[Iowa-dx] FW: The Radical Alternative by Mumia Abu-Jamal

[Hart, Holly J]

The Radical Alternative

by Mumia Abu-Jamal
Saturday Feb 2nd, 2008 9:29 AM

I speak, of course, of Cynthia McKinney, the bold, outspoken former congres=
swoman from Georgia, who spoke out against the Iraq War when it wasn't popu=
lar.

She is running on the Green Party, according to published reports, but the =
media has virtually ignored this fact.


audio: the_radical_alternative_-_long.mp3
MP3 at 2.1 MB


The Radical Alternative

[col. writ. 12808] (c) '08 Mumia Abu-Jamal

In this age of political discontent, it seems clear that many Americans who=
 plan to vote are voting for "change".

Just what kind of change is an open question. Will that change bring the fi=
rst woman to the Oval Office? Or will it bring a Black man (or ,to some, a =
1/2 Black man?)

Whatever, it is interesting that the nation's punditocracy, the talking hea=
ds who act like verbal sheepdogs of the American fleece, have almost totall=
y ignored one candidate who can, in her single self, embody, not just the i=
llusion, but the reality of "change", experience, a demonstrated stand agai=
nst the Iraq War, and a life of living female.

I speak, of course, of Cynthia McKinney, the bold, outspoken former congres=
swoman from Georgia, who spoke out against the Iraq War when it wasn't popu=
lar.

She is running on the Green Party, according to published reports, but the =
media has virtually ignored this fact.

Her record of speaking out against the U.S. war machine, the military-indus=
trial complex, and other issues of concern is head and shoulders above any =
of the other candidates running for office, on either party.

But, without the paid imprimatur of the corporate powers that be, it can be=
 little more than an insurgent campaign, one kept safely to the margins of =
American politics, off the stage, and off the screen.

This is our loss, for the major candidates (or those supported by the corpo=
rate status quo) are, by their very nature, designed to split the votes of =
two significant blocs in the Democratic Party, which can only leave the los=
er feeling embittered.

Why not a real Black woman as a candidate?

Wouldn't that be a change?

And although all politics is symbolic, McKinney really is a woman of substa=
nce.

She has been politically courageous in many of her stands, which has made h=
er persona non grata among both Republicans and Democrats.

That's because she's not a corporate candidate. She's proven in her career =
as a member of Congress that she won't be bought off. Of who else running t=
oday can the same be said?

People say they want 'change', but do they really?

Many people are terrified of change. They want the safety of the routine, t=
he comfort of predictability.

That's because many people fear losing their already tenuous grip on their =
lifestyle.

But with millions of people facing foreclosure, and with the rest of the ec=
onomy on the brink of free-fall, how much safety is apparent?

That's only an economic concern, what about foreign policy?

Foreign policy, for at least the last decade, has been handled (or should I=
 say, mishandled?) by an array of incompetents who have succeeded only in m=
aking bad situations far worse.

Do people want change, or are they merely claiming that they do?

Cynthia McKinney would certainly represent that, in a way far more substant=
ial and meaningful than anybody else out there.

Politicians should be far more than paid agents of the wealthy. They should=
 be far more than millionaires working on behalf of other millionaires

Why are we not surprised that the U.S. Senate is a millionaires club?

How could such people have an appreciation of working people? What do they =
really know about the poor?

Wouldn't Cynthia McKinney be a significant change?

--(c) '08 maj


http://prisonradio.org/mumia.htm

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/02/02/18476513.php



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