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Need I say, the recent U.S. Senate election shows that this is a year of opportunity to win in some state-house Senate and House districts.

I urge there to be a few, say 5+ effective (that is, playing to win) campaigns in likely districts, and to be the alternative to the Republicans. By not playing at that level, the Green/Rainbow party can only look on from the sidelines.

A state senator need only be a resident of a district at the time of election.

Continue reading Opportunity knocks for Green Rainbow
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The same arguments that Scott Brown used against “Obamacare” in his successful bid for US Senate should be used to repeal Chapter 58 here in Massachusetts. Is it a surprise that the people who have been living and breathing the trial run for “Obamacare” don’t like it? In what other industrialized democracy would voters accept the system that we have?

There’s some hyprocisy in Brown’s being FOR the chapter 58 at the state level and AGAINST “Obamacare” at the national level.

Continue reading It was indeed about “Obamacare”

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Weeks like this are hog heaven for political junkies, and a downright paradise for the Punditry, who’ll get at least two weeks’ paychecks for spinning out the endless whys and hows of the decline and fall we witnessed tonight. No reason we can’t play. Though I think, as Mike Heichmann points out in a comment appended to the post below, we’re probably going to be more interested in figuring out What It All Means. For us.

Me, I’m not sure. And…

Continue reading Mr. Brown Goes to Washington

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I want to share some of my thoughts on this recent phenomenon.  I had the pleasure of joining a protest against a Carbon Trading Summit in NYC this past week.  The Reverend Billy Talen (recent Green Party mayoral candidate for New York City) was on hand to speak the good word as well as a motley crew of activists, scientists, youth, and engaged bystanders.  The protest did not make a big splash, as far as I know, but just participating in these kinds of events can be an empowering and educative experience.  Now on to those jerks we were protesting…

Continue reading A Little about Climate Justice
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I wasn’t going to vote today. I was lukewarm on a few different options that I was considering:

1) Write in a candidate I believe in – the clearest statement my vote could make.

2) Vote for Joe Kennedy – support a third party anti-war, anti-corporate-duopoly candidate

3) Vote for Martha Coakley – keep the Senate seat out of the hands of a regressive/oppressive Republican.

But leading up to today I felt stronger and stronger about throwing in with the largest bloc of Massachusetts residents — those who won’t be voting at all.

Then along came the pleas from friends. Now, I’m not moved by the inside-the-box thinking that accompanies these pleas. But today I’m making a swap. While my heart wants to stand in solidarity with the people of the world that the corporate duopoly is ravaging, and raise my voice against this brutal and unjust system instead of tacitly supporting it, I’ve made another decision — a somewhat crass political decision. I asked one of my Coakley-appealing-friends to cast their vote in November for the Green-Rainbow Party candidate for governor, no matter what impact that vote might have on a precious Democratic victory. The result is that today I will begrudgingly vote for the Democratic Party candidate for US Senator.

Continue reading Vote, Then Organize
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It sure wasn’t easy for a nine year old kid to make sense of the world in 1968. I was getting one version of reality at home, in school, and at church, and a comforting version it was, as it taught me my place (on top), and my country’s place (on top), and pretty much  everyone else in the world’s place in the cosmic and global hierarchy. But … there was an alternate version, and that one arrived weekly via LIFE Magazine, which I read religiously. And I can still remember the photos and the confusion they spawned, especially in 1968. Photos of American troops reeling in retreat during Tet. Huh? Athletes giving the black power salute at the Olympics. Furious kids in the streets of Chicago and the offices of the President of Columbia University. Bobby Kennedy lying on the floor of a hotel kitchen.

And, of course, a balcony in Memphis.

It all didn’t add up.

Continue reading Whose King? Our King

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As an independent and someone still seen as a political figure with integrity, I have been asked again and again who I am supporting on Tuesday. As someone steeped in the policy issues and only interested in what will be most effective for the regular people of Massachusetts, I have four key things to say.  

Continue reading You Must Vote Tuesday

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I can’t help but observe that the health care “reforms” that the Democratic Party is trying so hard to preserve in Ted Kennedy’s name would be summarily rejected by the voting public in countries that have single payer health care.  If any European, Canadian, Australian, South African, South American, or Japanese leader tried to introduce in his/her country what Obama is peddling to us, he/she’d be out of office quickly.

Democrats in Massachusetts like to say that they have single payer health care on their platform, but that hasn’t advanced anything.  In fact, we go backwards.  Any real step towards single payer would require the immediate repeal of Chapter 58 and legislation known as Obama-care that is closely modeled after Chapter 58.

So why should we support the national “reform” that is modeled after Chapter 58?

I wish there were a Green-Rainbow candidate for whom to cast a vote in the special election.  Without one, and without a candidate who is with me on health care, peace, re-localization, and controlling corporate influence in politics, I’m left with casting a vote for none of the above.

If the Obama’s health care reform was such a good thing for ordinary people, ordinary people in Massachusetts who support Chapter 58 should be easy to find.  Funny how one doesn’t see these ordinary people promoting it.

I know some Republicans who are planning to vote for Scott Brown primarily to stop the national insurance company welfare plan (aka health reform).  Many of these people have been or can be persuaded to support single payer health care after hearing a Green perspective.  After all, in countries where single payer exists it is supported by conservatives and progressives, for very good reason (this reality is kept out of the domestive red vs blue debate here).  The program that the Democratic Party is pushing is not a step towards single payer.

I admire Ted Kennedy for many things, but he made a wrong turn on the road to bringing world-class universal health care into this country.

Let’s stop being the example to the world of what NOT to do in public policy.

Continue reading Those “blue” reforms

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The horrific scenes in Haiti tend to hit most everyone in their hearts, in a place that is guarded from political squabbles or self-aggrandizement.

But Naomi Klein, author of The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism, points out one egregious exception on her website. Apparently, the Heritage Foundation sought to strengthen her argument that disaster capitalism is on the rise, by getting all giddy about the opportunities this combined human and natural disaster has created:

In addition to providing immediate humanitarian assistance, the U.S. response to the tragic earthquake in Haiti earthquake offers opportunities to re-shape Haiti’s long-dysfunctional government and economy as well as to improve the public image of the United States in the region.

It’s not just Pat Robertson who is worthy of disdain.

For coverage on Boston-area reactions to the crisis, check out the Boston Haitian Reporter.

Our hearts and prayers are with all the victims of this devastation and their friends and families.

Continue reading Disaster capitalism hits Haiti?