Green Party Leadership - Oxymoron?

I know of no organization that has such a crying need for leadership and at the same time has such a seemingly genetic distrust of leaders. Maybe some of it comes from the populist labor movement and people like Eugene V. Debs.

I never had much faith in leaders. I am willing to be charged with almost anything, rather than to be charged with being a leader. I am suspicious of leaders, and especially of the intellectual variety. Give me the rank and file every day in the week.

Congressional Candidate Byron DeLear has suggested that the GPCA adopt the model of the Green Party of Canada and elect a party chairman, such as Elizabeth May, from whom he quotes (cf FACTIONALISM IN THE GPCA AND VISION FOR REFORM)

"Our policies in the Green Party, of course, aren't influenced by my particular views. The policies are passed through our grassroots, all the policies come through our members. The platform is developed through our shadow cabinet. We have a wide range of views there. But the notions of moral responsibility that the Greens believe in, they believe in for all kinds of reasons."

I started to see if I could find some pithy quotes about leadership to back up my own comments and I found that there are almost as many views on leadership as there were people whose comments ended up in this list of quotations.

One difference is in the view of the "leader" as to their own role. Some, like Jesse Jackson, have an activist view of the leader.

Time is neutral and does not change things. With courage and initiative, leaders change things.

President John Quincy Adams saw leadership more from the effect that one had on people than on events.

If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.

That difference may be one more reason why Jackson never became President.

The United States is perhaps peculiarly unique in it's distrust of the use of intelligence in defining what should, or must, be done. There has always been a bias against the Eastern, Ivy League, intelligentsia. Yet, Einstein found the one aspect of leadership was the use of one's intelligence.

Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocrities. The latter cannot understand it when a man does not thoughtlessly submit to hereditary prejudices but honestly and courageously uses his intelligence.

For myself, I rather like the quotation from Adams. I would add to it the words of Eric Hoffer.

In times of change, learners inherit the Earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.

Which of the nominal leaders of the GPCA have been able to live up to the expectation that the role of a leader is to make those around you better than they were, maybe better than they knew themselves that they could become?

Which of the nominal leaders of the GPCA fit the model of Hoffer, being learners rather those who claim to have found the truth?

By the time I started to the University of Redlands, I was a licensed lay preacher in the Methodist Church. That befitted my first name, Wesley. Redlands was known then as a Small Christian College... we often claimed "for small Christians." Yet, what I learned there is that I had an affinity for those who sought the truth and a growing distrust for those who claimed to have found it. Now, I find myself wondering what our nominal leaders learned about themselves in all of the strife that led up to the San Francisco General Assembly. Which of them will take the time to ask how their actions have led others to "dream more, learn more, do more and become more..." Did they even take the time to go through that degree of introspection?

I also believe that anyone who hopes to help lead the GPCA forward must learn to trust the collective wisdom of the members of this organization. That would be the ultimate decision. Some become leaders by virtue of their office. One could say that of Harry S. Truman. Others, become far greater leaders after they leave an office, as is often said of Jimmy Carter, known for being our greatest ex-president.

As we sort though what happened, or did not happen, in San Francisco, or in Los Angeles, maybe there are some who, like Carter, would have much more influence as an ex-official. There are others, I am sure, who will step into the roles and, like Truman, show more leadership than anyone expected.

Giving it a thought

Last night, I turned on the tele during the News Hour with Jim Lehrer and listened to Gwen Ifill talk to Al Gore about his new book, The Assault on Reason.

I'm deeply concerned that the role of reason, and facts, and logic in the way we make our decisions in America has been diminished significantly, to the point where we could make a decision to invade a country that didn't attack us, at a time when 70 percent of the American people genuinely had the impression and belief that Saddam Hussein was responsible for the attacks of 9/11.

Then, this morning, I was reading the new material at Chris Mooney's intersection and he is dealing with the same thing. The fact that the political control of the "message" is so tight that one can never allow facts to get in the way.

Maybe it has to do with media that is more concerned about ratings than about news. All of the local channels did a whale of a job this past several weeks, devoting a significant amount of time and resources to the story of two lost whales. They even named one Delta. But the real story of the Delta is that of a small fish called the delta smelt. Maybe, Delta the whale may weigh more than all of the remaining delta smelt combined and the pumping of water from the Delta toward SoCal and the farms of the Central Valley has pulled this species close to extinction.

In each case cited, the political leadership has started with the answer and selected the observations that would fit those facts. They have made a science of language to frame problems that (in the case of 9/11 and Iraq) never existed or (in the case of global warming) are too scary in their implication of political failure to allow the public to believe that they just might be true.

I don't have solutions. I have developed a fairly well calibrated BS-Meter and use it frequently. Gore says that he has some remedies, but I don't think that politicians can be the source of change. If any one institution can perform that function, it is the media and they have steadfastly refused to do more than allow the talking heads to use both sides of their mouths.

Maybe one reason for the decline in newspaper circulation is that we all know they are part of the problem.

I am increasingly convinced that we need to have a Truth Think Tank (since being from a think tank is the one way to get media attention). Anyone want to sign on?

Welcome to the blogosphere

The number of Green Party bloggers continues to grow, each with their take on events. The latest entry into this list is Green Uprising from Donny Fix (Everyone needs to use some other name by convention). The link is now permanently in the menu to the right.

Donny's first post is his take on “Breaking Free of the Cycles of Violence”. Read it.

The Agony of Cindy Sheehan

Cindy Sheehan, the world-famous, gold-star "antiwar mom" has left the Democratic Party and "resigned" from the Peace Movement. This is what The Empire does to its most noble women and men.

The Daily Kos
Monday, May 28, 2007.
"Good Riddance Attention Whore"
by Cindy Sheehan

I have endured a lot of smear and hatred since Casey was killed and especially since I became the so-called "Face" of the American anti-war movement. Especially since I renounced any tie I have remaining with the Democratic Party, I have been further trashed on such "liberal blogs" as the Democratic Underground. Being called an "attention whore" and being told "good riddance" are some of the more milder rebukes.

I have come to some heartbreaking conclusions this Memorial Day Morning. These are not spur of the moment reflections, but things I have been meditating on for about a year now. The conclusions that I have slowly and very reluctantly come to are very heartbreaking to me.

The first conclusion is that I was the darling of the so-called left as long as I limited my protests to George Bush and the Republican Party. Of course, I was slandered and libeled by the right as a "tool" of the Democratic Party. This label was to marginalize me and my message. How could a woman have an original thought, or be working outside of our "two-party" system?

Read More at: www.dailykos.com/story/2007/5/28/12530/1525

Ron Paul - "Libertarian"

The Ron Paul that Ron Paul Doesn’t Want You to Know

Ron Paul is hot in antiwar circles on account of his performance in the Republican presidential candidates debates as the only antiwar candidate in a field of Bushie super-hawks.

Every moderate, liberal, progressive, or left activist and every Democrat, Green, or independent voter should Read This before jumping onto the libertarian Republican bandwagon.

A Personal Note

Personally, I have always been skeptical about the so-called libertarian crowd. I grew up in the South and lived through the civil rights revolution and these "libertarians" never lifted a finger in opposition to the gross abuse of power by Southern segregationist city, county, and state governments.

In the 1970s when I was a student at the very "conservative" University of Virginia, "libertarianism"was the perfect refuge for guys who wanted to enjoy the new sexual and personal freedoms of the Sixties while simultaneously defending authoritarian Southern "tradition." Under the banner of "libertarianism" they could be against the Vietnam-era draft and also against the 1964 Civil Rights Act. They could claim the "right" to smoke pot and happily indulge recreational sex and also the "right"of the State of Virginia to maintain V.M.I. as a all-male school and otherwise keep "the ladies "in their place without "interference" from "Big Gummint"

Here in California today, some old "libertarians" are the meanest, nastiest Mexican-haters.

Ron Paul is of that generation. It's good he's causing Republicans grief, but let’s not get carried away with the media moment. Read More at http://www.accgreens.org/gpga/?q=node/32

California's 37th CD - Democratic Party "Crash"

Los Angeles Democratic Party hacks continue "Crashing" into each other in the special election for the seat left vacant by the untimely death of Democratic Representative Juanita Millender-McDonald. Ms. Millender-McDonald was a distinguished senior member of the Congressional Black Caucus and had just begun serving as chair of the Committee on House Administration.

The two front-running Democratic candidates are: Laura Richardson, an African-American state assembly member and Jenny Oropeza, a Latina state senator. The overwhelmingly Democratic district is extremely diverse with an African-American plurality. If no candidate gets more than 50% of the vote in the special election in June, a runoff between the top candidates in each party will be held Aug. 21.

A Win for Oropeza

Ms. Oropeza won the endorsement of the Democratic Party caucus, winning 119 of the 168 ballots cast by party delegates. (see, "Democrats Back Oropeza in the 37th District",
The Los Angeles Daily Breeze, May 20, 2007 ).

A Win for Richardson

Ms. Richardson won the coveted endorsement of the County Federation of Labor, the region's most influential labor organization (see "Oropeza loses key group's support in bid for Congress", The Los Angeles Daily Breeze, May 22, 2007, ).

Another Win for Oropeza

The California League of Conservation Voters have endorsed Oropeza (see "California League of Conservation Voters Endorses Senator Oropeza in 37th Congressional District Race", The California Majority Report, ).

Dan Walters of the Sacramento Bee says there is not "an ideological crack wide enough for a human hair among the congressional candidates" and that it's about the competitive personal ambitions of politicians running in districts deliberately setup by Democrats and Republicans and one-party "safe" districts:

Democrats stage two juicy duels by Dan Walters The Sacramento Bee Friday, May 25, 2007

When the Legislature and then-Gov. Gray Davis reconfigured the state's 173 legislative and congressional districts in 2001 with the intent _ and the effect _ of eliminating two-party competition for seats, they created a vacuum that begged to be filled.

If the two parties could not contest for seats, competitive instincts would be shifted into factional rivalries within the parties themselves _ a syndrome heightened by legislative term limits, which produce crops of term-limited, but ambitiously office-seeking politicians.

Continuing Controversy Over the "Black Seat"

Meanwhile, certain intellectuals among my fellow African-Americans continue putting emotional over-the-top rants about the need to retain the 37th Congressional District as a "Black seat" in Congress, insisting that the election of Ms. Oropeza would be a grave threat to some vaguely defined "Black agenda."

In point of fact either Richardson or Oropeza would go to Washington as back-benchers in a feckless Democratic Congressional Majority that has already demonstrated it is incapable of stopping or even slowing George Bush's agenda.

Hit 'em when they ain't lookn'.

The attention of Congress is now almost entirely on the big issues: the war in Iraq and what way to better support the troops.

The major political blogs are taking on the question of corruption. dengre, as always, keeps the attention of dailykos on the aftermath of the Abramoff Scandal and the House cleaning that is still in order. While that is going on, the folks at redstates.com are taking on corruption themselves, starting with California Representative Ken Calvert. They understand that being unwilling to address this issue costs them vote, seats, power.

The Green Party of CA is going through a period of self flagellation and factional fighting that must warm the cockles of a -heart and justify every spoiler rationalization that they have ever voiced.

Meanwhile, back in Washington, Monsanto is at work, pushing the GMO favoring legislation that they failed to get through California's legislature in 2006. Yesterday,House Committee on Agriculture, Livestock, Dairy and Poultry Subcommittee, met to mark up the Farm Bill of 2007.
This bill includes the following seemingly innocuous language.

SEC. 123. EFFECT OF USDA INSPECTION AND DETERMINATION OF NON-REGULATED STATUS.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no State or locality shall make any law prohibiting the use in commerce of an article that the Secretary of Agriculture has—
(1) inspected and passed; or
(2) determined to be of non-regulated status.

The effect of this bill is to once more, override the expressed wishes of many states and local constituencies in favor of a "big government knows best how to protect all of you mentality."

I would have expected this from a Richard Pombo. I was very concerned in that he appeared to be next in line to chair the Agriculture Committee had he remained in a Republican Congress. Happily, he is gone and the Republicans no longer have complete control over Congress.

It must be the Corporate indebted Democrats who are sponsoring this legislation. We have a strong movement for sustainable agriculture in California. In many counties, Greens, like Erica Martenson in Napa, are leading the effort to protect local agriculture from the onslaught of unregulated use of genetically modified organisms. We know that non-regulated GE crops will contaminate neighboring crops. Everyone knows this but Congress would take away our protection from the unscrupulous Monsanto's of this world.

There are three California Representatives on that sub-committee: Joe Baca (CA-43), Dennis Cardoza (CA-18) and Jim Costa (CA-20). All are Democrats. All three need to hear from us regarding the elimination of this un-necessary, un-democratic big government appropriation of the rights of local government to protect their citizens.

It is time Greens stopped discussing bylaws and started to protect our interests, the other parties are not doing it.

The Browning of California

Every year I sit in my home in Morgan Hill, look across Anderson Lake and watch as Finley Ridge turns brown. It even triggered some homage to Wallace Stevens.

Deer walk upon these mountains too.
Sere and brown in the early autumn sun,
Waiting for the spark, a conflagration
Racing up slope, opening hard-shelled seeds
Before an early winter rain brings back that
Life which we watched slowly fade in May.

The winter solstice passed and days will lengthen
Slowly into spring. Resurgent fluids flow up the veins of
Old oaks and blue-eyed grasses. Feeling the warming sun
Ancient peoples garlanded themselves in reds and oranges.

Come again, summer, with your hot dry winds.
Bring back the times when the sun sets late behind
Dark mountains and lingering fogs cool the slopes unto the sea.
I will sit and dream of seasons past and wait for the next turning.

I look at political events and see a similar browning of California and a governor who garlands himself in green rather than red or orange. From where will come the promise of the next turning? While the world is browning it seems the Green Party of California is intent upon fulfilling the prediction of irrelevancy.

The only signs that good will come from the upcoming General Assembly arise from the fact that the SF Green Party local has organized an alternative experience, something to do while entranched power blocks try to be proven winners rather than act to sustain the party. If this is to be a battle until death, then the death will be that of the party and we will be looking at a brownfields landscape.

Delta Smelt Population Craches, Panel Talks

The Delta Vision panel appointed by out "green" governor is meeting today and tomorrow. While the latest report is that the population of delta smelt has continued rapidly on its path toward extinction, it was only with great difficulty that it was possible to have this placed on the agenda. The following synopsis of the situation comes from a letter sent by State Senator Darrell Steinberg (6th Dist) to the Directors of the State Departments of Fish and Game and Water Resources as well as to the Chair of the State Water Resources Control Board.

I’m no biologist, but I find the latest smelt survey results frightening. The results suggest that an important part of the delta is literally dying. Last year at this time, the survey found smelt in 46 percent of the locations surveyed, and where the survey found smelt, the average density, or “catch per unit of effort” (CPUE), was 42.3 smelt. This year, the survey found smelt in only 17 percent of the locations surveyed, and in those few areas where there were smelt, the average density was only 4.7 CPUE. In other words, it is becoming increasingly hard to find smelt, and where we do manage to find some, there are only a few. Last year the debate was about whether the downward trend in smelt population would continue, and if the principle cause for the decline was delta exports, invasive species, toxic runoff, salt loads, or loss of habitat. This year, it now seems clear that the collapse is continuing, and from where I’m sitting, its time to stop arguing about what took the smelt to the brink of extinction and time to start taking decisive actions to bring them back.

This situation is so dire that some members of the Delta Vision panel have discussed staging a walkout if the situation is not given appropriate attention.

Whales make a good story. You can get great footage of whale and the tale of the two whales that traversed our delta all the way to the Port of Sacramento is all over American Television News. It is hard to get a good picture of a smelt. They are a very small fish, more impressive when in large numbers. Unfortunately, they are no longer in large numbers, but you won't see that on the new, so why should you care.

To begin with, you should care just because a healthy ecology is good for all of us. But, if that is not enough, then consider that the most probable cause for this rapid decline is the fact that more water is being exported from the delta to meet the demands of a growing population in our urban areas.

The threatened extinction of one small fish may be the tipping point that will force us to implement a sustainable long range plan for water in California. Somehow, I doubt that it will, but the document will still have the word "sustainable" in the title.

Action Alert

I don't like pushing Alex's opinion piece on the 37th District special election down the page. Everyone interested in Green Politics should read it. And when you are done, read Gregg Jocoy's comments on the same subject from South Carolina.

However, I also think that it is important for every California reader to pay attention to the following action alert and CALL GOVERNOR SCHWARZENEGGER on Monday morning. I received 3 copies of this alert this morning: one from Restore the Delta whose Healthy Delta Communities effort we helped sponsor, one from the Planning and Conservation League and one from Dan Bacher, the editor of the Fish Sniffer magazine. This is moving so fast that none of these organizations have this alert on their web site's yet.

The facts that triggered this coordinated action are those that I posted yesterday. There is really a sense of urgency about this, because the plans that are working their way through the Sacramento Bureaucracy are just a reflection of the needs of powerful special interest groups, including water districts that claim to represent the "people" but are closely tied to City / Developer growth at all costs planning.

__ from the Planning and Conservation League __

ENVIRONMENTAL CRISIS IN THE DELTA

DELTA SMELT ARE on the BRINK of EXTINCTION

Results from a just completed survey by the Department of Fish & Game:


--Scientists failed to find any smelt in 30 of 36 stations in the Delta

--The survey found only 25 smelt overall; a 93% drop from 2006

--This is the worst return in the history of this survey, in fact these numbers are ONE TENTH of previous record lows



NO RESPONSE TO SAVE THESE FISH

--Even though SEVERAL Delta species have been collapsing for SIX YEARS, the State has refused to commit to actions to avoid extinction

--Last year the State and Federal water projects exported near RECORD amounts of water through massive pumps in the Delta Smelt?s habitat

--The State pumped 55 BILLION gallons of "EXTRA" water in January even while they were telling the Judge there was no problem with smelt

MORE DELTA FISH ARE HEADED TOWARD EXTINCTION

Severe declines in multiple fish populations show that the Delta ecosystem is collapsing. Since 2005 the State and Federal governments have known about the problem, but have failed to commit to actions to save the Delta.

WHAT MUST BE DONE TO SAVE THE DELTA SMELT?

Scientists' recommendations to help the Delta Smelt must be immediately implemented (see attachment below).

Call the Governor and tell him to commit to actions to save the Delta Smelt before its too late!

Office of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
Phone: 916-445-2841
http://www.govmail.ca.gov/

More information:

Tom Philp of the Sacramento Bee?s Blog provides a link to the Delta Smelt Working Group's recommendations to respond to the delta smelt crisis:

http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/water/archives/DSWG_Briefing_Statement_15May07.pdf

Hank Shaw's blog on this issue:

http://blogs.recordnet.com/n/blogs/blog.aspx?en=&redirCnt=2&nav=main&webtag=sr-hshaw





During May 2007, pumps have taken more smelt (84) than the Delta survey (8):

http://www.usbr.gov/mp/cvo/vungvari/dsmeltsplitdly.pdf

Department of Fish and Game

20 mm survey: http://www.delta.dfg.ca.gov/data/20mm/CPUE_map.asp

Notes from Delta Action Team (State and Federal Agencies)

http://wwwoco.water.ca.gov/calfedops/dat/2007/05_08_2007.pdf

See how this year's most recent DFG survey of Delta Smelt compares to similarly-timed surveys in years past: (click here to view).

California's 37th C.D. - A "Black Seat?"

The special election for California's 37th Congressional District is already intense and ugly. On Saturday, May 19, 2007 at 10:00 am at the Lucy Florence Coffeehouse at 3351 W. 43rd Street near Leimert Park, longtime journalist Earl Ofari Hutchinson will host a public Urban Policy Roundtable Discussion on the topic:

The Fight For Congresswoman Juanita Millender- McDonald's Seat
Should it Be a Black Seat? A Latino Seat? Or the Best Candidate's Seat?

Nineteen candidates have filed nomination papers to be on the ballot in a special election in the 37th Congressional District in Southern California. If no candidate gets more than 50% of the vote in the special election in June, a runoff between the top candidates in each party will be held Aug. 21. (See Los Angeles Times "19 file for Millender-McDonald seat", May 15).

It is highly unlikely any candidate will get more than 50% which means that the Green Party candidate, Daniel Abraham Brezenoff, will be in the August runoff.

The seat was left vacant last month by the tragic and untimely death of Democratic Representative Juanita Millender-McDonald. Ms. Millender-McDonald was a distinguished senior member of the Congressional Black Caucus and had just begun serving as chair of the Committee on House Administration. Among other things this committee oversees federal elections. In her role as Ranking Member of the Committee during the GOP-controlled Congress, Millender-McDonald investigated widespread voting irregularities and voter disenfranchisement and called for a hearing in Ohio, the first election reform field hearing in Congressional history.

Millender-McDonald was active on women's issues. As Democratic Chair of the Congressional Caucus for Women's Issues she met with U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan to talk about the plight of women globally, and another with the chairman of the New York Stock Exchange to develop strategies for increasing women's investments and net worth.

She convened the first meeting between women members of Congress and Supreme Court Justices Sandra Day O'Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsberg. In 1997 she brought CIA Director John Deutch to Watts to address allegations of covert involvement in drugs trafficking.

Here is where things get dicey. Ms. Oropeza is Latina. Ms. Richardson is African-American. A recent poll indicated that in a two-candidate race, Richardson would win, but in a three-candidate race among Democrats, Orpeza would win. Already, members of the Los Angeles African-American intelligentsia are hysterical about losing "a Black seat." See below an excerpt from an article posted on The Black Comentator Web Site and also printed in the Los Angeles Sentinel, the most prominent African-American weekly in Los Angeles

Face-Off For The Millender-McDonald Seat:
More At Stake Than Just Politics As Usual
By Dr. Anthony Asadullah Samad, PhD
The Black Commentator, May 17, 2008.

"... It is about what the Black community is prepared to do to keep an all important Congressional seat...

What significance? It's the 800-pound gorilla in the room called the ever-expanding Latino politic. Tied to a population growth that will make them a statistical majority in the state by 2010, the fear of encroachment on historically Black seats is becoming a reality. This is the biggest power flex since former L.A. City Councilman, Nick Pacheco, a few years ago, tried to clip downtown out of Councilwoman Jan Perry's district in a redistricting power play. Some think the Black and Latino communities are on a head-on collision course for political and economic control of shared geographies. It doesn't have to be that way, but the over-zealous and over-ambitious have a way of dictating this relationship. So now we wait to see just how Orpeza's stepping into this race plays out in the long term. Is this an isolated incidence, or the crack in the political dam that will cause a flood of non-Black candidates to come rushing through the Black community at a later date? All of this has to be considered... "

Earl Ofari Hutchinson, to his credit in my opinion, posted an article on The Hutchinson Report rejecting this nonsense.

The Wrong Way To Get
Congresswoman Millender-McDonald's
(or any) Political Seat
by Earl Ofari Hutchinson

The tragic and untimely death of Congresswoman Juanita Millender-McDonald ignited a raw outburst of political jockeying by local politicians to fill her seat that hasn't been seen in years. It was a near textbook case of unchecked ambitions, egos, opportunism, and pure naked publicity seeking run rampant. The spectacle was appalling, disgraceful and totally disrespectful to the beloved congresswoman's family members and legions friends who barely had time to mourn her passing before being stampeded by the pack of hungry wanna be office seekers and climbers. Their frantic stampede brought another ugly truth about politics, especially black politics to the surface. And that's the infuriating tendency by some black elected officials to assign to themselves the arrogant and imperious right to self-select who will, no who can run, for an office...

The cover for this orchestrated brand of political bossism is to insure that another black fills the seat held by a black elected official. The rationale is that blacks are so under-represented politically that a seat held by a black bestows a proprietary right in perpetuity for them to hold that seat, and also that a black officeholder best understands the needs and problems of black constituents. The real, but unstated, reason is the great fear that a Latino will get the seat and will tilt toward Latino interests. That's blatantly evident in the anointing of the hoped for black heir apparent to Millender-McDonald. But these are faulty assumptions. Millender-McDonalds's district is a multi-ethnic district, and non-back elected officials have represented Los Angeles, state and congressional districts with a significant number of black constituents for decades; and in many cases quite effectively. If black elected officials are in any peril of losing offices, the blame for that lay with them. Many black politicians make little or no effort to inform and involve their constituents on vital legislation and political actions that directly impact on black communities. Their all-consuming obsession is to elect more black Democrats to office and in making sure that those in office stay there. The fill-the-Millender-McDonald-seat committee assigned candidate is the maddening example of that.

. . .

Black politicians in California hold their fate in their hands. They must find a way to reconnect with the black poor, and craft an agenda that can motivate, inspire and renew their belief that black politicians can deliver the goods. That agenda must emphasize jobs, increased income, drug and crime prevention programs, better neighborhood schools and services, and the battle against police abuse. Black elected officials must also broaden their agenda to build coalitions and alliances with Latinos and Asians. The cruel truth is that black elected officials are at a crossroads in California politics. Those that can adapt to the rapidly changing class and ethnic realities in the state will survive and be effective players in politics. Those that can't will continue to vanish from the political map.
. . .

I was personally delighted to read Hutchinson's article because he is a commentator with considerable stature in the community and so his commentary provides a clue to the "boundaries" of what can and cannot be said in criticism of the feckless African-American Democratic Party leadership in L.A.

In my opinion Mr. Hutchinson, of course, does not go far enough. Hutchinson challenges the conventional wisdom on these matters but doesn't dare take it on directly. In the past Earl Ofari Hutchinson has even said nice things about Black Republicans, but in the minds of a lot of folks Black Greens are beyond the pale. It's instructive that in 857 words, Mr. Samad never gets around to mentioning a single issue. The main thing and the only thing he cares about is that his congress person is the same color as he is. Hutchinson, to his credit, rejects this ideology. Hutchinson writes that we should "build coalitions and alliances with Latinos and Asians" (in opposition to the presumed incurable and irredeemable racism of Whites).

I go much further. This nonsense has nothing whatsoever to do with civil rights or even black power. It is all about good old-fashioned 19th Century Tammany Hall machine politics. This is precisely the sort of political gangsterism that has ruled and misruled the great City of Chicago almost continuously for seventy years.

I do not want to be part of a political party whose central organizing principle is that people like me should get together with members of my "tribe" to be instructed on how to vote and what to think by "my leaders" in a "coalition" of my tribe with other tribes organized the same way to negotiate a second-caste deal for "minorities" with The Empire's corporate interests and militarists. Mr. Hutchinson is quite right when he writes: "If black elected officials are in any peril of losing offices, the blame for that lay with them." I concur 100%. These guys occupied the high ground in Los Angeles for decades when Latinos were being treated like, well, being treated like Blacks in Chicago in the 1950s. I find it shocking and even offensive that these hacks are reacting to our Chicano sisters and brothers exactly the way old Richard J. Daley of Chicago and Sam Yorty of Los Angeles reacted to us.

Of course, I don't say all that stuff at public meetings. I know I'm out of the mainstream, but I really just don't care to necessarily be "popular" with this crowd anymore. Whatever sentimental emotional attachments I may have had to the Black wing of the Democratic Party when I was young and naiive have long since been blown away. When I go to public meetings, I do identify myself as a Green and make it clear I want to be part of a political party of informed, open-minded citizens with shared values and principles.

I intend to show up on Saturday wearing my bright green Green Party t-shirt. It would be nice if I were not the only Green person-of-color in the room.

Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable Presents:
Saturday May 19 10:00AM
Community Discussion:

The Fight For Congresswoman Juanita Millender-McDonald's Seat
Should it Be a Black Seat? A Latino Seat? Or the Best Candidate's Seat?

Lucy Florence Coffeehouse
Saturday, May 19, 2007, 10:00 AM
3351 W. 43rd St
Los Angeles
Leimert Park

Immigration Reform, good for whom?

The most recent "agreement" on immigration reform is, notably, between Senators. It is not a done deal in it's present form. It still has to go before the house of representatives and we have not heard Pelosi comment on the actual form that this is taking. That serves as a lead to make several comments that are tied together only be the fact that they involve immigration.

For starters, you get an entirely different view of the issues on immigration is you pick up media aimed at the Indian immigrants. The May 2007 edition of India Currents gives us a Point / Counterpoint discussion on the question: Is loosening up of numerical limits desirable? Captions tell the story:

The H-1B cap is not preserving the wages of U.S. employees; rather, the jobs are being permanently moved to India!
- and -
According to a Duke University study, immigrants founded 25 percent of the engineering an technology companies created in the last 10 years.

Next, since the new reformed immigration package would greatly expand the number of "guest workers" allowed to enter the United States, there is very real need to address the abusive practices of labor contractors. The United Farm Workers, obviously, sees the Union as the appropriate tool to do this. This morning, they emailed me a copy of their labor contractor action page. Unless this is solved, we have only moved the issue of human rights to a different context, we have not solved it.

In California politics, immigration is a big issue and often for the wrong (repressive) reasons. Orange County Representative Dana Rohrabacher has already been quoted (Costa Mesa Daily Pilot) as seeing the bill feeding an anti-Democratic backlash in the next election.

The battle over immigration is far from over and Greens need to be able to articulate a clear position, based firmly on the 10 key values of this party. Everyone who might think about spending time in any tabling or voter registration efforts should make sure that they understand the recent reform bill and to be able to discuss this bill in light of the current platform.

Delta Smelt Population Crash

Hank Shaw is an ever observant reporter of "politics in the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys." He is also Capital Bureau Chief for the Stockton Record.

On his blog today, he provides astounding new evidence of the continued collapse of the population of delta smelt, a general indicator of the health of the delta.

Let me remind you that there is currently a law suit under which a judge has set a date for the shut down of the Tracy Pumps, supplying water for irrigation in the Central Valley and also for the Metropolitan Water District in SoCal. This, because the Department of Water Resources has ignored California's Endangered Species Act.

In his typical fashion, Shaw gives a net assessment.

Bottom line: This smelt survey is so scary it could spark emergency action, which could translate into less water for Southern California -- in a dry year.

Drought in Australia. Better check the Sierra Snowpack.

I had dropped Politics in the Zeros off my blog list as the owner is no longer living in California. But, a tip o' the baton to Lisa Taylor for catching this post on the Australian drought and the concern for California's future.

The need to be concerned is very obvious, especially if you look at the chart regarding the mountain snow pack that accompanies this article in High County News. The pattern of lower than normal rainfall is just what most climate change models are predicting.

Building more dams is not the answer. That just creates more surface from which the water can evaporate and does not guarantee success. If the rainfall / snowfall models are correct, we may already have the capacity to hold all of the water that will fall in the future.

There are several organizations who are doing more to define what we need than all of the politicians put together. One is the California Water Impact Network (C-WIN). If you are as concerned about this issue as I am, you should start by reading Principles for a Sustainable Water Future in California on their web site. In fact, it might be a good idea for the GPCA to agree to these principles.

PROPOSAL : GA RESOLUTION ON PEACE AND AMNESTY

Since I recently posted the Napa County Greens resolution on Amnesty for military personnel who view fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq as illegal and/or immoral, I not that there is already a new proposal which the sponsors are asking be added to the agenda on the floor of the upcoming General Assembly. I would guess that this proposal will have strong backing, especially given the ongoing Green Party opposition to the War in Iraq, otherwise known as Bush's Folly.

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PROPOSAL : GA RESOLUTION ON PEACE AND AMNESTY

PRESENTERS

Laura Wells, (510)-986-0879, lwlaura@yahoo.com
Tim Smith, (707)-202-4507, rioryon@aol.com
Lowell Downey, (707)-257-1166, napagreens@aol.com



SUBJECT
A - Initiating a Peace Process in the Middle East
B - Amnesty for All Soldiers Who Refuse to Fight


BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

The ongoing civil war in Iraq threatens to engulf the entire Middle East Region in a murderous conflagration, destructive of human life and of the surrounding natural environment...
Tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of combatants and innocent bystanders have already lost their lives, or have been maimed, injured and traumatized, in Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, Isreal, etc etc...
And general strife seriously threatens in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and throughout the whole region...
In fact, the whole world is threatened by the potential of a nuclear escalation of this conflict...
While there are groups seeking PEACE in this region, and among the combatant nations, those peace groups receive little recognition, support, or encouragement from the US Government...
While there are US Soldiers who refuse to fight in this conflict, they are hounded, persecuted and often forced to flee their homeland...


PROPOSAL

THE PEACE PROCESS

The California Green Party calls for an immediate cessation of hostilities in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The California Green Party calls for the immediate withdrawal of ALL foreign combatants from Iraq and Afghanistan.
The California Green Party calls for the immediate commencement of a Middle East PEACE Process, encouraging ALL effected parties to enter into formal dialogue, with the ultimate goal of establishing a Just and lasting Peace, for all concerned.
The California Green Party calls for the Middle East PEACE Process to begin under the auspices of the United Nations and that it prominently include ALL Middle East Groups whose stated mission and goal is a Just and lasting Peace for all.

AMNESTY

The Green Party of California calls for immediate Amnesty for all soldiers that have refused to fight in the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars. We demand that Congress address this important issue. This is not just a military issue. This is a human rights issue that involves us all.

Amnesty is the right thing do. Our elected leaders have ignored the facts and supported this war for years while our soldiers and Iraqi civilians have been and continue to be crippled and slaughtered. Our elected representatives bear responsibility for this war and it is up to them to begin the important step toward national healing by showing compassion to our soldiers and their families. One essential step is in giving amnesty to our soldiers that have refused to fight in this war.

Our soldiers have returned home maimed and psychologically scarred for life. The mistreatment by our government is criminal. One out of every three homeless is a veteran. Veterans and their families are harassed and financially crippled. Veteran families are victims at home while their husbands and wives and children are dying and wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan. Our leading military hospital has been disgraced for its treatment of soldiers.

Amnesty is about compassion. Amnesty is about healing a great wrong. Would we condemn soldiers if they refused to follow the orders to commit the horrific My Lai Massacre in Vietnam? Would we not offer them compassion and amnesty if they chose to flee the military order? Would we condemn Nazi soldiers for refusing to follow orders to commit atrocities in labor camps? Would we not offer them compassion and amnesty?

Quoting St. Augustine, Martin Luther King Jr. said, "An unjust law is no law at all." Are our soldiers who refuse to follow an unjust law and an unjust order guilty of a crime that will forever be on their records? Is it right that they and their families bear the shame of a dishonorable discharge, prison and humiliation? We cannot turn our heads on these brave Americans who have been ostracized and turned into criminals for standing up against deceitful political leaders.

There can be no conditions for amnesty. Our country needs to find a way back from the horror that this war has inflicted here at home. We have another generation of children who have grown up with this violence. We have another war generation to support. In ten years, we may look back and say that giving amnesty to our soldiers who refused to fight in the Iraq and Afghanistan War was the catalyst for healing. Amnesty is a way to restore faith in our democracy and our humanity.

In an address Martin Luther King, Jr. once spoke, 'the first question which the priest and the Levite asked was "If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?" But the good Samaritan reversed the question, "If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?" We also ask, "What will happen to the children of our soldiers and our children if we do not grant amnesty and show compassion?"

TIMELINE

The GPCA-CC shall agendize this Proposal at the beginning of the General Assembly(GA), Saturday, May 26th.
If the GA delegates chose to pass this Proposal, the GPCA Media Committee and other GP Media officials (such as Beth Moore Haines, Cres Vellucci, Erika MacDonald, etc) shall be charged with calling a press conference, and issue press releases in concert with the GA's closing ceremonies, when the GPCA shall publicize its Resolution on PEACE and AMNESTY.


RESOURCES

The Necessary Media Contacts and Announcements

Top Ten Environmental Goof's by Bush Administration

Environmental Science and Technology, a peer reviewed publication of the American Chemical Society, released Top 10 stupid environmental policies of the Bush Administration.

There are only a few in Congress who continue to spew out the verbal pollution of out-dated propaganda. Unfortunately, one that seems to have risen to the occasion of Richard Pombo's Congressional demise is another California Congressman, Dana Rohrabacher.

I have joined with Orange County Democrat Andrew Davey to blog on the reasons that we need to Ditch Crazy Dana. I just hope that this does not get me labeled as a fusionist.

A Call for Amnesty

A Call for Amnesty for All Soldiers that have refused to fight in the Iraq War
After receiving the following from Llowel Downey, I asked for permission to post it in it's entirety. Permission was granted and here it is.

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A Call for Amnesty for All Soldiers that have refused to fight in the Iraq War

The Napa County Green Party calls for an immediate Amnesty for all soldiers that have refused to fight in the Iraq War. Marin County Greens have also signed on to this issue. We demand that Congress debate this important issue. This is not just a military issue. This is a human rights issue that involves us all. We demand that this amnesty be given without conditions, including free of all charges on the soldier's record, no dishonorable discharge, return of full medical and education benefits, and the right to stay in the military, without punishment, should the soldier wish to remain.

Amnesty is the right thing do. This war was created with lies and deception. Our elected leaders have ignored the facts and supported this war for years while our soldiers and Iraqi civilians have been and continue to be crippled and slaughtered. Our elected representatives hold responsibility for this war and it is up to them to begin the important step toward national healing by showing compassion to our soldiers and their families. One essential step toward healing is to give amnesty to our soldiers that have refused to fight in this war.

Our soldiers have returned home maimed and psychologically scarred for life. The mistreatment by our government is criminal. Soldiers are not returning to a home with citizens protesting and condemning them. They are returning home and being disgraced by our government and military. One out of every three homeless is a veteran. Veterans and their families are harassed and financially crippled. Veteran families are victim at home while their husbands and wives and children are dying and wounded in Iraq. Our leading military hospital has been disgraced for its treatment of soldiers.

Our soldiers are in the business of handling adversity and disappointment. Handling shame by our government is not one of them. Amnesty is about compassion. Our soldiers who have been fighting an unjust war are deserving of this compassion. Our soldiers deserve amnesty and should not be punished for refusing to fight a war disguised as morally right but criminally wrong. Amnesty is about healing a great wrong suffered on us, and suffered on the world. Why should our soldiers be victim to this great tragedy?

Would we condemn the soldiers if they refused to follow the orders to commit the horrific My Lai Massacre in Vietnam? Would we not offer them compassion and amnesty if they chose to flee the military order? Would we condemn Nazi soldiers who were committing atrocities in labor camps from refusing their orders? Would we not offer them compassion and amnesty?

Quoting St. Augustine, Martin Luther King Jr. said, "An unjust law is no law at all." Are our soldiers who refuse to follow an unjust law and an unjust order guilty of a crime that will forever be on their records? Is it right that they and their families bear the shame of a dishonorable discharge, prison and humiliation? We cannot turn our heads on these brave Americans who have been ostracized and turned into criminals for standing up against deceitful political leaders.

Our country needs healing. Not to give amnesty will be a great shame on the United States. The objection of the military must be overcome. This is one of the challenges of being the military of a democracy. Our soldiers are trained to follow orders. This will have to be one more order they will have to learn to live with. They will have to find the courage within themselves for compassion. There will be soldiers who say it is far greater challenge to stay on the front line and follow the orders. Yes, that is a difficult and terrible challenge. It is also a difficult challenge to go against your life's pursuit, that of a military officer, to go against an order, to threaten the well being of your family. It is a difficult challenge to stand up against your government and refuse the order to fight and kill when you know that the reason for doing so is morally corrupt and criminal. One challenge is not greater than the other.

There can be no conditions for amnesty. Our country needs to find a way back from the horror that this war has inflicted here at home. We have another generation of children who have grown up with this violence. We have another war generation to support. In ten years, we may look back and say that giving amnesty to our soldiers who refused to fight in the Iraq War was the catalyst for healing. We are a nation in grief. Amnesty is a way to restore faith in our democracy and our humanity.

In an address Martin Luther King, Jr. once spoke, ‘the first question which the priest and the Levite asked was “If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?” But the good Samaritan reversed the question, “If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?” We also ask, "What will happen to the children of our soldiers and our children if we do not grant amnesty and show compassion?"

Deep Green Thinking

Since I started this blog, I have been concerned that the Green Party had abandoned its ecological roots. I know that some, like Lorna Salzman, have been saying this for years. Now, I am not as outspoken as Lorna, but it was apparent to me that there was a lack of attention, especially on issues of water, the Sacramento - San Joaquin Delta, levee repair and what are we going to drink when the next disaster hits.

Now, I find that the LA Greens are focusing their next meeting (Wed. May 16) on a presentation by Irma Muñoz of Mujeres De La Tierra. Muñoz will address a very important question, Why traditional environmental leaders need to learn the language of community and hopefully provide the right answers.

Additional comment. Mujeres De La Tierra came out of the Hispanic Community. This should be expected. The Public Policy Institute of California reported that Latino's were more likely than other ethnic groups to be concerned about environmental issues. Maybe, they realize that the environment is where they live while, for far too many, the environment is a place you visit. So, I am not surprised that this effort arose as it did.

The purpose of a political party is to elect people

I sometimes find people a bit strange. When someone announces that they are running for Congress, as Daniel Brezenoff did here, it is so easy to pick up the phone and call him. I found a few who did, and some who did not. Those who did, like Donna Warren, have called on others to support him. As Donna said on an LA email list in response to a query from Alex Walker (copied here with her permission)...

So let's prepare for the next race. Can we put into place a team that can immediately jump into action and get the signatures, plan
the campaign, do the door knocking and get out the votes? Can we raise the money we need to print out brochures, flyers, and signs? Can we contact the neighborhood councils, community groups, churches, and greens in the 37th District and muster a real run for this seat?

We can if Alex and the Alex's of LA County get together to do these vitally important tasks to get a green elected. In the meanwhile, let's get Daniel to Congress where he can open the door for other greens to run.

Looking for Daniel, I found that he wrote a very excellent supporting OpEd for Gabrielle Weeks's City Council Campaign. It ran in the long Beach Press Telegram. A google search on his name will let you read some more, for example this letter to the editor at Time.

Maybe these links will help you get to know Daniel a little better.

Coincidence? Maybe not.

Earlier today, I read a BBC story on the discovery of the tomb of King Herod, Roman ruler of Judea.

I also started reading a new (to me) book, Culture of Complaint, the Fraying of America by Robert Hughes. It is there that I found reference to Herod again. This time, not the historical King Herod, but a prophetic one from the pen of W. H. Auden and which I quote, as did Hughes. Herod forsees what would happen if "that child got away."

One doesn't have to be a prophet to predict the consequences...
Reason will be replaced by Revelation...knowledge will degenerate into a riot of subjective visions - feeling in the solar plexus induced by undernourishment, angelic images generated by fever or drugs, dream warning inspired by the sound of falling water. Whole cosmogonies will be created out of some forgotten personal resentment, complete epics written in private languages, the daubs of school children ranked above the greatest masterpieces...

I could go on, but let me cut to the chase. We seem to have all become residents of the victimhood. Hughes wrote this in 1992, but I do not see that what he wrote is less true today.

As I have kept my mouth shut previously about the current claptrap in the GPCA, maybe I should keep it shut, but I won't. I have often said the Bush and bin Laden need each other. Once could not long survive without the other. It seems to be the same with Mike Feinstein and Peter Camejo.

Peter seems to justify his continued status in the Green Party not by his presentation of workable idea for the future of California, something that he did admirably well during the recall of Gray Davis, but rather in a growing war of righteous indignation over the perceived past sins of Mike Feinstein. After writing his most recent diatribe I could imagine that he is out trying to sell the story to Oliver Stone.

Mike, on the other hand, seems willing play the victim as long as it is possible, calling on the authority of the ambiguous bylaws that must be stubbornly followed for historical precedent., but like Bush, never admitting his mistakes and feeding off the latest attack like Bush needed the Ft. Dix arrests today to reinforce his never ending war on terrorism.

Meanwhile, we have campaigns to run, we have allowed Schwarzenegger to stake his claim to being the "green" governor and we can't even come up with an agenda for a state wide meeting. Sorry, we have two agendas.

Enough already. This fight has gone on for 5 years. It is time to stand up, shake hands and start looking to the future while we still have one.

Metropolitan Water District gambles with your water.

The Metropolitan Water District is playing with your future. In an action that I can only define as stupid, they have chosen to take a chance that the California Delta area will never have a major earthquake. Maybe they should ask the people of Northridge if that is a good bet.

A recent (04/26/07) report by Alex Breitler of the Stockton Record gives the full background on this decision. They have decided that it better to let any earthquake happen and then fix the Delta Levees rather than taking steps not to shore up the levees in anticipation that such a quake will happen.

District board members voted to stockpile repair materials at strategic spots around the Delta; then, if a quake occurs, that rock could be used to patch up levees perhaps along the Middle River, creating a sort of pathway channeling fresh water from the central Delta to the export pumps near Tracy.

The effects of a major breach would be devastating to the local areas around Stockton and Tracy, but, hey, no problem, we don't live there.

At some point in time, we are going to learn that we all live in the Delta. Over 18 Million Californians drink water from the delta. Over 700,000 acres of farmland are irrigated with Delta Water. But, hey, salt water would be good for the crops, no?

According to the water district web site.

Public involvement is central to our resource management efforts, and through these pages we want to provide you with a comprehensive listing of information about our Board and their actions.

Metropolitan is governed by a 37-member Board of Directors, each appointed by the District's 26 member agencies.

The Board, which establishes and administers policies for Metropolitan, invites the public to attend its monthly meetings, and also to comment on its agenda items or other matters before the board.

I don't see very much public involvement in the operation of this board. It is all about power politics. Remember Jack Nicholson in Chinatown.

Last night, a grassroots organization called Restore the Delta had a meeting regarding Healthy Delta Communities. Green Activist Kalmran Alavi was there and reported the following on several Green Party email lists.

In lecture hall full of Siera Club bigwigs, UC scientists, senator and congresspeoples staff, associated press and other reporters, Agricultural extension representatives, prominent farmesrs, environmentalists, fish & wildlife and fish & game beuraucrats, sports fishing and hunting interests, big time grape growers-vintners and a whole array of Sacramento types, only one entity, not a person, received honorable mention:

The MC-organizer announced that the whole thing was made possible by endorsment and generous financial contribution of the Green Party.

Greens all over this state should be making a major issue out of the Delta and what the powers are planning for our common resource. We will never have sustainable solutions for water in California until we start treating water as part of our Commons, to be owned by all and not by a few.

Open Letter to Los Angeles Greens

The recent death of Juanita Millender-McDonald has triggered a special election to fill the vacancy in the 37th Congressional District. One of those who pulled papers for this election is Daniel Brezenoff of the Long Beach Greens.

The timing of this special election is going to be a test for the Greens of LA. While the largest of all the county organizations in the State, it has also been affected by fractional division that have limited its effectiveness.

The 37th CD is primarily in Long Beach, Carson and Compton. But, that is not far from South LA and the recent fight on behalf of the South Central Farmers that was so heavily led by Greens. I did not see a lot of press about Democratic politicians standing with the farmers, but I did see Linda Piera-Avila's name. The people of this area know what happened who who stood up to power and for the powerless.

In this fight, we are all residents of Long Beach. What happens there is going to affect every one of us in ways that we can not imagine. Our ability to bring focus and attention to a single race is a measure of just how effective we can be as a party.

Josh Kraushaar provided an analysis of this election at politico.com. While filled with a lot of speculation and surmise, it is a good starting point for those who don't know anything about this carefully gerrymandered district.

Here are some suggestions:

• Everyone who reads this should go to the Long Beach Green Party page and make a donation to the campaign.
• Entry to the upcoming statewide GA in San Francisco should require at least a token contribution to the campaign.
  
• LA and Orange County Greens should come together to put the maximum number of feet on the street in support of our candidate. We don't have a lot of money, so we need bodies.
• LA County Greens have to decide that winning an election is more important that winning turf battles.
  

I argued yesterday that the time is now for the Green Party. If we can't focus enough attention on this one race to have an impact, then maybe I was wrong, but I don't believe that.