I want to thank all of you for taking part in the democratic process. As you are aware, democracy is not something that happens just once or twice year in a voting both. Democracy is an on-going dialogue between ourselves and with our elected officials. To borrow a phrase, it is a marketplace of ideas.
I know that in that marketplace some of you might expect me to take the role of critic tonight because I am a Green Party activist talking about how the major parties govern.. And I have to admit that knocking something down much more fun that building it up. But if all I did here was tear things down, then activist in me would leave here feeling very empty. So let's start with what we -- and I believe some of our representatives in Washington -- agree on.
Our shared vision is well expressed in the last two stanzas of the Langston Hughes' poem Let America Be America Again
O, yes, I say it plain, America never was America to me, And yet I swear this oath-- America will be!
Out of the rack and ruin of our gangster death, The rape and rot of graft, and stealth, and lies, We, the people, must redeem The land, the mines, the plants, the rivers. The mountains and the endless plain-- All, all the stretch of these great green states-- And make America again!
Langston Hughes says it so well. And we all know what that America looks like. We could each make a relatively similar list of what changes are necessary. Here are several:
• Leave Iraq. Now! • Institute universal single payer healthcare. • Abolish the death penalty. • End Global Warming. • Repeal the Patriot Act. • Stop the torture. • Institute a right a right to have your vote counted.
So the question becomes why aren't any of these things on the 100 hour agenda of the House or on the agenda of the Senate. Is it the military-industrial complex? The need for corporate donations? Fear of going against what the corporately-owned media tries to convince us is popular opinion?
Or is it -- as Senator Schumer describes in his new book – that going to policy meetings where goals are (in his words) "turned into pablum - big ideas are made small; tough choices were made weak; bold plans were made timid." He concludes that "a lot of our best stuff was drowned in a sea of consensus."
I'm sorry Senator Schumer, but that is not consensus. Consensus where all parties' needs are separated from their wants, and an attempt is made to meet all parties needs. Or consensus could be described in less stilted language looking by to the lyrics of the Rolling Stones:
You can't always get what you want But if you try sometimes you just might find You get what you need
What Senator Schumer describes is just the opposite. It is the worst form of compromise, choosing the lowest common denominator or the lesser of two evils. That phrase always reminds me of the another musician. Jerry Garcia said in a 1989 interview that
"Constantly choosing the lesser of two evils is still choosing evil."
To overcome this dilemma we need to band together to decide on what we want and work towards that goal no matter who is in charge. This is obviously the belief of the Move-On's of the world. Yes, they have tempered their descriptions of Congress since the Democrats took control, but I am still getting emails from these organizations telling me I have write to my congressman to get him to vote to "make America again" Obviously, they don't know my congressman is Peter King. But the Move-On's of the world do know that the Democratic Senators and Congressman can't be counted on as reformers either.
So what must we do? Let's look to a discussion of what is necessary to get change from a speech by Frederick Douglas:
The Wilder's life has always veered between art and politics. When they got together in the late 1990's, Kimberly and Ian ratcheted up their activities. Together, Ian and Kimberly Wilder published chapbooks; gave dozens of poetry readings; published poetry; wrote newspaper articles; and hosted events.
Ian has performed spoken word as a part of the near-mythic folk groovin' band Nylon & Steel, and was co-founding lyricist for the duo Spiritwalkers. His work with Nylon & Steel can be found on the album "Slip Behind the Molecule".
With Nader's 2000 presidential campaign, the Wilders were drawn back into politics. Within four years they had co-founded the Babylon Greens at their kitchen table; run the first full ticket of Greens in their town's history; got Kimberly twice elected to the Executive Committee of Green Party of New York State; and then Ian to the position of GPNYS State Party Co-chair.
In 2006 , Ian stepped back from state politics after retaining the right to enroll Green in NY by successfully getting Malachy McCourt on the ballot for Governor , and Kimberly returned to the Executive Committee for a third term.
you make several rather excellent points regarding the way our current politics system works, or rather fails to work for the good of the community, instead focussing on the welfare of the wealthy few and the selfish interests and needs of those who need to raise monies for reelection campaigns. I am certain that, as a professed Green yourself, you understand to large degree how this single facet warps the entire process of governance.
I have come to understand that, no matter the eloquence of the campaigner, no matter the promises made to the voter, once elected the lawmaker turns that allegiance to those who can ensure or deny reelection. Do you really expect these sold souls to actually consider real election reform when they have flourished under the current and crooked system? Do you think them capable of banning lobbyists when they, themselves, hunger for a retirement job paying a large six figure annual stipend. Never mind that they once spoke with passion about ending corruption, war and poverty, there just isnt any money in that crap.
by
ardee D. (6 articles, 4 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 2388 comments)
on Monday, February 5, 2007 at 11:08:32 AM
