[PAA-Discuss] Money, politics, and the Green Party
Ron and Kris Graham
graham2639 at mindspring.com
Thu May 5 17:53:47 EDT 2011
I see where you are coming from, Cynthia, however, all I have seen the Green
Party do is ask for money from people and stroke checks. I have attended
several Green Party meetings in the past, and I have found that they mostly
talk, ask for money (sustainers), stroke checks and do little else. The last
meeting I attended last year at Bohemeo's when Deb Shafto was running for
governor was spent with Green Party members griping about being in debt
because of the lawsuit filed by the TX Democrats and wondering how they
could collect enough money to pay off the debt. Toward the end of the
meeting, I piped up and asked if anybody was going to talk about his/her
campaign strategy and what issues he or she was going to run on. That wasn't
discussed, so I left.
I have helped on a couple of different occasions to collect signatures for
Green Party ballot access. All of this signature collection was for naught.
Now, the Greens have allowed Republicans to collect signatures for them, and
the Democrats filed suit. This Republican signature collection makes the
Greens look bad to a lot of people and makes them look like hypocrites.
The blacks are not going to turn out at all in 2012 in my opinion, and they
certainly will not vote for Greens. I highly doubt most of them will vote
again for Obama, but I could be wrong. If they vote for him because he is
black, that is the worst form of racism in my opinion.
So, where does that leave us? I feel that at least in the U.S. the Green
Party has been rendered irrelevant. The Greens are thought of as mostly
white, middle to upper middle class people who have no earthly idea what
life is like for the vast majority of working class people and especially
people of color. They are out of touch with the reality of life for workers
and this is why working class people do not vote for them. Blacks don't vote
for them, and Hispanics don't vote for them. I told them last year to focus
on pocketbook issues, but they didn't. They always want to focus on the
environment and women's choice issues and the death penalty. While all these
things are important, you must focus on pocketbook issues especially because
people, and especially people of color, are struggling mightily to pay the
bills and eat at the same time.
When I asked for help from the Greens to have a barbeque and a get out the
vote effort at the Shape Community Center in a black neighborhood, you
could've heard the crickets chirping it was so quiet in the room. There was
no excitement for this effort. I suggested we have this shindig to introduce
the party to people of color and have this barbeque and also have people
there to register folks to vote and talk about the GP. Nobody wanted to help
me with this except one gentleman of color. He got disgusted with the GP and
left them. Also, the guy who is considered a leader in that community
refused to return my phone calls. He is a black man, and I am white. So, if
blacks are not willing to work with whites and vice versa we are fighting a
losing battle.
Kris
_____
From: HQ [mailto:hq2600 at gmail.com]
Sent: Thursday, May 05, 2011 4:39 PM
To: graham2639 at mindspring.com; donald cook; PAA discussion
Subject: Re: [PAA-Discuss] Money, politics, and the Green Party
How about if we participate in a different way? Those of us who are
informed among the tens of millions who are not, just us. If we resist yet
participate in a different way, I am certain that we would see vastly
different people elected and vastly different policies.
I agree with you that Blacks get absolutely nothing for their votes--that
didn't just start with Barack Obama. Not voting yields the field to the bad
team. Why not say, OK, we're going to play by our rules this time. Just
imagine if we had 1 million Black voters, and 1 million White voters, and 1
million Latino voters to say no Democrat or Republican will get my vote.
Period. And we strategize and actually elect some people and kick some
incumbents out.
Why concede the game by not getting ready for the fight? I am absolutely
certain that if we fielded a good team with an innovative coach, we could
win, too. The other side fight for their values and because they know how
to fight and are willing to change in order to carry out the fight, they
win. That's what Obama represents. Their tradition of cooptation and
change--not ours!!!
I think the values that we believe in are too important to allow the bad
guys to win all the time because we're not willing to try something
different, something new.
Now, if I still didn't believe that it is possible to elect good people to
office and that there is utility in them being there, then I would agree
with you to withdraw.
On Thu, May 5, 2011 at 5:18 PM, Ron and Kris Graham
<graham2639 at mindspring.com> wrote:
Yeah, Cynthia, but blacks turned out in droves to vote for Barack Obama and
that vote got them absolutely nothing. Send a stronger message to the powers
that be by not voting. If people in their millions refused to participate in
this sham we call an electoral process, that act alone would send a clear
message that the people will not be duped any longer. The ONLY way we are
going to get the kind of world we want is to make it ourselves, and that
does not have to include voting.
Thanks for your comments. Even though I don't agree with them, I have all
the respect in the world for you. By the way, Ron and I DID vote for you and
Rosa in the last election. We just don't intend to vote again.
Kris and Ron Graham
Houston, TX
_____
From: HQ [mailto:hq2600 at gmail.com]
Sent: Thursday, May 05, 2011 11:59 AM
To: graham2639 at mindspring.com
Cc: donald cook; PAA
Subject: Re: [PAA-Discuss] Money, politics, and the Green Party
Not voting leaves the machinery of governance all to them without even a
fightback option. Imagine if Blacks had said, we don't want to vote and
participate in the sham. Would we be better off?
On Thu, May 5, 2011 at 8:24 AM, Ron and Kris Graham
<graham2639 at mindspring.com> wrote:
Yeah, Don, but according to George Reiter at Mangos the other night, any
monies donated right now would go to pay off the lawyer fees incurred by the
Green Party as a result of the lawsuit filed by the TX Democratic Party. The
monies will not be going to purchase fliers, set up a campaign office or
anything else typically associated with a political campaign. The answer to
our problems does not lie within the political system, Don. Voting for
somebody in an alternate party is not going to change anything. I've come to
that conclusion.
First, we, in our millions, are going to have to drive out the people who
have put this nation and the rest of the world in such jeopardy. Then, we
are going to have to form coalitions of people who want another way and who
are willing to work together to achieve that new way.
Voting is a waste of time, Don, and I won't be participating in the sham any
longer.
Kris
_____
From: donald cook [mailto:zenblews at hotmail.com]
Sent: Wednesday, May 04, 2011 10:31 PM
To: HCGP discussion; discuss paa; Code Pink; Code Pink
Subject: [PAA-Discuss] Money, politics, and the Green Party
The Selling of the President 1960, as I believe the book was called (please
correct me if I am mistaken), marked the public acknowledgment of the use of
Madison Avenue advertising techniques in American Political campaigns, and
was an eye-opener for many in 1961. The so-called Founding Fathers no doubt
failed to realize the ability of money to manipulate present day corporate
media when they set up a republic in which only propertied, white,
non-slave, males could vote. Some of them would certainly have been
relieved to learn of the media-organizing power of money these days. A
political party without money is pretty nearly a party without power in this
country, now.
And of course the Supreme Court over the last 35 years or so has not helped,
declaring money the equivalent of Free Speech in the 1970's, and just a
little over a year ago determining that corporations can make direct
political contributions, just like real people.
Well, rest assured that no capitalist corporate money is coming the way of
the Green Party. What we have to sell - positions on the issues that
support the people, not the rich and the corporations - the corporations
ain't buyin', and the GP is, therefore, unable to purchase time from the
corporate media. This leaves the GP with the obvious two pronged hope that,
as things get worse in our plutocratic democracy, the people will discredit
the corporate media more and more and turn to an alternative media
uncorrupted, or not as badly corrupted by the corporations, and that, while
unable to fundraise on the scale of the Duopoly, the ever increasing number
of discriminating people who realize the importance of supporting the
non-corporate party will begin donating.
We are in a better position than we have ever been before in Texas. The
Green Party of Texas has survived ten years of incredible austerity, we are
guaranteed ballot access through 2012 and we are in a good position to
extend that after 2012, and in our poverty (and endurance) we have learned
to stretch a dollar and be more cost effective than any other party. We
don't need as much money as the Duopoly, but some money would help . . . you
know, until we can effect the separation of corporation and state.
Tomorrow, Thursday, May 5, 2011, at 8:00 pm at Bohemeo's, 708 Telephone Rd.,
Houston, TX, there will be Benefit for the Green Party. You may enjoy
either the three musical acts, or help us figure out what needs to be done
and how we can best do it in a special, extra meeting of the planning
session we call G3. The suggested donation is $10, but no one will be
turned away. And if you want to donate more, that's okay, too.
And if you want to donate but you cannot make it to Bohemeo's, feel free to
go to txgreens.org or hcgp.org and make internet arrangements. If you
prefer paper and ink, make it out to the Harris County Green Party and mail
it to me at 7954 Glenheath, Houston, 77061. Call me if any questions.
-- Don, 713-705-5594
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