Jen's Green Journal

Common Dreams has 3 of it's top stories dealing with Dem frustration:

Enough of the D.C. Dems -- Molly Ivins
The Democrats - Still Ducking -- Ari Berman
They Can't Even Win a War of Words -- Rosa Brooks

This could be the time for the Greens to really make a difference. I hope they can do it.

Reading on Ken Sain's blog today, a great answer from Kevin Zeese to Kos readers on why he will continue to run as a Green and not in the Democratic primary as the Kossacks are urging him to.

A few things I found in his response. . .

 

on whether the two parties actual represent the people:

"A survey published in the July 16 Economist asked U.S. voters whether they felt their elected officials represented their priorities. Only 17 percent said “yes.” In the greatest democracy on earth 83 percent can’t say they are represented! It is no wonder we have such low voter turnouts. (A survey of non-voters found that that a majority of non-voters felt that the candidates did not represent their concerns – even in the last election 40% of registerd voters didn’t vote, Kerry gave them no reason except not being Bush – not good enough.) It is also not surprising that Democrats are at their lowest popularity in more than 50 months while Republicans are also dropping in the polls. Neither party represents the priorities of the people."

 

 

On how trying to change the Democratic Party from within is unlikely to work:

 

"For years, indeed decades, people have tried to reform the Democratic Party from the inside. It always fails. When political movements go inside the Democratic Party – they weaken and disappear – look at the anti-war movement in 2004, the union movement over decades, efforts at African American equality – on and on. What ever happened to the Rainbow Coalition? What has the Democratic establishment done for those that are calling for change from within? Nothing. Even Howard Dean has stopped talking about ending the Iraq War since becoming DNC Chairman. The only way to create the politics we want is by challenging the corrupt system in place."

 

On it's NOT impossible to change the system, we just need to guts to do it:

 

"I know some of you say it is impossible – the two party system can’t be challenged. But certainly this corrupt method of governance is not as embedded as slavery, the denial of women’s rights, nor as strong as the Berlin Wall, the Soviet Union or Maoism. Yet, those have all crumbled. Change is possible. Even our founders warned against “factions” as political parties were known in their day. This corrupt two-party system is inconsistent with the vision of a robust representative democracy – with our vision for being the greatest democracy in Earth’s history. We have the power to create the future we want – but if we keep supporting candidates based on party label and not on issues we care about then we will keep getting political leaders that do not represent our interests. We will only get what we want by voting for what we want."

CORRECTION: Zeese is a Green who is running as an independent.

 

 

I believe that most of the people who vote "Democrat" are fairly progressive people, so they've got to be fairly disappointed with some of the elected Dems who yesterday helped pass CAFTA as well as the horrible energy bill.

Rather than rant on these particular evils (you can read a good Green account of them on Chlorophyll today by kycolonel), I'd rather try to appeal logically to my Democrat brothers and sisters: [in a loving tone :) ] Do you really believe that if you keep voting for the Dems they'll someday start doing the right thing? Right now there's no incentive for the Dems to move back to the left. They know that progressives will keep voting for them as the lesser of two evils.

The only way to counter this kind of ideological corruption is to build a strong progressive 3rd party. This can do one of two things:

1. A stronger Green Party can put pressure back on the Dems to move left. If moderate or right-leaning Dem continues to vote with the Repubs on horrible legislation, he/she risks either losing their seat to a Green or having a Green candidate "spoil" by taking enough votes that the real Repub wins the election. Ken Sain's blog had a great example of how this strategy can work to pull the Dems back here.
2. If all the truly progressive people left the Dems, it could truly become the centrist party it's been striving to become. This way you really will be able to vote your conscience and you have a really good chance of putting  Greens in higher and highers offices. My theory is that if the Dems become the true centrist party, some of the moderate Repubs that are frustrated with the fundamentalist Christians and big-spending neo-cons will likely move into the Dem camp.

Other advantages of becoming a Green:

1. If you are interested in politics and want to participate, even if it's just behind the scenes, the Green Party is a great place to do that. The Green Party is a "grassroots" party, which means that the opinions of the members is equally important as the party officers. The more established parties have a heirarchical structure that makes it difficult to have any effect, especially when you have just joined or don't have a lot of good connections. Running for office is also easier in the Greens due to it's grassroots nature.
2. Being a part of the Green Party can also offer you lots of opportunites for involvement in many groups and projects that aim to make the world a better place. The Green Party is a "hands-on" kind of party. We walk the talk. Many of our members belong to other organizations that focus on the environment, peace and justice, feminism, race equality, glbt issues, labor, and many others. Green Parties  around the country work on many of issues as well through committees and caucuses.
3. It's a great way to make new friends and contacts -- Greens are dynamic and thoughtful people.
4. If voting is all you really want to worry about when it comes to politics, voting Green means voting your conscience -- and that feels really good, take it from me!

 

 

A couple of stories in the alternative media today that helps to highlight the need for a strong progressive 3rd party:

28 Dems block crackdown on corporate tax evaders

"Do Democrats really wonder why America thinks they stand for nothing, and why they are thus in the minority? On almost every core economic issue lately, a handful of Democrats betrays the party and undermines any prospect of developing a message that shows Democrats will stand up for the middle class."

A Dumb Donkey Report

"But the biggest disappointment of the DNC report is that it gives no indication that the old-school Jim Crow abuses will be addressed and rectified, and that the newer school electronic voting machine abuses will be similarly addressed. The report portrays a statewide landscape of separate and unequal rules in election jurisdictions across the state. It says local and statewide election officials — and the private companies they hire — aren't interested in cooperating to make the system more transparent and equitable. And the party hierarchy that commissioned this report dismisses the work of its activists and loyal volunteers who worked before and after the 2004 race for electoral justice."

 

I'm continually frustrated with the Democratic Party. I know there are some great Dems out there, like Dennis Kucinich, Barbara Boxer and Cynthia McKinney, but most of the Democrats I read about are all too willing to sell out the "Progressive" ideals that they claim to represent.

The latest wimp-out is giving William Pryor a lifetime appointment. There's a few examples of his homophobic rulings

( behind this cut ) from Ken Sain's blog.</p>

Ken also wrote a piece for the Blade's blog called, "Democrats' Gay Legacy" which highlights the ways in which the Democratic party has let down the GLBT population in the last few years.