I can’t see anything there that says Mckinney believes GWB orchestrated the 9/11 attacks. She only seems to be calling for more transparency and the declassification of materials. It would be interesting to read the editorial and see if they have any cites, expecially a quote from Ms. Mckinney accusing GWB of being behind 9/11. I’ll say one thing about CT nuts, they ain’t shy.
McKinney was running for the House in 2004 and has never before run for president. I think you are thinking of Carol Moseley Brown.
ETA: Already covered.
Or the Washington Post:
*"Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-Ga.) is calling for an investigation into whether President Bush and other government officials had advance notice of terrorist attacks on Sept. 11 but did nothing to prevent them. She added that “persons close to this administration are poised to make huge profits off America’s new war.”
In a recent interview with a Berkeley, Calif., radio station, McKinney said: “We know there were numerous warnings of the events to come on September 11th. . . . What did this administration know and when did it know it, about the events of September 11th? Who else knew, and why did they not warn the innocent people of New York who were needlessly murdered? . . . What do they have to hide?”…With her comments concerning Sept. 11, McKinney, 47, seems to have tapped into a web of conspiracy theories circulating during the past six months among people who believe that the government is partially – or entirely – to blame for last year’s attacks, which killed more than 3,000 people."*
McKinney seems to have been among the conspiracy theorists who shy away from the most direct of accusations, relying instead on “Could these shadowy people have done X - look at all the dots waiting to be connected - we must be ever-vigilant” etc. etc. ad nauseam.
We’ve got 'em on the Dope too.
See, that would be plausible. Not Bush himself – he’s not good enough an actor to fake the deer-in-the-headlights reaction we all saw in Fahrenheit 9-11 – but if Cheney knew in advance and made sure nothing was done, that would be entirely in character.
Your reason for voting for her is that she is incapable of raising the money necessary to run an effective campaign?
I am generally in agreement with the Green Party platform, but I’ve gotten really frustrated with them recently. They are seriously disorganized, at least in Georgia, where I live. I don’t think McKinney has done any serious campaigning, even though it’s been known for a while that she was going to be the Green Party nominee. I’m frustrated with Nader, too, for running against her (even though I prefer him to McKinney) because all he’s going to do is split the already-negligible Green vote and make it harder both for himself and for McKinney to get enough signatures to get ballot access.
I hate to say this, but it seems to me that the farther left a political group is, the more trouble they have organizing. I see it even on a small scale at my own university. There’s the Republican club, which is big and well-funded and has orderly meetings. There’s the Democrat club, which is significantly smaller and has trouble recruiting new members but at least holds regular, well-organized meetings. And then there’s the Progressives, a group for Greens and other people who fall to the left of the mainstream Democratic Party. Even though we are a tiny group, we can never agree on anything, and we basically spend all of the time during our meetings arguing amongst ourselves. It’s really sad. I guess part of the problem could be that I go to school in Georgia–not the most liberal state–but the bigger problem is that we are all so stuck on our own personal visions of the ideal society that we are unwilling to make even the smallest compromises and are therefore incapable of working together to accomplish anything. The Green Party seems to be struggling with the same issue. There is no logical reason for McKinney and Nader to be running against each other, not in this country. One of them ought to drop out and throw his or her support to the other, and since Nader is the one running without the Green Party’s backing, it probably ought to be him. Just my opinion, though.
No, my reason for voting for her is that she’s not incredibly strongly tied to banking interests like Barry Obama.
The following quote includes excerpts VP nominiee Rosa Clemente’s acceptance speech.
There’s almost nothing about the environment – if anything, because I didn’t see it – in that speech. I thought conservation, environmentalism and sustainability was the backbone of the Green Party’s platform. They’ve ditched the more left-thinking element of the “Stuff White People Like”-lifestyle crowd that formerly formed their base, and appear to be reaching out to the “America can do no right” audience of Radio Pacifica, old-school black supremacists, the FALN, those who identify themselves by oddball labels like “post-anarcho feminist”, and the Berkeley City Council.
This reads like a parody written by some conservative talk show host; it includes every cliche of the far left from Spanish orthography to mentioning race in every other sentence to shout-outs to various rappers. My comments can’t add much to this.
FWIW, I’m a very liberal Democrat, with some beliefs mirroring Western European-style socialist policy. These chicks are nuts, though.
[-------------------------------------------- Quote begins here]
Green Party Nomination
Vice Presidential Acceptance Speech
Rosa A. Clemente
July 12, 2008 - Chicago, IL
Good Afternoon – Buena Tardas.
It is with much honor y mucho orgullo that I am here today. This is a historical moment in the American Electoral Political System.
First and foremost, I would like to thank my husband Justice and my daughter Alicia-Maria. I am here today because I have a strong Black man in my life who has for the last five years endured 6 moves, seen me through a major illness and has not once asked me to stop following my quest for social justice.
(misc props to family)
And my Hip-Hop generation family, activists and comrades, whom have lifted me up and whom without I would not be here at this moment. It is an important moment.
So, as we say in Hip-Hop this is shout out time.
(huge lists of shout-outs to hip-hop artists)
I acknowledge the political prisoners within Hip-Hop:
afrika bombatta, chuck d, ernit panciooli who I have been blessed to be mentored by and has always supported my leadership as a woman, and have taught me invaluable lessons on how you can be great and humble at the same time.
(misc props to mentors)
And last but certainly not least Richie Perez– one of the greatest revolutionaries of our time because of his love for humanity, young people and commitment to social justice. I am a better person because of him. At his moment, I speak to his spirit and say, “Palante , Siempre, Palante.”
The list is not even complete – yet it is extensive and it may be a bit exhausting, but I stand here today not on my own two feet but on the footprints of all those I just mentioned. Just like one of my favorite poems, Footprints in the Sand, every one of this people, at one time or another, has lifted me and carried me with their words, support, lyrics, guidance and love. I am here today because of all of them.
People often say words can’t express how joyful they are. Well, I am from the Hip-Hop generation, and we can remix anything, Today my words will, hopefully, not only express my honor, my humbleness, but my readiness to take on this task and the responsibility that I have been asked to accept. The only way I can even begin to accept this nomination is that I must understand that I am just a vessel, a representative of the work of an entire generation, and Hip-Hop radical activist movement.
Hip-Hop is more then music, videos and bling. The Hip-Hop movement was created with the first beat box, bgirl, bboy, MC battle, graffiti tag. A movement created by Black and Brown youth in what continues to be one of the poorest congressional districts in the country. I stand on the shoulders of a generation of young people of color that are united, that clearly understand that we are suffering form structural racism, institutional racism and capitalism.
We are fighting for survival.
We fight for the faceless, the micless, the speechless.
Black and Brown and poor faces.
We are not fighting for the right to a just vote, we are fighting for the right to a just life. The government of America has perpetrated wars not only abroad but here at home:
· war on drugs
· war on youth
· war on those who fight for freedom.
We are faced with issues that are getting progressively worse:
· No livable wage
· No affordable housing
· The Aids pandemic in the African and American and Latino community. Especially with heterosexual African American women and Latinas.
· Lack of free healthcare system
· The stranglehold of media conglomerates that do irreparable damage to marginalize communities with stereotypical, racist and sexist propaganda.
We can lead the nation with a microphone. Hip-Hop has always been that mic, but now the green can be the power that turns up the volume of that microphone.
When Cynthia McKinney called me and asked me to be her running mate I immediately said yes. That is my personality. To always say yes when it is a cause that relates to justice for people.
And then I got scared. Not because I was asked, but what it means.
What this means for me and my entire generation, the Hip-Hop generation. I am honored to be part of this, because it means that we have now been asked not only to step up but to act up, to act against people who would rather see us crumble then succeed.
My friend Omowal Adowl form the grassroots artists movement asked me this question: “How did a 36-year old Black Puerto Rican from East Tremont and Harrison Avenue get on a stage to accept the nomination of the most progressive innovative political party in the country?
In order for me to answer that question – I have to start from the beginning.
I am a Bronx-born Black Puerto Rican girl, who lived in what is still the poorest congressional district next to one of the richest – Westchester County – where I went to Alexander Hamilton High School.
In September 1990, I would leave Westchester to begin my studies at the University at Albany. In the first semester I was a typical freshman. I partied, I drank and did other things that would get me on probation.
When I came back the second semester I enrolled in two classes: Puerto Rican history and the History of the Civil Rights movement. I would meet my first mentor in the struggle for justice Professor Colait Clarke. I would then meet some of the most amazing intellectuals: Professor Dr. Vivian Verdaell Gordon and Professor Loi Woens. It was then that I went from being a Puerto Rican chick from the Bronx to changing my major and running for the president of the Albany State University Black Alliance.
I would then receive a Masters from Cornell University, but remained an activist. I learned under my mentor Dr. Jams Turner, that we must be scholar activists. It may not have brought my financial success, but it has brought me personal fulfillment and joy. I have never looked back. This is how I have been in all my activist circles. From the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement to the National Hip-Hop Political Convention and REACH – a media justice coalition.
But you know, in the past couple of days, people have asked me if I think the Green Party is just trying to marshal support among Latinos. I have to tell them, “I’m not running to be Vice President of a free and independent Puerto Rico” (though I kinda like the sound of that). “I’m running to be Vice President of the United States.”
I’ve been asked if the Green Party is just trying to gather votes from the young people of the Hip-Hop generation by putting me on the ticket. I have to tell them, “I’m not running to be Vice President of Hip-Hop. I’m running to be Vice President of the United States.”
But let us not forget that Hip-Hop is:
The mic for the micless
The face of the faceless
The speech of the speechless.
We amplify our politics, our pain, our love, our need for social justice – through the mic, the music, the art, the culture.
The Hip-Hop generation is a culture created by post Black and Brown 1969 babies, a culture that in 1978 people said would die in one year. And 30 years later, as my friend Jeff Chang tells us in his seminal book, Can’t stop. Won’t stop: “We are a generation that the United States has decided to marginalize, imprison and send to war to fight people who look like us.”
We are a generation that is clear that many of our freedom fighters whom go by the names of Fred Hampton, Mumia Abu Jamal, Sojourner Truth, Ida B Wells-Barnett, Pedro Albizu Campos, Nat Turner, John Brown, Harriet Tubman and Fannie Lou Hamer: who said, “I am sick and tired of being sick and tired.”
That was an extensive, yet incomplete list. However, we must remember the breadth, intellect, innovation, and vision from our people that we have been privileged to learn from and be inspired by.
When Kanye West said Geroge Bush does not like Black people, I would extend that to say neither does the establishment of the Republican or Democratic party. We will not be fooled again like we were in New Orleans.
As a journalist I felt disgusted that there were no young journalist of color receiving the means to go down to New Orleans. I raised money, went down to the 9th ward and gave money directly to our people, spoke to our people and broadcasted THEIR story. A story of struggle. A story of disappointment. A store of disbelief. But also a story of hope. A story of courage. A story of Black and Brown unity.
We cannot allow white supremacy to continue to divide us as African descendents. When New Orleans flooded, Puerto Rico cried, Brazil Cried, Cuba cried, Panama, Mexico, Chile, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic all cried. We must continue to resist as a diverse people. We must organize.
The Hip-Hop duo, dead prez, in their album Lets Get Free says, “Telling lies to our vision, telling lies to our children, telling lies to our babies – only truth can save us. You can’t fool all of the people all of the time, but if you fool the right ones, then the rest will fall behind. Tell me who’s got control of your mind and your world view. Is it the news or the movie you’re taking your girl to?”
Those prophetic words uttered over 8 years ago still ring true today. Post 9/11 the majority of the American people have been living under a blanket of lies and fears. As a youth, particularly as a youth of color, we must tell the truth. We must be the ones not fooled. We must be the torch bearers of truth.
We Must Remember that youth have always taken risks. From the Soweto uprisings in South Africa. To African-American and Mexicano children in the 50s and 60s who walked out of schools. To the 17, 18 and 19-year old men and women who joined the ranks of the Student Non-Violent Coordination Committee, the Black Panther party, the American Indian movement, the Black Liberation Movement, the Young Lords Party – young people have always been the catalyst of change. I bring these organizations up because they understood the need to tell their message and create their own media.
We Must Remember, as the Hip-Hop generation, we must make a call for media justice. Not only as something we talk about, but something that is inherent to our humanity. I often find it hard to optimistic to be hopeful, to envision true freedom and justice. In a time when this gov’t is elected by elitist people or selected by Supreme Court judges, in a time when Black and Brown votes never really count. In a time when dogs that get abused get more press time, more justice and more public policies passed to protect their lives then poor and working class people.
It’s hard to imagine better times – but they are here. Our stories and this moment tell us they are here.
We Must Remember we know the world in which we live and we’ve always believed another world is possible.
We Must Remember our ancestors who broke those chains everywhere around the world, because they knew another world had to be made. The answer is not always yes we can, but We Will Do. Not always yes you can, but You Will Do.
We Must Remember the words of the great abolitionist Frederick Douglas, “I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than to be false.”
So for this first time in my life I have a choice and in every state where the Green Party is on the ballot – you have a choice. Lets push ourselves to achieve victory.
It may not mean moving into the White House but moving the people back into the streets and to the ballot box. As we move forward I am clear that this is a historical moment, an African-American woman, a Puerto Rican woman, woman who trace their lineage back to Africans, who were enslaved in the Americas and the Caribbean. Two women whose parents were born in different countries, but because of their skin were regulated to second class citizens. Two women who believe that in 2008 the social injustices faced by people of color and increasingly poor and working class whites will subject their children, Coy and Alicia Maria, to second class citizenship. We can no longer waste our time and energy on those who are already moderating themselves to the right.
So the question is not whether or not you have a choice, but are you ready to see what a united country can look like?
I leave you with this story: The campaign against Vieques started 66 years before May 2005. The Puerto Rican people came together and said – I don’t care if you believe in independence or statehood, but at the end of the day the Navy needs to get out of Vieques. After years of united struggle, which included Brazilians, Africans, Puerto Ricans, progressive whites, political prisoners and many others around the world who were united under the idea that the Navy must leave Vieques – it happened. On May 3rd 2005, I was able to witness a historical moment when midnight struck and Lolita Lebron and Rafael Cancel Miranda, former political prisoners, were there to knock down that gate and 50,000 people marched forward in victory and solidarity. That is resistance and we have to continue to make that happen.
As I stand here today, I know that I am in the midst of another historical moment . . .
El Maestro Pedro Albizu Campos was a Puerto Rican politician and advocate of Puerto Rican independence from the United States, and the leader and president of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party from 1930 until his death in 1965. He said “When tyranny is law, revolution is order.”
The Green Party is that revolution.
You Soy Boricua, Pa’que tu lo Sepas.
You Soy Boricua, Pa’que tu lo Sepas.
You Soy Boricua, Pa’que tu lo Sepas.
You Soy Boricua, Pa’que tu lo Sepas.
Pero yo soy verde tambian.
PEACE
Okay, I tried to post a reply, and it was displayed as an empty message. What the hell?
Let me try this again. Mods: if this shows up blank again, edit it: you’ll see the text.
The following quote includes excerpts VP nominiee Rosa Clemente’s acceptance speech.
There’s almost nothing about the environment – if anything, because I didn’t see it – in that speech. I thought conservation, environmentalism and sustainability was the backbone of the Green Party’s platform. They’ve ditched the more left-thinking element of the “Stuff White People Like”-lifestyle crowd that formerly formed their base, and appear to be reaching out to the “America can do no right” audience of Radio Pacifica, old-school black supremacists, the FALN, those who identify themselves by oddball labels like “post-anarcho feminist”, and the Berkeley City Council.
This reads like a parody written by some conservative talk show host; it includes every cliche of the far left from Spanish orthography to mentioning race in every other sentence to shout-outs to various rappers. My comments can’t add much to this.
FWIW, I’m a very liberal Democrat, with some beliefs mirroring Western European-style socialist policy. These chicks are nuts, though.
Works for me?
My guess is that you messed up the close quote tag, and gfactor fixed it by just removing the quote tags.
There’s a known feature of posts over a certain (unknown) length showing up invisible if a close quote tag is missing.
I’m a registered member of the Green Party, and I’m just completely flummoxed that Rep. McKinney is our nominee. She’s not particularly tied to anything that the party claims to stand for, she’s had little involvement in the party other than having some members work for and with her, and frankly, there are some actions of her that have made me think “WTF?” for a while. The Capitol Hill police incident was one - she didn’t look particularly great in that situation. And didn’t she introduce some sort of bill to force the release of records relating to the death of Tupac Shakur? Yea, THAT’S what our federal government needs to spend time and money on - dealing with the shooting of a rap singer.
I joined the party because I truly identify with and agree with their 10 Key Values and felt that the major parties weren’t representing my true beliefs. I am well aware that many people feel a vote for a third party is a wasted vote, but I believe that the only wasted vote is a non-vote. However, I also think that third parties need to nominate candidates that best represent their founding principles, and I don’t see how Rep. McKinney does that.
You left out her dad’s virulent anti-semitism…
…which remarks Cynthia McKinney declined to renounce.
You know, people ask me that all the time.
Oddly, those Democrats who were so upset at their party not choosing a woman as the candidate now have a woman to vote for. However, I can’t see very many of them breaking party ranks to vote for Ms McKinney.
You know, I can see some far lefties voting for McKinney. I still don’t think it’ll sway the election either way, but there are some people that’d vote for her over Obama.
Sure there are. I’ll bet there are Greens who will now vote for Obama.
What bewilders me is I see no way this is a growth strategy for the Green Party. Tying the party to such a fringe ticket as McKinney and Clemente is not even a marking time strategy, as far as I’m concerned, nor a “let’s get strong enough so that the major parties coopt all our good ideas” strategy, it’s a “let’s make ourselves as irrelevant as the Prohibition Party” strategy.
Why don’t they change their name from the Green Party to the Free Mumia Party? Isn’t the Green Party supposed to be, well, green?
What’s really happened is that the dessicated shell of the Green Party has been taken over by various fringe groups, and this is the end of the Green Party as a serious organization. The Reform Party suffered a similar fate when Pat Buchanan got himself nominated in 2000. Expect the Green Party to find itself unable to get on the ballot in most states in the 2012 election.
For what it’s worth, I’m probably going to be one of them. I just can’t take McKinney seriously as a representative of my values and beliefs.
I fear you are correct. It’s difficult enough to be taken seriously at all as a third party in our current system, and while I believe the Green Party started out with the intentions of gathering enough support for its core values that the two major parties might take notice, this latest nomination leaves the party on the slagheap of history.