I don't believe that all those "Clinton supporters" are really defecting over to McCain... some of those have to be Republicans who are just trying to mess with the polls. After all, why wouldn't the angry progressive left-of-center women (other than Rosanne) go over to Cynthia McKinney & Rosa Clemente?
Shoot, if Hillary had gotten the nomination and I didn't feel cool about how it went down and I lived in a "safe" state, I would totally vote for them. An African-American woman for prez with an Afro-Latina for VP running on a totally progressive platform?
McKinney & Clemente: 2008
All Things Cynthia McKinney
Rosa Clemente's MySpace Page
Green Party
Planet Grenada:
who is black?
political bits
Shoot, if Hillary had gotten the nomination and I didn't feel cool about how it went down and I lived in a "safe" state, I would totally vote for them. An African-American woman for prez with an Afro-Latina for VP running on a totally progressive platform?
McKinney & Clemente: 2008
All Things Cynthia McKinney
Rosa Clemente's MySpace Page
Green Party
Planet Grenada:
who is black?
political bits
2 comments:
I'm sure you recall that in this BLA/Weather Underground robbery in Nyack, MY in '81, three or four folks were killed by those thugs.
http://lerterland.blogspot.com/2008/07/greens-part-two.html
Monday, July 14, 2008
Greens part two
Rosa Clemente, the hip-hop activist who is now Cynthia McKinney's vice presidential running mate on the Green Party ticket, made an acceptance speech this weekend during which she offered unequivocal praise for the Weather Underground, Mutulu Shakur (currently serving a 60-year term for his involvement in the BLA's notorious 1981 Brinks heist) and other supposed paragons of progressivism in America. Clemente also waxed sentimental over the "prophetic" lyrics of dead prez, the rap duo:
tell me who's got control of your mind and your worldview/is it the news or the movie you're taking yourself to?
Well, it's only fair to note who has control of dead prez's mind and worldview: the extremist cult leader Omali Yeshitela of the African Peoples Socialist Party, who thunders not just against Barack Obama but also Jesse Jackson and Nelson Mandela, and has declared: "Neo-colonialism not only must be destroyed as a system — the neo-colonialists themselves are going to have to be physically destroyed before Africa can be liberated."
Clemente says, "I stand on the 10 key values and principles of the Green Party" — and note on the C-Span clip that she can barely say it with a straight face. Because one of those principles, clear in black and white, as I observed in yesterday's post, is non-violence.
I agree with Marc Cooper that not too many years ago,
there were a few patches of Green that seemed semi-rational, even promising. There were candidates, activists and even some low-level elected officials that seemed to reflect a forward-looking, accessible reform politics that based itself on a rejection of the big money corruption of the two major parties. At least at the local level, the Greens seemed a possible option that could cut across partisan lines and embrace a rainbow stretching from lefty liberals to cranky libertarians.
But now, as Marc rightly says, "the Greens have ossified into a tiny, shrill, 'revolutionary' cult," with a 9/11 conspiracy theorist heading the ticket and a hypocrite sloganeer in the number-two slot. This is the radical left's answer to Obama, who has mobilized millions upon millions with his message of enlightened democratic pluralism. You could dismiss it as pathetic if it weren't for the fact that Clemente may actually manage to dent Obama's support among hip-hop youth.
Labels: Obama, The Left
posted by David R. Adler @ 9:35 PM
I think that when it comes to violence, you have to take statements from the hip-hop community with a grain of salt and allow for a certain amount of poetic license and hyperbole.
I also don't think that statements (again, especially from the hip-hop community) in praise of certain groups or individuals should be interpretation as unqualified approval of everything they do.
and also, as far as I can tell, "non-violence" in the Green Party, pretty clearly is talking about ending war and promoting disarmament but doesn't necessarily rule out other kinds of forceful actions:
"4. NON-VIOLENCE
It is essential that we develop effective alternatives to society’s current patterns of violence. We will work to demilitarize, and eliminate weapons of mass destruction, without being naive about the intentions of other governments.
We recognize the need for self-defense and the defense of others who are in helpless situations. We promote non-violent methods to oppose practices and policies with which we disagree, and will guide our actions toward lasting personal, community and global peace."
http://www.gp.org/platform/2000/index.html
you may also be interested in
"The myth of Green Party Non-Vioence"
http://www.greens.org/s-r/26/26-07.html
In terms of your last comments, I think that the possible "shrillness" of the Green Party has more to do with the two-party system. If we had a Parliament then a Green Party would has a stronger incentive for moderation and maturity, but under the two-party "tyranny" Third parties need to make a splash or be ignored.
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