Cynthia McKinney Unsaddles in D.C. After Cross-Country Bike for Peace

Photo by Patricia Lake
By Kevin Gosztola

This week, Polidoc continues its production of Seriously Green. Yesterday, Cynthia McKinney was interviewed in front of the White House after she and others rode from Capitol Hill to Pennsylvania Avenue to mark the end of their biking trip with Bike4Peace from California to D.C.

McKinney compared her trip to running as a Green Party presidential candidate in 2008. She talked of what it was like to bike across the country when she had no idea how to bike at all. And, she discussed the need for Americans to establish a Peace Lobby that could combat policies of war.

The trip had its rough spots. McKinney fell and busted her lip on the first day. She had to return to her home in Georgia when she found out her house had been broken into. She missed part of the trip but rejoined Bike4Peace before the trip ended in D.C.

Later that night, Polidoc attended a National Press Club event with McKinney in the Sarah McClendon Room. The experience provided an opportunity for McKinney to show her spirit of perseverance to 30-40 people there who had packed into a room to eat dinner with her and celebrate the end of the bike trip.

She touched on her work as a congresswoman and mentioned how she was the only Democrat to lose in 2006 because, as Rahm Emanuel said, she was not a “team player.” She told of her travels with peace envoys that made attempts to break the siege and deliver aid to Gaza. She talked about how, on one of her trips, the Israelis rammed the ship she was on and also how the US Embassy could not be bothered to help her when she ended up in an Israeli prison except they did give her underwear.

McKinney also spoke of the way her family is constantly being spied on. She talked about her son being outside and a van rolling by with the side door open and people inside taking pictures.

There was an opportunity for Cynthia McKinney and Ingrid Betancourt, who ran on the Green Party ticket for president of Colombia, to meet since Betancourt was doing a book signing of her new book “Even Silence Has an End” at the National Press Club. Had they crossed paths, it would have been a rare opportunity for two former presidential candidates to meet each other.

The production continues through the weekend at a D.C. convergence of anti-mountaintop removal activists called Appalachia Rising.

Obama’s Rock-Star Status Challenged in Gaza-Israel Conflict

Much of the world cheered when Barack Obama won the 2008 US Presidential Election. Never has there been such an international out pour of delight. However, Obama’s recent cabinet appointments and decision to refrain from calling for a cease fire in the current Israel-Gaza/Lebanon conflict has drawn the sharp criticism of Progressives, Greens and Black Nationalists. As if that’s not enough, Democratic House members are also responding to appointments with ruffled feathers.

Black Agenda Report Editor Glen Ford has been critical of Obama for a long time, pointing out that while the President-Elect holds celebrity status amongst many in the black community, their vision is short-sighted. Ford indicates that Obama stands on the shoulders of Martin Luther King, Jr. but does not fulfill the promise of the Civil Rights leader.

Ford, an outspoken Black Nationalist, points instead to Green Party Presidential Candidate Cynthia McKinney as “Black America’s moral emissary to the world…Thanks to the presence of the former Georgia congresswoman and Green Party presidential candidate on the mission, millions of Arabs have been made aware of a different Black America, one that is not silent, like Barack Obama, in the face of a purposely inflicted human rights catastrophe.”

Obama has asserted that he is very concerned with the recent conflict but that “there is only one President at a time.” This defense is sour sloganism for activists who are impatient for solutions to the conditions of Palestinians in Gaza. Progressive Democrats are more patient, but still critical. Ben Cohen writes in the Huffington Post that Obama and Clinton’s silence on the Gaza is a failure that will lead to the strengthening of Hamas.

Given that President Bush is already halfway to the Crawford Ranch, Obama’s deference leaves a vacuum of opinion from the White House.

Ralph Nader Douses New American Hero with Verbal Vinegar

Ralph Nader loves to turn a phrase or evoke a parable, but there’s a lot of reaction to this latest word play. In this clip, he catches some heat from the Fox TV host when he describes the governing choices of the President-Elect Obama as either to be that of Uncle Sam or Uncle Tom. This kind of hyperbole lends Nader to criticism by many who do not follow his deliberate prose. The show’s host scolds him for not having some kind of reverence for this day. For Nader, it’s just another day of protest.

In general, the two Progressive Presidential candidates, Nader and McKinney, responded to Obama’s win with enthusiasm and recognition that this is a big day for people of color. Both crafted the motivating messages for their followers, that the job is not done and that they must apply continued pressure on politicians. However, where Nader applies vinegar, McKinney applies honey. Both are useful antiseptics with different purposes.

For some interesting reflections on the Nader comment, follow these threads:
Truthdig
The Daily Beast
SFGate

McKinney Says Time is Out for Special Interests – Election of Obama a Great Opportunity

Cynthia McKinney, Green Party Presidential Candidate, extended her congratulations to the President-Elect, but extended the challenge to her progressive audience to keep up the charge. The group was awaiting election news results for bosom friend and peace activist Congressional candidate Cindy Sheehan at her campaign headquarters in San Francisco, California.

“Time is  OUT for special interest rule in Washington D.C. Time is out for special interest rule in Sacramento, California and in all the state capitols across this country.

It is time for us to take our country back and I believe the change in the White House is the beginning of people thinking that they are taking their country back. And our work is to organize, mobilize, agitate to make sure that actually takes place.”

Also in attendance was Presidential candidate for the Party for Socialist and Liberation Gloria La Riva.

California Presidential Ballot Demonstrates Wide Field of Choices

McKinney Campaigns Through California

Green Party Presidential Candidate, Cynthia McKinney, wrapped up a week of campaigning in California with a Bay Area visit over the weekend. She met with Bay Area Greens in bucolic Fairfax. The hosts, Larry Bragman and Lew Tremaine, mayor and city council member of Fairfax as well as , were proud to be hosting the town’s first Presidential candidate visit. It was a gorgeous day and McKinney supporters had come from all over the Bay Area to hear their candidate speak.

McKinney attended several events while in California, including a co-hosted evening with comedienne Roseanne Barr attended by Greens, 911 Truthers and hip-hop activists.

McKinney has grown as a Green, an identity that she wears with greater and greater certainty. Coy and cautious with the press, she had allowed us to interview her at a Green Party retreat more than a year and a half ago at which time, she was “just getting to know the Greens” from outside of Georgia. Now, having traveled all over the country (though not yet to every state), McKinney has noted the differences. She has also educated herself on the history of the United States Green Party, a somewhat complicated tale that exposes the difficulty of raising a third party in a winner-take-all system.

Nader HIts Bailout Plan Hard in San Francisco

Earlier today, Presidential Candidate Ralph Nader spoke in front of the San Francsico Federal Reserve Building, protesting the bailout. Later, Nader spoke at the San Francisco Commonwealth Club in an interview with Tabitha Soren, Former Political Reporter, MTV and NBC.

3rd Party Bookends: McKinney and Barr Share Georgia Roots

What these two Presidential candidates share in common, aside from a desire to reform Washington D.C. is a history of Georgia politics. Opposite on social issues, their coincidental time in office says a lot about the districts and times they represented. Now, they carry these differences into the Presidential arena.

At a recent press conference called by Libertarian-leaning Republican Ron Paul, McKinney appeared along with Independent candidate Ralph Nader and Constitutionalist Party Chuck Baldwin. Bob Barr chose to not share the stage despite agreement on the four principles agreed upon by the third party candidates. According the Atlantic Constitution, Barr’s campaign spokesperson Andrew Davis said “Bob had a press conference right after that one,” and “He didn’t want to dilute his message by being on the same stage as people like Cynthia McKinney, who is completely opposite of what a Libertarian is.”

Yet, Ron Paul and the other three candidates understood the need for a unity of the smaller parties in order to break the stranglehold of the two major parties on the substantive content of the political debates, without which voters do not have an opportunity to critically evaluate platforms outside of the corporate influenced parties.

Here’s the link to the CSPAN recorded Press Conference:http://www.c-spanarchives.org/library/index.php?main_page=product_video_info&products_id=281024-1

read more | digg story

Third Parties Offer Unity Platform to Expand Political Discourse

3rd Party Bookends: McKinney(G) & Barr(L) Share Georgia Root

What these two Presidential candidates share in common, aside from a desire to reform Washington D.C. is a history of Georgia politics. Opposite on social issues, their coincidental time in office says a lot about the districts and times they represented. Now, they carry these differences into the Presidential arena.

At a recent press conference called by Libertarian-leaning Republican Ron Paul, McKinney appeared along with Independent candidate Ralph Nader and Constitutionalist Party Chuck Baldwin. Bob Barr chose to not share the stage despite agreement on the four principles agreed upon by the third party candidates. According the Atlantic Constitution, Barr’s campaign spokesperson Andrew Davis said “Bob had a press conference right after that one,” and “He didn’t want to dilute his message by being on the same stage as people like Cynthia McKinney, who is completely opposite of what a Libertarian is.”

Yet, Ron Paul and the other three candidates understood the need for a unity of the smaller parties in order to break the stranglehold of the two major parties on the substantive content of the political debates, without which voters do not have an opportunity to critically evaluate platforms outside of the corporate influenced parties.

Here’s the link to the CSPAN recorded Press Conference: http://www.c-spanarchives.org/library/index.php?main_page=product_video_info&products_id=281024-1

read more | digg story