Luncheons scheduled to read the Bill of Rights aloud
1.
Ask any local venue if you can bring over a bunch of people for lunch or dinner.
---Any tavern or restaurant, especially one with a side room, works fine.
---You can even just invite people into your own home.
2.
Send out the word, the appeal is automatically built into "Bill of Rights Day Celebration."
---Use email, photocopied flyers, word-of-mouth, tell local activist groups, be creative.
---You can even just invite people you know, that's how we started years ago, it was fine.
3.
Get and read a copy of the Bill of Rights out loud. How much easier could it be.
---Ask someone locally who's a somebody to offer some opening remarks.
---After you read the Bill of Rights ask, "How healthy is the bill?" and the fun begins.
-- A venue that has a happy hour makes it even easier, since they already put out a spread and the bar tab means their revenue goes up with no effort to them.
-- We have the luck of having a reenactor (Patrick Henry) who's always looking for performance spots, this is a natural, I just let him know and he's there. Similar people and opps are everywhere (try patriotic barbershop-singer quartets nationwide for example, google Barbershop Harmony Society; or google "re-enactors in [your town]" and find lots to choose from).
-- Use your gift of gab to persuade a fancy venue into hosting (send a few emails, make a few phone calls, meet to tie up the details), they're very receptive to offers to bring in a group large or small. Let them charge a modest door fee -- the appeal of your event skyrockets (the venue gets the fee and bar tab, no sweat, they provide the victuals and work the door including credit cards; we've used The Omaha Steakhouse, The Goldwater Institute, The Wrigley Mansion).
I mean, the thing virtually runs on autopilot. Great thanks to Aaron Zelman in Milwaukee (jpfo.org) for first floating the inspired concept. "All of the Bill of Rights for all of the people."
Everyone has a stake in preserving the Bill of Rights, even if we differ over parts. People like yourself can make this the major national event it ought to be. Go for it!
Saturday, December 15, 2012
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Monday, October 1, 2012
Peace and Freedom Party is for Cannabis Freedom!
2012-10-01 "Oaksterdam welcomes unlikely presidential candidate, Roseanne Barr" by Sam Rolens[http://oaklandnorth.net/2012/10/01/oaksterdam-welcomes-unlikely-presidential-candidate-roseanne-barr/]:
Roseanne Barr is running for president. It was clear, when she addressed a packed house at Oaksterdam University on Thursday night, that the bulk of the crowd was there to hear her say that out loud. Former Democratic Georgia congresswoman Cynthia McKinney delivered an introduction to the evening, cutting directly to the chase. “We are meeting here,” she said, “because the Peace and Freedom Party had the courage and the smarts to nominate Roseanne Barr as their presidential candidate.”
Before her speech, Barr sat at ease in front of the crowd in a black-and-white striped sweater—effortlessly standing out by virtue of being so recognizably Roseanne. The longtime television star and pop figure force for proud working class classlessness wore a coiled pearl necklace and floor length black skirt. She sported short, gray hair. “I just got my new trifocals,” she howled brassily out to the crowd as she produced a typed speech along with thick glasses. “I’m not very good at seeing yet.” She waited with a comedian’s patience for the laughter to dry up before thanking the audience for coming. Despite the years and cosmetic procedures between TV icon Roseanne and presidential candidate Barr, her familiar squinting smirk made her unmistakable.
Roseanne shared the small stage Oaksterdam had erected, in the second-floor meeting hall of the downtown cannabis growing instruction center, with McKinney and a panel of speakers that included former Black Panther Elder Freeman, Peace and Freedom candidates Gene Ruyle and Mary Mcllroy, and “Ganja Guru” Ed Rosenthal. When McKinney announced that Roseanne would speak last, the crowd reacted with playful booing. The advertised topic for the evening was The Political Future of Medical Marijuana, but Roseanne was the event.
“Thank you for breaking through your mind control programming to reach the other side where you have some free thought,” Barr called out to the crowd when it was finally time for her speech, her microphone little more than an ornament, given her own natural volume. This introduction, like most of her speech Thursday, began on a snarl and ended with a gleeful grin. A central theme in her address was criticism of what she called “the prison-military-industrial complex” of America—the system under which drugs are criminalized, she said, to allow the government and corporations to profit from incarceration and to create slave labor through inmate manufacturing.
Barr’s tone bordered on comedic at times, but always returned to a central place of rage; and the crowd gave its loudest response when Barr’s fury reached its highest points. “The nation has to realize that giving its kids a choice between war and prison if they are poor is not a choice at all,” she yelled above the rising cheers of the crowd. “Locking up your own tax base is simply stupid.”
To an eclectic crowd of anti-government activists, medical marijuana advocates, third party campaigners and curious undecided citizens, Barr delivered a speech that both was and was not all about marijuana, and also both was and was not all about Roseanne. From the moment she began her prepared speech in her characteristic, yowling bugle voice, this much was clear: Barr absolutely means business with this campaign, and she absolutely plans to enjoy every second of it.
She’s running for president, and the fact that you likely had to read that twice before it sank in, it turns out, has a lot to do with how she ended up on a ballot at all. “We need someone who will get a lot of attention for our party,” said Co-Chair of the Alameda County Peace and Freedom Party Marsha Feinland. “We don’t get a lot of attention.”
Attention is currently what the Peace and Freedom Party of California needs in order to stay alive—that is, to stay on the ballot at all. Started in 1968, Peace and Freedom has existed for over 40 years on a platform of socialism, workers rights, and more recently, support for marijuana legalization. Feinland said that in order to have its candidates appear on state ballots, the party must have a statewide registration equal to 1 percent of voter turnout for the most recent gubernatorial election. Currently, Peace and Freedom is about 50,000 registered party members shy of the necessary 110,000. They’ll be on the ballot for 2012; but to be on future ballots, the party will have to come up with a significant expansion of registered members. Thus was the circumstance set perfectly for Roseanne Barr.
In August, Barr, who had recently lost the nomination she had campaigned for from the Green Party, turned to Peace and Freedom only to find herself an unlikely Johnny-on-the-spot. “We’ve had candidates more directly in line with the party,” said Feinland. “But they won’t get the kind of attention that Roseanne would get.”
At the Peace and Freedom Party’s national convention in Los Angeles, Barr spoke for 15 minutes—all the time she could spare while filming “The Comedy Central Roast of Roseanne” nearby—and received the nomination without ever having been formally entered on their primary ballot. “I’ll tell you what won people over,” Feinland said. “Roseanne said her priority would be getting people to register in the Peace and Freedom Party.”
The party’s strong confidence in Barr to gain attention and build enough of a following to deliver 50,000 new party members was helped out considerably by the television star’s record of support for marijuana legalization. “The marijuana issue has tremendous appeal for young people in this country,” Feinland said. “And for old people too.”
It certainly drew a crowd in Oakland, where Barr delivered a speech connecting marijuana laws to wider realms of social freedoms—a relatable position for many at Oaksterdam, which first made headlines in 2007 when it opened as the first American university dedicated to teaching the techniques and practices of growing cannabis, and again in April 2012, when the building was raided by federal agents.
Still open and holding classes in spite of the federal action, Oaksterdam served as an apt venue for Barr’s speech, which dealt at length with her support for a reduction of federal government power. In fact, the event was initially planned at the Montclair Women’s Cultural Arts Club, but later moved to Oaksterdam. The defiant adherence to state regulation rather than federal law the cannabis university demonstrates just by keeping its doors open, said event organizer JR Valrey of Block Report Radio, made Oaksterdam “a better fit for the event.”
Jeff Jones, an Oaskterdam instructor and cannabis-legalization veteran who’s wife Dale Sky Jones was recently appointed head of the university, was in the audience and said that “a lot of people in the room might not have come to Montclair.”
Barr has become somewhat famous in recent years for her staunch support of medical marijuana, even using a July appearance on David Letterman to poke fun at the famous gun-rights slogan delivered first by Charlton Heston. “Obama,” Barr said, “You’ll get my joint when you pry it out of my cold, dead fingers.” It was this indignation she showed in her speech at Oaksterdam, a speech that also drew heavily on the ideology she defended when she addressed Occupy Wall Street in 2011. “Government’s not supposed to be for profit,” she yelled in an early crescendo in the speech. “Government’s not supposed to be run like a business.”
And while the rage she showed off in her attacks on government wasn’t shared by all, the climate of the crowd was certainly one of frustration with the current political system. Eric Salerno, an activist who came down from Sacramento to listen to Barr, said his interest was equal parts nostalgic fandom for Roseanne the celebrity and support of Barr’s political positions. “She’s like my second mom,” Salerno said. “We all grew up watching that woman.” He believes it’s important for high-profile candidates like Roseanne to bring attention to third parties, even if they hold no illusions about winning. “It needs to be done regardless of whether you win or lose the fight,” he said. “Keep fighting, and eventually we’ll win.”
Barr also connected marijuana laws to the economy. If the government allowed her to grow cannabis on her farm in Hawaii, Barr said, “which they won’t, because it’s not a free country,” she claims she would be able to provide jobs for hundreds if not thousands more workers. She briefly quipped about the environment at this point, after bringing up her Hawaiian nut farm. “By the way,” she said with a more relaxed volume and a smirk, “if people would be getting their protein from nuts instead of animals, we wouldn’t have any global warming.”
Jeff Jones said he agrees with most of Barr’s policies—but that he is weary of pledging full third-party support. Jones was “spooked,” he said, by what he called “the Nader effect” of third parties sometimes tipping the scales in the two party system. He nevertheless remains encouraged by the stances taken by the Peace and Freedom Party.
Barr set herself apart from politicians in the two parties, in her speech, whom she said make policy more based on what will appeal to their party than on their beliefs. “It means less than nothing to billionaires that they cause the death of entire communities on a whim,” she said, regarding the drug war and its destructiveness. “Then they turn around and fund the ‘Right to Life’ movement.”
Lisa, an Oakland undecided voter who asked not to have her last name used, said she was impressed that the Peace and Freedom party representatives had opened the evening by pointing out that Obama was projected to win California by a wide margin, and that voters were therefore free to send their votes safely to third party candidates. “Roseanne brought me out,” Lisa said, shrugging. “And it was nice to see someone speak with passion, not from a teleprompter.”
Barr went on attacking all US drug policy. “The war on drugs is a class war,” she said. “The war on drugs is a drug-lord’s wet dream. Pot is big business, and billions are invested in keeping it illegal.”
Mike Campbell from Richmond said he came specifically to hear the discussion on social policy and drug law. “It’s obvious the war on drugs is a war on a class,” he said, glad Barr had made the point. “Having been a member of the middle class, I can say that it goes beyond poor people.”
As Barr built to her climax, she became even more gleeful. “RESIST INSANITY!” she said, pausing to laugh fiercely while the crowd cheered the slogan. “EMBRACE SANITY!”
The audience, sensing the speech had reached its home stretch, began unrelentingly cheering. Barr had to yell out her closing line. “If you want a candidate such as myself, who believes that social safety nets such and health care should come before the profits of a few in those hallowed halls of congress,” she said, straightening out her smile and waiting just long enough for the moment to lose any of its comedy, “then here I am.” The crowd dissipated quickly after Roseanne left, though many formed a group around the Peace and Freedom Party booth in order to register.
“Roseanne is speaking about issues other presidential candidates aren’t,” said Berkeley Mayoral Candidate Kahlil Jacobs-Fantauzzi, who came to hear the presidential candidate speak. He says this particular crowd came out to listen to Barr to have “the opportunity to listen to somebody connected to their reality.”
Roseanne Barr is running for president, and while this is likely a surprise to most, it is by no means a surprise to Barr, who has been dropping comments about her intentions to run for president for over a decade. In a 1995 interview with John Lahr for The New Yorker, Barr brought it up along with a slew of many ambitious prophecies. “You should keep that quote,” she tells Lahr in the piece. “Then you can say I said so.”
Ruyle said he was happy to be part of the event since he was the person who nominated Roseanne Barr for president at the P&F Party’s convention in Los Angeles in August. As Barr smiled and clapped, Ruyle said he and others felt that a solid working class woman with a sense of humor such as Roseanne could well represent the party and talk about the class war
Roseanne Barr is running for president. It was clear, when she addressed a packed house at Oaksterdam University on Thursday night, that the bulk of the crowd was there to hear her say that out loud. Former Democratic Georgia congresswoman Cynthia McKinney delivered an introduction to the evening, cutting directly to the chase. “We are meeting here,” she said, “because the Peace and Freedom Party had the courage and the smarts to nominate Roseanne Barr as their presidential candidate.”
Before her speech, Barr sat at ease in front of the crowd in a black-and-white striped sweater—effortlessly standing out by virtue of being so recognizably Roseanne. The longtime television star and pop figure force for proud working class classlessness wore a coiled pearl necklace and floor length black skirt. She sported short, gray hair. “I just got my new trifocals,” she howled brassily out to the crowd as she produced a typed speech along with thick glasses. “I’m not very good at seeing yet.” She waited with a comedian’s patience for the laughter to dry up before thanking the audience for coming. Despite the years and cosmetic procedures between TV icon Roseanne and presidential candidate Barr, her familiar squinting smirk made her unmistakable.
Roseanne shared the small stage Oaksterdam had erected, in the second-floor meeting hall of the downtown cannabis growing instruction center, with McKinney and a panel of speakers that included former Black Panther Elder Freeman, Peace and Freedom candidates Gene Ruyle and Mary Mcllroy, and “Ganja Guru” Ed Rosenthal. When McKinney announced that Roseanne would speak last, the crowd reacted with playful booing. The advertised topic for the evening was The Political Future of Medical Marijuana, but Roseanne was the event.
“Thank you for breaking through your mind control programming to reach the other side where you have some free thought,” Barr called out to the crowd when it was finally time for her speech, her microphone little more than an ornament, given her own natural volume. This introduction, like most of her speech Thursday, began on a snarl and ended with a gleeful grin. A central theme in her address was criticism of what she called “the prison-military-industrial complex” of America—the system under which drugs are criminalized, she said, to allow the government and corporations to profit from incarceration and to create slave labor through inmate manufacturing.
Barr’s tone bordered on comedic at times, but always returned to a central place of rage; and the crowd gave its loudest response when Barr’s fury reached its highest points. “The nation has to realize that giving its kids a choice between war and prison if they are poor is not a choice at all,” she yelled above the rising cheers of the crowd. “Locking up your own tax base is simply stupid.”
To an eclectic crowd of anti-government activists, medical marijuana advocates, third party campaigners and curious undecided citizens, Barr delivered a speech that both was and was not all about marijuana, and also both was and was not all about Roseanne. From the moment she began her prepared speech in her characteristic, yowling bugle voice, this much was clear: Barr absolutely means business with this campaign, and she absolutely plans to enjoy every second of it.
She’s running for president, and the fact that you likely had to read that twice before it sank in, it turns out, has a lot to do with how she ended up on a ballot at all. “We need someone who will get a lot of attention for our party,” said Co-Chair of the Alameda County Peace and Freedom Party Marsha Feinland. “We don’t get a lot of attention.”
Attention is currently what the Peace and Freedom Party of California needs in order to stay alive—that is, to stay on the ballot at all. Started in 1968, Peace and Freedom has existed for over 40 years on a platform of socialism, workers rights, and more recently, support for marijuana legalization. Feinland said that in order to have its candidates appear on state ballots, the party must have a statewide registration equal to 1 percent of voter turnout for the most recent gubernatorial election. Currently, Peace and Freedom is about 50,000 registered party members shy of the necessary 110,000. They’ll be on the ballot for 2012; but to be on future ballots, the party will have to come up with a significant expansion of registered members. Thus was the circumstance set perfectly for Roseanne Barr.
In August, Barr, who had recently lost the nomination she had campaigned for from the Green Party, turned to Peace and Freedom only to find herself an unlikely Johnny-on-the-spot. “We’ve had candidates more directly in line with the party,” said Feinland. “But they won’t get the kind of attention that Roseanne would get.”
At the Peace and Freedom Party’s national convention in Los Angeles, Barr spoke for 15 minutes—all the time she could spare while filming “The Comedy Central Roast of Roseanne” nearby—and received the nomination without ever having been formally entered on their primary ballot. “I’ll tell you what won people over,” Feinland said. “Roseanne said her priority would be getting people to register in the Peace and Freedom Party.”
The party’s strong confidence in Barr to gain attention and build enough of a following to deliver 50,000 new party members was helped out considerably by the television star’s record of support for marijuana legalization. “The marijuana issue has tremendous appeal for young people in this country,” Feinland said. “And for old people too.”
It certainly drew a crowd in Oakland, where Barr delivered a speech connecting marijuana laws to wider realms of social freedoms—a relatable position for many at Oaksterdam, which first made headlines in 2007 when it opened as the first American university dedicated to teaching the techniques and practices of growing cannabis, and again in April 2012, when the building was raided by federal agents.
Still open and holding classes in spite of the federal action, Oaksterdam served as an apt venue for Barr’s speech, which dealt at length with her support for a reduction of federal government power. In fact, the event was initially planned at the Montclair Women’s Cultural Arts Club, but later moved to Oaksterdam. The defiant adherence to state regulation rather than federal law the cannabis university demonstrates just by keeping its doors open, said event organizer JR Valrey of Block Report Radio, made Oaksterdam “a better fit for the event.”
Jeff Jones, an Oaskterdam instructor and cannabis-legalization veteran who’s wife Dale Sky Jones was recently appointed head of the university, was in the audience and said that “a lot of people in the room might not have come to Montclair.”
Barr has become somewhat famous in recent years for her staunch support of medical marijuana, even using a July appearance on David Letterman to poke fun at the famous gun-rights slogan delivered first by Charlton Heston. “Obama,” Barr said, “You’ll get my joint when you pry it out of my cold, dead fingers.” It was this indignation she showed in her speech at Oaksterdam, a speech that also drew heavily on the ideology she defended when she addressed Occupy Wall Street in 2011. “Government’s not supposed to be for profit,” she yelled in an early crescendo in the speech. “Government’s not supposed to be run like a business.”
And while the rage she showed off in her attacks on government wasn’t shared by all, the climate of the crowd was certainly one of frustration with the current political system. Eric Salerno, an activist who came down from Sacramento to listen to Barr, said his interest was equal parts nostalgic fandom for Roseanne the celebrity and support of Barr’s political positions. “She’s like my second mom,” Salerno said. “We all grew up watching that woman.” He believes it’s important for high-profile candidates like Roseanne to bring attention to third parties, even if they hold no illusions about winning. “It needs to be done regardless of whether you win or lose the fight,” he said. “Keep fighting, and eventually we’ll win.”
Barr also connected marijuana laws to the economy. If the government allowed her to grow cannabis on her farm in Hawaii, Barr said, “which they won’t, because it’s not a free country,” she claims she would be able to provide jobs for hundreds if not thousands more workers. She briefly quipped about the environment at this point, after bringing up her Hawaiian nut farm. “By the way,” she said with a more relaxed volume and a smirk, “if people would be getting their protein from nuts instead of animals, we wouldn’t have any global warming.”
Jeff Jones said he agrees with most of Barr’s policies—but that he is weary of pledging full third-party support. Jones was “spooked,” he said, by what he called “the Nader effect” of third parties sometimes tipping the scales in the two party system. He nevertheless remains encouraged by the stances taken by the Peace and Freedom Party.
Barr set herself apart from politicians in the two parties, in her speech, whom she said make policy more based on what will appeal to their party than on their beliefs. “It means less than nothing to billionaires that they cause the death of entire communities on a whim,” she said, regarding the drug war and its destructiveness. “Then they turn around and fund the ‘Right to Life’ movement.”
Lisa, an Oakland undecided voter who asked not to have her last name used, said she was impressed that the Peace and Freedom party representatives had opened the evening by pointing out that Obama was projected to win California by a wide margin, and that voters were therefore free to send their votes safely to third party candidates. “Roseanne brought me out,” Lisa said, shrugging. “And it was nice to see someone speak with passion, not from a teleprompter.”
Barr went on attacking all US drug policy. “The war on drugs is a class war,” she said. “The war on drugs is a drug-lord’s wet dream. Pot is big business, and billions are invested in keeping it illegal.”
Mike Campbell from Richmond said he came specifically to hear the discussion on social policy and drug law. “It’s obvious the war on drugs is a war on a class,” he said, glad Barr had made the point. “Having been a member of the middle class, I can say that it goes beyond poor people.”
As Barr built to her climax, she became even more gleeful. “RESIST INSANITY!” she said, pausing to laugh fiercely while the crowd cheered the slogan. “EMBRACE SANITY!”
The audience, sensing the speech had reached its home stretch, began unrelentingly cheering. Barr had to yell out her closing line. “If you want a candidate such as myself, who believes that social safety nets such and health care should come before the profits of a few in those hallowed halls of congress,” she said, straightening out her smile and waiting just long enough for the moment to lose any of its comedy, “then here I am.” The crowd dissipated quickly after Roseanne left, though many formed a group around the Peace and Freedom Party booth in order to register.
“Roseanne is speaking about issues other presidential candidates aren’t,” said Berkeley Mayoral Candidate Kahlil Jacobs-Fantauzzi, who came to hear the presidential candidate speak. He says this particular crowd came out to listen to Barr to have “the opportunity to listen to somebody connected to their reality.”
Roseanne Barr is running for president, and while this is likely a surprise to most, it is by no means a surprise to Barr, who has been dropping comments about her intentions to run for president for over a decade. In a 1995 interview with John Lahr for The New Yorker, Barr brought it up along with a slew of many ambitious prophecies. “You should keep that quote,” she tells Lahr in the piece. “Then you can say I said so.”
Ruyle said he was happy to be part of the event since he was the person who nominated Roseanne Barr for president at the P&F Party’s convention in Los Angeles in August. As Barr smiled and clapped, Ruyle said he and others felt that a solid working class woman with a sense of humor such as Roseanne could well represent the party and talk about the class war
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Solano Peace and Freedom Party speaks at "Wine on the Water"
On Sept. 22nd, Solano Peace and Freedom Party Chairperson Katy R. had been invited to speak about Feminism and it's role in the human condition at the "Wine on the Water" benefit gathering for "SANE/SART", a non-profit composed of women nurses who act as "1st responders" to victims of sexual assault. She spoke to an audience of 300 women, men and children.
What follows is the text of her speech:
What follows is the text of her speech:
Greetings to all my sisters, and brothers! My name is Kathryn R., and I thank you for supporting the SANE/SART first responders to the victims of sexual violence in the Northbay.
These courageous nurses and their allies do this work without financial subsidies by the Hospitals or Northbay County governments, so it is up to just us to keep their service available to the public.
Please, give all you can to SANE/SART!!
In contrast to the culture of “Blame the Victim”, SANE/SART treats all victims as People First, without charge. Additionally, in today’s political climate, there is an ever growing trend to discount women, and to discount even our Human Rights.
In my capacity as a leader in the Peace and Freedom Party of California, I advocate for Women’s Equality under the law, against old and so-called “traditional” values of patriarchy… that is, I stand against the tradition of men ALWAYS being on-top in the law, on the job, and in our very own minds!
Our Equality is a Human Right! And, as organizer for the true values of Feminism in the Solano Co Peace and Freedom Party, I say it is time to reclaim and re-energize a feminist movement which stands tall for Human Rights, by ourselves, and with others!
While we advocate for our Rights for ourselves, there are many women whose lives are ruined by Human Rights abuse conducted by local governments, and we feel that those of us with the time, the energy, and the spirit, ought to be able to help all women against the abuse of a corrupted male-dominated society!
For example, in order that we may uphold the cause of Human Rights for the victims of police murder and their families, and put an end to the dividends created by fascism and racism, the Peace and Freedom Party has conducted outreach to young mothers and all people who are willing to listen. We have joined with the "Mobilization of Mothers (MOMs)" alongside civil-rights and faith organizations, to form a "Million Mothers Movement" with the ultimate goal of a "Million Mothers March" on Washington DC and a lobbying campaign so we can demand legislation be introduced and made law which protects the People against these blatant Human Rights violations, to tell Washington lawmakers that it's not ok that the police state is killing our children, brutally in the streets and with mass-incarceration, and will never get used to it!!!
The campaign for Equality and for Human Rights came directly out of the battle to end economic slavery in the United States and the old Jim Crow laws during the 1970s, and was fought through militant actions in the streets, at home, in our workplaces and halls of government. Today, the struggle for equality continues against a stepped-up war on women. Elected officials from both parties are shredding social services while our paychecks shrink and jobs disappear. Last year, 26 states enacted laws restricting reproductive freedom and family planning. Meanwhile, over 40% of families headed by single African American, Latina and Native American mothers live in poverty.
The sparks of feminism needs support and leadership, so that we women can use our experiences to keep the flame of freedom burning, so that our life experiences can combine and GROW into a national grassroots movement.
It's time to build a game-changing feminist strike-back against unfair values of a system DOMINATED by the values of certain selfish men. Our strike-back for the preservation of our Rights unites all people into a grassroots movement that tackles racism, sexism, fascism and hatred dead-on. We advocate for a culture where our values as women are shared, where our community takes care of eachother like a family, where all are sheltered and fed, and quality childcare and education for all children and mother’s who need a second chance at life, for quality family planning, for respectable legal protections for women suffering sexual abuse.
Our Party stands for Peace in our Community, and for Freedom for all People. We are a Party of Feminist values, of Communitarianism, of humanitarian Socialism, of the values and traditions which made these United States of America great and worthy of the slogan “Land of the Free”!
Again, I ask that you give all you can for SANE/SART, for all the work that they do. And, if you feel inspired to take back our POWER on all levels, to talk to me or contact us at SolanoPFP@lavabit.com
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Solano PFP endorses "Women's Equality Day", calls for solidarity with Women's Equality Action in in San Francisco!!
We endorse the "Women's Equality Day" in San Francisco, during Aug.26th, and call for solidarity with the commemoration actions conducted by the WORD (Women Organized to Resist and Defend).
We invite everyone to come out, show support and to join us in a Peace and Freedom Party contingent, and to carry our banner!!!
We call everyone to join us in endorsing this action for "Women's Equality Day". You may endorse this action here [http://www.defendwomensrights.org/endorse-aug-26.html#.UDMJNmyoEdU]
signed, Women's Committee of the Peace and Freedom Party of California
endorsed, Peace and Freedom Party of Solano County
and Eugene Ruyle, of the Peace and Freedom Party of Alameda County
2012-08-26 "On Women's Equality Day Women in Bay Area Ask: Just How Far Have We Come?"
[http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/08/26/18656831.php]:
In 1971 Bella Abzug introduced legislation to establish Women's Equality Day to be celebrated each year on August 26th. Ever since the creation of this national day of commemoration of women's right to vote, women have paused to ask, "just how far have we come since the 19th amendment passed?" In the Bay Area women will address this question at gatherings in the cities of San Francisco and San Mateo.
Despite the fact that an amendment for women's right to vote was first introduced in the US in 1878, that right was not granted until August 26, 1920 when the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution was signed. Women's Equality Day celebrates the establishment of this basic right each year.
Members of the national organization Radical Women put out a call on the occasion of Women's Equality Day this year saying, "It's time to reclaim and re-energize a fighting, militant feminist movement!" They are calling for a multiracial grassroots feminism with a radical program. Radical Women's San Francisco chapter will gather in commemoration of the day this year with the theme "Immigrant Women Battle for a Better World".
San Francisco peninsula based congresswomen Jackie Speier and Anna Eshoo are very vocal on issues of concern to women. People in San Mateo County and beyond applauded the two US Representatives when they both demanded an investigation in 2007 of the actions of County Sheriff Gregg Munks. The Sheriff and another male Sheriff's Department employee were detained at a Las Vegas brothel while there for a law enforcement relay race. As much of $10,000 in public funds were used to plan and take that Vegas trip. The two congressional representatives are staunch supporters of women's rights to reproductive freedom and job equality. In addition, Representative Speier seeks to keep Big Pharma from influencing medical care that negatively impacts women.
In San Mateo, women will join Representative Jackie Speier at an event she will co-sponsor with Eshoo at the San Mateo History Museum. Visit the indybay calendar for the San Mateo event of August 26 and the San Francisco Radical Women event of August 28.
Event announcements:
August 26 in San Mateo [http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/08/26/18656827.php]
August 28 in San Francisco [http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/08/02/18655180.php]
2012-08-26 "Women's Equality Day" in San Francisco -
On Sunday, August 26th, National Women's Equality Day, WORD (Women Organized to Resist and Defend) San Francisco is calling for a mass protest in the Mission to defend women's rights. We want to let the politicians of both major parties know that we will not stand by while women's rights are under attack.
The August 26th demonstration was initiated by WORD, a new grassroots, feminist organization that is dedicated to building the struggle for women’s rights and equality for all.
Get involved in the struggle to defend women's rights! Volunteers from all over Northern California are working hard to build the August 26th demonstration for women's rights, but there is still time to get involved. Come, bring friends and join this important movement!
[415-375-9502] [sf@defendwomensrights.org]
---
Text of the WORD statement upholding "Women's Equality Day" -
August 26th Day of Action – Women’s Equality Day [http://www.defendwomensrights.org/aug-26-day-of-action.html#.UDMLpWyoEdU]:
On Women’s Equality Day, August 26 – on the eve of the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida, which will be immediately followed by the Democratic National Convention - women and their allies will take to the streets of Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York City, Chicago and other cities across the country in defense of women's rights.
August 26th - Women’s Equality Day - commemorates the 1920 passage of the 19th amendment, giving women the right to vote. Winning the right to vote was an important victory, but the struggle for full equality continues. Celebrate Women’s Equality Day by taking to the streets and demanding full equality now. Honor the women who fought for the rights we’ve won and continue the struggle for full equality.
Many women voted for President Obama believing he would stand up for women’s rights. But he has compromised with the anti-choice forces on many occasions. When Republicans opposed a 2009 provision for family planning, he dropped it. In 2011, the White House took the unprecedented step of overruling the FDA in order to keep Plan B out of the reach of women under 18. While President Obama is not a right-wing pro-lifer, we cannot count on him or any politician to defend our rights. In fact, in order to reach a budget compromise with Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner in July 2011, President Obama said, "I'll give you abortion in D.C." Meaning, low-income women in the District of Columbia would be prevented from receiving Medicaid assistance offered by the D.C. government for abortion procedures.
Women’s reproductive rights continue to be slashed at the state level. Legal restrictions on abortions tripled from 2010 to 2011. 92 new abortion restrictions were enacted in 2011. In 2011, there were 114 reported violent attacks against abortion providers. Clinics that provide vital services for millions of working-class women are under siege. More than 55 percent of reproductive age women now live in states that are “hostile” to abortion rights. (Guttenmacher Institute)
So while they’re convening and concocting new ways to attack our rights and our lives, let’s come together in the streets to stand up and fight back!
There will be mass demonstrations in Los Angeles, San Francisco and other cities around the country. We will mobilize thousands in the streets to show the world that there is a new women’s movement rising and we will not go back.
We believe that access to reproductive choice – the basic right of women to control our own bodies – is a fundamental right and must be defended. We believe in equality. We support working women. We are tired of the right wing trying to turn back the clock and take our hard-won rights away. All people who support equality and choice should organize with us and help these actions grow.
If you can’t make it to protest in Tampa and Charlotte, join or organize a protest in your community. There is a long, proud tradition of women in the United States mobilizing and fighting to win equality and respect. Let’s continue this legacy this summer!
Sisters United Front for Survival [https://sites.google.com/site/sistersunitedfrontforsurvival/]:
Sunday August 26th: March to Rescind Cut to CalWORKS on Women's Rights Day
Date: Sunday August 26th 2012
Time: 12:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Location: March begins at 24th and Mission St., in San Francisco
In the Women's Rights Day Protest, march with Sisters United Front for Survival (SUFS) and lend your voice to the battle to rescind cuts to CalWORKS and all social services.
SUFS is a grassroots campaign of Radical Women.
Volunteers needed to make pickets signs, phone calls and help with outreach. Call 415-864-1278 or email baradicalwomen@earthlink.net to volunteer Meet at 24th and Mission Streets in San Francisco. Look for the SUFS banner.
Message from Anne Slater, National Organizer for the Radical Women -
Happy Women's Rights Day!
[http://www.radicalwomen.org/2012WomensRightsDay.shtml]:
August 26 marks the anniversary of women in the United States winning the right to vote in 1920.
The campaign for suffrage came directly out of the battle to end slavery and was fought through militant actions in the streets, workplaces and halls of government. Today, the struggle for equality continues against a stepped-up war on women. Elected officials from both parties are shredding social services while our paychecks shrink and jobs disappear. Over the last two years, state legislatures passed 164 anti-immigrant laws, relegating women and men without documents to the precarious informal economy. Last year, 26 states enacted laws restricting reproductive freedom and abortion. Meanwhile, over 40% of families headed by single African American, Latina and Native American mothers live in poverty.
Women respond with bold resistance.
Rank-and-file teachers, predominantly female and of color, are waging vibrant battles against privatized public education and for workers' rights. Young Latinas helped build a powerful Tucson Freedom Summer to defend ethnic studies and immigrant rights. Feminists defeated anti-choice ballot measures in Mississippi and North Dakota. Around the nation women took a lead in building Occupy encampments. Radical Women members walked picket lines with locked-out Longshoremen and Teamsters. We defended abortion clinics and fought cuts to social services, welfare and childcare. We demanded taxes on the wealthy and corporate profits.
These sparks of feminist organizing need support and leadership to flame into a national grassroots movement. So my blood boils when I hear statements like the one from National Organization for Women President Terry O'Neill, who wrote, "President Obama represents the pathway to equality."
Pouring women's desire for change into the Democratic Party is a dead-end strategy because the party represents the interests of the 1% just as much as the Republican Party. Both want to maintain the capitalist economic system, which relies on social inequality, wage exploitation, and the free labor of women in the home.
President Obama's policies feed the wealthy and starve the hungry. Fortune 500 companies raked in a record $824 billion in profits in 2011 and the median CEO pay rose to $9.6 million, while workers, mothers and the unemployed struggled with skyrocketing food and gas prices.
Obama's track record on social issues is also revealing. Under his administration more immigrants have been deported than during Bush's time, often separating U.S.-born children from their mothers. War and military occupation get a weekly infusion of $10.6 billion. The president signed laws that limit protest and allow the military to detain U.S. citizens and foreigners anywhere in the world without charge or trial. He has consistently compromised on reproductive rights and waffled on gay equality.
Enough already! It's time to build a game-changing feminist fightback. One that unites the antiwar, labor, racial equality, immigrant, welfare rights, student and queer movements. One that tackles racism, sexism and homophobia head-on. One that demands a society where wealth is shared, all are sheltered and fed, and quality childcare and education are free.
Connect with political allies to fight the attacks coming down on women by contacting the Radical Women National Office or a chapter near you.
We invite everyone to come out, show support and to join us in a Peace and Freedom Party contingent, and to carry our banner!!!
We call everyone to join us in endorsing this action for "Women's Equality Day". You may endorse this action here [http://www.defendwomensrights.org/endorse-aug-26.html#.UDMJNmyoEdU]
signed, Women's Committee of the Peace and Freedom Party of California
endorsed, Peace and Freedom Party of Solano County
and Eugene Ruyle, of the Peace and Freedom Party of Alameda County
2012-08-26 "On Women's Equality Day Women in Bay Area Ask: Just How Far Have We Come?"
[http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/08/26/18656831.php]:
In 1971 Bella Abzug introduced legislation to establish Women's Equality Day to be celebrated each year on August 26th. Ever since the creation of this national day of commemoration of women's right to vote, women have paused to ask, "just how far have we come since the 19th amendment passed?" In the Bay Area women will address this question at gatherings in the cities of San Francisco and San Mateo.
Despite the fact that an amendment for women's right to vote was first introduced in the US in 1878, that right was not granted until August 26, 1920 when the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution was signed. Women's Equality Day celebrates the establishment of this basic right each year.
Members of the national organization Radical Women put out a call on the occasion of Women's Equality Day this year saying, "It's time to reclaim and re-energize a fighting, militant feminist movement!" They are calling for a multiracial grassroots feminism with a radical program. Radical Women's San Francisco chapter will gather in commemoration of the day this year with the theme "Immigrant Women Battle for a Better World".
San Francisco peninsula based congresswomen Jackie Speier and Anna Eshoo are very vocal on issues of concern to women. People in San Mateo County and beyond applauded the two US Representatives when they both demanded an investigation in 2007 of the actions of County Sheriff Gregg Munks. The Sheriff and another male Sheriff's Department employee were detained at a Las Vegas brothel while there for a law enforcement relay race. As much of $10,000 in public funds were used to plan and take that Vegas trip. The two congressional representatives are staunch supporters of women's rights to reproductive freedom and job equality. In addition, Representative Speier seeks to keep Big Pharma from influencing medical care that negatively impacts women.
In San Mateo, women will join Representative Jackie Speier at an event she will co-sponsor with Eshoo at the San Mateo History Museum. Visit the indybay calendar for the San Mateo event of August 26 and the San Francisco Radical Women event of August 28.
Event announcements:
August 26 in San Mateo [http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/08/26/18656827.php]
August 28 in San Francisco [http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/08/02/18655180.php]
2012-08-26 "Women's Equality Day" in San Francisco -
On Sunday, August 26th, National Women's Equality Day, WORD (Women Organized to Resist and Defend) San Francisco is calling for a mass protest in the Mission to defend women's rights. We want to let the politicians of both major parties know that we will not stand by while women's rights are under attack.
The August 26th demonstration was initiated by WORD, a new grassroots, feminist organization that is dedicated to building the struggle for women’s rights and equality for all.
Get involved in the struggle to defend women's rights! Volunteers from all over Northern California are working hard to build the August 26th demonstration for women's rights, but there is still time to get involved. Come, bring friends and join this important movement!
[415-375-9502] [sf@defendwomensrights.org]
---
Text of the WORD statement upholding "Women's Equality Day" -
August 26th Day of Action – Women’s Equality Day [http://www.defendwomensrights.org/aug-26-day-of-action.html#.UDMLpWyoEdU]:
On Women’s Equality Day, August 26 – on the eve of the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida, which will be immediately followed by the Democratic National Convention - women and their allies will take to the streets of Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York City, Chicago and other cities across the country in defense of women's rights.
August 26th - Women’s Equality Day - commemorates the 1920 passage of the 19th amendment, giving women the right to vote. Winning the right to vote was an important victory, but the struggle for full equality continues. Celebrate Women’s Equality Day by taking to the streets and demanding full equality now. Honor the women who fought for the rights we’ve won and continue the struggle for full equality.
Many women voted for President Obama believing he would stand up for women’s rights. But he has compromised with the anti-choice forces on many occasions. When Republicans opposed a 2009 provision for family planning, he dropped it. In 2011, the White House took the unprecedented step of overruling the FDA in order to keep Plan B out of the reach of women under 18. While President Obama is not a right-wing pro-lifer, we cannot count on him or any politician to defend our rights. In fact, in order to reach a budget compromise with Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner in July 2011, President Obama said, "I'll give you abortion in D.C." Meaning, low-income women in the District of Columbia would be prevented from receiving Medicaid assistance offered by the D.C. government for abortion procedures.
Women’s reproductive rights continue to be slashed at the state level. Legal restrictions on abortions tripled from 2010 to 2011. 92 new abortion restrictions were enacted in 2011. In 2011, there were 114 reported violent attacks against abortion providers. Clinics that provide vital services for millions of working-class women are under siege. More than 55 percent of reproductive age women now live in states that are “hostile” to abortion rights. (Guttenmacher Institute)
So while they’re convening and concocting new ways to attack our rights and our lives, let’s come together in the streets to stand up and fight back!
There will be mass demonstrations in Los Angeles, San Francisco and other cities around the country. We will mobilize thousands in the streets to show the world that there is a new women’s movement rising and we will not go back.
We believe that access to reproductive choice – the basic right of women to control our own bodies – is a fundamental right and must be defended. We believe in equality. We support working women. We are tired of the right wing trying to turn back the clock and take our hard-won rights away. All people who support equality and choice should organize with us and help these actions grow.
If you can’t make it to protest in Tampa and Charlotte, join or organize a protest in your community. There is a long, proud tradition of women in the United States mobilizing and fighting to win equality and respect. Let’s continue this legacy this summer!
Sisters United Front for Survival [https://sites.google.com/site/sistersunitedfrontforsurvival/]:
Sunday August 26th: March to Rescind Cut to CalWORKS on Women's Rights Day
Date: Sunday August 26th 2012
Time: 12:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Location: March begins at 24th and Mission St., in San Francisco
In the Women's Rights Day Protest, march with Sisters United Front for Survival (SUFS) and lend your voice to the battle to rescind cuts to CalWORKS and all social services.
SUFS is a grassroots campaign of Radical Women.
Volunteers needed to make pickets signs, phone calls and help with outreach. Call 415-864-1278 or email baradicalwomen@earthlink.net to volunteer Meet at 24th and Mission Streets in San Francisco. Look for the SUFS banner.
Message from Anne Slater, National Organizer for the Radical Women -
Happy Women's Rights Day!
[http://www.radicalwomen.org/2012WomensRightsDay.shtml]:
August 26 marks the anniversary of women in the United States winning the right to vote in 1920.
The campaign for suffrage came directly out of the battle to end slavery and was fought through militant actions in the streets, workplaces and halls of government. Today, the struggle for equality continues against a stepped-up war on women. Elected officials from both parties are shredding social services while our paychecks shrink and jobs disappear. Over the last two years, state legislatures passed 164 anti-immigrant laws, relegating women and men without documents to the precarious informal economy. Last year, 26 states enacted laws restricting reproductive freedom and abortion. Meanwhile, over 40% of families headed by single African American, Latina and Native American mothers live in poverty.
Women respond with bold resistance.
Rank-and-file teachers, predominantly female and of color, are waging vibrant battles against privatized public education and for workers' rights. Young Latinas helped build a powerful Tucson Freedom Summer to defend ethnic studies and immigrant rights. Feminists defeated anti-choice ballot measures in Mississippi and North Dakota. Around the nation women took a lead in building Occupy encampments. Radical Women members walked picket lines with locked-out Longshoremen and Teamsters. We defended abortion clinics and fought cuts to social services, welfare and childcare. We demanded taxes on the wealthy and corporate profits.
These sparks of feminist organizing need support and leadership to flame into a national grassroots movement. So my blood boils when I hear statements like the one from National Organization for Women President Terry O'Neill, who wrote, "President Obama represents the pathway to equality."
Pouring women's desire for change into the Democratic Party is a dead-end strategy because the party represents the interests of the 1% just as much as the Republican Party. Both want to maintain the capitalist economic system, which relies on social inequality, wage exploitation, and the free labor of women in the home.
President Obama's policies feed the wealthy and starve the hungry. Fortune 500 companies raked in a record $824 billion in profits in 2011 and the median CEO pay rose to $9.6 million, while workers, mothers and the unemployed struggled with skyrocketing food and gas prices.
Obama's track record on social issues is also revealing. Under his administration more immigrants have been deported than during Bush's time, often separating U.S.-born children from their mothers. War and military occupation get a weekly infusion of $10.6 billion. The president signed laws that limit protest and allow the military to detain U.S. citizens and foreigners anywhere in the world without charge or trial. He has consistently compromised on reproductive rights and waffled on gay equality.
Enough already! It's time to build a game-changing feminist fightback. One that unites the antiwar, labor, racial equality, immigrant, welfare rights, student and queer movements. One that tackles racism, sexism and homophobia head-on. One that demands a society where wealth is shared, all are sheltered and fed, and quality childcare and education are free.
Connect with political allies to fight the attacks coming down on women by contacting the Radical Women National Office or a chapter near you.
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Free Pussy Riot! (International Solidarity against Tyranny in Russia)
The Solano County Peace and Freedom Party joins the global protest against the Pussy Riot verdict and calls on the Russian authorities to overturn the court ruling and release the members of Pussy Riot immediately and unconditionally. Our Peace and Freedom Party Platform calls for a socialist government that will: “Provide uncensored government funding for ordinary people to create and enjoy art. "
[http://freepussyriot.org/]
2012-08-03 "Pussy Riot trial 'worse than Soviet era'; Judge refuses to allow 10 defence witnesses as lawyer claims women are being tortured with lack of food and sleep" by Miriam Elder in Moscow for "guardian.co.uk"
[http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/aug/03/pussy-riot-trial-russia]
By the end of the first week of Pussy Riot's trial, everyone in the shabby Moscow courthouse was tired. Guards, armed with submachine guns, grabbed journalists and threw them out of the room at will. The judge, perched in front of a shabby Russian flag, refused to look at the defence. And the police dog – a 100lb black Rottweiler – no longer sat in the corner she had occupied since the start of Russia's trial of the year, but barked and foamed at the mouth as if she were in search of blood.
The trial of the three band members, jailed since March after performing a "punk prayer" against Vladimir Putin in Moscow's main cathedral, has been about more than the charges brought against them – formally, hooliganism motivated by religious hatred. In five days of testimony, lawyers and witnesses have laid bare the stark divide that has emerged in Russian society: one deeply conservative and accepting of a state that uses vague laws and bureaucracy to control its citizens, the other liberal bordering on anarchist and beginning to fight against that state with any means it can.
The court is dominated by a glass cage that holds the three women – Maria Alyokhina, who has emerged as their unofficial spokeswoman; Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, whose chiselled features have made her the band's unofficial face; and Yekaterina Samutsevich, who sits in a corner of the cage looking every bit the disgruntled punk.
After five days' sitting in the cage, some days for 10 hours at a time, the women appear exhausted. Violetta Volkova, one of their lawyers, said they were being tortured – denied food and adequate sleep. After a week of being dismissed and lectured by the judge, she could no longer hide her anger. On Friday, as the judge, Marina Syrova, denied yet another defence objection, Volkova began to shout.
Syrova, her glasses forever perched perfectly in the middle of her nose, answered tartly: "You're losing the frames of dignity."
"Those frames long haven't existed here," Volkova replied, seething.
According to Pussy Riot's lawyers, Russia has revived the Soviet-era tradition of the show trial with its case against the group. "Even in Soviet times, in Stalin's times, the courts were more honest than this one," lawyer Nikolai Polozov shouted in court. Outside, during a rare break, he explained: "This is one of the most shameful trials in modern Russia. In Soviet times, at least they followed some sort of procedure."
In one week, Syrova has refused to hear nearly all the objections brought by the defence. One objection claimed that exactly the same spelling errors were found in several witness statements, implying they were falsified.
The prosecution was allowed to call all its witnesses, mainly people who were inside the church at the time of the performance or who had viewed a video of it on YouTube. They answered questions like: "What does your Orthodox faith mean to you?", "Was the women's clothing tight?" and "What offended you about their balaclavas?"
One witness said she heard music during the band's performance in the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, although footage shown in court showed the women singing with no live instruments. The music was added later to their viral video clip, "Virgin Mary, Chase Putin Out!"
"What kind of music did you hear?" asked the defence. "It wasn't classical – and it wasn't Orthodox," the witness replied.
The defence, meanwhile, tried to call 13 witness, including opposition leader Alexey Navalny and celebrated novelist Lyudmila Ulitskaya. Syrova only allowed them to call three. The prosecution launched the questioning of all its witnesses with the same question: Are you an Orthodox believer? When the defence tried to ask the same question of one of its three witnesses, Syrova shouted: "Question stricken."
The defence knows they are fighting a losing battle in a judicial system that is notoriously politicised. But the media battle remains. Pyotr Verzilov, Tolokonnikova's husband, has spent the trial perched in the seat closest to his wife's cage. He tweets furiously, and constantly checks how often his message is spread.
On Friday, three men climbed on to a ledge across from the courtroom windows, wearing white, purple and green balaclavas and shouted "Freedom to Pussy Riot!". There have been reports of imitation stunts carried out in other cities in Russia.
"At first, after the [anti-Putin] protests started in December, the authorities got scared that they had lost control," Polozov said. "Now they've recovered and have started to react – and the trial against Pussy Riot is the clear first step."
Every day as the trial begins, dozens of journalists gather on the stairs outside the court, repeating a tradition launched with the second trial of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the oil tycoon and Putin foe, which was held in the same room.
Amid the crush stands Samutsevich's father and Alyokhina's mother, Natalya.
"My daughter and I had very different views about politics," Alyokhina said. "But this trial is bringing them closer."
Putin said this week that the women should not be judged "too harshly". They face up to seven years in jail if convicted but their lawyers took Putin's comments as a signal that they would not receive the full sentence. A verdict is expected next week.
[http://freepussyriot.org/]
2012-08-03 "Pussy Riot trial 'worse than Soviet era'; Judge refuses to allow 10 defence witnesses as lawyer claims women are being tortured with lack of food and sleep" by Miriam Elder in Moscow for "guardian.co.uk"
[http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/aug/03/pussy-riot-trial-russia]
By the end of the first week of Pussy Riot's trial, everyone in the shabby Moscow courthouse was tired. Guards, armed with submachine guns, grabbed journalists and threw them out of the room at will. The judge, perched in front of a shabby Russian flag, refused to look at the defence. And the police dog – a 100lb black Rottweiler – no longer sat in the corner she had occupied since the start of Russia's trial of the year, but barked and foamed at the mouth as if she were in search of blood.
The trial of the three band members, jailed since March after performing a "punk prayer" against Vladimir Putin in Moscow's main cathedral, has been about more than the charges brought against them – formally, hooliganism motivated by religious hatred. In five days of testimony, lawyers and witnesses have laid bare the stark divide that has emerged in Russian society: one deeply conservative and accepting of a state that uses vague laws and bureaucracy to control its citizens, the other liberal bordering on anarchist and beginning to fight against that state with any means it can.
The court is dominated by a glass cage that holds the three women – Maria Alyokhina, who has emerged as their unofficial spokeswoman; Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, whose chiselled features have made her the band's unofficial face; and Yekaterina Samutsevich, who sits in a corner of the cage looking every bit the disgruntled punk.
After five days' sitting in the cage, some days for 10 hours at a time, the women appear exhausted. Violetta Volkova, one of their lawyers, said they were being tortured – denied food and adequate sleep. After a week of being dismissed and lectured by the judge, she could no longer hide her anger. On Friday, as the judge, Marina Syrova, denied yet another defence objection, Volkova began to shout.
Syrova, her glasses forever perched perfectly in the middle of her nose, answered tartly: "You're losing the frames of dignity."
"Those frames long haven't existed here," Volkova replied, seething.
According to Pussy Riot's lawyers, Russia has revived the Soviet-era tradition of the show trial with its case against the group. "Even in Soviet times, in Stalin's times, the courts were more honest than this one," lawyer Nikolai Polozov shouted in court. Outside, during a rare break, he explained: "This is one of the most shameful trials in modern Russia. In Soviet times, at least they followed some sort of procedure."
In one week, Syrova has refused to hear nearly all the objections brought by the defence. One objection claimed that exactly the same spelling errors were found in several witness statements, implying they were falsified.
The prosecution was allowed to call all its witnesses, mainly people who were inside the church at the time of the performance or who had viewed a video of it on YouTube. They answered questions like: "What does your Orthodox faith mean to you?", "Was the women's clothing tight?" and "What offended you about their balaclavas?"
One witness said she heard music during the band's performance in the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, although footage shown in court showed the women singing with no live instruments. The music was added later to their viral video clip, "Virgin Mary, Chase Putin Out!"
"What kind of music did you hear?" asked the defence. "It wasn't classical – and it wasn't Orthodox," the witness replied.
The defence, meanwhile, tried to call 13 witness, including opposition leader Alexey Navalny and celebrated novelist Lyudmila Ulitskaya. Syrova only allowed them to call three. The prosecution launched the questioning of all its witnesses with the same question: Are you an Orthodox believer? When the defence tried to ask the same question of one of its three witnesses, Syrova shouted: "Question stricken."
The defence knows they are fighting a losing battle in a judicial system that is notoriously politicised. But the media battle remains. Pyotr Verzilov, Tolokonnikova's husband, has spent the trial perched in the seat closest to his wife's cage. He tweets furiously, and constantly checks how often his message is spread.
On Friday, three men climbed on to a ledge across from the courtroom windows, wearing white, purple and green balaclavas and shouted "Freedom to Pussy Riot!". There have been reports of imitation stunts carried out in other cities in Russia.
"At first, after the [anti-Putin] protests started in December, the authorities got scared that they had lost control," Polozov said. "Now they've recovered and have started to react – and the trial against Pussy Riot is the clear first step."
Every day as the trial begins, dozens of journalists gather on the stairs outside the court, repeating a tradition launched with the second trial of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the oil tycoon and Putin foe, which was held in the same room.
Amid the crush stands Samutsevich's father and Alyokhina's mother, Natalya.
"My daughter and I had very different views about politics," Alyokhina said. "But this trial is bringing them closer."
Putin said this week that the women should not be judged "too harshly". They face up to seven years in jail if convicted but their lawyers took Putin's comments as a signal that they would not receive the full sentence. A verdict is expected next week.
Monday, August 6, 2012
Peace and Freedom Party - California Convention update
Newly elected Peace and Freedom Party officials (two-year terms):
* State Chair, Kevin Akin (Riverside)
* Secretary, Dave Campbell (San Francisco)
* Treasurer, Sherry Borg (Contra Costa)
Newly elected Peace and Freedom Party officials-at-large:
* C.T. Weber (Sacramento)
* Richard Becker (San Francisco)* Cassandra Lepe (Yolo)
* Cindy Henderson (Los Angeles)
* Marsha Feinland (Alameda)
* Dave Kadlecek (Santa Clara)
* Mary Lou Finley (San Diego)
2012-08-05 "California PFP nominates Barr and Sheehan this afternoon" report from Kevin Akin, Chairperson of the California Peace and Freedom Party:
Wow! What a session! We went through the whole process, with nominations and seconds and speeches and so on - and at the very end of her 15 minute speech, the last one before the voting began, Peta Lindsay announced that the PSL was withdrawing her name from consideration, because her nomination would likely leave a blank on the California ballot, and the Peace and Freedom Party needs names on the ballot. Then she paused, while peoples jaws dropped and there were gasps all over the hall - and announced that they would be voting for Roseanne Barr and Cindy Sheehan, who would be good representatives of the party and fighters for socialism!
The rules had been changed to allow three ballots before eliminating the lowest vote-getter, rather than one ballot. Of course, a majority (of all present and able to vote) for one candidate would end the voting at that point.
First ballot: Barr 29, Alexander 12, Durham 18, 4 abstentions. (32 votes required for a majority, we thought. After the vote, there was a count-off to determine exactly how many delegates were present and able to vote. There were in fact 64, meaning that the required majority was 33.)
(The several people who had told me they intended to vote for Rocky Anderson before he withdrew, voted in the first round instead either for Roseanne Barr or Stewart Alexander.)
Second ballot: Barr 37, Alexander 6, Durham 16, 5 abstentions. Barr was declared nominated.
Several people who had voted for Alexander or Durham recognized that Barr was going to be nominated, and switched their votes even though no one had yet been formally dropped, ending the process before it could become too wearing.
While both Cindy Sheehan and Christina Lopez were nominated from the floor for VP, Lopez declined (because she is Durhams's running mate nationally), and Cindy was nominated for Vice President with all in favor except 13 abstentions (mainly from FSP). So it's official - Roseanne Barr and Cindy Sheehan are the Peace and Freedom Party ticket.
---
Richard Becker, of the PSL, writes:
The idea that the PSL sees the FSP as its "arch rival organization" is imaginary and has no basis in reality.
The PSL is not running against Roseanne Barr and Cindy Sheehan, nor any of the other socialist or progressive candidates for that matter. We are running against the capitalist system and its candidates. We have expended a great deal of time, energy and resources in getting on the ballot in what we hope will be 13-14 states in order to expose the capitalist/imperialist system and bring the message of socialism to hundreds of thousands or millions of people who we cannot reach in another way at this time. We are not competing with the Barr/Sheehan campaign for votes. We see our campaigns as complementary -- more voices raising the need for socialism -- not competitive.
The PSL voted for the Barr/Sheehan slate for exactly the reason that Peta Lindsay stated in her speech at the convention, part of which follows: "We are highly aware of the threat posed to the continuing existence of Peace and Freedom Party – the only openly socialist party with ballot status – by the reactionary and deceptive Prop 14. It is especially important that the party have as energetic and visible a 2012 campaign as possible, one which can hopefully register tens of thousands of new PFP voters. If I were to win the nomination here today, but not win the court fight, that could lead to the PFP presidential ballot line being blank. We do not want to see that happen.
"So, I am announcing that we are withdrawing from consideration for the Peace and Freedom Party presidential and vice-presidential nominations – while continuing to run an active write-in campaign in California. I want to profoundly thank all the delegates who have supported my candidacy, and urge them, and all the undecided and uncommitted delegates at the convention today, to support the Roseanne Barr/ Cindy Sheehan ticket. Roseanne and Cindy’s campaign is already drawing extensive media attention and they have pledged to carry out a strong, socialist campaign and work to build PFP."
* State Chair, Kevin Akin (Riverside)
* Secretary, Dave Campbell (San Francisco)
* Treasurer, Sherry Borg (Contra Costa)
Newly elected Peace and Freedom Party officials-at-large:
* C.T. Weber (Sacramento)
* Richard Becker (San Francisco)* Cassandra Lepe (Yolo)
* Cindy Henderson (Los Angeles)
* Marsha Feinland (Alameda)
* Dave Kadlecek (Santa Clara)
* Mary Lou Finley (San Diego)
2012-08-05 "California PFP nominates Barr and Sheehan this afternoon" report from Kevin Akin, Chairperson of the California Peace and Freedom Party:
Wow! What a session! We went through the whole process, with nominations and seconds and speeches and so on - and at the very end of her 15 minute speech, the last one before the voting began, Peta Lindsay announced that the PSL was withdrawing her name from consideration, because her nomination would likely leave a blank on the California ballot, and the Peace and Freedom Party needs names on the ballot. Then she paused, while peoples jaws dropped and there were gasps all over the hall - and announced that they would be voting for Roseanne Barr and Cindy Sheehan, who would be good representatives of the party and fighters for socialism!
The rules had been changed to allow three ballots before eliminating the lowest vote-getter, rather than one ballot. Of course, a majority (of all present and able to vote) for one candidate would end the voting at that point.
First ballot: Barr 29, Alexander 12, Durham 18, 4 abstentions. (32 votes required for a majority, we thought. After the vote, there was a count-off to determine exactly how many delegates were present and able to vote. There were in fact 64, meaning that the required majority was 33.)
(The several people who had told me they intended to vote for Rocky Anderson before he withdrew, voted in the first round instead either for Roseanne Barr or Stewart Alexander.)
Second ballot: Barr 37, Alexander 6, Durham 16, 5 abstentions. Barr was declared nominated.
Several people who had voted for Alexander or Durham recognized that Barr was going to be nominated, and switched their votes even though no one had yet been formally dropped, ending the process before it could become too wearing.
While both Cindy Sheehan and Christina Lopez were nominated from the floor for VP, Lopez declined (because she is Durhams's running mate nationally), and Cindy was nominated for Vice President with all in favor except 13 abstentions (mainly from FSP). So it's official - Roseanne Barr and Cindy Sheehan are the Peace and Freedom Party ticket.
---
Richard Becker, of the PSL, writes:
The idea that the PSL sees the FSP as its "arch rival organization" is imaginary and has no basis in reality.
The PSL is not running against Roseanne Barr and Cindy Sheehan, nor any of the other socialist or progressive candidates for that matter. We are running against the capitalist system and its candidates. We have expended a great deal of time, energy and resources in getting on the ballot in what we hope will be 13-14 states in order to expose the capitalist/imperialist system and bring the message of socialism to hundreds of thousands or millions of people who we cannot reach in another way at this time. We are not competing with the Barr/Sheehan campaign for votes. We see our campaigns as complementary -- more voices raising the need for socialism -- not competitive.
The PSL voted for the Barr/Sheehan slate for exactly the reason that Peta Lindsay stated in her speech at the convention, part of which follows: "We are highly aware of the threat posed to the continuing existence of Peace and Freedom Party – the only openly socialist party with ballot status – by the reactionary and deceptive Prop 14. It is especially important that the party have as energetic and visible a 2012 campaign as possible, one which can hopefully register tens of thousands of new PFP voters. If I were to win the nomination here today, but not win the court fight, that could lead to the PFP presidential ballot line being blank. We do not want to see that happen.
"So, I am announcing that we are withdrawing from consideration for the Peace and Freedom Party presidential and vice-presidential nominations – while continuing to run an active write-in campaign in California. I want to profoundly thank all the delegates who have supported my candidacy, and urge them, and all the undecided and uncommitted delegates at the convention today, to support the Roseanne Barr/ Cindy Sheehan ticket. Roseanne and Cindy’s campaign is already drawing extensive media attention and they have pledged to carry out a strong, socialist campaign and work to build PFP."
Peace and Freedom in the News: Barr/Sheehen for President
2012-08-15 "Lifting the Veil with Cindy Sheehan" by "LiftingVeils" [http://www.youtube.com/user/LiftingVeils]
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfRPZ58qEL4]:
Lifting the Veil is proud to welcome Cindy Sheehan! A prominent anti-war activist and voice for the people, and recently a vice presidential candidate running for office with Roseanne Barr! Coming soon!
"Roseanne Barr on CNN Piers Morgan TV Show Today" message from a Peace and Freedom Party member:
I watched Roseaane Barr interveiw today on CNN Piers Morgan TV show.
The segment began with film from the PFP Convention in LA last week.
Piers Morgan began the discussion with his first sentence introducing Roseanne as the PFP candidate.
This show is watched by millions - and likely the first time many of them ever heard of PFP.
So the visibility issue confirms the decision to have Roseanne be the PFP presidential candidate,
This program is repeated twice again tonight, so people can view the show to see how Roseanne did.
She was clear about stating she was a socialist and saw no difference between the Dems and Repubs.
Piers Morgan again mentioned the PFP name in another part of the interview.
And he invited her to come back to be on his tv show again in the future.
So - I think it was good - and I hope the people who answer the contacts on the PFP website will report the responses because of this tv show interview today.
I never heard what response was received when Roseanne was on The View TV Show and PFP was mentioned. I believe more may watch the Piers Morgan Show (that is repeated twice more) than watch The View.
2012-08-03 "Roseanne Barr takes new run at White House, joins up with Sheehan" by Lee Ross from "FoxNews.com"
[http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/08/03/roseanne-barr-takes-new-run-at-white-house-joins-up-with-sheehan/]:
Not quite ready to give up on her presidential ambitions, comedian Roseanne Barr is joining up with activist Cindy Sheehan for a new run at the White House.
Fox News has learned that over the past few days Barr asked Sheehan to join her in an attempt to win the little-known Peace and Freedom Party's line on the California ballot.
A party official told Fox News that Barr, who failed in her attempt earlier this year to win the Green Party nomination, has a "fairly high chance" of securing the spot after she again reached out to Peace and Freedom leaders several weeks ago. This was something her campaign explored months ago, but Green Party rules forbid crossover nominees so Barr abandoned that effort.
Now that the Green Party process has played out, Barr renewed her interest with the Peace and Freedom folks and was told she needed a running mate. Several days ago Cindy Sheehan, a party member who gained notoriety for her opposition to the Iraq war, agreed to join Barr.
Sheehan will speak Friday night on behalf of the ticket at the party's nomination convention. Barr will speak Saturday shortly before party leaders vote on their nominee.
Barr lost the Green Party nomination but has updated her website, roseanneforpresident2012.org, to reflect the change toward the Peace and Freedom nomination. "She is the lone voice of courage and reason who is unstoppable as she holds corporate-funded politicians feet to the fire," the page declares. In an interview with Fox News earlier this year, Barr talked about the difficulty of running for office.
This campaigning stuff is really grueling," she said. "If you didn't really believe in what you were doing, I don't know why you'd want to do it, you know."
Since the Peace and Freedom Party doesn't have a national presence the nominee from California is unlikely to appear on most November ballots elsewhere.
According to the party's website, it was founded in 1967 and advocates free education, abortion on demand and "is committed to socialism, democracy, ecology, feminism and racial equality."
2012-08-04 "Article that doesn't quite quote me, despite many tries" report from Kevin Akin, Chairperson of the California Peace and Freedom Party:
Here is the article resulting from my interview by someone from the Daily Caller (out of Washington DC). It purports to quote me several times, but he got it significantly wrong each time. A few other facts are off, too. Everything they quote about other states is slightly different from what I actually said.
I did not, in fact, say that "Barr's nomination looks fairly likely to me at this point." I said something vaguely similar, but without saying it was fairly likely, just that it was certainly a real possibility. I carefully phrased everything I said, and I guess he merrily wrote down his vague impressions of what he thought I said, and then cleaned those quotes up a bit so they looked good, without worrying about just how accurate they were. In other words, perfectly standard media treatment.
I am not going to try to correct him. Wouldn't it be silly to insist I didn't predict Roseanne's nomination, and then have her get the nomination immediately afterward? I just figure I should let comrades know what is being said, accurately or not, by another news outlet. At least they spelled our name right.
---
2012-08-03 "Roseanne Barr is running for president, again" [http://dailycaller.com/2012/08/03/roseanne-barr-is-running-for-president-again]
Actress Roseanne Barr announced Thursday that she is seeking the Peace and Freedom Party’s nomination for president, with anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan as her intended running mate.
Barr sought the Green Party’s nomination earlier this year, but lost to Massachusetts physician Jill Stein.
Her renewed candidacy, first reported by the Los Angeles Times, will likely hurt the lesser-known Stein’s footing. Stein’s running mate is also relatively unknown, unlike Sheehan, who became famous for protesting the Iraq War outside President George W. Bush’s Texas ranch.
Kevin Akin, a spokesman and organizer for the Peace and Freedom Party, informed The Daily Caller that the party will make its decision on Saturday.
Barr’s nomination “looks fairly likely to me at this point, but I may be wrong because there are so many people who are uncommitted,” said Akin.
“Thirty people are committed to one person or another and the rest are uncommitted, out of about 85 delegates,” said Akin.
Barr’s chances are likely buoyed by the fact that former Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson, a former Democrat, informed party officials this week that he was discontinuing his quest for the party’s nomination.
Founded in 1967, the Peace and Freedom Party is a relatively well-known, but small, left-wing party. In 1968 its presidential candidate was Black Panther leader Eldridge Cleaver.
Akin said the party will have ballot access in California, and likely in Florida — where he said organizers have until Saturday to clinch ballot listing ahead of November’s vote. He said the party’s nominee will almost certainly appear on other states’ ballots via cross-listing by other minor parties.
“Roseanne Barr, who seems to have considerale national attention, will probably be able to get the nominations of several of those minor parties,” Akin said, noting that Ralph Nader — the Green Party’s candidate in 1996 and 2000 — ran as an independent in 2004 and 2008 and appeared on many state ballots.
One distinction between the Green Party and the Peace and Freedom Party, Akin explained, is that “the word ‘socialist’ is often attached to our party and we don’t mind it one bit, [but] the Green Party typically avoids it.”
The tagline on Barr’s candidate statement on the Peace and Freedom Party’s website reads: “Socialism – it’s not just for Wall Street, military contractors, or Congress anymore, but all Americans!”
In June, Barr told TheDC about her particular dislike of Republican candidate Mitt Romney, joking about his Mormon faith and cautioning voters against voting for someone “who thinks Jesus was hanging out with the Indians and that the Romneys will be running their own planets in the hereafter.”
Her bombastic style will likely be on full display until November if she wins the Peace and Freedom Party nomination. On Obama, she previously told TheDC, “If you press me, I suppose I’d have to say I find him less odious than Robme.” However, she said, either would “cater to the big moneyed interests that basically control everything.”
Barr’s Twitter account frequently attracts news coverage for the incendiary political commentary she shares with followers. Earlier this week she apologized after tweeting: “Anyone who eats Shit Fil-A deserves to get the cancer that is sure to come from eating antibiotic filled tortured chickens 4Christ.”
Stein may not be the only third-party candidate with something to worry about. In July Libertarian Party presidential candidate Gary Johnson told TheDC he was glad that Barr — with whom he shares a handful of anti-war and anti-authoritarian political positions — wouldn’t be “a distraction” in the November election.
2012-08-06 "A New Option for LGBT Voters? Roseanne Barr Wins Presidential Nomination" by Lucas Grindley from "The Advocate" LGBTQ community newspaper for the San Francisco Bay Area [http://www.advocate.com/politics/election/2012/08/06/roseanne-barr-wins-presidential-nomination-and-gives-lgbt-voters-new]:
Giving voters yet another presidential candidate who favors marriage equality, Roseanne Barr won the nomination of the Peace and Freedom Party during its convention this weekend.
"I am the only serious comedian in this campaign," she joked during the convention. "Both of the others are clowns."
(See the clip here [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWhGX0j6h5Y])
The television star has long been an outspoken supporter of LGBT rights. She was named The Advocate's "Person of the Year" in 1994 and included in its "Heroes" list for successfully fighting producers and network executives to include some of television's first realistic portrayals of gay characters. She has two siblings who are gay and who have long been in relationships. Barr's sister and partner have been together for 25 years and have twin daughters. Her brother and partner of 26 years have grandchildren.
"They deserve every ounce of equality with any other Americans," Barr told The Advocate. "They are wonderful, productive human beings, and are the reason I am such an activist for LGBT issues and always will be."
Always the comedian, she added, "I just wish one of my relationships had lasted as long as theirs!"
While Barr is a long-shot to win the highest office in the United States, her name on the Peace and Freedom ticket combined with that of her vice presidential selection — peace activist Cindy Sheehan — is hoped to drive party membership, which will help ensure Peace and Freedom remains on ballots nationwide.
Last cycle, the party ran famed consumer advocate Ralph Nader. He was a former Green Party candidate, a nomination Barr had also sought but was beaten by Jill Stein — who also favors marriage equality.
Another third-party option for LGBT voters might be former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson, who favors marriage equality and is running on the Libertarian Party ticket after dropping out of the Republican Party's primary. President Obama, a Democrat, also favors marriage equality, while Republican Mitt Romney wants to outlaw it via an amenmdent to the U.S. Constitution.
2012-07-29 message from "Cindy Sheehan's MEGAPHONE"
[http://community.benchmarkemail.com/users/CindySheehan/newsletter/Roseanne-Barr-Cindy-Sheehan-2012]:
Dear Friend,
I am happy to announce that this email service gave me a discount to return and I was also pleased to find out that the "open rate" for these newsletters that I send out far exceed "industry standards" so I can return to providing this newsletter which will now be called: THE MEGAPHONE.
Thank you for all your messages of solidarity and support this month since I felt the need to terminate my weekly newsletter...as always, I appreciate your feedback.
Cindy Sheehan's Soapbox has had a pretty rotten year fundraising, but we are squeaking by--if you are in the position to make a donation, we appreciate it! The link is enclosed in this newsletter as well as information for the radio show and other pertinent information.
I suppose the biggest news I have to relate is that Roseanne Barr is seeking the nomination of the Peace and Freedom Party in California to run for President of the USA and she has chosen me to be her running mate! As a member of PFP and one committed to the ideas and ideals of socialist revolution, I was thrilled to accept her request. I also love Roseanne and you can listen to the interviews I have done with her over the years here [http://cindysheehanssoapbox.blogspot.com/p/show-archives.html].
The press release announcing our candidacy can be read here [http://cindysheehanssoapbox.blogspot.com/2012/07/roseanne-barrcindy-sheehan-2012-press.html].
Although I am honored by this chance to have a bigger platform to talk about all the things that I really care about and have been working so hard for since my son was killed, I have no delusions about the imperialist cystem that we live under. For third parties or independents to truly have a chance, the Empire must collapse under its own weight with some pushing by us.
From an historical perspective, the Empire will collapse, it's just a matter of time and that's why alternative voices, plans and energy must actively work for this. There is a better way but Mittrack Rombama won't show us that way.
Peace & Love!
Cindy Sheehan
CindySheehansSoapbox@gmail.com
Peace & Freedom Party - California Convention resolutions
"Resolution of Solidarity with the Mobilization of Mothers (MOMs)" from Peace and Freedom Party of California - Women's Committee & Feminist Contingent:
We, the Women's Committee, in order that we may uphold the cause for Human Rights for the victims of police murder and their families and an end to police terror and systematic cover-up, after having reviewed and endorsed the mission of the "Mobilization of Mothers (MOMs)", stand United with them so as to connect with other mothers in the same situation caused by murderous police practices, and connecting the dots of injustice across the USA.
Therefore, in a United Front with other organizations, we are helping to form a "Million Mothers Movement" with the ultimate goal of a "Million Mothers March" to Washington DC so as to demand legislation which protects the People against these aggrievous Human Rights violations be introduced and made law.
By endorsement of this resolution, the SCC agrees with and supports the following Women's Committee plan of action:
* We will conduct outreach to young mothers and all people who are willing to listen.
* We will form a proactive group through the Women's Committee to promote and plan an event in solidarity with the "Million Mothers Movement/March".
* We will fully endorse the "Kenneth Harding jr. Foundation".
* We will begin a lobbying campaign to tell Washington lawmakers that it's not ok that the police are killing our children, brutally in the streets, and we are not going to get used to it!!! We are angry and we want justice for all victims of police murder and their families, and an end to police terror.
We ask that PFP SCC endorse our resolution.
We ask Party chapters join the PFP Women's Committee in organizing
solidarity for this cause of Human Rights.
The following motion is endorsed:
More information: 2012-06-05 "RADICAL WOMEN DENOUNCES RACE AND SEX BIAS IN MARISSA ALEXANDER CASE"
[http://www.radicalwomen.org/MarissaAlexander.shtml]:
Radical Women [National Office: 747 Polk Street, San Francisco, CA 94109] [415-864-1278][RadicalWomenUS@gmail.com] [www.RadicalWomen.org]
---
As battered women often discover, the system that should protect them is frequently their worst enemy.
Marissa Alexander, a 31-year-old African American mother of three living in Tampa, Florida, tried to follow the rules. She had a restraining order against her estranged husband, who had a record of abuse toward Alexander and other women. She had a legally licensed gun and had never been arrested. In August 2010, only nine days after having given birth, Alexander fired a warning shot into the wall of her house when her husband threatened her life. For this, a Florida jury convicted her of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after only 12 minutes of deliberation. On May 11, 2012, a judge rejected Alexander's "stand-your-ground defense" and sentenced her to 20 years under Florida's mandatory minimum sentencing rules. Stand-your-ground laws permit a person to use force in self-defense if they believe they are in serious threat of harm.
According to a number of studies, African American women suffer higher levels of domestic abuse than any other ethnic group, most likely as a result of the stresses of poverty and discrimination. Black women are murdered by their partners at a rate three times that of white women. Jobless or low-paid, with a well-earned distrust of the criminal justice system, and a history of discrimination from health and social service institutions, abused women of color often have few resources to draw upon.
Women of all races who fight back against abuse find little sympathy from police, courts, or media. In states where police are mandated to make an arrest in domestic violence situations, arrests of women have risen dramatically. Women are now nearly 20% of domestic violence arrests although men are acknowledged to commit 95% of the abuse. Black feminist Sharon Allard has observed that the Battered Woman Syndrome defense, which has been successfully used in court to justify why a woman killed or took action against an abuser, is often denied to Black women. Why? Because the stereotype of Black women as "domineering, assertive, hostile and immoral" hinders a judge's or juror's ability to believe that a Black woman acted in self-defense. According to Allard, Black women are twice as likely as white women to be convicted for murdering abusive husbands.
The racist and sexist double standard exists at every level of U.S. society. It took a national outcry for the killer of African American teenager Trayvon Martin to be arrested after he invoked Florida's "stand-your-ground" law. Meanwhile, Congress is balking at reauthorizing the federal Violence Against Women Act, in part because the act contains new provisions that would help protect queers, Native Americans and immigrants.
Radical Women demands the immediate release and pardon of Marissa Alexander, passage of the strengthened Violence Against Women Act, and an end to race and sex discrimination in the criminal justice system. In addition, Radical Women calls for massive increases in funding for jobs, aid to families, and shelters and services for everyone fleeing domestic violence regardless of their sexual orientation or immigration status.
Radical Women encourages supporters of women's rights to sign the online petition to pardon Alexander at [http://www.thepetitionsite.com/503/600/056/dont-imprison-marissa-alexander-for-standing-her-ground/]. Information on how to donate to Marissa Alexander's legal defense and write to her in prison is available at [http://www.Justice4Marissa.com].
The following resolution is endorsed:
PFP Youth Committee resolution: Our Plan of Action.
Youth Committee will produce cultural events on campuses and communities with the mission of spreading the ideas of Peace, Freedom, Dignity, Democracy and Justice. Through music, entertainment, festivals, or any other form of promotion, we will put forward the ideas contained in our platform.
We will engage youth of all socio-economic backgrounds belonging to the working classes, and the lumpenproletariat classes. We seek to openly engage the consciousness of youth who remain in the permanent placement of poverty, to steer our minds in the direction of rebuilding our community by channeling ourselves into a pluri-national alliance with a culture of progressive values.
We seek representation by all communities and people, and to build alliances with organizations who engage our pluri-national communities with our ideas, and to bridge our cultural divide towards a combined voice for all the People. As the youth rebuild our future, we will engage ourselves in the spirit of a united cause for all human & civil rights.
We will promote the idea of labor unions among the workers of the Service Industry, which, oftentimes, is the only choice of employment for most youth in certain communities. We must organize to protect our labor rights in order to uplift the social conditions of our communities, and we will be the voice of the youth workers on the ballot.
We seek to protect and expand public education, and higher education, so that youth and young adults may have the freedom to an education that fits the needs of their chosen vocation or pursuit. Therefore, we seek to represent all students through the organizing of forums and assemblies at any institution available for higher learning, so we can hear the concerns and ideas of students, in order to formulize solutions which we can advocate.
Sunday, August 5, 2012
2012-08-10 "Freedom Socialist presidential candidate comes in second to last-minute celebrity entrant Roseanne Barr" statement from the "Freedom Socialist Party"
[http://votesocialism.com/freedom-socialist-presidential-candidate-comes-in-second-to-last-minute-celebrity-entrant-roseanne-barr/]:
After declaring as a Peace and Freedom Party (PFP) presidential candidate only three weeks before, Hollywood comedian and actress Roseanne Barr won the PFP nomination at its convention on Aug. 4-5 in Los Angeles. Placing second was New Yorker and veteran union and gay rights activist Stephen Durham of the Freedom Socialist Party (FSP), who, like Stewart Alexander of the Socialist Party, had waged a serious, months-long grass-roots campaign for the PFP nomination.
Said Durham, whose running mate is Chicana feminist organizer Christina López of Seattle, “The convention of the socialist and feminist PFP was hijacked by a millionaire celebrity making grand promises. But her total contribution to the PFP so far has been a 15-minute talk at the convention that was half political speech and half comedy act.”
Barr, who reinvented herself as a socialist in the few weeks before the PFP vote, did not show up for a candidates’ forum the night before the convention. She was represented there by her vice-presidential partner, anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan. On Saturday, Aug. 4, the opening day of the convention, Barr’s appearance was preceded by a security detail while delegates sat waiting for her to arrive, which she did in a flurry of media. She left after giving her speech, and took the media attention with her, headed for the taping of a Comedy Central roast in her honor. Delegates were unable to ask her questions.
Barr had originally announced as a candidate for the Green Party nomination, but lost decisively to Jill Stein, whom Barr had pledged to support should Stein become the nominee. Barr did not attend the Green Party convention in July.
Now Barr is promising to do major fundraising and help register voters for PFP, a California-based left electoral coalition that is in a fight for its life thanks to new state ballot laws hostile to minor parties. The Durham-López team had argued for making a PFP registration drive part of a bold two-year grass-roots campaign statewide, explicitly anti-capitalist and feminist, to protest the rigged electoral system and organize with others to demand relief for those hit hardest by war, bailouts for corporations, and austerity for workers.
After Barr delivered her speech and left, and just moments before PFP delegates began voting, Peta Lindsay, the presidential candidate of the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), abruptly withdrew from contention after being nominated – and pledged support for the Barr-Sheehan ticket. Lindsay, who is underage to take presidential office, was barred from the California ballot in February, but continued to campaign for the PFP nomination. She explained her surprise convention move by saying that she did not want to leave the PFP without a candidate if she won the nomination but lost the court case challenging her exclusion from the ballot.
It took two rounds of voting for Barr to gather a majority, and the final tally was 36 votes for Barr, 16 for Durham, and 6 for the Socialist Party’s Alexander. Former Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson of the Justice Party had dropped out of the race a few days before the convention.
FSP Campaign Manager Doug Barnes was at the PFP convention with Durham, López, and supporters. About Lindsay’s bombshell, he said, “Lindsay and the PSL portrayed themselves as the revolutionary socialist contenders in the PFP race. But what revolutionary socialist is going to support a millionaire for U.S. president? That’s ridiculous. So is saying while endorsing Barr that they will run a write-in campaign in California for Lindsay.”
Concluded Barnes, “PSL was not serious about anything but blocking the FSP and Socialist Party. It was a disgusting display of left sectarianism – especially since FSP has supported PSL candidates in the past on the basis of their professed socialist program.”
Sheehan, Barr’s vice-presidential candidate, has pledged to support Peta Lindsay and other PSL candidates where they are not competing with Barr and Sheehan. “This political horse-trading is exactly what one would expect to see at a Republican or Democratic Party convention,” Durham said. “On the other hand, the delegates who stood with us through to the end because of our socialist feminist platform showed a lot of character. They stuck to their principles.”
Vice-presidential candidate Christina López added, “We have met so many people in California who are excited about the fact that we are offering concrete, practical, working-class solutions for the problems people face, especially those who are discriminated against, paid the least, and treated the worst. We hope our friends in California are proud of all the wonderful outreach they have done, and we look forward to continuing to work with them and broadening our national write-in campaign in the state and across the U.S.”
López, Durham, and Barnes are meeting with supporters, speaking at forums, and making whistle stops at shopping malls as they drive north from Los Angeles in the middle of a six-week tour of California, Oregon, and Washington. The candidates are also participating in union picket lines, immigrant activist gatherings, and more.
After declaring as a Peace and Freedom Party (PFP) presidential candidate only three weeks before, Hollywood comedian and actress Roseanne Barr won the PFP nomination at its convention on Aug. 4-5 in Los Angeles. Placing second was New Yorker and veteran union and gay rights activist Stephen Durham of the Freedom Socialist Party (FSP), who, like Stewart Alexander of the Socialist Party, had waged a serious, months-long grass-roots campaign for the PFP nomination.
Said Durham, whose running mate is Chicana feminist organizer Christina López of Seattle, “The convention of the socialist and feminist PFP was hijacked by a millionaire celebrity making grand promises. But her total contribution to the PFP so far has been a 15-minute talk at the convention that was half political speech and half comedy act.”
Barr, who reinvented herself as a socialist in the few weeks before the PFP vote, did not show up for a candidates’ forum the night before the convention. She was represented there by her vice-presidential partner, anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan. On Saturday, Aug. 4, the opening day of the convention, Barr’s appearance was preceded by a security detail while delegates sat waiting for her to arrive, which she did in a flurry of media. She left after giving her speech, and took the media attention with her, headed for the taping of a Comedy Central roast in her honor. Delegates were unable to ask her questions.
Barr had originally announced as a candidate for the Green Party nomination, but lost decisively to Jill Stein, whom Barr had pledged to support should Stein become the nominee. Barr did not attend the Green Party convention in July.
Now Barr is promising to do major fundraising and help register voters for PFP, a California-based left electoral coalition that is in a fight for its life thanks to new state ballot laws hostile to minor parties. The Durham-López team had argued for making a PFP registration drive part of a bold two-year grass-roots campaign statewide, explicitly anti-capitalist and feminist, to protest the rigged electoral system and organize with others to demand relief for those hit hardest by war, bailouts for corporations, and austerity for workers.
After Barr delivered her speech and left, and just moments before PFP delegates began voting, Peta Lindsay, the presidential candidate of the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), abruptly withdrew from contention after being nominated – and pledged support for the Barr-Sheehan ticket. Lindsay, who is underage to take presidential office, was barred from the California ballot in February, but continued to campaign for the PFP nomination. She explained her surprise convention move by saying that she did not want to leave the PFP without a candidate if she won the nomination but lost the court case challenging her exclusion from the ballot.
It took two rounds of voting for Barr to gather a majority, and the final tally was 36 votes for Barr, 16 for Durham, and 6 for the Socialist Party’s Alexander. Former Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson of the Justice Party had dropped out of the race a few days before the convention.
FSP Campaign Manager Doug Barnes was at the PFP convention with Durham, López, and supporters. About Lindsay’s bombshell, he said, “Lindsay and the PSL portrayed themselves as the revolutionary socialist contenders in the PFP race. But what revolutionary socialist is going to support a millionaire for U.S. president? That’s ridiculous. So is saying while endorsing Barr that they will run a write-in campaign in California for Lindsay.”
Concluded Barnes, “PSL was not serious about anything but blocking the FSP and Socialist Party. It was a disgusting display of left sectarianism – especially since FSP has supported PSL candidates in the past on the basis of their professed socialist program.”
Sheehan, Barr’s vice-presidential candidate, has pledged to support Peta Lindsay and other PSL candidates where they are not competing with Barr and Sheehan. “This political horse-trading is exactly what one would expect to see at a Republican or Democratic Party convention,” Durham said. “On the other hand, the delegates who stood with us through to the end because of our socialist feminist platform showed a lot of character. They stuck to their principles.”
Vice-presidential candidate Christina López added, “We have met so many people in California who are excited about the fact that we are offering concrete, practical, working-class solutions for the problems people face, especially those who are discriminated against, paid the least, and treated the worst. We hope our friends in California are proud of all the wonderful outreach they have done, and we look forward to continuing to work with them and broadening our national write-in campaign in the state and across the U.S.”
López, Durham, and Barnes are meeting with supporters, speaking at forums, and making whistle stops at shopping malls as they drive north from Los Angeles in the middle of a six-week tour of California, Oregon, and Washington. The candidates are also participating in union picket lines, immigrant activist gatherings, and more.
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Peace and Freedom Party Presidential Candidates Survey
The Los Angeles County Central Committee asked all five candidates for the Peace and Freedom Party presidential nomination to participate in a survey of the candidates. Here are the five responses.
[http://www.peaceandfreedom2012.org/posts/category/survey]
2012-02-26 "Murrieta Man Seeks Oval Office: Stewart Alexander of Murrieta is a Peace and Freedom Party candidate for the office of president of the United States"
by Maggie Avants [http://murrieta.patch.com/articles/murrieta-man-seeks-oval-office]:
A Murrieta man has thrown his hat into the 2012 presidential race.
Stewart Alexander, 60, is a Peace and Freedom Party candidate. He is listed alongside names such as Barack Obama, Mitt Romney and Roseanne Barr on the latest presidential candidate list provided by the Riverside County Registrar of Voters Office.
Alexander is no stranger to politics. He said he has been involved politically for 25 years. In a telephone interview, Alexander told Patch he ran for lieutenant governor of California in 2006. In that race he said he garnered 43,000 votes. He also ran for mayor of Los Angeles in 1989, he said, and was a vice presidential candidate for the Socialist Party USA in 2008.
"I have been very much involved in the fight to make sure small parties have ballot access," Alexander said.
Alexander believes he offers a knowledge of the working class. That includes warehousing, sales, small business and big business, he said.
"Most of the people in Washington haven't worked," he said.
He said he wants to fight for the rights of the working class.
"We have seen an exodus of good paying jobs," he said, of California. "Many of the technology companies have gone overseas."
To balance the federal budget, Alexander said "tremendous" cuts need to be made in military spending.
"We need to make 50 percent in cuts."
Alexander said he does not support U.S. involvement in Afghanistan, Libya or in escalating talks of sanctions on Iran.
"We are just moving toward another war."
What he does advocate is a single-payer health care system and investing in public education.
"Right now we have 49 million people without adequate health care coverage. On the national level we have seen a tax on Social Security and Medicaid.
"We have also seen a tax on our youth. We have a responsibility to make sure our youth receive an education."
In addition, he said more needs to be done to protect the environment. There has been a cover-up of the Gulf spill by the Obama Administration, he said.
"The mess is still there; it hasn't been cleaned up."
Alexander, who presently works in auto sales, has lived in Murrieta since 1999. Together with his wife of 12 years, the couple has four children and seven grandchildren.
He has never held public office, but said his track record of political involvement qualifies him for the job of president. His running mate, Alex Mendoza, of Texas, would serve as vice president.
To get the word out, Alexander said they have been using the Internet and independent media.
"We have been contacted by a movie producer that wants to create a movie on the challenges for third parties in the U.S. and third party candidates. Hopefully the movie will be out before the election in November."
Find out more about Alexander's campaign by visiting [Stewartalexanderforpresident2012.org].
2012-08-01 "A note from the Socialist Party USA's Alexander/Mendoza Campaign" by Mimi Soltysik, National Campaign Manager:
Hello to all on the Peace and Freedom Party Comrades
First, we would like to extend our warmest thanks for affording our campaign the opportunity to run for the Peace and Freedom Party Presidential nomination. This process has fostered new working relationships between the Peace and Freedom Party and the Socialist Party USA, and we have thoroughly enjoyed the cooperation and camaraderie you have extended to us over the last year.
Why do we feel that Stewart and Alex are the perfect choices for the Peace and Freedom nomination? From our perspective, the answers are pretty simple. Stewart has established himself as an advocate for and an activist within the Peace and Freedom Party for well over a decade and continues to promote the virtues of the Peace and Freedom Party in numerous media opportunities -- not just in California, but throughout the country. You can count on Stewart to maintain an active presence within the Peace and Freedom Party well beyond this election.
Not only does the Alexander/Mendoza 2012 ticket represent the voice of the struggles faced by minorities in California, but both Stewart and Alex are living examples of the U.S. working class wage earner, struggling to put food on the table. We continually hear throughout this campaign statements like "he is no different than me" or "they speak to me, not at me". These two are not academics. Stewart and Alex are the people they are trying to represent. Both are committed to and vehemently passionate about spreading the socialist message, in full compliance with the Peace and Freedom Party platform; this is not a reform ticket.
Finally, we would like to address some concerns that we have seen with regard to the Alexander/Mendoza 2012 Campaign, primarily the notion that the Socialist Party USA and the Campaign do not take the Peace and Freedom Party nomination seriously. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Party's California chapter was only chartered in late June of 2011, and consequently, the overwhelming majority of California Socialist Party USA members were not registered to vote Peace and Freedom in time to run for Central Committee. An earnest effort was made in Los Angeles to run write-in candidates. Frankly, the Socialist Party of California had placed considerable effort to re-establishing itself in California during the first portion of 2011 after having been dormant for over a decade. While we are sad to see that the dormancy of the past will have an effect on our ability to secure the Peace and Freedom Party nomination, we are very proud of what we have been able to accomplish with our campaign in California. Although we are fully aware that the presidential primary in California is inconsequential, we were able to finish in second place with very limited resources and a just-established presence in the state, which we feel is indicative of how serious the SPUSA in California approaches this campaign.
Alexander/Mendoza 2012 is a working class ticket. It is a ticket supported by a vibrant, energetic and enthusiastic Party that is growing quickly in California. The Socialist Party USA cannot and does not claim thousands of dues-paying members in California, but our focus is continued growth and impact. We have risen from the ashes and feel we will be able to provide the Peace and Freedom Party and the socialist movement with a willing partner in the working-class struggle for decades to come.
We are looking forward to a productive and enjoyable Peace and Freedom Party Convention!
In solidarity,
The Alexander/Mendoza 2012 Campaign
John Stossel invites PFP candidate Stewart Alexander to appear on Fox Business to discuss Third Party Issues:
Fox Business News with John Stossel has invited Third Party Candidates to participate on a panel to discuss ballot access, issues that are important to their campaigns and the Third Parties that they represent. The show will be nationally televised with the presidential candidates from the Libertarian Party, the Constitution Party, and Stewart Alexander, Presidential Nominee for the Socialist Party USA and presidential candidate with the Peace and Freedom Party.
Time and dates for airing will be announced.
[https://plus.google.com/110691784900680549512#photos/110691784900680549512/albums/profile]
Stewart A. Alexander [stewartalexander4paf@ca.rr.com]
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
What is the Peace and Freedom Party about?
The Peace and Freedom Party of California, founded in 1967, is committed to socialism, democracy, ecology, feminism and racial equality. We organize toward a world where cooperation replaces competition, a world where all people are well fed, clothed and housed; where all women and men have equal status; where all individuals may freely endeavor to fulfill their own talents and desires; a world of freedom and peace where every community retains its cultural integrity and lives with all others in harmony.
The summary platform is available as a flyer in both English and Spanish to print and distribute.
Click here to download [http://peaceandfreedom.org/home/about-us/platform/summary-platform]
We offer this summary of our immediate and long-range goals:
* Double the minimum wage, and index it to the cost of living.
* Guarantee the right of all workers to organize and to strike; forbid striker replacement.
* Socially useful jobs for all at union pay levels.
* Equal pay for equal work, and for work of comparable worth.
* A 30-hour workweek with no cut in weekly pay; longer paid vacations.
* Guaranteed dignified income for those who cannot work.
* A Universal Basic Income to alleviate poverty and homelessness.
* Tax the income and assets of the rich to meet human needs.
* International trade agreements must guarantee the protection of workers and the environment in all participating countries; abolish NAFTA, GATT and the World Trade Organization (WTO).
* End homelessness; abolish vagrancy laws; provide decent affordable housing for all.
* Social ownership and democratic control of industry, financial institutions, and natural resources.
* The United States should take the initiative toward global disarmament by eliminating nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.
* Withdraw U. S. troops and weapons from other countries, and reallocate the resulting "peace dividend" for social benefit.
* Abolish the CIA, NSA, AID and other agencies for interference in other countries' internal affairs.
* Convert from a military to a peace-oriented economy, with jobs for displaced workers.
* Self-determination for all nations and peoples of the world, including Puerto Rico and all U. S. territories.
* Defend and extend liberties guaranteed in the Bill of Rights.
* End discrimination based on race, sex, age, sexual orientation, or disability.
* Restore affirmative action, guarantee full education and employment rights for all.
* Abolish the death penalty.
* No prison labor for private profit.
* Support the right of working people to keep and bear arms.
* Democratic elections through proportional representation; full political, social and economic rights for resident non-citizens.
* Honor treaties with Native American nations; recognize California's Native American nations. Defend and extend Native American rights and sovereignty.
* Provide full free quality public education through university level. Teach the history of workers' struggles and labor's creation of society's wealth and progress.
* Full rights for all immigrant workers. No human is illegal. Stop ICE raids. Stop jailing and deporting immigrants.
* Restore and strengthen bilingual education.
* Uncensored government funding for ordinary people to create and enjoy art.
* Scientific and technological research to benefit ordinary people, not the capitalists.
* Free high-quality health care for everyone, including birth control, abortion, pre-natal and childhood health care. No forced sterilizations.
* Legalize marijuana, decriminalize drug use, and make substance abuse treatment freely available.
* Give special attention to preventing epidemics of communicable diseases such as AIDS. Guarantee the rights of people living with AIDS.
* Restore and protect air, water, land and ecosystems.
* Promote conservation and develop solar and other renewable energy to replace nuclear power and fossil fuels.
* End environmental racism: no toxic dumping in anyone's back yard.
* Massive development of public transportation available free or at nominal fares.
* Outlaw clear cutting and protect remaining old-growth forests.
* Promote an environmentally sound agricultural system which meets human needs and protects farm workers' labor rights and standard of living.
"Why is the economy stuck in such a rut?" from a rank-and-file member of the Peace and Freedom Party, from Fremont, in Alameda County:
In the 1970's, corporations began “outsourcing” good-paying factory jobs in the North to low-wage southern states. Then to Mexico after Clinton's NAFTA, and then to China with its semi-slave wages. As corporations moved capital overseas seeking greater profits, the US economy was hollowed out. It became a “consumer” economy. As good-paying factory jobs left, America's 200 years of rising “real wages” came to an end. (“Real wages” means inflation-adjusted.)
Without rising wages, a “consumer” economy can't grow. The Internet and housing bubbles kept it going for awhile, but in 2008 the bubbles collapsed. The heyday of America's “private sector” is gone forever.
The Democrats and Republicans still worship the “private sector” as the job creators, but it is hoarding TWO TRILLION DOLLARS of accumulated corporate profits – and would rather invest it in China than in creating jobs here! In the 1930s Depression, progressive movements forced the government to create 11 million jobs. That's the only fix for this “Great Recession” – and thousands of people are starting that movement. Support the Peace and Freedom Party. Join us to help build that movement!
Peace and Freedom Party welcomes Roseanne Barr as our newest (and most famous) Candidate!
Roseanne Barr has begun: [http://www.peaceandfreedom2012.org/posts/category/barr]
To Peace and Freedom Party convention delegates,
I am seeking the nomination of the Peace & Freedom Party for President of the United States. I am running for President for several reasons. It is a great opportunity to wake people up from the stupor and futility created by the Democratic and Republican parties. Both of these parties continue the wars, tortures, and extreme economic injustices that most Americans oppose. They serve money, not people.
I am also making it a priority of my campaign to help the Peace & Freedom Party maintain ballot status by increasing its voter registration in California and to start building Peace and Freedom Parties in the 11 other states we have targeted for petitioning. I will promote the Peace and Freedom Party and encourage my supporters to register in it. If nominated, I hope to hold joint fundraising events for the campaign and the party where we can register voters in the party and share audiences, information, and support.
If we want to change this country for the better and throw all the bums out, we need to make the promises of socialism appeal to a wider variety of people. As someone who reached and communicated to masses of working people through my TV show for 9 years, I am well positioned to help the Peace and Freedom Party's platform reach that wider audience. I also think that my experience in the entertainment industry can help serve the very good cause of helping the Peace and Freedom Party continue to reach voters through its ballot line. It would be great to bring some fun and humor to politics, too.
I ask for your vote at the convention to give me this opportunity to reach the voters and help the Peace and Freedom Party at the same time. We need Peace! We need Freedom!
Roseanne Barr
"Socialism -- it's not just Wall Street, military contractors, or Congress anymore, but all Americans!"
2012-06-07 "Roseanne Barr announces independent run for President" from "Examiner.com"
[http://www.examiner.com/article/roseanne-barr-announces-independent-run-for-president]:
Following Wednesday's news that rival Jill Stein had clinched the Presidential nomination of the Green Party, Roseanne Barr announced on Twitter this afternoon that she would continue her campaign for President of the United States as an independent with her own so-called "Green Tea Party":
"Roseanne Barr @TheRealRoseanne - I will run as an Independent- 4 'Green Tea Party'-an American Woman's Party-based on Green Markets, Sustainability, Social Safety Net/peace"
The famous comedienne conducted the deliberations leading to her decision publicly today on her Twitter account. The decision seems to be at least partly motivated by her feeling that the national leadership of the Green Party has colluded to to give Stein the nomination by playing favorite in state nominating contests:
"I heard rumors that green party MAY have broken its own rules in Cali-in NY, in Hawaii-by going out of its way 2 aid Stein-"
Barr also retweeted another user's comment that, "The GP colluded to exclude Roseanne in many states, said terrible things about Barr, and stonewalled complaints." Some of Barr's other tweets today indicated a wish to debate Stein on several issues where she feels the Green Party's presumptive nominee falls short, including Israel/Palestine, race, and proportional representation. Barr characterized the Green Party's refusal to debate those issues in an open forum as a "#circlejerk."
As perhaps indicated by the name of her new "Green Tea Party," Barr also tweeted today that her presidential run seeks to build a "Libertarian/Green Coalition."
2012-07-18 "Roseanne Barr Responds to Questions"
[http://www.peaceandfreedom2012.org/posts/930]:
This documented can also be downloaded as a pdf [http://www.peaceandfreedom2012.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Candidate_Questionnaire_2012_Barr.pdf].
I. Introduction
What is your occupation?
Actress, comedian, television producer, director, screenwriter, author, and macadamia nut collective farmer
Where are you from?
I grew up in a working-class Jewish family in Salt Lake City. I currently live in Hawaii.
Briefly describe your educational background, any past political campaigns, and any work you’ve done as an activist.
I’m self-educated. Barbara Ehrenreich called me a working-class spokesperson representing “the hopeless underclass of the female sex: polyester-clad, overweight occupants of the slow track; fast-food waitresses, factory workers, housewives, members of the invisible pink-collar army; the despised, the jilted, the underpaid.” I brought working class issues to millions of viewers weekly for nine years. I always refuse to use the term “blue collar” because it masks the issue of class.
My entire life has been one activist campaign for justice, peace, and freedom. I have incorporated these values into every aspect of my professional and personal life.
Describe how your candidacy would promote the Peace and Freedom Party (PFP), and how you expect the PFP to promote your candidacy.
Millions of people look to me for the real deal about a world that oppresses them from all sides. I can reach that audience and ask them to consider socialism and registering in the Peace and Freedom Party or starting one in their state. I hope that would help the party maintain its ballot status as of 2014. I would expect the party to join with me in creating and promoting joint events to register voters and raise funds for the party and the campaign.
What attracts you to the PFP? What past involvement have you had with it?
We don’t have the PFP in Hawaii yet, but I’m interested in starting one. I like that the party is socialist and very committed to its principles. I like the platform and agree with it.
Do you have any experience that would be particularly useful to you as a presidential candidate – such as public speaking experience, union organizing experience, teaching experience, or the like?
I reached 40 million viewers for nine years with my TV show. I have 40 years of experience crafting messages for, and carrying them to, working class people. I continue to speak to nationwide television audiences on a regular basis.
II. Specific Topics.
The following topics and questions highlight areas of concern to the PFP and its registrants. Please answer them in any form you deem appropriate, and in as much detail as you wish. We hope that your answers will reveal who you are, what you believe, how you would represent the PFP, what you would say to voters during your campaign. Although we would like to know about your particular brand of socialism, these questions are not framed with a socialist slant; they are phrased as if by the mainstream media, since that is what you are likely to encounter during your campaign. We hope your answers will help us distinguish you from other candidates seeking the PFP nomination, as well as from the candidates of the other political parties.
1) Foreign Policy. Please tell us what you think the foreign policy of the United States should be. In your answer, you may choose to address one or more of the following related questions:
a) What changes do you propose to the current defense budget?
b) How would you decide whether or not to use U.S. military resources in
any particular foreign conflict?
c) Should the United States use economic sanctions to advance its foreign policy? If so, under what circumstances?
Human Rights and implementing the values of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights at home and abroad should be a priority of U.S. policy. This will lead to an improvement in the quality of life of U.S. and world citizens. Accordingly, the Pentagon budget would be severely slashed, because “national security” would no longer be about counting bombs and missiles and nuclear payloads and throw-weights, but instead about harmonizing a humane lifestyle with the needs of Planet Earth.
Economic sanctions, an act of war, are not appropriate tools to advance the values of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights or the ALBA concept of the inherent rights of the planet itself (see motherearthrights.org). I support the concept of a Department of Peace. As President, I would transform the Pentagon to such a Department to demonstrate to the world and to U.S. citizens the seriousness with which my Administration takes the issue of peace, as well as the justice on which a lasting peace must be built.
2) Economy. What would you do to achieve socialism in the U.S.? You may choose to address the following related questions in your response:
a) What sort of welfare programs do you think should exist in the U.S.? Do you support a guaranteed annual income for all U.S. citizens?
b) Do you support the nationalization of any industry?
c) What do you think should be done about our nation’s foreclosure crisis?
d) What steps would you take to reduce unemployment?
e) What specific legislation would you support to improve workers’ rights?
Mario Savio led the way for us when he told us that there comes a time when the machine becomes so odious that one cannot even passively take part in it. Many in the United States have reached this point, but have no idea of how to proceed in a way that serves their interests. Therefore, we need to explain to the people of this country exactly what socialism is. Because of the reach of my voice, I can be of particular help with that task. I will use my voice to help familiarize people with socialism as something not to be feared, but enjoyed by all. After all, Wall Street and Big Pharma have already been taking our public funds for their private profit; it’s time for the public to benefit from socialism!
I support a United States government policy that seeks first to meet the basic needs of the people as in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Privatization and out-sourcing have swept even the most hallowed of government responsibilities. I would put an end to such practices immediately and hire unionized workers to serve the needs of the people of the U.S. I would also support legislation ending so-called “Right to Work” laws. The Taft-Hartley Act should be repealed in order to restore the freedom of workers to organize for their rights.
I would make derivatives trading illegal and end the bailouts of the banks that sold trillions of dollars of worthless derivatives. Banksters gamed the system with illegal activities that sent profits in the financial sector skyrocketing. However, those profits were built on a house of cards that was sure to collapse on millions of U.S. home owners. To blame the current economic collapse on low-income home buyers who were illegally discriminated against is a further political crime of class slander, to which the victims cannot equally respond. It’s time for the justice system to work by rendering justice to those who have been illegally foreclosed on. A foreclosure moratorium is needed now; and those responsible for erecting that house of cards should face of jury of the people. Iceland is an example in this regard.
3) Health and Health Care. Please outline your approach to health care. In your response, you may wish to address the following:
a) Should there be a national health care policy? If so, what should it be?
b) What are the key problems with health care in the U.S. today?
c) What are your positions on abortion, contraception, and stem cell research?
I believe in Medicare for all. That includes abortions consistent with Roe v. Wade, contraception for young adults, a nurse in every school, expansion of public health centers, and treatments that result from stem cell research. Adequate medical care should be accessible to everyone, and this should prioritized over the profit of pharmaceutical and insurance companies.
4) Civil Rights. Please outline your approach to civil rights. In answering, you may choose to answer any or all of the following:
a) What parts of the Patriot Act should be eliminated and what, if anything, should be retained?
b) What do you think the chief aims of the criminal justice system should be, and what are your views on the death penalty?
c) What is your position on “gay marriage,” and what can the President do to facilitate the adoption of that position?
Discrimination rears its ugly head in many forms and must be stamped out by leadership, example, and policy. Feminism, turning back white supremacy, and eliminating intolerance for LBGTQ and ability discrimination are the best ways to ensure the civil rights of all. I support marriage rights for loving adults.
I support repeal of the Patriot Act, the Secret Evidence Act, the Funding for the War Against Terrorism Act as a way to safeguard civil rights and civil liberties in this country. I would delete the exceptions carved into Posse Comitatus for fighting the drug war and during national emergencies. I would end surveillance by drones over U.S. cities and the U.S. military on U.S. streets. I would delete Operation Garden Plot and Rex 84 from U.S. planning. I would publicize the COINTELPRO Papers and expose their current practice.
The Justice Department should administer justice–it currently does not. I oppose the death penalty for people and support it for corporations that commit capital offenses against the people.
5) Immigration. Please outline your approach to immigration issues. In answering, you may choose to answer any or all of the following:
a) What would the goals of your immigration policy be?
b) What is the appropriate role of the Federal Government in regulating, policing, and/or tracking immigration into the U.S.?
c) What should the federal government do with regard to the millions of people now in the U.S., often labeled “illegal immigrants”?
A U.S. foreign policy that promotes human upliftment consistent with ecological wisdom is a prerequisite to a sane immigration policy that respects human dignity and the right to life. I believe in open borders and reject the notion that any person is illegal.
6) Education. Please outline your views on how to improve the educational system. You may choose to answer any or all of these questions in your response:
a) What obligations does the federal government have with regards to providing education the people within the U.S. borders?
b) Should state and/or local governments be able to regulate the content of public school curricula?
c) How should education in the U.S. be paid for?
Because education is an important aspect of national security, education to completion of a terminal degree should be paid for from the general fund with national minimum standards in teacher compensation, a maximum permissible student-teacher ratio, and adequate remediation and disability funding. Local funding should also come from the general fund on a per-pupil basis and not from property taxes that exacerbate inequalities even within single school systems.
7) Environment. Please outline your approach to environmental issues. In answering, you may choose to answer any or all of the questions below:
a) As president, what would you do to limit pollution and preserve our natural resources?
b) Would your actions described above negatively impact industry?
c) Do you advocate a national energy policy? If so, please describe it.
The ALBA countries of Bolivia, Venzuela, and Ecuador have paved the way with Nature’s Rights. I would support legislation in the U.S. to protect the rights of the ecosystem. I would support an end to oil subsidies and aggressively promote solar conversions wherever possible. In our colder climates, I would support geothermal retrofitting. I would eliminate nuclear power subsidies and shut down all nuclear power plants. I would also shut down U.S. energy labs that produce nuclear weapons and institute massive clean-up policies. I would end war, which is the cruelest insult to the environment. I would encourage and subsidize the creation of community farms in every neighborhood using organic and bio-dynamic technologies. I would outlaw the genetic modification of foods, organisms, and people!
(8) Election Improvement. Please outline your approach to improving the electoral process in U.S. In your answer, you may wish to answer some or all of the following questions:
a) What is your view of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling?
b) Is “get the money out of politics” a realistic goal? If so, how do you think that goal could be accomplished?
c) What can be done to loosen the two major parties’ stranglehold on the electoral process?
We have to get money out of political campaigns. It’s become a legalized system of bribery. Obama made fine speeches to the voters about a “public option” for health care at the same time that he was assuring insurance companies that no public option would be in the final bill. The option of public financing of “clean” campaigns has worked well in the states that have adopted it and is even promoted by some of the politicians who originally opposed it.
The stranglehold of the two major parties can only be broken by creating a truly multi-partisan democracy with proportional representation. It is only fair to represent voters opinions proportionately. Our current system holds in place all the evils that a majority of the voters oppose. It allows Big Money to control the candidates of the two dominant parties and thereby subvert the will of the people.
9) Your Campaign. What are the realistic goals of your campaign, and what are your strategies for achieving those goals? In your response, consider answering the following:
a) What would you most like to teach voters about socialism?
b) What makes you more appealing to “the 99%” than Barack Obama, and how can you most effectively communicate that?
c) If you believe that socialist candidates have generally failed to live up to their potential in U.S. political history, do you have any explanation for why that is? How do you think socialist candidates could succeed in the future?
I would like to teach voters that socialism is for us, the people. I would like to reclaim the word from all the lies and negative propaganda about it. I know how to reach “the 99%” and have done so for 40 years.
I think the problem with past socialist candidates has been an inability to reach the wider audience that most needs to hear about socialism. If socialists only appeal to intellectuals, they deprive those most in need of their message.
"Keep Socialism on the Ballot--Register Peace and Freedom Party in California" by Cindy Sheehan
[http://cindysheehanssoapbox.blogspot.com/2012/07/keep-socialism-on-ballot-register-peace.html]:
In the June Primary of 2010, corporate interests misled California voters into passing Proposition 14, which replaces the June partisan primary elections with the first round of a partly partisan, partly non-partisan "top two" election in which political parties no longer nominate candidates for office. The November General Elections are thereby reserved for the "top two" vote getters, usually the two richest candidates. Independent party candidates will not appear on the ballot and even write-in votes will not be counted.
Prop 14 makes an already seriously flawed electoral system even worse by striking a devastating blow against independent parties like Peace and Freedom which receive no funds from corporate interests.
Although touted as an “Open Primary” measure, Prop 14 will in fact close November General Elections to all but the two richest candidates. Voters will no longer be able to choose Green, Libertarian, or Peace & Freedom candidates in the General Election. Prop 14 will thus increase the power of wealth over an electoral system already biased in favor of corporations and the rich.
The Peace and Freedom Party fought vigorously against this ballot measure. We will continue to fight it in the courts and at the ballot box. Meanwhile, we must mount a voter registration campaign. Previously, independent political parties could maintain their ballot status either by receiving two per cent of the vote in a statewide November general election or by maintaining two percent of all registrants. Now, since Peace and Freedom will no longer appear on the November ballot, the only way to maintain our ballot status is by increasing our voter registration. In other words, to meet the new requirements of the new system, we must almost double our registration by the end of 2014 to stay on the ballot.
By registering Peace and Freedom, you are joining with tens of thousands of others who want to take control of our political system away from the ruling capitalist class. You want an end to the war machine that gave us the wars in Vietnam and the Middle East. You want an end to bail outs for bankers and the rich. You want to shift the tax burden to the rich and their corporations and away from the working class and the poor. You want an end to the corporate rape of the environment and no compromise in defense of our Mother Earth.
Friends Help Friends Register Peace and Freedom.
For Ralph Nader’s analysis of Prop 14, click here [http://www.peaceandfreedom.org/home/index.php?view=article&id=748].
Here are links to all of our website materials from this campaign [http://www.peaceandfreedom.org/home/campaign/no-on-prop-14].
To Peace and Freedom Party convention delegates,
I am seeking the nomination of the Peace & Freedom Party for President of the United States. I am running for President for several reasons. It is a great opportunity to wake people up from the stupor and futility created by the Democratic and Republican parties. Both of these parties continue the wars, tortures, and extreme economic injustices that most Americans oppose. They serve money, not people.
I am also making it a priority of my campaign to help the Peace & Freedom Party maintain ballot status by increasing its voter registration in California and to start building Peace and Freedom Parties in the 11 other states we have targeted for petitioning. I will promote the Peace and Freedom Party and encourage my supporters to register in it. If nominated, I hope to hold joint fundraising events for the campaign and the party where we can register voters in the party and share audiences, information, and support.
If we want to change this country for the better and throw all the bums out, we need to make the promises of socialism appeal to a wider variety of people. As someone who reached and communicated to masses of working people through my TV show for 9 years, I am well positioned to help the Peace and Freedom Party's platform reach that wider audience. I also think that my experience in the entertainment industry can help serve the very good cause of helping the Peace and Freedom Party continue to reach voters through its ballot line. It would be great to bring some fun and humor to politics, too.
I ask for your vote at the convention to give me this opportunity to reach the voters and help the Peace and Freedom Party at the same time. We need Peace! We need Freedom!
Roseanne Barr
"Socialism -- it's not just Wall Street, military contractors, or Congress anymore, but all Americans!"
2012-06-07 "Roseanne Barr announces independent run for President" from "Examiner.com"
[http://www.examiner.com/article/roseanne-barr-announces-independent-run-for-president]:
Following Wednesday's news that rival Jill Stein had clinched the Presidential nomination of the Green Party, Roseanne Barr announced on Twitter this afternoon that she would continue her campaign for President of the United States as an independent with her own so-called "Green Tea Party":
"Roseanne Barr @TheRealRoseanne - I will run as an Independent- 4 'Green Tea Party'-an American Woman's Party-based on Green Markets, Sustainability, Social Safety Net/peace"
The famous comedienne conducted the deliberations leading to her decision publicly today on her Twitter account. The decision seems to be at least partly motivated by her feeling that the national leadership of the Green Party has colluded to to give Stein the nomination by playing favorite in state nominating contests:
"I heard rumors that green party MAY have broken its own rules in Cali-in NY, in Hawaii-by going out of its way 2 aid Stein-"
Barr also retweeted another user's comment that, "The GP colluded to exclude Roseanne in many states, said terrible things about Barr, and stonewalled complaints." Some of Barr's other tweets today indicated a wish to debate Stein on several issues where she feels the Green Party's presumptive nominee falls short, including Israel/Palestine, race, and proportional representation. Barr characterized the Green Party's refusal to debate those issues in an open forum as a "#circlejerk."
As perhaps indicated by the name of her new "Green Tea Party," Barr also tweeted today that her presidential run seeks to build a "Libertarian/Green Coalition."
2012-07-18 "Roseanne Barr Responds to Questions"
[http://www.peaceandfreedom2012.org/posts/930]:
This documented can also be downloaded as a pdf [http://www.peaceandfreedom2012.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Candidate_Questionnaire_2012_Barr.pdf].
I. Introduction
What is your occupation?
Actress, comedian, television producer, director, screenwriter, author, and macadamia nut collective farmer
Where are you from?
I grew up in a working-class Jewish family in Salt Lake City. I currently live in Hawaii.
Briefly describe your educational background, any past political campaigns, and any work you’ve done as an activist.
I’m self-educated. Barbara Ehrenreich called me a working-class spokesperson representing “the hopeless underclass of the female sex: polyester-clad, overweight occupants of the slow track; fast-food waitresses, factory workers, housewives, members of the invisible pink-collar army; the despised, the jilted, the underpaid.” I brought working class issues to millions of viewers weekly for nine years. I always refuse to use the term “blue collar” because it masks the issue of class.
My entire life has been one activist campaign for justice, peace, and freedom. I have incorporated these values into every aspect of my professional and personal life.
Describe how your candidacy would promote the Peace and Freedom Party (PFP), and how you expect the PFP to promote your candidacy.
Millions of people look to me for the real deal about a world that oppresses them from all sides. I can reach that audience and ask them to consider socialism and registering in the Peace and Freedom Party or starting one in their state. I hope that would help the party maintain its ballot status as of 2014. I would expect the party to join with me in creating and promoting joint events to register voters and raise funds for the party and the campaign.
What attracts you to the PFP? What past involvement have you had with it?
We don’t have the PFP in Hawaii yet, but I’m interested in starting one. I like that the party is socialist and very committed to its principles. I like the platform and agree with it.
Do you have any experience that would be particularly useful to you as a presidential candidate – such as public speaking experience, union organizing experience, teaching experience, or the like?
I reached 40 million viewers for nine years with my TV show. I have 40 years of experience crafting messages for, and carrying them to, working class people. I continue to speak to nationwide television audiences on a regular basis.
II. Specific Topics.
The following topics and questions highlight areas of concern to the PFP and its registrants. Please answer them in any form you deem appropriate, and in as much detail as you wish. We hope that your answers will reveal who you are, what you believe, how you would represent the PFP, what you would say to voters during your campaign. Although we would like to know about your particular brand of socialism, these questions are not framed with a socialist slant; they are phrased as if by the mainstream media, since that is what you are likely to encounter during your campaign. We hope your answers will help us distinguish you from other candidates seeking the PFP nomination, as well as from the candidates of the other political parties.
1) Foreign Policy. Please tell us what you think the foreign policy of the United States should be. In your answer, you may choose to address one or more of the following related questions:
a) What changes do you propose to the current defense budget?
b) How would you decide whether or not to use U.S. military resources in
any particular foreign conflict?
c) Should the United States use economic sanctions to advance its foreign policy? If so, under what circumstances?
Human Rights and implementing the values of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights at home and abroad should be a priority of U.S. policy. This will lead to an improvement in the quality of life of U.S. and world citizens. Accordingly, the Pentagon budget would be severely slashed, because “national security” would no longer be about counting bombs and missiles and nuclear payloads and throw-weights, but instead about harmonizing a humane lifestyle with the needs of Planet Earth.
Economic sanctions, an act of war, are not appropriate tools to advance the values of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights or the ALBA concept of the inherent rights of the planet itself (see motherearthrights.org). I support the concept of a Department of Peace. As President, I would transform the Pentagon to such a Department to demonstrate to the world and to U.S. citizens the seriousness with which my Administration takes the issue of peace, as well as the justice on which a lasting peace must be built.
2) Economy. What would you do to achieve socialism in the U.S.? You may choose to address the following related questions in your response:
a) What sort of welfare programs do you think should exist in the U.S.? Do you support a guaranteed annual income for all U.S. citizens?
b) Do you support the nationalization of any industry?
c) What do you think should be done about our nation’s foreclosure crisis?
d) What steps would you take to reduce unemployment?
e) What specific legislation would you support to improve workers’ rights?
Mario Savio led the way for us when he told us that there comes a time when the machine becomes so odious that one cannot even passively take part in it. Many in the United States have reached this point, but have no idea of how to proceed in a way that serves their interests. Therefore, we need to explain to the people of this country exactly what socialism is. Because of the reach of my voice, I can be of particular help with that task. I will use my voice to help familiarize people with socialism as something not to be feared, but enjoyed by all. After all, Wall Street and Big Pharma have already been taking our public funds for their private profit; it’s time for the public to benefit from socialism!
I support a United States government policy that seeks first to meet the basic needs of the people as in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Privatization and out-sourcing have swept even the most hallowed of government responsibilities. I would put an end to such practices immediately and hire unionized workers to serve the needs of the people of the U.S. I would also support legislation ending so-called “Right to Work” laws. The Taft-Hartley Act should be repealed in order to restore the freedom of workers to organize for their rights.
I would make derivatives trading illegal and end the bailouts of the banks that sold trillions of dollars of worthless derivatives. Banksters gamed the system with illegal activities that sent profits in the financial sector skyrocketing. However, those profits were built on a house of cards that was sure to collapse on millions of U.S. home owners. To blame the current economic collapse on low-income home buyers who were illegally discriminated against is a further political crime of class slander, to which the victims cannot equally respond. It’s time for the justice system to work by rendering justice to those who have been illegally foreclosed on. A foreclosure moratorium is needed now; and those responsible for erecting that house of cards should face of jury of the people. Iceland is an example in this regard.
3) Health and Health Care. Please outline your approach to health care. In your response, you may wish to address the following:
a) Should there be a national health care policy? If so, what should it be?
b) What are the key problems with health care in the U.S. today?
c) What are your positions on abortion, contraception, and stem cell research?
I believe in Medicare for all. That includes abortions consistent with Roe v. Wade, contraception for young adults, a nurse in every school, expansion of public health centers, and treatments that result from stem cell research. Adequate medical care should be accessible to everyone, and this should prioritized over the profit of pharmaceutical and insurance companies.
4) Civil Rights. Please outline your approach to civil rights. In answering, you may choose to answer any or all of the following:
a) What parts of the Patriot Act should be eliminated and what, if anything, should be retained?
b) What do you think the chief aims of the criminal justice system should be, and what are your views on the death penalty?
c) What is your position on “gay marriage,” and what can the President do to facilitate the adoption of that position?
Discrimination rears its ugly head in many forms and must be stamped out by leadership, example, and policy. Feminism, turning back white supremacy, and eliminating intolerance for LBGTQ and ability discrimination are the best ways to ensure the civil rights of all. I support marriage rights for loving adults.
I support repeal of the Patriot Act, the Secret Evidence Act, the Funding for the War Against Terrorism Act as a way to safeguard civil rights and civil liberties in this country. I would delete the exceptions carved into Posse Comitatus for fighting the drug war and during national emergencies. I would end surveillance by drones over U.S. cities and the U.S. military on U.S. streets. I would delete Operation Garden Plot and Rex 84 from U.S. planning. I would publicize the COINTELPRO Papers and expose their current practice.
The Justice Department should administer justice–it currently does not. I oppose the death penalty for people and support it for corporations that commit capital offenses against the people.
5) Immigration. Please outline your approach to immigration issues. In answering, you may choose to answer any or all of the following:
a) What would the goals of your immigration policy be?
b) What is the appropriate role of the Federal Government in regulating, policing, and/or tracking immigration into the U.S.?
c) What should the federal government do with regard to the millions of people now in the U.S., often labeled “illegal immigrants”?
A U.S. foreign policy that promotes human upliftment consistent with ecological wisdom is a prerequisite to a sane immigration policy that respects human dignity and the right to life. I believe in open borders and reject the notion that any person is illegal.
6) Education. Please outline your views on how to improve the educational system. You may choose to answer any or all of these questions in your response:
a) What obligations does the federal government have with regards to providing education the people within the U.S. borders?
b) Should state and/or local governments be able to regulate the content of public school curricula?
c) How should education in the U.S. be paid for?
Because education is an important aspect of national security, education to completion of a terminal degree should be paid for from the general fund with national minimum standards in teacher compensation, a maximum permissible student-teacher ratio, and adequate remediation and disability funding. Local funding should also come from the general fund on a per-pupil basis and not from property taxes that exacerbate inequalities even within single school systems.
7) Environment. Please outline your approach to environmental issues. In answering, you may choose to answer any or all of the questions below:
a) As president, what would you do to limit pollution and preserve our natural resources?
b) Would your actions described above negatively impact industry?
c) Do you advocate a national energy policy? If so, please describe it.
The ALBA countries of Bolivia, Venzuela, and Ecuador have paved the way with Nature’s Rights. I would support legislation in the U.S. to protect the rights of the ecosystem. I would support an end to oil subsidies and aggressively promote solar conversions wherever possible. In our colder climates, I would support geothermal retrofitting. I would eliminate nuclear power subsidies and shut down all nuclear power plants. I would also shut down U.S. energy labs that produce nuclear weapons and institute massive clean-up policies. I would end war, which is the cruelest insult to the environment. I would encourage and subsidize the creation of community farms in every neighborhood using organic and bio-dynamic technologies. I would outlaw the genetic modification of foods, organisms, and people!
(8) Election Improvement. Please outline your approach to improving the electoral process in U.S. In your answer, you may wish to answer some or all of the following questions:
a) What is your view of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling?
b) Is “get the money out of politics” a realistic goal? If so, how do you think that goal could be accomplished?
c) What can be done to loosen the two major parties’ stranglehold on the electoral process?
We have to get money out of political campaigns. It’s become a legalized system of bribery. Obama made fine speeches to the voters about a “public option” for health care at the same time that he was assuring insurance companies that no public option would be in the final bill. The option of public financing of “clean” campaigns has worked well in the states that have adopted it and is even promoted by some of the politicians who originally opposed it.
The stranglehold of the two major parties can only be broken by creating a truly multi-partisan democracy with proportional representation. It is only fair to represent voters opinions proportionately. Our current system holds in place all the evils that a majority of the voters oppose. It allows Big Money to control the candidates of the two dominant parties and thereby subvert the will of the people.
9) Your Campaign. What are the realistic goals of your campaign, and what are your strategies for achieving those goals? In your response, consider answering the following:
a) What would you most like to teach voters about socialism?
b) What makes you more appealing to “the 99%” than Barack Obama, and how can you most effectively communicate that?
c) If you believe that socialist candidates have generally failed to live up to their potential in U.S. political history, do you have any explanation for why that is? How do you think socialist candidates could succeed in the future?
I would like to teach voters that socialism is for us, the people. I would like to reclaim the word from all the lies and negative propaganda about it. I know how to reach “the 99%” and have done so for 40 years.
I think the problem with past socialist candidates has been an inability to reach the wider audience that most needs to hear about socialism. If socialists only appeal to intellectuals, they deprive those most in need of their message.
"Keep Socialism on the Ballot--Register Peace and Freedom Party in California" by Cindy Sheehan
[http://cindysheehanssoapbox.blogspot.com/2012/07/keep-socialism-on-ballot-register-peace.html]:
In the June Primary of 2010, corporate interests misled California voters into passing Proposition 14, which replaces the June partisan primary elections with the first round of a partly partisan, partly non-partisan "top two" election in which political parties no longer nominate candidates for office. The November General Elections are thereby reserved for the "top two" vote getters, usually the two richest candidates. Independent party candidates will not appear on the ballot and even write-in votes will not be counted.
Prop 14 makes an already seriously flawed electoral system even worse by striking a devastating blow against independent parties like Peace and Freedom which receive no funds from corporate interests.
Although touted as an “Open Primary” measure, Prop 14 will in fact close November General Elections to all but the two richest candidates. Voters will no longer be able to choose Green, Libertarian, or Peace & Freedom candidates in the General Election. Prop 14 will thus increase the power of wealth over an electoral system already biased in favor of corporations and the rich.
The Peace and Freedom Party fought vigorously against this ballot measure. We will continue to fight it in the courts and at the ballot box. Meanwhile, we must mount a voter registration campaign. Previously, independent political parties could maintain their ballot status either by receiving two per cent of the vote in a statewide November general election or by maintaining two percent of all registrants. Now, since Peace and Freedom will no longer appear on the November ballot, the only way to maintain our ballot status is by increasing our voter registration. In other words, to meet the new requirements of the new system, we must almost double our registration by the end of 2014 to stay on the ballot.
By registering Peace and Freedom, you are joining with tens of thousands of others who want to take control of our political system away from the ruling capitalist class. You want an end to the war machine that gave us the wars in Vietnam and the Middle East. You want an end to bail outs for bankers and the rich. You want to shift the tax burden to the rich and their corporations and away from the working class and the poor. You want an end to the corporate rape of the environment and no compromise in defense of our Mother Earth.
Friends Help Friends Register Peace and Freedom.
For Ralph Nader’s analysis of Prop 14, click here [http://www.peaceandfreedom.org/home/index.php?view=article&id=748].
Here are links to all of our website materials from this campaign [http://www.peaceandfreedom.org/home/campaign/no-on-prop-14].
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