{Interesting summary of the Green Party and its platform. Not sure this gets to the essence of what the Green Party is all about, but that’s probably because the Green Party itself doesn’t really get to the essence of what it’s all about. -ed.}

By Joshua Fisher, OpEdNews.com

If you are like me, you were raised believing that the Green Party was a party of Socialists and Communists; and if you were taught in school like I was taught in school, then you were taught to believe that if the Green Party was a party of Socialists and Communists, then, by default, they were a party of Fascists and Dictators. I have just finished doing extensive research on them (including reading their entire 65-page platform), and I can assure you that you probably aren’t getting the full Green Party story.

History

Started in New Zealand and brought to prominence in Europe, the Green Party came to the United States in the 1980s. Then, it was known as the Green Committees of Correspondence, a decentralized network of green organizations formed by members of the North American Bioregional Congress. In 1984, the electoral branch of the Green Party was founded by 60 people at the Macalaster College in St. Paul, Minn. In 1991, the name Greens/Green Party USA was adopted after the electoral and non-electoral wings of the organizations merged. In American electoral politics, the Green Party gained prominence in 1996 and 2000, when they ran Ralph Nader for President. As of 2005, the Green Party had 305,000 registered members in states allowing party registration, and tens of thousands of members and contributors nationwide. Currently, there are 133 elected Greens across the United States, and in the 2008 Presidential election, they were on 31 state ballots, plus the District of Columbia, which translates to 70 percent of voters and 68 percent of Electoral College votes.

In case there was any lingering doubt, the Supreme Court today just destroyed any pretense that our current form of government is a democracy or even representative government. Voting against their own supposed states’ rights judicial philosophy, the conservative justices just told the state of Montana that it has no right to limit corporate spending on elections. Since corporations are chartered into existence by the state in the first place, and can have their charters removed, it’s laughable that the Supreme Court would extend personhood and First Amendment protections to these non-human psychopathic entities.

This disturbing trend foreshadows a looming battle between the haves and the have-nots. I’m convinced it’s going to get uglier before it gets better, and that incrementalism is a failed strategy.

Below the jump is the full summary of this latest Supreme Court opinion by SCOTUSblog.

350 Massachusetts:

Dear proponents of 350ppm and climate justice:

You are invited to officially launch people-powered 350 Massachusetts!

You and/or your organization will have an opportunity to help shape emerging campaigns and the structure of the network. 350MA will be joining other existing 350 state networks that carry out state and regional campaigns. It will also aim to be a powerful part of the regional, national and international climate movement that gets us back to 350ppm.

350.org US Campaign Director, Phil Aroneanu will join us at this meeting to share communications strategy and campaign organizing expertise.

Thursday, June 28th

Potluck: 6-7pm

Meeting: 7-9pm

First Church Cambridge

11 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA

(Harvard Square T stop on the red line).