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Green Party Needed To Shake Up America’s Political System

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Editor’s note: This guest post was written by Justin Elzie, a member of the Lavender Greens Caucus of the Green Party, and author of the upcoming book “Playing By the Rules,” which details his experiences as the first Marine Corps “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” court case. Elzie served in the Marines for fourteen years, four of them openly-gay. Elzie is also a personal friend, and, I am proud to say, allowed me to co-edit his book.

As Progressives walk into the voting booth this coming Tuesday, many will be doing some soul searching as they vote again in a lopsided political system.  They will step into the booth, close the curtain, and with disappointment vote for “the lesser of two evils;” politicians who haven’t lived up to their promises, have taken for granted the Democratic Party’s relationship with Progressives, and have dismissed progressive issues in a system that leans right.

Most books you read on relationships today mention that a lopsided relationship is something to avoid if you want to protect your emotional health and well-being.  In our current political environment, the health and well-being of America’s Progressives is being dealt a severe blow by the Democratic Party.

The fact is we have a lopsided political system that leans right.  The Republican Party is a party on the right side of the spectrum and will always be so.  The Democrats in reality are a centrist party and lean right.  Because there is no party on the left side of the spectrum in Congress, the Republicans continually pull the Democrats to the right.  Truth be told, our system is out of balance.  We need a strong left party in Congress to compete with Republicans and to pull the centrist Democrats to the left.  Over the past two years Progressives have continually witnessed how Democrats have caved to demands from conservatives, and leaned right even though there was a Democratic majority in Congress.  Whenever Democrats feel like they are threatened they run for the center-right and leave the Progressives behind no matter how big of a majority they have.

Here are some examples.

If you’re an environmentalist, you’re upset about the handing of the climate bill in Congress by Democrats.  Conservative Democrats from coal and oil-producing states have put the brakes on any progress of the bill and are against Cap and Trade.  You’re also upset the Obama administration adopted the Bush plan for the expansion of offshore drilling, something that no environmentalist would have ever thought a Democratic President would do.

If you’re Labor you are upset by how the Democrats have handled the Employee Free Choice Act.   Key Democrats said they would not vote for it in its present form and now Labor is not supporting some Blue Dog Democrats in the midterms because of this.   In the last two years, the Obama administration abandoned Labor over it and did not push for its passage.

If you’re anti-war then you’re upset that we are still in Iraq, increasing troops and escalating aggression in Afghanistan, and the Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp / Prison is still open.  Nothing much of substance has really changed from the Bush administration.

If you’re in the LGBT community or an ally, then you’re upset by how the Democrats have handled the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT), and haven’t even touched the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). You’re also upset that the Obama administration has aggressively defended DOMA and DADT in the courts, with outrageous, egregious language.  Not to mention, we see a Democratic President who continues to use his religious beliefs to defend his lack of support for marriage equality.  He also continues to fire over 400+ LGBT servicemembers annually, even though, as Commander-in-Chief, he could issue a stop loss order to end these discharges.

All of this is under a Democratic Party Congressional majority.  That bears repeating.  The Progressive agenda has not moved forward with any significance under the largest party majority in the House since 1994 and the Senate since 1978.  This year we have heard from many Independents, Democrats and the mainstream news media how the Democrats have acted spinelessly in Congress and have continued to have problems getting their message across.  This becomes especially clear when you see how Republicans stole the message on health care and now fifty-three percent of Americans favor repeal of the health care law.  At the same time, Democrats have lashed out at their own constituency, like the recent tirade by Robert Gibbs at the White House criticizing the “professional left,” which showed the party’s true feelings of how they view Progressives. He then went on to say that he still fully expects Progressive voters to go to the polls in 2010.  Nothing could have been clearer how Democrats take advantage of Progressives than Robert Gibbs’ smugness in criticizing Progressives then still expecting them to still go to the polls!

When one starts to look at how Democrats have taken advantage of Progressives it becomes clear there needs to be a strong left party.  A party that will take seriously and fight for issues of importance to progressives. Issues like the environment, Labor, civil rights, economic justice, the peace movement, etc.

That answer is the Green Party.  With the current paradigm of the political spectrum of Republicans at one end, as the party on the right, Democrats near the middle but leaning to the right as a center-right party, we need a strong Green Party on the left to counteract the pull the Republicans are having on the center right Democratic Party.

The Green Party is a viable alternative.  A recent Gallup Poll showed that fifty-eight percent of Americans are interested in a third party and would vote for one. A second poll done by The Hill showed fifty-four percent in a 2010 midterm election poll said they’d like an alternative to the Democrats and Republicans.  That number rose to sixty-seven percent for independents.
There are currently over 100 Greens in office across the country and many Greens are currently running for the 2010 midterm elections, campaigning on the “Green New Deal,” including eleven running for governor, seven for U.S. Senate and thirty-five for the U.S. House of Representatives.

You will occasionally hear Democrats disparage the Green Party because they feel threatened by them.   Sometimes you will hear someone say:  “A vote for a Green takes a vote away a Democrat.”  Actually, that is a good thing!  If every Independent, Progressive, and Democrat who believed in the Progressive agenda voted for the Green they would win and we would get something accomplished.  This would definitely send a signal to the Democrats that the left can’t be taken advantage of anymore.  Until Progressives get out of the mindset that they have to vote for a Democrat and that they have no other options, only then will the Progressives’ agenda be realized.  The fact that there are over 100 Greens in office across the country is proof that Greens are running for office and winning against Republicans and Democrats.

The Green Party has what it calls its Ten Key Values which are guiding principles for the Party:  Grassroots Democracy, Social Justice and Equal Opportunity, Ecological Wisdom, Non-Violence, Decentralization, Community Based Economics and Economic Justice, Feminism and Gender Equity, Respect for Diversity, Personal and Global Responsibility, Future Focus and Sustainability.  Both Democrats and Republicans take corporate money, yet the Greens take none.  The Green Party Platform is progressive and practical.

The sad fact is the Democrats will never be a true progressive party.  And the solution is clear , that having a true progressive party that gets elected and passes progressive legislation will force Democrats to lean left verses right and will add a counter weight to the Republicans and Conservative Blue Dog Democrats.

Without the Green Party, Progressive issues will continue to be dreams and not reality.  The Democrats will never have discipline or a soul for true progressive issues.  Progressives will always be disappointed until we say, “enough is enough,” and vote for hope and change and vote for a true progressive party, the Greens.

Vice President Biden recently put his foot in his mouth and upset a lot of Democrats by telling them “to stop whining and get out there and look at the alternatives.”  Well I think that’s what you should do.  Look at the obvious and smart alternative. Vote Green!

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OPINION

Marjorie Taylor Greene, ‘Putin’s Envoy’? Democrat’s Bills Mock Republican’s Actions

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April 18, 2024

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For years U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) has been called “Pro-Putin.” As far back as 2021, her first year as a member of Congress, the question had been raised on social media: “Is Marjorie Taylor Greene a Russian asset?”

In 2022 The Annenberg Public Policy Center’s FactCheck.org reported: “Marjorie Taylor Greene Parrots Russian Talking Point on Ukraine.”

Back then, as the article highlighted, Greene had said, “there is no doubt that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s actions in Ukraine are despicable and evil.”

Now, she promotes a far more favorable view of President Vladimir Putin and his illegal war against Ukraine, a sovereign nation which the Russian autocrat wants to incorporate – at least partly – into Russia.

Just last week Greene spread demonstrably false pro-Russia talking points about a “war on Christianity” while defending and promoting President Vladimir Putin.

READ MORE: ‘Afraid and Intimidated’: Trump Trial Juror Targeted by Fox News Dismissed

“This is a war on Christianity,” Greene told far-right propagandist Steve Bannon. “The Ukrainian government is attacking Christians, the Ukrainian government is executing priests. Russia is not doing that.”

That’s just plain false, as NCRM reported.

Largely in response to her strong opposition to the U.S. supporting Ukraine, and her spreading Russian disinformation and flat-out pro-Putin falsehoods, Greene’s fondness for Putin and Russia has been making headlines.

“Republicans Who Like Putin,” was the headline last month at The New York Times, which observed: “A few Republicans have gone so far as [to] speak about Ukraine and its president, Volodymyr Zelensky, in ways that mimic Russian propaganda. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene has accused Ukraine of having ‘a Nazi army,’ echoing language Putin used to justify the invasion.”

“The Putin Republicans Have the Upper Hand” warned Washington Monthly‘s David Atkins on Wednesday, reporting on “conservative extremists led by Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene.”

“They admire the strongman as a Christian nationalist leader, and won’t support Ukraine. The global consequences of their besotted love affair with the Russian strongman could be cataclysmic.”

“Russia Is Buying Politicians in Europe. Is It Happening Here Too?” The New Republic‘s Alex Finley wrote last week. The photo at the top of the page? Marjorie Taylor Greene.

READ MORE: ‘Used by the Russians’: Moskowitz Mocks Comer’s Biden Impeachment Failure

Finley pointed to Greene’s interview with Bannon, “about Ukraine’s persecution of Christians, which is a Kremlin talking point aimed at boosting the pro-Moscow wing of Ukraine’s Orthodox Church. The U.S. should be spending money on the border with Mexico, not on Ukraine aid? That’s a Kremlin talking point. Russia invaded Ukraine to defend itself against an expanding NATO? That’s a Kremlin talking point. Call for a cease-fire, and give Russia Crimea and eastern Ukraine? That’s a Kremlin talking point.”

Rupert Murdoch’s New York Post last week ran this headline: “Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene says she ‘seriously hates’ people who support sending more aid to Ukraine: ‘Most repulsive, disgusting thing happening’.”

Then there is Greene’s obsession with Nazis. Specifically, equating Ukrainians with Nazis, which she did several times over the past week, including on Wednesday. That earned her the condemnation and wrath of U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), who demanded: “Stop bringing up Nazis and Hitler.”

Wednesday night, Congressman Moskowitz, known for his use of humor and sarcasm to make his points, declared: “Just submitted an amendment to Bill drafting appointing MTG [Marjorie Taylor Greene] as Putin’s Special Envoy to the United States Congress.”

Moskowitz’s amendment was in response to Congresswoman Greene’s amendments requiring members to “conscript in the Ukrainian military” if they vote for the Ukraine military funding bill, as Juliegrace Brufke reported.

READ MORE: ‘Big Journalism Fail’: Mainstream Media Blasted Over Coverage of Historic Trump Trial

The Florida Democrat wasn’t joking, as Axios’ Andrew Solender pointed out Thursday morning.

Moskowitz did not stop there.

He drafted legislation on Thursday to name the Capitol Hill offices occupied by Congresswoman Greene after the British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, infamous for promoting appeasement in dealing with Adolf Hitler.

Chamberlain also signed the Munich Agreement, which allowed Hitler to annex part of Czechoslovakia.

See the social media posts above or at this link.

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‘Afraid and Intimidated’: Trump Trial Juror Targeted by Fox News Dismissed

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April 18, 2024

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One of seven jurors selected to serve on the New York criminal trial of Donald Trump has been dismissed after telling the judge she became concerned about her ability to remain impartial. That concern came after too many identifying details about potential jurors this week were reported by the press, leading the judge to admonish the media Thursday morning.

“Although the jurors’ names are being kept confidential, the woman, a nurse, ‘conveyed that after sleeping on it overnight she had concerns about her ability to be fair and impartial in this case,’ New York Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan said before calling her into the room for questioning,” the Associated Press reports. “The woman said her family members and friends were questioning her about being a juror.”

Judge Merchan, after he had questioned the juror, chastised the media, specifically directing reporters to “abide by common sense” and not report jurors’ identifying information, as some in the press had done as soon as jury selection began.

“As evidenced by what’s happened already, it’s become a problem,” Judge Merchan said.

“We just lost what probably would have been a very good juror,” he noted. “She said she was afraid and intimidated by the press, all the press.”

RELATED: ‘Big Journalism Fail’: Mainstream Media Blasted Over Coverage of Historic Trump Trial

Alexander Panetta of Canada’s CBC News adds, “Merchan wants changes in the juror info that gets out to the public. He says jurors’ employer name will be redacted from court records.”

But he also reports the now-excused juror “says family and friends [said] that she had been easy to identify, based on publicly available info about her from the court. She said she definitely has concerns now.”

Merchan also “lamented that media reported another juror has an Irish accent. He asked media in the room to be more careful.”

Responding to the loss of the juror, The Atlantic’s David Drum remarked, “[Trump] juror intimidation gets results.”

The dismissed juror had been targeted by Fox News’ Jesse Watters on Tuesday (video below).

“I’m not so sure about Juror No. 2,” Watters told Fox News views.

Trump on Wednesday, appearing to violate his gag order, had targeted the jurors.

READ MORE: ‘Stop Bringing Up Nazis and Hitler’: Marjorie Taylor Greene Smacked Down by Democrats

Former state and federal prosecutor Ron Filipkowski, the editor-in-chief of MeidasTouch Network, commented, “Fox & Trump are coordinating to intimidate jurors.”

Mediate reported, “Donald Trump appeared to violate the gag order set forth by Judge Juan Merchan.”

“On Wednesday, Trump took to Truth Social and quoted comments made about potential jurors by Fox News host Jesse Watters on The Five Wednesday night.”

Trump quoted Watters, posting: “They are catching undercover Liberal Activists lying to the Judge in order to get on the Trump Jury.”

“That post appears to be in direct violation of Merchan’s gag order, a reality highlighted by JustSecurity’s Ryan Goodman,” Mediate added.

On Wednesday Watters had gone even further and presented biographical and identifying details of all seven jurors. That video is currently at the top of a pinned post on the Fox News website.

READ MORE: Fox Personality’s Tweet Called ‘Jury Tampering’ by US Congressman

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OPINION

‘Stop Bringing Up Nazis and Hitler’: Marjorie Taylor Greene Smacked Down by Democrats

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20 hours ago

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April 17, 2024

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U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene was strongly criticized by two Democratic Congressmen after the Georgia Republican’s remarks about “Ukrainian Nazis” and her attempts to paint Ukrainians as Nazis.

“Stop bringing up Nazis and Hitler,” U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) urged, after Greene’s remarks suggesting there is a large Nazi problem in Ukraine, during a House Oversight Committee hearing. “The only people who know about Nazis and Hitler are the 10 million people and their families who lost their loved ones, generations of people who were wiped out. It is enough of this disgusting behavior, using Nazis as propaganda. You want to talk about Nazis, get yourself over to the Holocaust Museum. You go see what Nazis did. It’s despicable that we use that and we allow it and we sit here like somehow it’s regular.”

Moskowitz began by telling the Committee his “grandparents escaped the Holocaust.”

“So my grandmother was part of the Kindertransport out of Germany. Her parents were killed in Auschwitz. My grandfather, her husband escaped Poland, from the pogroms,” he continued.

READ MORE: ‘Used by the Russians’: Moskowitz Mocks Comer’s Biden Impeachment Failure

“There are no concentration camps in Ukraine. They’re not taking babies and shooting them in the air ’cause they’re Jewish. There’s no gas chambers. There’s no ovens. They’re not railing people in, they’re not ripping gold out of people’s mouth. They’re not taking stuff out of their home. They’re not trying to erase a people. They’re Ukrainians.”

Greene’s remarks over the weekend had caused anger.

“It’s antisemitic to make Israeli aid contingent on funding Ukrainian Nazis,” Congresswoman Greene declared Sunday from her official government social media account, as legislation to support Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan moved to the top of Speaker Mike Johnson’s priority list in the wake of Iran’s attack on Israel. Her implication appeared to be Ukrainians are Nazis – a Putin talking point.

Greene on Wednesday spent several minutes again implying there are many Nazis in Ukraine, as she was refuted by a top scholar, Yale professor of history Timothy Snyder. Dr. Snyder is the author of a dozen books, including two on Nazis and the Holocaust, and is an expert on the Holocaust, Central and Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union, and serves on the Council on Foreign Relations.

Responding to Greene’s remarks, Snyder told the lawmakers, “no far-right party has ever crossed three percent” in a Ukrainian election.

READ MORE: ‘Scared to Death’: GOP Ex-Congressman Brings Hammer Down on ‘Weak’ Trump

Greene was also criticized by U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-FL), who called her out for her “hypocrisy” and reminded her that in 2022 she “spoke at event led by white supremacists.”

That event was hosted by white supremacist Nick Fuentes:

Watch the videos above or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Big Journalism Fail’: Mainstream Media Blasted Over Coverage of Historic Trump Trial

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