Well, it's official: I'm in Spartanburg. Though everything else remains pretty indefinite: I still don't have permanent housing, a job, or any real friends to speak of. Well, except for Yuliya of course, but convincing her to do anything not school- or home-related is like trying to convince a Republican to vote against Bush: good luck with that.
Speaking of politics...(you thought I could go two consecutive blog entries without going political? You don't know me very well, do you?)
I just got off the phone with my friends from the Let Nader Debate movement. As you've probably gathered from my previous journal entries (or if you just know me), I've been less than enthusiastic in my support of John Kerry. I remain as committed as ever to my pet issues like ending the war in Iraq, abolishing the misnamed Patriot Act, universal healthcare, ending the embargo on Cuba, campaign finance reform, fair trade, and a host of others (want to engage me in a long-winded conversation? Ask me about them sometime.) But therein lies my dilemma. When a Party is actively distancing itself from everything I believe in, how can I in good conscience continue to support its candidates?
Say what you want about Ralph Nader, but he's made a career out of forcing the hand of the Establishment. And I believe we need him now more than ever. Vote for him or revile him, it doesn't matter; just hear the man out. He's bringing issues to the table that Bush and Kerry either try to hide from or are in mealy-mouthed agreement upon, and as such he deserves a place in the Presidential debates.
I know this is a controversial position which will likely get me excommunicated by the Party. Hell, I've even had trouble selling this idea to MYSELF. (I was one of the voices begging Ralph NOT to run several months ago, remember?) But I, for one, am sick of voting for the lesser of two evils. If there's a candidate out there who's advocating all the positions I hold so dear, WHY NOT support him? Besides, it's my vote, dammit, and no one can tell me what to do with it. I've done it before; that's why I supported Kucinich in the primaries this year and went so far as to vote for John Hagelin (from the Natural Law Party, for those of you outside the loop) back in 2000. And I haven't regretted either of those votes for one minute.
Let's take a cold, hard look at the TRUTH for just a moment. Here are ten reasons why there is no place in the Democratic Party for people who hold to their principles and progressive programs:
1) Kerry-Edwards supports the war in Iraq. The only promise that John Kerry makes regarding Iraq is that he will "manage" the war better than Bush. He voted for the war and will send more troops to Iraq if needed. He recently told The Wall Street Journal that he would keep the troops in Iraq longer than George Bush.
2) Unlike Senator Feingold, Kerry-Edwards undermines the Constitution and civil liberties in the U.S. They voted for the Patriot Act an overly aggressive assault on our Constitution. John Kerry, a former federal prosecutor, has not often distinguished himself as a strong friend of civil liberties. Kerry supported the Clinton crime bills, including the expansion of the federal death penalty in 1996 legislation.
3) John Kerry represents corporations and the wealthy, not the working majority. When John Kerry met with major donors he promised them he was not a redistributionist Democrat despite massive corporate welfare programs, and the vast rich-poor divide that exists in the U.S. today. The Washington Post reports that has received more money from corporations and their lobbyists than any other senator. For example, the Center for Responsive Politics reports that during this election cycle, Kerry took in $3,321,382 from the health care industry. Also, Kerry has received $7,568,630 from the finance, insurance and real estate industries. His anemic plan for the working poor is to raise the minimum wage to a mere $7 per hour by 2007 when over $8 would bring the purchasing power up to that of 1968! Hes called for even more corporate tax cuts as a prime part of his jobs program, despite record corporate profits and shrinking corporate responsibility for carrying their fair share of the tax burden.
4) Kerry-Edwards does not promise health care for all. Forty-five million Americans dont have health insurance and more and more cant afford to keep it. The U.S. spends more on health care per capita than any other country 25% of our expenditures go to duplicative overhead caused by health insurance-based health care. John Kerry does not replace this system with a universal health care program; he builds on this faulty system by paying the catastrophic care health insurance costs of businesses but tens of millions will remain without health care under his plan.
5) Kerry-Edwards supports the drug war. John Kerry was the lead sponsor of Plan Colombia, the devastating militaristic approach to addiction. The plan sprays herbicides in the rain forests of Colombia, poisons the land of peasants, uses the military against peasant farmers and spreads coca cultivation in the region. Domestically, Kerry has supported crime bills that have resulted in the United States becoming the leader in incarceration in the world.
6) John Kerry continues to support WTO and NAFTA. These trade agreements that are spurring the sending of jobs overseas to Communist China, India and other poor countries undermine the sovereignty of nations by putting profit of corporations before laws enacted by nations. As a result, environmental, labor, and consumer protection laws are undermined by trade agreements. But Kerry is not calling for withdrawal from and renegotiation of these agreements.
7) John Kerry supports testing instead of teaching and does nothing to make college more affordable. Kerry supported George Bushs "No Child Left Behind" law, that emphasizes high stakes, high frequency, multiple choice standardized formal tests and, through their narrow domination, undermines teaching. He initially supported subsidizing college education but has now backed away from that promise.
8) The Democratic Party is undermining U.S. Democracy with John Kerrys quiet blessing. The Nader/Camejo Campaign is facing an unprecedented attack to obstruct its ballot access in numerous states with dirty tricks. Through harassment of petitioners, efforts to spoil ballot access conventions, use of state workers to challenge our signatures and employing corporate law firms to challenge our ballot access the Democratic Party is weakening the vibrancy of our democracy and trying to limit the choices of voters--with the full approval of the Democratic National Committee. The Democrats are doing nothing to energize our democracy by making it easier for a diversity of candidates to run or making sure votes are counted in ways that ensure a majority president like Instant Run-off Voting.
9) John Kerry does not think for himself on the Israeli-Palestinian question. The Israeli government violates the human rights of innocent Palestinian men, women, and children every day as documented by Israeli and international human rights organizations. John Kerrys response is to support the Israeli military government, even though Colin Powell has stated repeatedly there is no military solution to this conflict. Kerry does not highlight the peace movements in Israel and Palestine even though they have been communicating with one another about accords that would solve this conflict.
10) Kerry-Edwards will not challenge the military industrial complex, about which President Eisenhower cautioned the American people in his farewell address. He supports the bloated and redundant military budget that now exhausts one-half of all the operating expenditures of the federal government. Kerry-Edwards is as distant as can be from Dennis Kucinichs most cherished proposal, that he campaigned for around the country: the establishment of a Department of Peace so that our government can wage peace as it now does to prepare for war.
So, to my friends within the Democratic Party: the answer to your malaise lies not in undermining democracy by blocking other candidates' ballot access. Nor does it lie in constantly capitulating to the Republicans on one issue right after another in an attempt to steal away just enough conservative votes to pick up an office here or there. No, if you really care about stopping the slow but steady attrition that's grinding the Party down to irrelevancy, listen to what people like Nader, Kucinich, Dean, and my friends within the Progressive Caucus are saying! Throw all your focus-group tested, sound-bite approved rhetorical tripe out the window and get down and dirty with the issues that made the Party great in the first place. Sure, you'll offend some people in the process, but so what? Fifty-three percent of the eligible electorate doesn't even bother to vote anymore for lack of any real choices, and until you (or some smartly-executed third-party movement) start GIVING them a reason to vote again, get ready for several more years of ever-diminishing returns and Republican domination. I, and a lot of my progressive-minded friends, will be waiting.
Until then, I'm voting my conscience (just like I always do!) True revolutionaries always spoil corrupt systems! NADER 2004!
I'm Harold Geddings, and I approved this message.
Speaking of politics...(you thought I could go two consecutive blog entries without going political? You don't know me very well, do you?)
I just got off the phone with my friends from the Let Nader Debate movement. As you've probably gathered from my previous journal entries (or if you just know me), I've been less than enthusiastic in my support of John Kerry. I remain as committed as ever to my pet issues like ending the war in Iraq, abolishing the misnamed Patriot Act, universal healthcare, ending the embargo on Cuba, campaign finance reform, fair trade, and a host of others (want to engage me in a long-winded conversation? Ask me about them sometime.) But therein lies my dilemma. When a Party is actively distancing itself from everything I believe in, how can I in good conscience continue to support its candidates?
Say what you want about Ralph Nader, but he's made a career out of forcing the hand of the Establishment. And I believe we need him now more than ever. Vote for him or revile him, it doesn't matter; just hear the man out. He's bringing issues to the table that Bush and Kerry either try to hide from or are in mealy-mouthed agreement upon, and as such he deserves a place in the Presidential debates.
I know this is a controversial position which will likely get me excommunicated by the Party. Hell, I've even had trouble selling this idea to MYSELF. (I was one of the voices begging Ralph NOT to run several months ago, remember?) But I, for one, am sick of voting for the lesser of two evils. If there's a candidate out there who's advocating all the positions I hold so dear, WHY NOT support him? Besides, it's my vote, dammit, and no one can tell me what to do with it. I've done it before; that's why I supported Kucinich in the primaries this year and went so far as to vote for John Hagelin (from the Natural Law Party, for those of you outside the loop) back in 2000. And I haven't regretted either of those votes for one minute.
Let's take a cold, hard look at the TRUTH for just a moment. Here are ten reasons why there is no place in the Democratic Party for people who hold to their principles and progressive programs:
1) Kerry-Edwards supports the war in Iraq. The only promise that John Kerry makes regarding Iraq is that he will "manage" the war better than Bush. He voted for the war and will send more troops to Iraq if needed. He recently told The Wall Street Journal that he would keep the troops in Iraq longer than George Bush.
2) Unlike Senator Feingold, Kerry-Edwards undermines the Constitution and civil liberties in the U.S. They voted for the Patriot Act an overly aggressive assault on our Constitution. John Kerry, a former federal prosecutor, has not often distinguished himself as a strong friend of civil liberties. Kerry supported the Clinton crime bills, including the expansion of the federal death penalty in 1996 legislation.
3) John Kerry represents corporations and the wealthy, not the working majority. When John Kerry met with major donors he promised them he was not a redistributionist Democrat despite massive corporate welfare programs, and the vast rich-poor divide that exists in the U.S. today. The Washington Post reports that has received more money from corporations and their lobbyists than any other senator. For example, the Center for Responsive Politics reports that during this election cycle, Kerry took in $3,321,382 from the health care industry. Also, Kerry has received $7,568,630 from the finance, insurance and real estate industries. His anemic plan for the working poor is to raise the minimum wage to a mere $7 per hour by 2007 when over $8 would bring the purchasing power up to that of 1968! Hes called for even more corporate tax cuts as a prime part of his jobs program, despite record corporate profits and shrinking corporate responsibility for carrying their fair share of the tax burden.
4) Kerry-Edwards does not promise health care for all. Forty-five million Americans dont have health insurance and more and more cant afford to keep it. The U.S. spends more on health care per capita than any other country 25% of our expenditures go to duplicative overhead caused by health insurance-based health care. John Kerry does not replace this system with a universal health care program; he builds on this faulty system by paying the catastrophic care health insurance costs of businesses but tens of millions will remain without health care under his plan.
5) Kerry-Edwards supports the drug war. John Kerry was the lead sponsor of Plan Colombia, the devastating militaristic approach to addiction. The plan sprays herbicides in the rain forests of Colombia, poisons the land of peasants, uses the military against peasant farmers and spreads coca cultivation in the region. Domestically, Kerry has supported crime bills that have resulted in the United States becoming the leader in incarceration in the world.
6) John Kerry continues to support WTO and NAFTA. These trade agreements that are spurring the sending of jobs overseas to Communist China, India and other poor countries undermine the sovereignty of nations by putting profit of corporations before laws enacted by nations. As a result, environmental, labor, and consumer protection laws are undermined by trade agreements. But Kerry is not calling for withdrawal from and renegotiation of these agreements.
7) John Kerry supports testing instead of teaching and does nothing to make college more affordable. Kerry supported George Bushs "No Child Left Behind" law, that emphasizes high stakes, high frequency, multiple choice standardized formal tests and, through their narrow domination, undermines teaching. He initially supported subsidizing college education but has now backed away from that promise.
8) The Democratic Party is undermining U.S. Democracy with John Kerrys quiet blessing. The Nader/Camejo Campaign is facing an unprecedented attack to obstruct its ballot access in numerous states with dirty tricks. Through harassment of petitioners, efforts to spoil ballot access conventions, use of state workers to challenge our signatures and employing corporate law firms to challenge our ballot access the Democratic Party is weakening the vibrancy of our democracy and trying to limit the choices of voters--with the full approval of the Democratic National Committee. The Democrats are doing nothing to energize our democracy by making it easier for a diversity of candidates to run or making sure votes are counted in ways that ensure a majority president like Instant Run-off Voting.
9) John Kerry does not think for himself on the Israeli-Palestinian question. The Israeli government violates the human rights of innocent Palestinian men, women, and children every day as documented by Israeli and international human rights organizations. John Kerrys response is to support the Israeli military government, even though Colin Powell has stated repeatedly there is no military solution to this conflict. Kerry does not highlight the peace movements in Israel and Palestine even though they have been communicating with one another about accords that would solve this conflict.
10) Kerry-Edwards will not challenge the military industrial complex, about which President Eisenhower cautioned the American people in his farewell address. He supports the bloated and redundant military budget that now exhausts one-half of all the operating expenditures of the federal government. Kerry-Edwards is as distant as can be from Dennis Kucinichs most cherished proposal, that he campaigned for around the country: the establishment of a Department of Peace so that our government can wage peace as it now does to prepare for war.
So, to my friends within the Democratic Party: the answer to your malaise lies not in undermining democracy by blocking other candidates' ballot access. Nor does it lie in constantly capitulating to the Republicans on one issue right after another in an attempt to steal away just enough conservative votes to pick up an office here or there. No, if you really care about stopping the slow but steady attrition that's grinding the Party down to irrelevancy, listen to what people like Nader, Kucinich, Dean, and my friends within the Progressive Caucus are saying! Throw all your focus-group tested, sound-bite approved rhetorical tripe out the window and get down and dirty with the issues that made the Party great in the first place. Sure, you'll offend some people in the process, but so what? Fifty-three percent of the eligible electorate doesn't even bother to vote anymore for lack of any real choices, and until you (or some smartly-executed third-party movement) start GIVING them a reason to vote again, get ready for several more years of ever-diminishing returns and Republican domination. I, and a lot of my progressive-minded friends, will be waiting.
Until then, I'm voting my conscience (just like I always do!) True revolutionaries always spoil corrupt systems! NADER 2004!
I'm Harold Geddings, and I approved this message.
No, I'm not actively involved with Scales n' Tails, but rather than members buying me things off my wishlist, I'd rather the money go to them instead. Seeing abandoned, abused, or sick iggys makes me sad. Both of the igs I have now are rescues I've adopted.
xoxo