I’m not sure how he plans to make that salary cap turn into teachers’ salaries, but that’s the way a lot of progressive statements go … they don’t have to make a lot of sense.
For those interested in such things … from the looks of the contribution counter on this page, it looks like he’s raised $60 from three contributors so far for his run. I don’t know when that count starts, though.
October 19, 2007 at 11:38 pm
[...] Original post by wickle [...]