GPUS Press Release:
WASHINGTON, DC — The National Committee of the Green Party of the United States has confirmed the election of four new co-chairs, Mike Feinstein (from California), Farheen Hakeem (Minnesota), Jason Nabewaniec (New York; reelected), and David Strand (Minnesota); and the reelection of Holly Hart as the party’s national secretary.
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From GPUS:
Today members of the Green Party of the United States and our state Green
Parties reflect on a number of personal tragedies resulting from the events of September 11, 2001, and continue to work to prevent further tragedies resulting from these events.We note the importance of remembering those who died eight years ago and those survivors who work today for justice, peace, and the stability of a sustainable, democratic society.
We urge the Obama administration to fulfill the promises made to reverse the Bush administration policy of waging war in Iraq and Afghanistan in response to 9/11. We challenge President Obama to abandon his plans to commit another 20,000 American troops to the occupation of Afghanistan and demand that he withdraw all troops from Iraq, as he had promised during his Presidential campaign.
We believe that building a strong base of Green officeholders will increase pressure on the local, state, and federal level for more peaceful alternatives to occupation and war. We need your support to run more candidates.
On September 20th, 2001, the Green Party of the United States noted that a military response to the events of September 11, 2001 would lead to “a protracted war [that] will result in thousands, perhaps millions more civilian casualties, including many Americans, leading to further attacks against the U.S. and other nations and to possible destabilization of a region that includes Pakistan, which owns nuclear weapons…”
The Green Party notes that although a major incident has yet to occur in the United States, the U.S.-led response to the events of September 11, 2001 has resulted in 5,130 American deaths, over 30,000 injuries to American soldiers, an unknown number of civilian deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan – listed in published reports as anywhere between 100,000 and one million people – major bombings in Madrid in March of 2004 and London in July of 2005, and continued instability through the Middle East.
The Green Party continues to work toward its goal, also stated on September 20, 2001, of “peace with justice: peace which preserves the human rights and stability for all people in the Middle East, the U.S., and the rest of the world, and justice for those who have suffered death, injury, and loss”.Today we remember the losses of September 11, 2001, and re-commit ourselves to building a nation of peace, justice, human rights, and stability through our continued growth as an alternative to two administrations of war. We hope you will continue to support the Green Party of the United States.
Remember, the Green Party takes no money from real estate companies, private health insurance providers, or lobbyists. In fact, we don’t take ANY corporate money because we think corporate money in politics is wrong. If you agree, please help us today. Your donation to the Green Party will help us make sure we have a strong Green Party today and into the future.
The Steering Committee of the Green Party (US) consists of 7 “co-chairs”, plus a Treasurer and a Secretary. Four of the seven co-chair positions are up for election with 10 days left in the discussion period before a seven day voting period begins.
The debate among the National Committee, which elects the Steering Committee, has been intensifying over the last five days, however the debate has not been about the future direction of the party, but over challenges to two of the nominees qualifications. Steering Committee co-chairs have to be Delegates to the National Committee, but what isn’t clear is whether they have to be Delegates at the time they are nominated, or at the time they are elected.
The intense debate (hundreds of emails) has led to one of the challenged nominees, former presidential candidate kat swift of Texas, to withdraw her name from consideration. kat swift is currently an Alternate Delegate representing the National Women’s Caucus. kat swift ran for the Green Party’s presidential nomination in 2008 and in 2004, was a Green Party candidate for San Antonio City Council in 2007, and was co-chair of the Texas Green Party.
The other nomination being challenged is Nick Mellis, State Chair of the Green Party of New Jersey who is currently an Alternate Delegate representing New Jersey. Nick Mellis was a co-founder of the Green Party of New Jersey in 1995, helped organize the national Campus Greens in 2000, and was a candidate for New Jersey State Assembly in 2007. The Green Party of New Jersey State Council is currently debating a proposal to allow Mellis to switch places with one of their current delegates, however even this attempt is being challenged based on various bylaws and rules for GPUS and the GPNJ.
Also being elected at the same time is the Secretary position. Current Secretary, Holly Hart (IA) is seeking re-election. The other candidate is Audrey Clement (VA), who has been a Green Party member since 2005, a Delegate to the National Committee, and co-chair of the Bylaws, Rules, Policies & Procedures (BRPP) Committee. She was instrumental in securing ballot access in Virginia for Cynthia McKinney in 2008. Although debate on issues has been stifled due to the debate on candidate eligibilities, current Secretary Hart has been taking a lot of heat from the some of the Delegates/Alternates that have been most vocal in challenging the eligibility of Mellis and Swift, claiming that she should not have permitted them to be nominated.
The other six candidates for co-chairs of the GPUS Steering Committee to fill four seats are:
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This will be the first year that the Green Party (US) National Committee elects its Steering Committee via Online Voting rather than at the Annual National Meeting itself. However, nominations had to be made and accepted by noon today at the Annual National Meeting.
Four of the seven co-chair positions are being elected, as well as the Secretary position. The following National Committee Delegates are running for Steering Committee:
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Go here:
http://www.livestream.com/greenpartyus
Note that when they aren’t showing live footage the channel is running various past Green videos.
I’ve also embedded the video feed below the “read more” so try that if you want! However you can chat live on the other site…
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The Summer issue of Green Pages is now on-line at:
http://gp.org/greenpages-blog/
read … comment … spread
Features
Tamez Stronghold
Indigenous response to the U. S. Border Wall
by Wendy Kenin, California Green Party
http://gp.org/greenpages-blog/?p=1234
The dangers of the Connecticut campaign finance law
State Greens sue to pull down law prohibitive to minor parties
by Mike DeRosa, co-chair of the Green Party of Connecticut
http://gp.org/greenpages-blog/?p=1230
Greens mourn a founding member
Guy Chichester of New Hampshire dies
http://gp.org/greenpages-blog/?p=1226
This year’s gathering to be cost-effective and fun
2009 Annual National Meeting to be held in Durham, NC
by Jan Martell, North Carolina Green Party
http://gp.org/greenpages-blog/?p=1222
The first 100 days under a Green Party administration
by John Rensenbrink, Maine Green Independent Party
http://gp.org/greenpages-blog/?p=1215
The First 100 Days
http://gp.org/greenpages-blog/?p=1212
Hunger strike for strong climate legislation continues
by SKCM-Curry, Green Party of California
http://gp.org/greenpages-blog/?p=1209
Various Green Party sites are up and running on a variety of social networking sites. Here are some of Facebook:
Faces of the Green Party
Green Pages, the official newsletter of the GPUS
Charleston (SC) Green Party
And finally, the Green Party of the United States
Please consider joining the GPUS group in particular. There are currently 954 members and it would be so cool if that number topped 1000 because of sign-ups from here.
If you are involved in a Facebook group that is specifically Green Party oriented, state, local, candidate, national, caucus…whatever, please post it in the comments and I’ll bring it to the front and include it in a future post.
I just got my Fall 2008 copy of Green Pages in the mail today. If you don’t get Green Pages mailed to you, I humbly suggest that you go here and give some love to the Green Party and you are sure to start getting both Green Pages quarterly newspaper.
Featuring Cynthia McKinney and Rosa Clemente, the center includes Excerpts from Cynthia McKinney’s acceptance speech in Chicago, and an interview with Rosa Clemente by Deyva Arthur of the GP of NY State.
Other articles include:
Did you get your copy? Any thoughts?
In a new piece posted today at Dissident Voice, Chuck Giese explores the Green Party Presidential Nomination process and questions its fairness. In essence, Giese advocates the “one Green, one vote” philosophy that was rejected by the GPUS National Committee. Giese begins by fairly pointing out that 50 state election laws have created disparity for individual state Green Parties, making it very difficult to determine a fair distribution of delegates. Some states have voter registration by party, some don’t. Some states have primaries, some don’t.
The “One Green One Vote” position is simply that: If California’s voters in the Feb 5 primary represent 59% of the total votes cast in selecting the Presidential nominee (35,844 California voters out of a total 60,886 votes cast among the 21 states listed in his article) then California should allocate 59% of the Delegates, 493 to be exact, that determine the Green Party nominee for President. In Wisconsin, where there is no voter registration by party, mailed ballots to dues paying members resulted in only 97 ballots. By the “One Green One Vote” philosophy, Wisconsin should allocate 00.2% of the Presidential Delegates, or 2 Delegates.
I don’t disagree with the general argument. There is disparity that is made clear in the charts in this article. These disparities are a result in the disparate election laws from state to state. Would I feel ripped off if Wisconsin only got 2 out of 836 Delegates to determine the GP President? You bet. This is why:
Local Election News State Green Party News Social Justice Presidential Election News