Kerry: No Cake Walk
By David VanThournout 07/02/2004
It has lately been suggested that the Greens are
selling out to the Democratic party and in doing so permanently relegating
themselves to irrelevance. See;
The
Chokehold of "Anybody But Bush"
In response I would like to point out the
following:
I have been a life long environmental activist. Green all the
way to the bone. I also registered as a Democrat for the 2004 election. I've
been an independent all my life.
I understand that Ralph Nader is doing what he
believes is the right thing. I absolutely love Ralph for his wonderful quotes.
"Corporations don't die in Iraq", If you don't turn on to politics,
politics will turn on you". I will forever be quoting him. It is my
hope that makes me believe that Ralph is good for American politics. However,
the consensus between democrats and greens is occurring because of necessity. It
is driven by fear admittedly, but it is grassroots. It wouldn't be happening if
it weren't something on everyone's agenda. Infiltration from the Dems is only so
effective on us.
What may superficially seem to be sellout is in actuality much
more complex than that. Many of the people now feeling forced into strategizing
because of the severity of the Bush administrations corruption and leaving their
traditional party of the greens are of such a self critical sort that I refuse
to believe that they do not understand that Kerry is no cake walk. The biggest
fear, the anticipated complacency after a Kerry win is enough to set most
of us progressives on edge and help bring out our inner cynic (the last
thing we need). May I remind everyone;
No cynic has ever led a movement for change.
Hope must drive leadership, not cynicism and not fear. Hope and dreams will
take you forward. Cynicism and fear will take you backwards. --Rev.
Jesse L. Jackson, Sr.
We should certainly be questioning the cynical nature of a
political system which accepts such things as Republicans
supporting Ralph Nader, a platform they are diametrically opposed to in
order to get their candidate elected. And
then bashing Ralph Nader for it.
Here will be our are battlegrounds under a Kerry
Administration;
- ELECTORAL REFORM!
- MEDIA REFORM!
- Energy Independence!
- Civil Liberties
- NAFTA!
- The WTO!
- The IMF!
- Globalization!
- AMERICO!
- The ENVIRONMENT!
- World Peace!
I list World Peace last not because it is least, but
because I believe this is the path we must take before we can ever hope to
arrive there.
Establishing a dept. of peace and dedicating
serious funding to renewable
energy and the symbiotic concept of a sustainable
society that nurtures our earth and all life upon it rather than exploiting
it is at the core.
These are all values that are not going away
anytime soon.
Greens caught in a political pickle?
The question only remains; How do we stop the political
pendulum from eternally swinging from Republican to Democrat? If we get
Bush for four more years, the Dems will look even better and perhaps the Greens
will be shut out even more in 2008 spawning yet another movement toward
ELECTION REFORM? This
is precisely the Greens most important battleground. We need a sweeping change
to our electoral system. Without it our hopes for a third
party such as the greens to take hold will be in vain. (for extra hope
see; Instant
Runoff Voting)
Traditionally the Democrats have been marginally
more favorable toward election reform than the Republicans. I would suggest that
this means that election
reform will be more possible under a Kerry Administration. It is
important to build upon the election reform movement that is now picking up
momentum because of the theft of the 2000 election and in light of recent
concerns over touch screen voting and Diebold's lack of a paper trail and
software security.
On the other hand, I also believe that big
brother could become even more insidious in that many of us might be duped into
thinking that Kerry
wouldn't take advantage of the expand surveillance allowed under the patriot act.
Still, many of us are thinking that at least we might not end up in
concentration camps for our political views under John Kerry.
It is my contention that we are poised not
only upon the brink of dissolution of the green party, but perhaps upon the
threshold of it's being propelled to the level of a mass movement. Both paths
are before us.
But which way to step?
Let Bush win through fragmentation of the Dems
thereby setting the stage for a massive revolt in the years following?
(not to mention depression and global war)
Many greens might prefer this motivational factor
to the apathy of a Kerry complacent America, after all, George Bush has inspired
more activism than we've seen in thirty years. I however am on more than one
government list. I normally consider this an honor but I am not so sure I want
to risk four more years of Bush just to motivate a movement. That seems a rather
cynical approach to me. And quite possibly somewhat suicidal on my part.
My own intention after I help get Kerry elected
is to register as a Green. Please don't mistake our strategizing entirely as
cynicism on our parts. I am not driven by fear in this as much as my hope.
I believe that the careful campaigning of the
current green party under the leadership of David Cobb, (Cobb will avoid as many
as 20 "contested" states, where a Green Party presidential campaign
could threaten a Kerry victory.) could be more indicative of our thoughtful
nature rather than the lack of conviction that some
Greens are suggesting it is. At the same time I believe that Ralph
Nader continues to be a positive force in American politics simply by raising
our issues and forcing John Kerry to address them or chance defeat.
In this way hopefully Kerry's own complacency
will be challenged in the upcoming election.
If I had to decide between Kerry complacent
America and a Bush administration unfettered by campaign considerations and
inspired by the "divine" right of "re-election" to come
"out
of the box" (I fear we haven't seen anything yet), apathy is at least a
devil I know.
Who knows, perhaps in the wake of a Kerry win the
bickering and vitriol of the radical Republican right (remember Clinton
bashing?) will consume them entirely and finally relegate them to the dustbin of
history.
The alternative might be more of us seeking
political asylum as we watch our society turn ever more militaristic and
fascist.
I would choose to live to fight another day.
The plain truth is that the very near future is
risky indeed. Let us make our choices carefully and with full knowledge of all
possible consequences. And remember; Kerry will be no cake walk, but a second
Bush term may be the final death sigh of democracy in America.
The author can be contacted at; thelorax@thedeprogrammer.com
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