REGARDLESS OF WHAT ACTION OR ORGANIZATION IS INVOLVED;
If the Democrats are using a "front" to suck the life out of progressives:
Not attempting to counter the Democrats, just by being there, is to assist the Democrats!!!
Not showing up is only out of the question when the Democrats are so in control
they can kick you out for being in the Green Party.
Even then, a little persistent subterfuge by a few individuals could well still be called for. If the Democrats own it so much, make them clarify that often and as publicly as possible,
make the word come down from on high that they cannot do that. If they do not, show up often to offer the Green Party alternative.
The most important part of organizing around action has always been mostly just conversation anyway. Don't leave those young progressives and populists out there hanging,
just because they fail your purity test of who to hang out with. Feel free to point out how to frame our message(s),
but don't waste (y)our time, telling people not to show,
or that we cannot endorse. Unlike most of us, which is maybe a good thing,
I'm unlikely to get excited about something that is not organic to our party. We cannot recruit solely at our own meeting
(at least not in WI), so we need greens to get out there and mingle,
where a different point of view can help the most. If something (like US Uncut) gets me excited about working with newbie activists outside the party,
and/or countering the Democrats wherever progressives might gather,
please don't suck it dry, just tell me what you know, not how evil it would be of me to give them my life's work. (generic & uninformed response, feel free to recycle this missive in any similar context) Monte Letourneau
WIGP Rec Sec 2011
they can kick you out for being in the Green Party.
Even then, a little persistent subterfuge by a few individuals could well still be called for. If the Democrats own it so much, make them clarify that often and as publicly as possible,
make the word come down from on high that they cannot do that. If they do not, show up often to offer the Green Party alternative.
The most important part of organizing around action has always been mostly just conversation anyway. Don't leave those young progressives and populists out there hanging,
just because they fail your purity test of who to hang out with. Feel free to point out how to frame our message(s),
but don't waste (y)our time, telling people not to show,
or that we cannot endorse. Unlike most of us, which is maybe a good thing,
I'm unlikely to get excited about something that is not organic to our party. We cannot recruit solely at our own meeting
(at least not in WI), so we need greens to get out there and mingle,
where a different point of view can help the most. If something (like US Uncut) gets me excited about working with newbie activists outside the party,
and/or countering the Democrats wherever progressives might gather,
please don't suck it dry, just tell me what you know, not how evil it would be of me to give them my life's work. (generic & uninformed response, feel free to recycle this missive in any similar context) Monte Letourneau
WIGP Rec Sec 2011
On Wed, Jun 8, 2011 at 7:23 PM, Audrey Clement <aclement65@hotmail.com> wrote:
Howie Hawkins says GPUS shouldn't be concerned that a key organizer of the October 6 event is a Democratic Party operative. I disagree. First, it's not just the Greens that the Democrats want to sidetrack. It's progressives of all political persuasions, and the reason is obvious. Only if the Democrats can shore up their weak majority can they oust the radical right, which is the stated intention of Democrats.com. The easiest way to do that short of responding to progressive demands is to divert their attention away from the electoral arena. That way no matter how many progressives protest in Freedom Square, the Democrats will face no opposition from the left on Election Day.
I think this ploy is transparent and am surprised a veteran Green Party campaigner would question it. Regarding the charge of sectarianism, I'm not trying to exclude anyone from protests. I simply don't plan to attend, and I recommend that anyone who is serious about maximizing the Green Party vote stick to his/her district between Labor Day and Election Day. Audrey Clement
GPVA —–Original Message—– From: hhawkins@igc.org
Sent: Wednesday, June 08, 2011 7:06 PM
To: natlcomvotes@green.gpus.org
Subject: Re: [usgp-nc] FW: Our Tahrir – who said it's a PDA project? 2011 election year?? Whether David Swanson is a Democrat is irrelevant. The idea that Democrats would organize a demonstration that is making demands on a Democratic administration in order to sidetrack Green candidates seems pretty farfetched to me. Usually, they try to stop demonstrations as elections approach. The question is whether the demonstration is worth supporting. There's nothing wrong with united fronts with people who are Democrats or Republicans around shared demands. It doesn't compromise our political independence. To exclude anybody based on party affiliation would be sectarian — and Greens know all about that. It is often Greens who are left off the speakers platform and the endorsement lists in these coalitions. We should be setting the example for how to do united front actions that are truly inclusive. — Howie Hawkins, NY delegate —–Original Message—–From: Audrey Clement <aclement65@hotmail.com>
Maggie, One of the principal organizers of the October 6 event is David Swanson. David Swanson is a Democrat. His blog is located here: www.Democrats.com The About link on Swanson's website is reproduced below. It quite honestly and forthrightly declares the affiliation of Swanson's organization with the Democratic Party. Thus there is no mistaking Swanson's intent. He wants to divert progressives who might otherwise run candidates against the Democrats into other activities. October 6 is one of those activities. Anyone who is fool enough to buy Swanson's hype deserves what they get at the polls, and that goes for the SC which just endorsed the October 6 event. Audrey Clement
Sent: Jun 8, 2011 9:07 AM
To: "The natlcomvotes (aka National Committee Vot" <natlcomvotes@green.gpus.org>
Subject: Re: [usgp-nc] FW: Our Tahrir – who said it's a PDA project? 2011 election year??
GPVA *********************
"About Democrats.com "Democrats.com is an independent community of Democratic Party and progressive activists. We are funded entirely by contributions from our members and by progressive advertisers. (1) We proudly support the Democratic Party and its candidates, but they do not control us in any way. "Democrats.com was launched at the 2000 Democratic convention in Los Angeles by two veteran Democratic consultants Bob Fertik and David Lytel. (Lytel left at the end of 2002 to launch ReDefeatBush.com.)
Our vision was to create the leading news and community Web site for the progressive base of the Democratic Party, in order to lead the fight against the radical right and the Republican Party led by George Bush and Dick Cheney. We called ourselves the "Aggressive Progressives." "We quickly fulfilled our vision after the polls closed on Election Day 2000 and reports streamed in from Florida about the infamous "butterfly ballot" and the disenfranchisement of tens of thousands of Democratic voters. Long before the word "blogging" was invented, we posted real-time news about the recount in Florida and the nationwide grassroots movement to "count every vote." "In December 2000, after the U.S. Supreme Court threw out 175,000 Florida ballots that had never been counted, we worked with the Congressional Black Caucus to write the brief they used to challenge Florida's electors on January 6, 2001 – a scene made famous at the start of Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9-11. "From 2000 to 2004, Democrats.com published the first and only daily news service by and for Democratic activists. Each newsletter contained roughly 20 links to the most important stories published that day, both in the mainstream media and on progressive Web sites. We also organized online and offline campaigns on urgent issues like opposing the invasion of Iraq. For more details, read our History. "On Election Day 2004, Democrats.com switched to a blog format. We expanded our efforts to end the wars, impeach George W. Bush for lying and war crimes, and elect more progressive Democrats. In 2006, we helped elect Democratic majorities to the House and Senate, and in 2008 we helped elected President Obama, who campaigned on a promise to bring our troops home from Iraq. "As of 2010, our e-mail list of supporters totals over 850,000, which makes us one of the largest and most effective progressive Democratic groups.
(1) We have never received a penny from George Soros or any other billionaire – unlike FOX, which is funded by Australian-born billionaire Rupert Murdoch and Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal.Date: Tue, 7 Jun 2011 23:06:11 -0700
Howie said Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers are not Democrats. David Swanson also told me that he has never been a Democrat. He also said he
From: mzhou_us@yahoo.com
To: natlcomvotes@green.gpus.org
Subject: [usgp-nc] FW: Our Tahrir – who said it's a PDA project? 2011 election year??
"will not support anyone from any party who supports wars". Audrey, why do you say Oct 2011 is "the month before the election"? Isn't the
election in 2012? If you're talking about the primaries, it's the Dems and the
Reps who would be extra busy campaigning, while "our Tahrir" is a direct affront
to both their policies, and to all their declared candidates. The Greens could
certainly use the networking with participants at this action, and make Greens
visible. Of course no one has to stay there the whole time. The One Nation Working Together rally October 2, 2010 had nothing to do with
the organizers of the Freedom Square initiative. One Nation was a huge,
toothless cheerleading event for the Dems, initiated by the big labor groups.
Even though many peace groups including UFPJ, UJP, UNAC etc. mobilized for it,
they were relegated to a remote corner with their own separate rally, that was
prevented from being heard by the majority of the participants. I don't
remember much about the Oct 17, 2009 Peace Action, but remember UJP was also
very active in that. But this current initiative is far more radical. It intends to voice real
defiance by occupying "our Tahrir Sq", directly in opposition to the current
war-mongering Democrats in the White House. The endorsing organizations are
also of the radical types. The wishy-washy UJP is not endorsing (yet anyway),
but the very strong UNAC (which includes quite a few socialist organizers,
though UNAC is non-partisan) has endorsed. My only fear is that not enough people will be mobilized for "our Tahrir",
making it easy to quash, as most Americans have not yet been mobilized against
the outrageous wars. If we can succeed in connecting the issues for them and
channeling their anger towards this collective resistance action, in time by
Oct, then this could be a real success both for progressive movements, and for
the Green party. Maggie Zhou
MA delegate ________________________________
From: "hhawkins@igc.org" <hhawkins@igc.org>
To: natlcomvotes@green.gpus.org
Sent: Mon, June 6, 2011 5:43:54 PM
Subject: Re: [usgp-nc] FW: Our Tahrir I signed on to this and I'm a city council candidate for the Nov 8 election. I
will make my participation part of my campaign: Syracuse faces a state-appointed
control board of bankers because of the federal government is starving the
cities to fund the wars and the austerity budget. I was contacted about this early by Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers, who are
not Democrats. I wouldn't worry about this being a sneaky Democratic trick. The
MO of the pro-Dem peace groups like UFPJ in 2004 is to call off demonstrations
against Democrats and their policies as elections approach. The symbolism of Freedom Square in DC at a time when pro-democracy movements are
taking over Freedom Squares for Baghdad to Cairo to Madrid to Madison is potent.
Hopefully, it will ignite a pro-democracy movement here. Without a strong
movement that makes pro-democracy demands on all parties, the Dems will remain
the uncontested defensive vote for the "lesser evil," a perception that makes
it so hard for the Greens to advance electorally. — Howie Hawkins —–Original Message—–
>From: vivek ananthan <viveka635@gmail.com>
>Sent: Jun 6, 2011 12:44 PM
>To: "The natlcomvotes (aka National Committee Votes) listserv is for
> decision-making and management of GP-US affairs."
><natlcomvotes@green.gpus.org>
>Subject: Re: [usgp-nc] FW: Our Tahrir
>
>Good point Audrey. I have the same question. Vivek GPPA
>
>On Mon, Jun 6, 2011 at 12:38 PM, Audrey Clement <aclement65@hotmail.com> >wrote:
>>
>> Dear NC Members:
>>
>> The SC has already endorsed the October 6, 2011 "people's occupation >> of
>>Washington, DC" organized by David Swanson and friends. I did not sign >>the
>>pledge to participate in the occupation, nor do I recommend that other >>Greens do
>>so. October 6 is exactly one month away from the election and the >>height of
>>campaign season. Is this a coincidence? I do not know. I do know that >>Swanson is
>>a Democrat, and that the Democrats would like nothing better than >>divert Greens
>>from working on third party election campaigns the month before the >>election.
>>
>> Is GPUS going to fall for this hype every election season?
>>
>> Audrey Clement
>> GPVA
>>
>>
>> Date: Mon, 6 Jun 2011 06:38:18 -0400
>> From: david@davidswanson.org
>> To:
>> Subject: Our Tahrir
>>
>>
>>
>> Our Tahrir Square: DC's Freedom Plaza on October 6th
>> By David Swanson
>> http://warisacrime.org/node/58074
>>
>> When other nations' governments go off track, their people do >> something about
>>it. In Tunisia and Egypt people have nonviolently claimed power in a >>way that
>>has inspired Americans in Wisconsin and other states, as well as the >>people of
>>Spain and the rest of the world.
>>
>> Washington, D.C., is the weakest point in our democracy, without which
>>state-level reform cannot succeed. Most Americans want our wars ended, >>our
>>corporations and billionaires taxed, and our rights expanded rather >>than
>>curtailed. We want our money invested in jobs and green energy, not a >>global
>>military that can't stop itself. Our government in Washington goes in >>the
>>opposite direction, opposing popular will on these major issues, >>regardless of
>>personality or party.
>>
>> On October 6th, a Thursday, the Afghanistan War will complete its >> first decade
>>as the United States goes into its 2012 austerity budget. Tahrir Square >>in
>>Cairo Egypt translates as Liberation Square. We have in Washington, >>D.C., a
>>square with the similar name: Freedom Plaza. This square is located >>between the
>>Capitol and the White House along Pennsylvania Avenue, and built into >>its
>>surface is a map of downtown Washington on which nonviolent resistance >>actions
>>can be conveniently planned.
>>
>> Today a coalition of organizations and prominent individuals is >> announcing at
>>http://october2011.org a plan to begin a people's occupation of >>Washington,
>>D.C., on October 6th, to build it into something larger on the 7th, >>8th, and
>>9th, and to not leave until we are satisfied. There is absolutely no >>reason
>>that our government must be permitted to continue functioning on behalf >>of Wall
>>Street and a war machine. In Afghanistan, the people protest our >>bombing of
>>their homes. We sit inside our own homes complaining about our economy, >>our
>>banks, our schools. Instead, we now have a chance to have a say, in >>solidarity
>>with others around the world, with success just as likely — if just as >>shocking
>>to those in power — as with past U.S. people's movements and the >>recent
>>advances in Tunisia and Egypt.
>>
>> This will not be another rally and march on a Saturday, make home >> movies, pat
>>ourselves on the back, and go home. We are coming to Washington to >>stay.
>> Today's announcement is an open invitation for all kinds of >> organizations,
>>national and local, to join in the early planning stages of this >>campaign. We
>>need not agree on political ideology or party or much else. We need >>only agree
>>that nonviolent resistance to a government that routinely ignores the >>will of
>>its people is appropriate in our nation as well — even above all, >>given our
>>nation's impact on the environment, global finances, and wars.
>>
>> Over this past weekend Wikileaks revealed that the U.S. government had >> been
>>quite upset with Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown for pulling >>troops out of
>>Iraq, and had accused him of something even worse: of having pulled the >>troops
>>out in order to please the British public and win an election. What, we >>might
>>ask, would be wrong with the U.S. government occasionally doing what >>the U.S.
>>public demands? When I'm in London later this week I will be pleased to >>let
>>them know we're alive over here with exciting plans for October, and in >>fact to
>>ask them to join in on October 6th — they have plenty of good squares >>over
>>there too.
>>
>> On the new website http://october2011.org, which lists an impressive >> number of
>>groups and individuals already committed, you can sign a pledge to be >>there on
>>October 6th and to stay. But how can you be sure you want to make that
>>commitment? How can you agree to travel great distances and make great
>>sacrifices? Sure, to be part of history, to be able to tell your >>grandchildren
>>you were there for the most famous event of the new century, you could >>do it.
>> But how can you be sure that's what this will be? Well, nothing is >> strictly
>>guaranteed, but you can sign up right here >>http://october2011.org/besure
>>committing to be there and to do this only if at least 50,000 other >>people do
>>the same. With that number of dedicated people, we will be able to kick >>start a
>>process of nonviolent change the likes of which we haven't seen in this >>country
>>in many years. Sign up there and we'll let you know how many others are >>with
>>you.
>>
>> Individuals can sign up and spread the word. You can also post on the >> website
>>your reasons for being there. So can organizations. By doing so, you >>join a
>>coalition and will be able to participate in the planning. This is a >>coalition
>>that is just beginning to be formed. It is not a new organization. >>Existing
>>organizations that promote the coalition website are in turn promoted >>by the
>>coalition. Get in touch to learn more: http://october2011.org/contact
>>
>> Media outlets can also sign on as intending to cover the campaign. >> Many
>>already have. I'll be discussing this on Lila Garrett's "Connect the >>Dots" on
>>KPFK today, on the Nicole Sandler Show, on GW on the Hill, and on Scott
>>Harris's "Between the Lines." Others are on lots of other shows. >>Already
>>independent video producers are devoting themselves to the cause. Check >>out
>>these videos by Dennis Trainor below. Get inspired. Make your own. Tell >>your
>>friends. Groups on the West Coast like the Backbone Campaign are >>already
>>planning training events and travel arrangements. If you need or can >>offer help
>>getting to D.C. let us know at http://october2011.org/travel In the >>meantime,
>>take the pledge to be there. That act alone will put a little bit of >>concern
>>into the minds of those ruining our country, and that will be something >>new:
>> http://october2011.org
>>
to paraphrase:
let's not go campaign for green party and candidates there,
it's where a mess of Dems are recruiting progressives and getting public attention,
just trying to betray a new crop of hopeful people, making them feel there is no alternative,
and it's right before the election when there are more important things to do
(Audrey, among very few others, always makes this much sense IMAO).
—
Monte Letourneau
WIGP 3rd Dist. CC Delegate,
GPUS WIGP National Committee Delegate, & WIGP.org Webweaver
also at: montesite.net & http://geanark.posterous.com/.
Geanark 
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