From Cynthia; Thank You Illinois

Cynthia: Thank you Illinois, Delivering Fifty-One ballot Lines and Beyond

Submitted by Cynthia McKinney on Tue, 11/06/2007 - 13:28 on www.runcynthiarun.org

Greetings:

We're going to have to do things we've never done before if we're to have things we've never had before.

Democracy, authentic representation, human needs prioritized, universal access to health care, bringing our troops home, making peace with the world's nations, making peace with our home planet, making peace in our own communities, funding schools over jails, . . .

Each of these alone is something we've never known before. Anyone of them alone would be worth doing things we've never done before. And all of them can be achieved when we get engaged and make democracy our own.

I want to thank those Greens from throughout Illinois and beyond who made it possible for me to offer myself to the voters of illinois in the upcoming February 5th Presidential Preference Primary. I especially want to thank Walter Esler, Charlie Howe, Patricia Hill, J. Michael Carr, Rich Whitney, Phil Huckleberry, and in addition those dozens of activists, Green Party and otherwise, I have not yet met who saw the possibility and made it real.

I also want to thank those supporters of Jared Ball, Howie Hawkins and Kent Mesplay, whose help carrying our petitions, as our supporters helped carry theirs, made possible our collective success. Together we offered the people of Illinois meaningful choices in the upcoming Illinois Primary. Just as we will continue to offer them in the General Election as well.

As late as the final weekend we did not know if we would make it. But then voters, ready for things we've never enjoyed before, through the simple if sometimes arduous process of collecting their neighbors signatures put me and three other candidates on Illinois' Presidential Preference Primary ballot. While they were at it, they also put a peace slate of nine candidates for Congress, multiple candidates for state assembly, county office and internal party seats on the ballot as well.

With yesterday's victory, Greens and other supporters have now placed me on the Primary ballots in California and Illinois. We still have the Primary ballots of Arkansas, Dictrict of Columbia, Maine and Massachusettes to go. And we still have thirty states left where with your help on our ballot access work, I can appear on the general election ballot as well.

I've spent the past week doing events with Green Party candidates in multiple communities across fifteen hundred miles of highways. Our Party is Green and its Growing and with this evening's election we stand poised to celebrate several new election victories across this country.

Thank you to those in Illinois who made yesterday's victory possible. Thank you to all the donors and volunteers who supported our work for our local victories this election day evening.

As the polls close tonight, I'm asking for your help.

With that help, we can deliver fifty-one ballot lines, access to the debates, public financing for our Party in 2012 and Green seats in the halls of power.

With your help we can deliver things we've never had before, perhaps even an opportunity for me to serve you as your next President of the United States.

Yours,
Cynthia McKinney

Related Posts: HELP CYNTHIA QUALIFY FOR MATCHING CAMPAIGN FUNDS

The World Conference of Mayors / National Conference of Black Mayors Conference

Haiti - The World Conference of Mayors, the Government of the Republic of Haiti, Ministère de l’ Intérieur et des Collectivités Territoriales, in collaboration with the, NCBM, City of Florida City, and GALATA are pleased to present the 23^rd Annual Convention of the World Conference of Mayors. This historic event will be held November 28 – December 2, 2007 in Haiti.

The primary objective of the World Conference of Mayors is to stimulate positive and constructive relations between mayors internationally, based on interlocking interests and concerns. Through a network of international municipal associations, mayors and units of local governments, the World Conference of Mayors plans, designs and manages an international, intergovernmental communications system, promoting trust, trade, tourism, technology, treasury, training and twin city programs and services between mayors and cities of the world. www.worldconferenceofmayors.inc

The organizing committee is asking for the support of for profit and not for profit organizations operating in the United States that provide services in the cities highlighted during this conference. The Haitian Government has initiated a pilot project that will showcase these six (6) cities and spotlight investment opportunities and other needs that will aid in the development of these cities and improve the quality of life for their residents. The cities that have been selected include:

City of Fond des Negres, Mayor Achille 774-1088

City de Dessalines Mayor Emile 764-3112

City de St Marc Mayor Charles 608-6745

City of Cabaret Mayor Thomas 447-5374

City of Milot Mayor Paul 603-7657

City of Danne Marie Mayor Jambon 826-9890

Organizations and investors that are interested in attending the Convention of the World Conference of Mayors or would like information regarding vendor or sponsorship opportunities should contact: Ms. Vanessa Williams, N.C.B.M at (404) 765-6444, Honorable Mayor Johnny Ford, World conference of Mayors at (334) 558-1808, Joseph G. “Billy” Louis, NLCHM at (786) 306-7060, Sabrina Mowlah-Baksh Trinidad Tobago- World Conference of Mayors Secretary (868)-318-6373, or Ministere de L’interieur et des Collectivites Territoriales at 011 -509- 222-1273

* This event is not affiliated with any political party in Haiti, and is designed as a non-partisan event for the betterment of all Haitians.

10,000 Women; Lewis Harris Jr. & Alan Krigman Seek Change Over UCD Part 1

Pictured in the photo above: Lewis Harris Jr., former employee for the Office of Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell and Alan Krigman, West Philadelphia businessman. Krigman is in a battle for poor black and white neighbors. Krigman feels that neighbors whose lives are invested in West Philadelphia believe that neighborhood safety and improvement initiatives should originate at a grass roots level by those most directly impacted, and should be moved forward by leaders who are members of the community and share its collective vision. Krigman and Harris Jr. are against some of the so-called community associations who really represent just a few very atypical residents.

10,000 Women; Lewis Harris Jr. & Alan Krigman Seek Change Over UCD Part 1
by Van Stone vspfoundation@yahoo.com (215) 747-8746

This past Sunday in Philadelphia marked the beginning of the number 10,000 being used by a positive community for the meaning of men ending crime and unclean environments in the city. Taking the lead for the men is the Islamic leadership. The number 10 or any number leading off by the digit 10 in a spiritual sense means earthly completeness. So, black men can completely make a city safe and clean regardless if individuals disagree. What may soon follow this call for 10 is a call for 10,000 women. Having local 10,000 women using leadership roles will project that men will be able to aid abused women and children from abusive men in Philadelphia. And these loving women will help to identify abusive women that abuse the court system going on to wrongfully incarcerate positive black men. Taking the lead for the women should be the Christian leadership.

In other news concerning safe and clean environment: In West Philadelphia Alan Krigman, a businessman living in the section of University City, has taken the battle to make good change for poor folks to heart. First, Krigman has written about the company University City District (UCD) and its work to eliminate property from the poor. Second and most recently, Alan has meet with Lewis Harris Jr., likely winner of the 3rd Voting Commissioner seat come November 6, 2007 over incumbent Joe Duda, to discuss getting help to dismantle UCD so that the poor can keep themselves from becoming homeless in University City. Lewis Harris Jr., a former employee of the Office of Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell, is one of the originators of successful proposals that helped both the poor and the homeless in Blackwell’s district. Alan uses a poetic format to explain it.

“Make believe you head-up a civic organization of some kind,” says Krigman. “Being a right-minded person, your goal is to use your resources – your time and that of the others in the group, any influence you may have with the powers-that-be, and whatever money you can find – to improve the quality of life in the area. While we’re playing “let’s pretend,” say that you’ve found a combination of public and private sources of funds willing to donate $855,000 to support a big project – one that will really make a difference,” says Krigman. Krigman is concerned that UCD projects hurt the poor.

“What would that project be? Some kind of educational program, perhaps to keep kids in school or to teach useful skills to adolescents who’d already dropped out and were heading nowhere but toward trouble? How about jobs in the neighborhood that would not only serve useful purposes but also provide sources of income while giving people a sense of accomplishment and experience that will help them build a work ethic? Maybe setting up a day care center to bring seniors who have time on their hands and love in their hearts together with youngsters who need supervision, decent meals, and a safe place to play – while their adult family members are earning a living,” says Krigman.

“You can probably think of a lot of other worthwhile ideas. I’ll bet, however, that installing new sidewalk lighting in front of the stores on 52nd St, Baltimore Ave, or 46th & Spruce doesn’t come to mind. You’d have to be totally out of touch with reality, or to have an agenda you’d rather nobody knew about, to think this was the best way to use such a vast sum of money. Yet that’s exactly what’s happening. The University City District (UCD), which dances to the tune of the University of Pennsylvania, got $855,000 from the state’s Department of Transportation, the city’s Neighborhood Transformation Initiative, and the private William Penn Foundation for lights on Baltimore Avenue from 45th to 50th,” he says. A project with this kind of dollars really needs to be probed. Krigman wants to be sure it is a “bottom-up rather than top-down development” mission.

Lewis Harris Jr. is the Green Party candidate for City Commissioner in Philadelphia, PA.

Ahmad Mitchel-El's visions and reflections on immigration and race:

Green Party of Suffolk - www.gpsuffolk.org

Ahmad Ali Mitchel-El, Green Party member, and write-in candidate for Suffolk County Executive, has released his vision for addressing immigration issues in Suffolk County, New York.

"Both President Bush's guest worker program, and Governor Spitzer's driver's license issue, show more progressive leadership than the current attitude of our county administration," notes Mitchel-El.

Mitchel-El states, "Hiring Centers should be part of an overall plan to make the immigration process work. You don't have to maintain a hostile, illegal status for undocumented people. We can work towards a naturalization process that can really make sense, by registering day laborers, paying them fair wages, and letting them pay taxes, in order to pay for all this."

Ahmad Mitchel-El's reflections on immigration and race:

I find it so hypocritical that the people who control politics and thus government are predominantly descendants of Europeans who did not have to face the racist bureaucracy that Latinos face today. We do not hear complaints about the Canadian border or about Russian and Irish undocumented immigrants--only these Latinos, who can’t seem to physically just assimilate and disappear into the work force.

When is America going to wake up and recognize its own evil history? Here on Long Island, we can’t even allow the Shinnecock the sovereignty over their own land. Can we still be in denial about crimes committed against the native population? As an African American, I believe that we are fools to continue supporting political parties that are only interested in power not progress. How can it be that we still face nooses in 2007?

All of us need to stop and fight the policies of exclusion and preservation of privilege, level the playing field, make it fair for all humans.

When a company sponsors an immigrant, he actually becomes indentured to that company for the term of his process at a rate of pay inferior to his domestic equivalent. He can’t leave to compete for a higher paying job. And, the companies get away with hiring employees off of the street, who are non-union workers, who they can pay less than scale, give no benefits and no fair compensation. Yet, the company is not penalized.

Mitchel-El is a lifelong resident of Suffolk County, a professional musician, and a producer on progressive radio station WBAI 99.5 FM. Mitchel-El is also a peace and justice activist, who has performed at the PeaceSmiths Coffeehouse in Amityville. Mitchel-El's campaign has already received coverage in the media, including: the opinion page of Newsday; "Noticias" newspaper; "Wake Up Call with Jim Krivo" and "In The Moment" on WBAI radio; and "'Tis Treason" on WUSB radio.

The Green Party is an alternative to the Democrats and Republicans. The Green Party has 10 key values, which include "social and economic justice" and "diversity." Greens at the local, state and national level have supported tolerance and justice for undocumented people.

Election day is Tuesday, November 6, 2007. In order to show support for Ahmad Mitchel-El and the Green Party, you may write Mitchel-El's name in the slot at the top of the voting machine. A pencil should be provided, and a poll worker can help direct you.

Clifford Thornton Accepts Nomination for Steering Committee Vacancy

MORE VOICES, MORE CHOICES

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSpEvMN52SY

Clifford Thornton of the Green Party of Connecticut has accepted the nomination for the Green Party Steering Committee vacancy. Clifford is a former Green Party candidate for Governor of Connecticut and an active member of the Green Party Black Caucus.

Clifford is the founder of Efficacy, a non-profit organization that has been concentrating efforts on drug policy reform.

Prior to working full-time in drug policy, Mr. Thornton was a middle-level manager with Southern New England Telephone Company in Connecticut. He was in charge of the delivery of all internal telecommunications to the corporation, serving some 10,000 employees with a $50,000,000 annual budget, supervising 23 people. He worked at SNET for 25 years. He was (and is) very active in community projects as well. He served as Vice President of the Greater Hartford Festival of Jazz for three years. This three-day event attracted approximately 75,000 people every year with a mere $50,000 budget. He also served as Parliamentarian of the Greater Hartford African American Alliance and was president of Jazz Radio New England.

The NOMINATION PERIOD WILL BE OPEN FOR 2 WEEKS, Monday OCTOBER 8 - Sunday OCTOBER 21.

DISCUSSION WILL RUN 2 WEEKS, Monday OCTOBER 22 - Sunday NOVEMBER 4.

VOTING PERIOD WILL RUN 1 WEEK, MONDAY NOVEMBER 5 - 11:59 p.m. PT, SUNDAY NOVEMBER 11.

NOMINATIONS SHOULD BE SENT TO secretary@gp.org and may also be sent to the national votes list. Self-nominations are allowed.

The voting will be conducted using a ranked choice (IRV) vote with NOTA as an option.

Clifford's maturity and leadership ability would be an asset to the Steering Committee and the Green Party as a whole. Please vote for Cliff and encourage other national delegates to do the same. He will be my first choice.

DC Statehood Green leader Asa Gordon to speak on 2000 and 2004 voter disenfranchisement and the constitutional remedy

WASHINGTON, DC -- DC Statehood Green Party activist Asa Gordon has been engaged by the Social Action & Leadership School for Activists (SALSA) of the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) for the fall term, and will deliver a presentation on "The Constitutional MAP (Mal-Apportionment Penalty) for Voter Disfranchisement."

The presentation will take place Thursday, October 11, 2007, 6:45 to 8:45 pm at the Institute for Policy Studies, 1112 16th Street NW, Suite 600, in Washington, DC.

The Constitutional Mal-Apportionment Penalty for Voter Disfranchisement: On December 12 , 2000, the US Supreme Court cited racial redemptionist era decisions in its Bush v. Gore ruling that the US Constitutional does not guarantee a national right to vote. The proper constitutional response to the electoral abuses in the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections is not a passage of a 'right to vote' constitutional amendment, but enforcement of the existing mal-apportionment penalty for the denial or abridgment of a citizen's right to vote as provided in Section 2 of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution.

Mr. Gordon's lecture will provide the historical context for recent disfranchisement of voters and will argue that the most effective remedy is the one enacted constitutionally during the Reconstruction Era.

Asa Gordon is the Chair of DC Statehood Green Partys Electoral College Task Force, a member of Delegate Apportionment Committee of the Green Party of the United States <http://www.gp.org>, and a member of the Green Party's Speakers Bureau<http://www.gp.org/speakers>. Mr. Gordon is also the founder and executive director of the Douglass Institute of Government <http://members,aol.com/digasa/dig.htm>. His work includes studies on democratizing the Electoral College, the constitutional penalty for voter

disfranchisement, the 14th Amendment 'right to vote' provision, and Neo-Confederate culture in American politics.

Asa Gordon's work has been recognized by officials such as Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), who, in response to a proposed solution brought forward by Mr. Gordon on the voting rights remedy, said, "This is the most amazing proposition that has ever been brought forward, and if it is accurate, it could change the whole outcome of the voting process in the United States."

Contact information for Asa Gordon: 202-635-7926,
Electorsus@aol.com
Brief bio of Mr. Gordon
http://www.gp.org/speakers/gordonasa.shtml

SALSA and the IPS http://www.hotsalsa.org
202-234-9382, ext. 229, netfa@hotsalsa.org

Information on SALSA lecture classes
http://www.hotsalsa.org/index.php?view=calendar
http://www.hotsalsa.org/index.php?InstructorID=107
http://www.hotsalsa.org/index.php?cid=1000719

MORE INFORMATION

The DC Statehood Green Party
http://www.dcstatehoodgreen.org

~ END ~

Time for Mass Resignation From the Democratic Party; QUIT THE PARTY!

QUIT THE PARTY!

By DAVE LINDORFF

Cynthia McKinney is doing it. It's time for you to do it too.

Have you, like many Americans, found yourself wondering why President Bush, over and over again, would hand the Democrats in Congress the weapon needed to bring him down?

Just look at the list:

Last year it was the nominations of John Roberts and Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court. Then, in the new Congress, it was a $120-billion supplemental funding request for continuing the hugely unpopular war in Iraq, followed by a bill to legalize the very National Security Agency spying program which he has been running illegally for the past half decade, and that has had people of all political stripes in an uproar. To top that off, knowing that the Democrats were gunning for his Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales, Bush made sure to have the NSA spying bill put Gonzales in charge of the operation! And now this same president is coming to Congress to ask for another nearly $200 billion for his Iraq War!

At first glance, you have to wonder, why on earth would he do this?

But then look what happens:

In every instance, with the exception of the latest Iraq War funding bill (and we know what's going to happen with that), the Democrats have folded and given the president exactly what he wanted, causing apoplexy among the Democratic and independent voters who put them in charge of Congress last November. After all, Democrats ran for office last year saying they would stand up to the president, defend the Constitution, and end the war. Now each time Bush taunts them and they fold, public support for the Democratic Congress slumps further, to the point that today, they are even less popular that Bush-quite an accomplishment!

This is a truly impressive strategy-surely the brainchild of Bush's Rasputin, the dearly departed (to Texas) Karl Rove, who long ago understood that the Democrats would not have the courage and strength of conviction to stand against even a president as profoundly despised and distrusted as Bush.

So all Bush has to do to promote a Republican victory in the 2008 elections is keep putting forward outrageous bills, keep expanding the war, perhaps to include Iran, and keep undermining the Constitution. The Democrats will enable or sign on to each horrible act in turn. And with each such shameless action taken by the Democratic Congress, they further enrage 2008 voters.

The Democrats, under Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (surely two of the sorriest excuses for leaders that Congress has had in modern history), simply don't get it. They don't realize they're being played for suckers and losers. And they don't even realize that they are alienating their base.

Which brings us to what needs to be done.

The Democrats in Congress, and at the head of the party, need to receive a serious wake-up call. Since they're clearly too dumb or too out of touch to realize what's happening, we need to send them a message they can't ignore-the political equivalent of a car bomb.

I'm talking about mass resignations from the Democratic Party, with every person who resigns and becomes an independent or who changes their registration to a third party sending a message to the DNC explaining why he or she is quitting.

It starts small with a few people here and a few people there, but as Arlo Guthrie once put it, pretty soon we're talking about a movement, and you can join it right here!

A couple of months back, I set up an email address for people to register at, and listed it on my website. To date, over 600 people have mailed in saying they are quitting the Democratic Party until Democrats in Congress begin impeachment proceedings against Bush and Cheney, and until they cut of all funding for the Iraq War.

Now it's time to really kick this campaign into high gear.

A few days ago, Cynthia McKinney, the gutsy and outspoken former congresswoman from Georgia who filed the first and so far only bill of impeachment against George W. Bush in the waning days of the last Congress, called me at home to say she wants to sign on. That's a nice start to the campaign!

You read it first here: Former Rep. McKinney Quits the Democratic Party!

So how about you? Think about it: If you were to accept the official line, George Bush won the presidency in 2000 by capturing the state of Florida by 537 votes. And this movement has already got more than that number of people who are no longer going to be Democrats! If we could get 537 people in each state of the union to sign on and drop their party affiliation in protest, the Democratic leadership would have to start contemplating how many close states they are going to lose next year because of their abject failure to act on principle and with courage in Congress.

Better still, if we could get 100,000 or 500,000 people to drop their party affiliation nationwide, that would send a really powerful signal.

The beauty of this plan of action is that it is easy to do. And Democratic officials, from the DNC to local officeholders and county committees watch those registration totals like hawks, so they'll spot any de-registering trend really quickly. In fact, if registrations start to drop, you'll see local party officials start pressuring their Congressional representatives to take action and do something to stem the flow. For one thing, if you deregister, you're off their mailing lists. That means they can't hit you up for money, and they can't target you for get-out-the-vote drives. (Meanwhile, in many states, you don't even forfeit your right to participate in Democratic primaries by dropping your party registration, so you can still vote against Hillary and the rest of the warmongers in the party.)

Oh, you say, we can't just quit the party and let the Republicans win again!

Really? And just what have we gotten for our support for the Democrats in 2006? The war is still fully funded, and in fact has gotten worse, with 30,000 more troops in the country, not counting the 100,000 or so private mercenaries. Spying on Americans here a home has been legalized, with the help of the Democrats. (Nancy Pelosi can use threats of party discipline to prevent members from moving on impeachment, but she won't crack the whip to make them protect the Bill of Rights, or to defund the war?) And Bush is still issuing those signing statements, so any bills of consequence that Democrats have tried to pass have either been killed by Republican maneuvering, or vetoed.

And public support for the Democratic Congress is in the teens.

Clearly the only way to save the Democrats from themselves is to make it clear to them that they have to change or die.

And the way to do that is to join the "I Quit the Party" movement!

So click here and be a quitter. (Remember to get a voter registration form and follow through by canceling your Democratic Party affiliation!)

After you quit, then go to Dem.org, where Steve Fornier is trying to help organize people who have left the Democratic Party, but still want to be democrats. To learn more about Fornier's idea, read his recent CounterPunch article.

Note: You can also help build the movement by sending this article and link to every progressive person and progressive website you can think of. It's time to take quitting the party viral.

Dave Lindorff is the author of Killing Time: an Investigation into the Death Row Case of Mumia Abu-Jamal. His book of CounterPunch columns titled "This Can't be Happening!" is published by Common Courage Press. Lindorff's newest book is "The Case for Impeachment",
co-authored by Barbara Olshansky.

September 27, 2007

He can be reached at: dlindorff@yahoo.com

http://www.counterpunch.com/lindorff09272007.html

Green Party urges dropping all Jena Six charges, probe racism in justice system

Related Posts:

A White Person's Meditation on the Jena 6 Student : I am a white woman. This article is my perspective on the Jena 6 Students and their plight.

News Video: Green Party member Diane F. White raises issue of police brutality in Harrisburg, PA

Ex-Congresswoman urges third-party support

At Green Party event in W-B, Cynthia McKinney says black voters should review options.

By Rory Sweeney rsweeney@timesleader.com
Staff Writer

Former U.S. Rep. Cynthia McKinney meets local activists and members of the Luzerne County Green Party at a fundraiser.

Clark Van Orden/The Times Leader
Times Leader Photo Store

WILKES-BARRE – Possibly portending a party switch, former U.S. Rep. Cynthia McKinney said that black voters must reconsider their blanket support for Democratic candidates and preached “principles over party” at a sparsely attended meeting of the Luzerne County Green Party on Tuesday afternoon at the Grapevine Grille.

Arriving somewhat beyond fashionably late after appearing on a local talk radio show, McKinney, flanked by county Green Party co-chairman Carl Romanelli, worked the 20-person crowd. The event was timed oddly to match McKinney’s traveling schedule, Romanelli said.

Several local activists and aspiring Green Party politicians were there, including Ron Felton, president of the Wilkes-Barre Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and U.S. congressional candidate John Murphy.

McKinney, a Georgia Democrat, served in the House of Representatives from 1993 to 2003, and from 2005 to 2007. She lost in the 2006 Democratic primary.

McKinney repeatedly railed against her party, saying Democrats “didn’t even fight for your right to vote and your right to representation” in reference to the disenfranchisement of black voters in the 2000 Florida presidential election.

She suggested that black voters, 90 percent of whom vote Democratic, should consider third parties.

“We have to be willing to do something that we’ve never done before so that we can get some things we’ve never had before,” she said.

Black support would “instantly” create a three-party system, Romanelli said.

“It’s not a white person’s party any more than it’s a man’s party or a woman’s party,” said Murphy, who is challenging U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts, R-Lancaster.

He joked that Democrats and Republicans have merged to create the Democratic Republican United National Committee, or DRUNC. “It’s one drunken, corporate party,” he said.

The arguments struck a chord with Felton. “I absolutely do believe that the time is right for a third party because people are frustrated,” he said. “Maybe African-Americans can help the Green Party and other parties to show our discontent … for the parties and the status quo.”

After conquering slavery and segregation, he said, “the next big triumph for us (black American citizens) as a people is to become more politically active.”

“The Democratic Party is where social movements go to die,” Murphy said.

Frustration was also voiced at an inability to control media depictions. The Rev. Kenneth Burnett of Williamsport said they’d likely be portrayed as “a bunch of nuts who got together at a restaurant and talked about revolution.” To prevent such distortion, McKinney publicly addressed a reporter, demanding that the account be “accurately reflective of what happened here.”

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