It is official. As of today, the Ghost is officially endorsing the candidacy of Cynthia McKinney.
This decision was not made lightly. Originally I had intended to stay neutral in this race for a few reasons. First I have never voted. This is by choice and I have explained by reasoning here and here so I wont bother repeating the reasoning here but those who's head exploded when they read " I have never voted" ought to take a read.
Since I don't vote then what do I do? As with my non-profit, I put my money where my mouth is. As I've explained many times over the state of Israel is not a state of the Union yet receieves billions in dollars of aid. That's your money. They can't vote yet they get looked after. For those of us who clearly understand this system, we understand that money is power. That is in general those who can afford to influence policy will have their needs and wants looked after.
The second piece of the pie is access to media. Of course access to media is heavily influenced by money but even more than that, with the corporate ownership of the airwaves, companies can legally disappear people from the public. And so it comes down to alternative media to get the word out. But even then the vast majority of people are tied to the big corporate outlets and they have powerful gatekeepers. I understand all this and so I choose to spend my efforts to be an influencer. That said, let me get back to my endorsement of Cynthia McKinney.
This endorsement is about policy. Period. This election is historic in that it is the first time in US history that a black person is on the presidential ticket of one of the major parties and at the top of said ticket. It would be easy to fall in line and just be excited a black man is "on the verge" but I cannot. So lets get to the issues:
1) The Iraq War: Obama has said much about being against the war from the beginning. However he has been voting to fund it. Furthermore, day in and day out his position in regards to ending the war gets closer and closer to that of McCain (Or McCain is getting closer to Obama). Neither one advocates an immediate end to the illegal war.
2) War in Georgia: In line with the war in Iraq both Obama and McCain have made ridiculous statements in regard to the situation in Georgia. Statements that fly in the face of facts. How can one on the one hand claim to be against the war in Iraq, which is a sovereign nation that was invaded by the US, but also say that it is wrong for Russia to go into Georgia even though the Russians are :
a) neighbors
b) provoked by military action by Georgia?
No; Obama and McSame are on the same page and that's not change and it's not what I believe in.
3) Israel: I cannot support the Zionist. Period. I will not support anyone who supports the Zionist. Joe Biden has plainly stated that he is a Zionist. McCain is equally in the pocket of our 51st state. End of story.
4) FISA: Obama claimed that he would be opposed to the renewal of FISA. In the end he did a complete about face on that issue. The retroactive immunity for telecoms who broke the law is a clear abandonment of the job of any Senator to uphold the constitution. If Obama cannot be trusted to uphold the constitution then what's the point of voting him into office. Same for McSame.
5) Church State Issues: I am strongly in support of separation of religion and the state. This is especially so for a multi-cultural society. the McCain-Palin ticket has on it a person who thinks creationism ought to be taught in public schools (and we don't have to ask which creationism). Nor does the Republican VP pick think that global warming is due to human activity.
On the democratic side we have seen a willingness in the Obama camp to continue with the so called "faith based" funding. I was opposed to that when Bush proposed it and I'm still against the government funding of religious based organizations. I don't care which party is doing it.
6) Reparations: We already know where the reparations argument goes with the Republicans. However; Obama decided to put down the idea when he could have easily said that if such a bill was passed with support of a majority of representatives he would sign it. Rather Obama playing to white voters wants to say that by doing x,y or z, that blacks will benefit. Reparations is not about some general "benefit." it is redress for a specific grievance by a specific group.
7) Healthcare: Neither party is willing to do universal, single payer health care for all citizens. Both parties are in the pockets of the Health "insurance" industry that makes a profit by denying health care (as was shown in Michael Moore's Sicko) McCain tried to pass off the current health care system as "choice." But tell that to people told they "can't" have a procedure done. Single payer man, not single point of healthcare.
You'll note that with the exception of Reparations, there are no "race specific" items on this list. There are no gender specific items on this list. Therefore the argument about we black radicals only being interested in black folk a the expense of others is pure nonsense.
So why McKinney? I followed her while she was a congresswoman from Georgia. She was the first to publicly question the administration over 9-11. She asked the important questions: who knew what? When?
In respect to the criminal activities of Bush, McKinney has actually proposed impeachment (HR 1106). That shows character and a committment to the constitution not seen by either candidate of the "major" parties.
And on the experience level I'll just note that McKinney was a 6 time congresswoman who was also on committees, even though the Democrats stiffed her (with nary a comment by the black caucus) of her seniority.
So we have to answer the obvious question: Why should you vote for her even though she won't "win"?
People, third parties don't just show up over night. Especially given the stranglehold of money and media. The stated goal for this run is 5% of the vote. This will qualify the Green Party as a 3rd "Major" party. People the two party system, in which both parties are bought off by the same interest parties is broken. The Democrats have been going right and the Republicans have become the party of White Christians. Both parties are responsible for setting the tone where police are given the OK to brutalize peaceful protesters and journalists. How could impeachment be "off the table" if the Democrats had to worry about a third party putting it on the table?
So this endorsement is all about policy and changing the future playing field.
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