the word in my remark preceding the article was supposed to be coalition,
blasted auto correct, although a collation might not be amiss, either...
On Jul 31, 2016, at 1:26 PM, Frank Ventura <frank.ventura@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
This article is spot on and is what I have been trying to say but it does it
much better.
Frank
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Alice Dampman Humel
Sent: Sunday, July 31, 2016 1:01 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] commentary and comments on voting Green
One of the commenters makes a good point, that in many other countries, a
collation is possible between two parties, but not in the US.
Green Party, White Privilege
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by
Michael I. Niman
/ Jul. 27, 2016 1am EST
This might be a great year for the Green Party, which some polls are
predicting could score a record-shattering five percent or more of the
popular vote in the upcoming presidential election. Hillary Clinton is a tool
of Wall Street and corporate interests such as Wal Mart, on whose board she
once served. And Donald Trump, of course, is a fascist. The Libertarians want
to do away with environmental and labor protections and open the door further
for corporate pillage. This leaves opportunity for a strong Green Party run
with the comparatively benign Jill Stein, who wants to grab the crown off
Bernie Sanders’s head and hijack the movement his candidacy created.
The Green theme is generally the same as it was when I was an elector for
Ralph Nader 16 years ago—vote “your hopes, not your fears,” only now it’s
“vote your conscience.” George W. Bush, however, despite arguments that he
was “the worse president in history,” and the reality that his foreign policy
birthed endless wars and ISIS, never posed the level of threat that Trump
presents. Trump is a bona fide fascist who assembled a following based on a
cult of personality. Delegates at his Republican Convention, the whitest GOP
soiree in over a century, regularly chanted for his political opponent to be
jailed, presumably after his coronation. One campaign insider called for her
execution.
Trump himself scapegoated immigrants, incorrectly blaming them for a rising
tide of crime in a nation where the crime stats have been dropping for three
decades, partially due to the influence of immigrant communities. His racist
followers cheered wildly as he called for rounding up and deporting as many
as 11 million undocumented immigrants, including many Americans who came here
as small children. Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio took time out from defending
himself against federal civil rights charges to address a cheering
convention, incorrectly claiming that “terrorists” are coming over from
Mexico and “causing massive destruction and mayhem.”
Convention delegates cheered when they heard that a Baltimore police officer
charged with the murder of Freddie Gray was acquitted. They cheered when
Texas Governor Rick Perry talked about his state’s propensity for executing
its citizens, in a state where, the New York Times reports, prosecutors are
significantly more likely to seek the death penalty for blacks than whites.
Over the course of the campaign Trump regularly mined cheers from his almost
all-white crowds with random attacks against the Black Lives Matter movement,
upon which he cast direct threats.
The bottom line is that the risks of a fascist Trump presidency are
significantly higher for people of color than for white folks. This is why he
is polling near zero in black communities across the country while earning
glowing praise from former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke, who, after
Trump’s convention speech, tweeted that he “[c]ouldn’t have said it better.”
A Trump presidency will accelerate the militarization of police while
threatening the civil rights movements that have successfully called
attention to racist profiling.
Most frightening is the Trump campaign’s success in borrowing a script from
1930s Europe and using his ever-present media access to bloviate to reality
television audiences, playing to their innermost fears and ignorance-based
racism, stoking the ugliest tendencies in American culture, and, according to
recent polling, capturing the allegiance of a plurality of white male voters
in many states.
Against this backdrop, the Green Party, which has no history of winning
significant representation in any statehouse or holding a congressional seat,
wants us to follow our conscience and cast a vote for Jill Stein.
Let’s get one thing straight. This is not a democracy. We do not have a
parliamentary system. The game is rigged in favor of two ruling parties. If
we are going to have any progressive change, this revolution has to take
place within the Democratic Party. Bernie Sanders demonstrated that this is
indeed possible, and he brought us within reach of accomplishing it. With the
exception of a few local races, the Greens are locked out of the game. I am
not proud of being a registered Democrat, but I want to have a voice where
there is a possibility to enact progressive reform.
As high as the stakes are for white folks, they are much higher for people of
color in this election. Voting your conscience is a “me” move. It might make
you feel better. If Hillary Clinton wins and sells out to Wall Street, you
can show us your clean hands. But it’s also a move that’s soaked in
privilege—a move by people who don’t have to think about the threats a Trump
government will specifically present to them, their families, and their
communities as people of color.
My hands will be dirty after this election, but hopefully they will still be
able to lift a sign in protest of whatever a President Clinton proposes.
Dr. Michael I. Niman is a professor of journalism and media studies at
Buffalo State College. His previous columns are archived at
www.mediastudy.com and are available globally through syndication.
COMMENTS
13 Comments
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Stacey Kellar ·
Works at CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy
Yes, voting your conscience is a 'me move'. It is for everyone - people of
color, whites, the poor, the middle class, the rich, etc. It should be. When
I vote, I am voting for the person/party who I think will best meet the needs
of my family and myself. I would hope everyone would do that. I appreciate
your viewpoint, but I am getting tired of being exhorted to vote for Hillary
Clinton just because she is good for some demographics and 'better than the
other choice'. As far as I can tell, my choice right now is between a mob
queen and a racist T.V. personality. Not great. Neither has an agenda that
really works for my family. I refuse to feel bad for voting 3rd party. The
Demoncrats need to hear loud and clear that regular people really are not as
stupid as they assume we are.
Like · Reply · <image003.png>9 · Jul 27, 2016 4:45pm
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Zaney Ska Rock Steady ·
Internship at Intern
Thank you!! Truth!! Power to the people!
Like · Reply · <image003.png>2 · Jul 30, 2016 8:47am
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Gene Grabiner ·
UC Berkeley
Insofar as Mike's point about the Greens and white privilege are concerned,
well done. However, the bulk of the article revolves around identity
politics, whether black or white. Missing from the discussion in my view is
the fact that fascism breaks the back of unions and of all progressive
forces, large proportions of which are also comprised of white folks as well
as people of color. Finally, I would add that labor represents the strongest
bulwark against fascism. It must have a signal role in the transformation of
the Democratic Party.
Like · Reply · <image003.png>1 · Jul 27, 2016 4:48pm
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Zaney Ska Rock Steady ·
Internship at Intern
Yea Greens have white priviledge while the Democrats fought against the
prohibition of Slavery, and put the Native Americans on the Trail of Tears.
Now let's talk about current local Democrats. Mayor Brown allows the BMHA to
target minorities. The common Council members, even the minority members
refuse to try to lower arrests on minorities and even call out whites who
talk about the disproportion of arrests on minorities. Gov Cuomo cuts
disabled communities services and programs. He's targeting schools in
minority communities. The Clintons defended their 1994 Crime bill which lead
to mass incarceration of minorities. But yea, the Greens are white
priviloedge. Take your race baiting else where you corporate sellout
Like · Reply · <image003.png>2 · Jul 28, 2016 11:27am
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Ted Booze
How many underprivileged brown people died at Hillary's warhawking hands? How
many more will?
Like · Reply · <image003.png>5 · Jul 28, 2016 2:19pm
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Rick Mauk ·
Works at Specialty Tires of America
The Green Party, much as I agree with their purpose, gave us Bush instead of
Al Gore! Where other countries have coalitions, our two party system doesn't
work that way. Bush instead of Al Gore has put our country, and our
environment, in the dumpster.
Like · Reply · <image003.png>2 · Jul 28, 2016 6:07pm
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Rick Mauk ·
Works at Specialty Tires of America
Well, our country is not in the dumpster, but the assault on the environment
continues unabated. Saying our country is in the dumpster is a little bit too
trumpy.
Like · Reply · Jul 29, 2016 3:25pm
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Heron E. Simmonds-Price ·
General Work at Urban Roots
"comparatively benign Jill Stein, who wants to grab the crown off Bernie
Sanders’s head and hijack the movement his candidacy created"
False
Please remember the Occupy movement was just 5 years ago. The solutions that
Sanders packaged together as a progressive platform have been popularly
supported for years. The movement comes from the people and will go where the
people see a chance to change this corrupt system.
"This is not a democracy. We do not have a parliamentary system. The game is
rigged in favor of two ruling parties. If we are going to have any
progressive change, this revoluti...See More
Like · Reply · <image003.png>5 · Jul 29, 2016 1:00pm
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Zaney Ska Rock Steady ·
Internship at Intern
Truth!!
Like · Reply · <image003.png>1 · Jul 29, 2016 2:19pm
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Joe Schmidbauer ·
SUNY at Buffalo
Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail: ’72 and drank in Hunter S Thompson’s
savage denunciation of lesser-evil voting:
“How many more of these goddam elections are we going to have to write off as
lame but ‘regrettably necessary’ holding actions? And how many more of these
stinking double-downer sideshows will we have to go through before we can get
ourselves straight enough to put together some kind of national election that
will give me at least the 20 million people I tend to agree with a chance to
vote for something, instead of always being faced with that old familiar
choice between the lesser of two evils? I understand, along with a lot of
other people, that the big thing, this year, is Beating Nixon. But that was
also the big thing, as I recall, twelve years ago in 1960—and as far as I can
tell, we’ve gone from bad to worse to rotten since then, and the outlook is
for more of the same.”
Like · Reply · <image003.png>4 · Jul 29, 2016 2:08pm
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Nancy Young ·
University of Phoenix
As bad as things may be for you they will be worse for some other group if we
give up and give in. Is that your argument? How well off where the slaves
after the Civil War do you think? Think they walked into paid labor
immediately? So for many the argument may have gone this way "Sure the slaves
suffer. They will suffer even more if they are set free. At least this way
they have food and shelter." Thank goodness that did not stop people from
fighting for what is right.
Like · Reply · Jul 29, 2016 4:35pm
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Zaney Ska Rock Steady ·
Internship at Intern
Truth!
Like · Reply · <image003.png>1 · Jul 29, 2016 4:41pm
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Jonathan Cadle
The idea that voting for a pro-corporate old white person and then protesting
impotently after they're elected is anything but the height of white liberal
privilege is laughable.
Like · Reply · <image003.png>1 · Jul 29, 2016 5:12pm
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Paul Jarolimek ·
Sales And Leasing Consultant at Cascade Autocenter
What a douchy article
Like · Reply · Jul 29, 2016 10:55pm
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Tom Janci ·
Sr. Manager, Talent Acquisition at Renew Financial
"If we are going to have any progressive change, this revolution has to take
place within the Democratic Party. Bernie Sanders demonstrated that this is
indeed possible, and he brought us within reach of accomplishing it."
You neglect to mention that he was a Democrat for exactly 14 months. He left
the party before HRC could make her acceptance speech. THAT's how likely
revolution is going to come from inside the Democratic party.
Like · Reply · <image003.png>2 · Jul 30, 2016 1:50am
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Tom Janci ·
Sr. Manager, Talent Acquisition at Renew Financial
And if I hear ONE MORE PERSON bring up W/Gore/Nader, I'm going to f^#!ing
lose my sh!+.
Dems don't want a fascist in office? FIELD A STRONGER CANDIDATE.
Like · Reply · <image003.png>2 · Jul 30, 2016 1:52am
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Nate Stimmel
A key point this article ignores is that the election is going to be decided
in a handful of battleground states. If you don't live in one, there's no
reason not to try to push a 3rd party over the 5% number that will open up
the same federal funding the two major parties enjoy. It is ludicrious to
believe your state's electoral votes are up for grabs by either party, if you
live in states like California or Alabama.
Like · Reply · 19 hrs
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