From The Half-Red House

Speaking of Greens and the US presidential election, The Daily Jot reports that the California Green Party will hold a Presidential debate this Sunday in San Francisco in preparation for holding its February 5 California presidential primary :

This is the obvious place to hear a cogent presentation of the US Green platform and arguments in favor of voting Green at the presidential level. I have the same level of respect for Green candidates Cynthia McKinney and Ralph Nader as I do for Dennis Kucinich and Mike Gravel; I am not familiar with the other candidates listed. As I have said in other postings, I question the wisdom of running a Green  presidential candidate under current electoral rules. I hope the debates will be saved and distributed as mp3 files or videos (check back next week at the debate website), so we can all hear them, since this debate is bound to be more substantive than any of the Democratic and Republican debates we have heard so far. The Green Party website promises to be a valuable political resource in coming months, and I intend to keep checking it. A little closer to home, Massachusetts is having a Green-Rainbow Party Presidential Primary on February 5

There is an interesting discussion going on in the form of comments to a January 4 blog that is now rather deeply buried at:
http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=109989787&blogID=344248949
Pardon me if the arguments in those comments are not fully formed, since most of them were written at odd hours of the night in a state of post primary exhaustion.

Zimmi, A friend from New Zealand who is a member of the Green party there, says that Bill Clinton is undoubtably guilty of at least one act of state terrorism, the bombing of the Al-Shifa pharmaceutical factory in Sudan, which deprived thousands of civilians of needed medicines. She cites the US Army field manual definitiion of “low intensity warfare”, which is, according to Noam Chomsky, roughly equivalent to the definition of terrorism in the US code. A Wikipedia article on Al-Shifa , describing the incident notes:

Zimmi is surprised that the Democratic Party , instead of honoring Bill Clinton as a hero and an asset to his wife’s campaign, is not “bringing him up on charges” for this act and other acts of state terrorism (for example the killer sanctions and air blockade of Iraq following the Gulf War). The idea of a party purging itself of leaders who are human rights violators is a novel one to us north americans, but it may be common in other parts of the world. The implication of the fact that our parties don’t hold members to high standards while in office is that the parties themselves (and all of us who are “members” of them) are criminals under the Nuremberg standards, unless we speak out to denounce the criminals in our midst.

Of course it goes without saying that all the recent Republican presidents have committed acts that would qualify as state terrorism under commonly-accepted international definitions. But the illegal policies of the Bush administration were also impemented under Democratic administrations.

Assuming we elect a Democratic congress and a President Clinton II, Obama,  Edwards, or even Kucinich, is it enough for us to move forward, promising never to behave this way again? (and will we make that promise?!) Or do we need the equivalent of the South African or Cambodian truth and reconciliation process (or Nuremburg trials, shudder!) to purge our institutional guilt  for past  human rights violations? I don’t have an answer.

Pat Frisella, a longtime peace activist and Kucinich supporter in NH just released this information about the lawsuit against ABC, and I thought it deserved a posting of its own.

ABC News Disappears Kucinich (and Biden and Dodd). Who will be next?

The very thing that prompted Viggo Mortensen to drop everything and fly unannounced to New Hampshire yesterday to campaign for Congressman Kucinich should prompt all lovers of true freedom to flock to the polls and vote for him. Please bear with me as I make a case for this.

Just as the DNC last cycle told us effectively to vote for Jim Craig, and we stood up and voted for our candidate, Carol Shea-Porter[in the 1st district congressional race last time], thereby sending a powerful message to the DNC, we should stand up this time and tell ABC, it is the People of NH who will vote, not the executives at Disney-owned ABC.

Sunday I spent the better part of the afternoon as a plaintiff trying to bring an injunction to try to force ABC to include Kucinich. ABC did not announce until the 4^th of January, a Friday, that they were excluding candidates, thereby making it impossible for the candidates to take any action until Saturday, the 5th. This presented the difficult challenge of finding a judge, which we did do, and that judge was willing to hear our plea. So at 4:30, we met the judge at the Lee Police Station and she read our petition. She also had Paul Westin of ABC on the phone for a tele-hearing. She said, basically, I have an injunction here seeking to force you to include Kucinich in the debate, and she asked him what he had to say in response. He sputtered about how it was not fair that this was happening even as they were setting up for the debate. He said it was not a debate but a “media event.” He said we should have brought the petition sooner, which we could not have done (the courts will not hear a complaint based on what someone intends to do). He was obviously quite perturbed. The judge had already made up her mind based on pre-existing case law not to grant the petition for injunction. I will be filing additional papers this morning.

The next President will not be elected by NH. But NH can send a clear message to ABC that it will not tolerate this kind of meddling in our electoral process. Everyone can know you pulled a Democratic ballot. No one but you and your conscience will know which name on that ballot you check. We are not just electing a president. We are defending democracy.

Sincerely,

Patricia Frisella

My friend Michael Conley of Milford NH got the following text message from Dennis this morning, in response to a question about why he had endorsed Obama rather than Edwards as second choice in Iowa:

Just passing on this last-minute information about a couple of events this evening in New Hampshire, two of which you can also watch live on Kucinich TV. 

__________________Primary voting starts Tuesday morning.

We will have a candlelight rally at Nashua City Hall on 
Monday evening at 6PM with a theme of "Vote - Vote for 
Peace".  Please join us. 

There is a small chance that we may have to relocate from 
City Hall to an alternate location.  If so, a note will be 
sent on Monday, and someone will be posted at City Hall to 
redirect you.   Sorry for any confusion.
for more information, contact John at Nashua Peace Center (john@kiserai.net) . 
__________________

Lord of the Rings Star Viggo Mortensen Joins Forum on Impeachment This Evening Online and in New Hampshire

An Impeachment Evening in New England

Sunday, January 6

First Event:

An Impeachment Town Hall Meeting sponsored by Progressive Democrats of America (PDA)

Join "The Nation's" John Nichols, author of The Genius of Impeachment; Steve Cobble, Kucinich Campaign Political Advisor and PDA Board member; and Vermont Impeachment activist Dan DeWalt for a lively and informative discussion.

Where: Keene Unitarian Universalist Church, 69 Washington Street, Keene, N.H.

When: 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.

Then, caravan to Manchester for...

Second Event:

Participate in a Forum on the Separation and Balance of Powers with Congressman and Presidential Candidate Dennis Kucinich, AfterDowningStreet, Democrats.com, PDA, ImpeachCheney.org activist David Swanson, John Nichols, and actor Viggo Mortensen. (Author Gore Vidal had been scheduled to appear but was unable to make it.)

Where: 540 R N. Commercial Street, Manchester, N.H.

When: 8:30 to 10:30 p.m.

Or watch live and Email in your questions at http://www.kucinichtv.com

Well, the monthly reading of the names (of the fallen US military people and remembrance of the Iraqi civiolian dead) and the weekly peace vigil did happen yesterday, but they were dwarfed by the campaign activity going on in town, All in all it worked out pretty well. There was lots of dialogue and  media exposure.

The snow-clogged streets and sidewalks were jammed with people in a political mood. It was a winter carnival with a twist.

The McCain supporters were a loud and rowdy bunch, and one of our regular peace vigilers was “shoved around” by some of them when she went to the side entrance where McCain was being escorted into the Town House with a peace sign. She retreated to the vicinity of a local policeman to get away from the harrassers and she wasn’t injured… just badly shaken up. Lots of new local and visiting people came and talked with us.. at least one of the McCain supporters came and held a peace banner for a while (perhaps not all his supporters are as enthusiastic about military solutions as the candidate himself).

Dennis Kucinich had a book discussion at the local Toadstool Bookstore, with a standing-room-only crowd.  After the reading of the names and before the peace vigil, I held the peace flag next to a tree of Kucinich signs at the entrance to the Toadstool while Denise went in to try to hear the discussion. The store ran completely out of copies of the book. After the bookstore Kucinich dropped by Harlows Pub to talk with a new set of supporters. They left the pub as Congressman Paul Hodes cam in to stump for Obama. The streets were filled with little knots of Hillary supporters who carried tall signs and made lots of noise (almost as much as the McCain supporters, but with the difference that they brought their kids and dogs along). Edwards supporters were not very much in evidence, but Elizabeth Edwards put in a appearance later in the day, at a location about a mile away from downtown.

A group of Mike Gravel supporters stationed themselves across the street from the McCain and Peace people at the Town House. They had a bull horn and made some very rational stump speeches from time to time. Our peace people managed to sing a few songs and end with our usual “Last Night I had the Strangest Dream” at 1:00 pm. Lots of us stayed on until McCain left, a little past 2:00 pm.

The large “The Human Cost of War” sign was stayed on the front of the Unitarian Church all day after the reading of the names, and reportedly it was photographed by some of the out-of-town reporters who thronged the streets. We have reports that pictures of our peace vigil, nestled in the middle of a crowd of McCain supporters, was seen on TV in Oregon, so it must have made some national newscasts.Denise talked to Swedish TV and I talked with the Huffington Post and the Christian Science Monitor among others. There’s a picture on Huffington Post’s Rachel Sklar blog page at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rachel-sklar/mccain-surge-in-new-hamps_b_79971.html

Dennis Kucinich had been excluded from the debates in Manchester that night. He met with a large crowd of supporters at 6:00 outside the debate hall and then worked out a compromise with WMUR (the local ABC affiliate that co-sponsored the debate with ABC and Facebook) to appear by himself for a 5-minute one-on-one interview. Mike Gravel also appeared on the same terms, and both acquitted themselves well, though they really should have been in on the give-and-take with the other candidates in the main debate. I don’t know if Dennis plans to go ahead with suing ABC or not.

New Hampshire Peace Action has brought a campaign bus called "The Yellow Rose of Texas" to the state to promote peace and anti-war issues during the run-up to the New Hampshire Primary. Here's what they're saying about it:

My friend Misty just posted a blog entry listing various kinds of objections people have to supporting Dennis Kucinich and refuting them. It’s really worth reading.

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog&friendID=115388648

I personally think that getting people to listen to Dennis is the best way to get a consistent progressive message into the political dialogue, and I’ll be voting for him in the NH Primary. Whatever the outcome of the next few primaries, it’s important to keep people and candidates thinking and talking about things like single-payer nonprofit health care, an end to war as an instrument of national policy, putting workers rather than corporations at the center of trade policy, treating immigrants  like human beings, etc.

Norman Solomon recently withdrew his endorsement of Dennis and endorsed John Edwards, due to Dennis’s suggestion that his Iowa supporters choose Barack Obama as their second choice, which may have increased Obama’s Iowa victory margin significantly. The discussion of these issues on the Progressive Democrats of America blog is VERY worthwhile reading. I have my doubts about whether Edwards is better or more progressive on the issues than Obama, but I’m sticking with Dennis, my first choice, and this being New Hampshire, my only choice inthe upcoming primary.

I’m scheduled to be part of a small panel discussion on Monday January 7, the eve of  the New Hampshire Primary. Sky TV reporter Sally Arthy invited me (as a peace-vigiler and Dennis Kucinich supporter) and some supporters of other candidates to appear in a panel interview from a bus in the Toadstool parking lot in Peterborough Monday at 12:30. pm EST (5:30 pm GMT) I don’t know when (or if) the discussion will air, but she says she will be broadcasting live. Sky TV is seen all over the world outside the US. Just a heads-up.

______
Other things going on in the next few days:

Dennis Kucinich is coming to Peterborough Saturday, January 5, to talk about his new book at the Toadstool bookstore at 11:00 just before the weekly peace vigil at noon.

I just don’t know what’s going to happen Sarurday; It will be exciting; I can’t plan what to do, but will have to just play it by ear.

There is a monthly reading of the names of fallen soldiers (and summary of Iraqi civilian deaths) that happens at the same time as Dennis’s appearance(11:00 in front of the Unitarian Church) , and my friend Amelia is schedued to speak about the Iraqi civilian dead.

The place we have the weekly peace vigil is the Town House (or Town Hall), and guess who’s going to be speaking there at noon?! John McCain! Will we be able to hang peace banners? Will we need new signs? Will the Secret Service push us away? Stay tuned! Later in the afternoon, Elizabeth Edwards and Obama’s state chair will be speaking in town. What if McCain shows up for the reading of the names and tries to co-opt it?

Debates will be happenning in Manchester at St. Anselms College on Saturday (Democrats) and Sunday (Republicans), and Dennis is among the candidates excluded from the debate by ABC. If you wish to protest this exclusion (and others) go to Democracy In Action .

If you are lacking ideas for what political action to take in the next few days, but want to promote peace, go to http://www.nhpeaceaction.org/ and hook up with the Yellow Rose of Texas Peace Bus.