I am not saying join the Green Party and everything will be well. The GP has major problems, as far as I'm concerned, including lack of money, lack of organization, and lack of credibility for a variety of reasons, including from people who think there should be only ONE party, the Democratic party.
But, on paper, the Greens are great. Can you argue with their Ten Key Values? My experience is that these are Democrats' Ten Key Values, too, but in practice, they aren't.
The GP has called out the Democrats for chickening out on Iraq. (See below the fold for their news release). At some point, people who vote for Democrats are going to wonder how far down the war path they must wander before turning into Republicans.
Barak Obama has called for a bigger military. Hillary is ready to rock with Iran. Edwards ... hmmmmm. Gravel and Kucinich, who have the strongest position against unending war, have been marginalized by the national media, and, to some extent, by Democrats, including many Kossacks.
There are plenty of people who have had it with Democratic "deals." Remember their "deal" to vote for unlimited war-making authority for Bush? Remember how there was hardly any debate? And the reason? They just want to put this vote behind them before the election. Sound familiar?
I just want to make sure people see that there are other voices - those who never were Dems, and many who were but just couldn't take the hypocrisy anymore - supporting the majority of Americans who do want an end, timetables, and defunding of the conquest of Iraq.
I will not be online to respond because of work, but will do when I can later. I'm not a GP spokesperson, just someone who is shopping because the old party really doesn't fit anymore, even when it looks like it will.
Here's the call out from
GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES
http://www.gp.org
For Immediate Release: Tuesday, May 8, 2007
Contacts:
Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, mclarty@greens.org
Starlene Rankin, Media Coordinator, 916-995-3805, starlene@gp.org
Greens respond to Democrats' retreat on withdrawal of US troops from Iraq
• Refusal to cut off war funding implicates Democrats in Bush's war crimes, say Greens
• Antiwar Americans should send a message to Congress by registering and voting Green, urge Green leaders
WASHINGTON, DC -- Green Party leaders criticized the retreat of Democratic Congress members and party leaders after President Bush last week vetoed legislation that included a timetable for withdrawl of US combat troops from Iraq.
Jody Grage, treasurer of the Green Party of the United States: "By backing off on a withdrawal timetable for the sake of compromise with President Bush, Democrats in Congress are opening the door for unending war in Iraq. Democratic leaders pretend to speak for Americans who oppose the war, but they've limited their challenge to the White House to a nonbinding symbolic resolution, vague timetables about escalation and withdrawal of combat troops, and benchmarks that allow US corporations to gain control over Iraqi oil production, while authorizing supplemental funding for the war. If they really opposed the war, Democrats in either chamber in Congress could simply refuse to pass a bill providing war funding, forcing President Bush to withdraw US troops."
Katy Culver, co-chair of the Green Party of the United States and 2006 candidate for Congress in Tennessee (District 7): "The choice we face in Iraq isn't victory or defeat, it's criminality or the rule of law. The invasion of a Iraq was a crime that resulted in mass Iraqi civilian and US troop casualties, alienation of our allies, and animosity against the US around the world. The only way to restore the rule of law is to repudiate the Bush-Cheney ideology of preemptive invasion, challenge the power of corporate war profiteers, cut off war funding to compel a quick troop withdrawal, and hold the President, Vice President, and other officials responsible for deceiving the American people and for invading a country that posed no threat to the US."
Aimee Smith, co-chair of the Green Party's Peace Action Committee (GPAX) <http://www.gp.org/committees/peace>: "Democratic front groups like MoveOn.org have abandoned the antiwar movement. We don't need an 'Americans Against Escalation in Iraq' coalition, we need an independent political movement demanding removal of US troops as quickly as possible and renunciation of aggressive military power. Democratic leaders, including presidential candidates like Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, are rejecting these demands and are willing to see US forces remain in Iraq until late 2008, and even longer to serve US financial interests there and the strategic demands of Israel and its supporters in the US. The goal of Democrats isn't to end the war, it's to seek party unity in order to win the White House. There's little doubt that most antiwar Democratic groups will line up behind their party's prowar nominee in 2008."
Carl Romanelli, Pennsylvania Green candidate for the US Senate in 2006: "The Green Party is providing the sole progressive antiwar political alternative to the bipartisan war machine. The narrow debate between the two old parties shows how essential it is for Greens to win seats in Congress in 2008 and to compete in the presidential race. Until Democrats and Republicans see masses of antiwar voters reregistering Green and a couple of Green victories in congressional races, they'll have little motivation to change their tune."
MORE INFORMATION
Green Party of the United States http://www.gp.org
1700 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 404
Washington, DC 20009.
202-319-7191, 866-41GREEN
Fax 202-319-7193
Green Party News Center
http://www.gp.org/...