Yesterday, former Democrat and former mayor of Salt Lake City Rocky Anderson announced that he was running for President as a candidate with his newly formed Justice Party.
I was shocked at this news that Mayor Rocky was so influenced by the diary I wrote in August on dKos throwing out the idea of the Justice Party, including a platform of things it would stand for. I've been searching for anything about his new party and their platform, but I guess my blog post is the only documentation so far. He didn't even comment, tip or rec it, so I'm a little shocked he even notice. Rocky, call me. :)
Seriously though, I have been thinking about resurrecting this blog post and recrafting the idea of the Justice Party in light of the Occupy movement. Almost everything that moved me to write it is currently being championed by the Occupiers and their supporters. So, it definitely bears revisiting. After looking at it again today in light of the fact the new party now has a presidential candidate, I don't think I'd actually change much. So, without further ado, here is the "platform" section of the Justice Party, as written back in August.
Thanks Mayor Rocky!
- Hold the Banksters who destroyed our economy accountable. Who has been sent to jail yet?
- Bring to justice those who lied us into the Iraq War! Both Congress and the Administration have left this issue unaddressed
- No jobs, no justice, and there are a lot of people who don't have economic justice because there are no jobs. Time for a concerted push for jobs creation, which continues to be avoided.
- Bailouts for the fleeced homeowners, not Wall Street and auto manufacturers only. As major corporations continue to report record earnings, homeowners are facing bankruptcies and decreasing value of their homes, yet no one lifts a hand to help. Sure there have been a couple ineffective programs, but not enough to make a dent.
- Torturers in our midst must be brought to justice, and those who enabled them through twisted and weak legal arguments must be held accountable. How else can we be confident that they won't do it again?
- Fair elections - it's clear we have problems with our patchwork election system. Whether it be restrictive registration laws, gerrymandering of congressional and legislative districts, ignored sunshine laws, gutted (thanks Supremes!) campaign finance laws, no-paper-trail voting booths... enough said. We need uniformly fair elections if we are going to have justice.
- Filibuster reform - The filibuster is unconstitional. Say it with me again, the 60% majority required to overcome the filibuster in the US Senate is unconstitional. It must go. The majority rules in this nation, and it's time to get rid of this unfair provision that prevents progress and provides cover for gutless politicians.
- National Initiatives - Change you can believe in? Seems more like the same old, same old. National initiatives would surely change that. If Congress can't get off their butts to do the work of the people, we need a way for the people to step up and make the decisions. Time is long overdue.
- So on and so forth... think labor laws being gutted, GLBT citizens paying more taxes than their straight counterparts, seniors, low income and unemployed falling through our social safety net, immigrants that are criminalized when all they want to do is contribute to our society, etc. etc.
These are just a few ideas that I believe form a common thread of justice delayed in the United States. Sew them all together and you have a Justice plaform. Organize some people, and you have a Justice Party.
8:34 AM PT: Update: FYI this is a lighthearted diary. Please read it that way. It is not really the platform of a real party and I am not working with Mr. Anderson. For those of you who are Hide Rating this diary, you are invited to read the original diary where I think it is more clear that what I am advocating is an unofficial party, in the model of the Tea Party. If I were really in charge of this party in my fantasy world I would hope this party would make President Obama it's nominee, and that it would work within the Democratic party structure to force the party left on the issues I mentioned. Sorry that is not clear from this diary. I just threw it together quickly given the Anderson news.
10:47 AM PT: To Mr. Anderson... you failed to consult the Justice Party nominating committee, comprised entirely of me and the people in the comments section of this diary, before announcing your candidacy.
Unfortunately, the committee has a sense that we do not want the Justice Party to have it's own presidential nominee this year. Rather, we would like the party to work with the major party candidates and elected officials, extract assurances, push their platforms in the direction of justice and hopefully endorse the candidate that we think will do the right thing. We do not want a repeat of the 2000 election.
We are, however, looking for a party chair and executive director. You are exactly the type of real leader we could get excited about in this role. Perhaps you will reconsider your presidential candidacy and instead use your time, energy and money to make the Justice Party a real counter-balance to the Tea Party, as we originally envisioned it?