Tag: 3rd party

Noam Chomsky Endorses Jill Stein!!!

Now, I wonder…. did my arguing with Noam on WWL Radio have anything to do with changing his mind? He was gonna vote Obama on Friday, when I spoke with him. And after, he came out with this endorsing Jill Stein! YAYYYY!

http://www.greenpartywatch.org…

Photobucket“Dear friends, I hope you’ll take the opportunity of the March 6th Green-Rainbow primary to cast a vote for resurgent democracy. A democracy that thrives outside of the Democratic and Republican Parties that are sponsored by and subservient to corporate America. And I hope you will consider joining me in supporting Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein – both with your vote and with a contribution to her campaign for people, peace and the planet.As you know, popular anger at the political and economic institutions, and the subordination of the former to the latter, has reached historic heights. And for sound reasons. There could hardly be a better time to open up the political debate to the just anger and frustrations of citizens who are watching the country move towards what might be irreversible decline while a tiny sector of concentrated wealth and power implements policies of benefit to them and opposed by the general population, whom they are casting adrift.

Jill Stein’s campaign is unifying the national Green Party, and ensuring that an urgently needed voice for democracy and justice will have a place on the ballot in the November election. Please join me in supporting Jill on March 6, and securing a voice foe a peaceful, just, green future in the presidential race.”

More below:

Do you want to help organize a jailbreak?

In the last couple diaries I’ve written on FireDogLake, I’ve tried to create a framework for radical action.  How to Destroy the Democratic Party sets up a broad approach for taking on, if not over, the Democratic Party base organizations, and Say You Want a Revolution tries to outline the scale of organization required for serious structural change.  Ambitious indeed!

But how about tomorrow?  What’s the bridge between our small, disorganized condition now and the large tasks I’ve recently delineated?  I throw this in everyone else’s face, so it’s only fair it be thrown in mine.

I was once tutored by an old friend who had been a machinist in his younger days.  He talked about tool-making, that most of this high-precision work entailed building tools.  Tools to build other tools.  To build yet more tools.  On and on until it call came together for the tools building the myriad parts that we drive down the street or heat and cool our homes or watch bad movies and lying news shows on.

How to Destroy the Democratic Party …

… and build a viable independent alternative.  Over the past few months, I’ve put out various comments stressing the critical need for organization, that the growing cries for action post Egypt/Wisconsin (we must take to the streets, general strike!, vote them out) remain at a level of abstraction, or calls to individuals, calls for morality, calls for courage.

But the masses are not rising up. The Obama/Boehner onslaught continues.  The only ones to pretend the left is more than a disorganized rabble are those hardcore Dems who pump this up to make it seem that THEIR fantasy of taking over the Democratic Party is the only game in town.  The strongest resistance to Obama/Boehner has been led by the unions in Wisconsin and neighboring states, and that is — at least for the time being — contained in the shelter of the Democratic Party.  Repeal, recall, roll the clock back to a couple years ago.  But the obvious fact that this resistance comes from organized forces seems to have had little impact on people’s need to address organizational issues.

I could say that the lack of response to my comments shows a lack of understanding on the part of the masses.  But while that may be comforting late at night, it might be better to develop the idea further and render it at least a little bit less abstract.

A New Third Party. Kucinich: It’s Time!

I received a letter from Dennis Kucinich today.  Dennis reported that the recent census resulted in the need for Ohio to eliminate 2 Congressional districts.  Guess which ones?  

Dennis states:

The New York Times, Newsweek, and Fox News have all recently headlined stories that I may lose my Congressional seat, not through an election, but through redistricting!

Because of this attack on his district, Kucinich has sent out this letter to ask for the suggestions of “We the People” about what he/we should do about this.  I wrote a letter to him suggesting that we form a new, progressive party of the well known politicians who have either been driven out of office or who are feeling incredibly frustrated with the impossibility of accomplishing anything meaningful.

This new third party might be called the “People’s Progressive Party.”

Both Kucinich’s letter and mine are below:

Celente: New Progressive/Libertarian 3rd Party will Rise

Celente, who we’re told has a very good record with his predictions, predicted the rise of a new 3rd party last month during an interview for Gary Null’s show on ProgressiveRadioNetwork.com

Celente interviewed on ProgressiveRadioNetwork.com here, from May 7. This particular prediction starts at about 13:00.

Celente predicts a new, third party, which he labels as Progressive-Libertarian. It will have the following characteristics:

progressive

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* health

* nutrition

* environment

* education

libertarian

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* not becoming involved in foreign entaglements

* government staying out of your personal business, as long as you’re not hurting anybody, and nobody else is paying for it

not libertarian in the sense that

==================================

* we don’t need any government regulation, at all (e.g., Glass Steagle are desirable)

Rethinking the Greens

Green, green, it’s green they say

On the far side of the hill

Green, green, I’m goin’ away

To where the grass is greener still

  — New Christy Minstrels

As some of you may know, I have not considered the Green Party a viable vehicle for independent politics.  I have argued that they are organizationally calcified, obsessed with programmatics, and would lack the flexibility to adapt to a strong 3rd-party upsurge.

At the same time, I’ve noticed a lot of people touting the Greens as our best independent vehicle, citing their having thoroughly progressive politics, a nationally-recognized organization in place, and ballot status in many states and I am moved by this.  I have put in many years with independent left politics, including:

     California Peace & Freedom Party

     Barry Commoner’s Citizens Party (Northern California executive board)

     Lenora Fulani’s New Alliance Party (I was their main typesetter)

     Ross Perot’s Reform Party (active in New Jersey branch’s bloody factions)

But I have never seen as much broad 3rd-party sentiment as I am seeing now.  Not even close.  Politically chaotic, from teabaggers (whatever their leaders may tout), to commie radicals to pissed-off liberals to Golden-Mean moderates, but never as much part of the mainstream discourse.  Geez, I remember the days when 3rd party votes weren’t even counted.

So in these circumstances, I am reconsidering my position on the Greens.  It may be the case that the Greens or elements of the Greens will be more responsive to an independent upsurge than to maintaining their own organizational status quo.

We Hold These Truths To Be Self-Evident

The Founding Fathers gave us democracy.

The Founding Fathers Pictures, Images and Photos

We have the moral responsibility to restore what was given to us, to take back what has been taken away by corrupt politicians of both major parties.  If the Democratic Party won’t restore American democracy, it will be up to Progressives to restore it.  If Democrats cave again and pass a travesty of a health care reform bill without a strong public option, there will no longer be any doubt that the two-party system has been corrupted beyond salvage.  If that happens, I believe progressives will have no choice but to dissolve all ties with the Democratic Party, establish the Progressive Party, and ask progressive Democrats in Congress and across this country to join us.  

A Netroots Declaration

When in the course of Democratic betrayals it becomes necessary for Progressives to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with the Democratic Party, and to establish ourselves as a New Party in the political system, our respect for the Constitution and the rule of law compels us to declare the causes which impel us to this separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that the Democratic Party is complicit in war crimes, that it is complicit in illegal NSA spying, that it is complicit in massive Wall Street fraud, that it no longer believes that all men are created equal, that it serves only the corporate masters of America, that it has granted them unalienable Rights, that among these are the right to plunder the Treasury, the right to control the media, the right to subvert the banking system, to corrupt the electoral system, to ravage our economy and reap the illicit profits of shock doctrine capitalism.

To enable the voices of citizens to be heard in the corridors of power, political parties have been instituted among Men, deriving their power from the support of their members. Whenever any political party becomes destructive of these ends, its supporters have the right to withdraw their support, and to establish a new party.  As Progressives, we have no choice left but to establish a new party, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in accordance with our responsibility to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution and the progressive values upon which it was founded.  

Present circumstances dictate that a political party long established should not be rejected for light and transient causes; but when a long train of abuses and betrayals, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce an entire nation under corporate Despotism, it is the right of Progressives, it is the duty of Progressives, to condemn that party, and to establish a new party for their future security.  

F*ck Obama, I’m voting for Nader

I hate being right about people.  Especially when I’m being less than charitable.  I was always a bit leery about Obama and his flowery bullcrap.

Somehow everyone else would listen to his words and think that this guy could do no wrong.  I’d listen to him and hear weasel words like ‘combat’ troops (I’m going to withdraw ‘combat’ troops). Translation: We’re not leaving Iraq if BHO is president.

He capitulates on FISA. He won’t consider impeachment.  He votes for the Patriot Act reauthorization. Over and over he hands Bush a blank check for Iraq.  He wants to expand the military; in a country that already spends nearly 50-60% of it’s discretionary funds on the military machine this man wants to expand it.

Some of the people over at the Big Orange are waking up.  However they’ll still vote for BHO.  We’re the majority; if we decide to actually vote our consciences then Nader can really be president.  At the very least it’ll scare Barack to move back towards the left as he sees the poll numbers shift.