[Peace-discussion] Read It & Weep; GP Release Fails to Note Sheehan Leaving the Dems
Jim Dorenkott
jimdorenkott3@yahoo.com
Sat, 2 Jun 2007 14:41:31 -0700 (PDT)
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Just read "Our" Press Release on Cindy Sheehan. I have been sending around what I think is the most important paragraph from her Dublin statement 5/26,
http://www.counterpunch.org/sheehan05282007.html
"The Camp Casey Peace Institute is calling all citizens who are as disgusted as we are with you all to join us in Philadelphia on July 4th to try and figure a way out of this "two" party system that is bought and paid for by the war machine which has a stranglehold on every aspect of our lives. As for myself, I am leaving the Democratic Party. You have completely failed those who put you in power to change the direction our country is heading. We did not elect you to help sink our ship of state but to guide it to safe harbor."
The GP statement says nothing about this. A major peace activist leaves the Democratic Party and they act like it didn't happen. It unfortunately is a very weak statement. No wonder she thinks we are a bunch of weaklings dominated by the 2 party system; even the GP is apparently.
Below is the GP statement and below that is the WSWS analysis which brought my attention to it. The WSWS article shows the silence of the anti-war groups on her leaving the Dems and focusing on her announcing 5/28 she is taking a break from the movement. Instead of an analysis of the pressure she got from the Dems we get this:
Jim
http://www.gp.org/press/pr_2007_05_30b.shtml
Green Party thanks "Peace Mom" Cindy Sheehan for her courage and sacrifice Green Party of the United States
www.gp.org
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Contacts:
Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, mclarty@greens.org
Starlene Rankin, Media Coordinator, 916-995-3805, starlene@gp.org
Green Party thanks Cindy Sheehan for her courage, dedication, and sacrifice as she retires from antiwar activism
WASHINGTON, DC -- Green Party leaders offered their thanks to antiwar activist Cindy Sheehan for dedicating three years of her life to ending the Iraq War, in the wake of Ms. Sheehan's announcement that she is retiring from the movement to end the war.
Ms. Sheehan joined the antiwar movement and emerged as a representative of those who suffered the loss of family members after her son Casey, a Specialist in the US Army, was killed in Iraq in April 2004. The Green Party has consistently supported Ms. Sheehan's call for a quick end to the occupation.
Bill Holloway, Chairperson of the Travis County (Austin, Texas) Green Party and participant in Camp Casey in August 2006: "Cindy Sheehan gave a human face to the peace and justice movement that neither the media, the White House, or Congress could ignore. Ms. Sheehan exposed the Bush Administration's lies and made it impossible for President Bush to hide the fact that the war has cost the lives of thousands of young American service members, as well as hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians."
Echo Steiner, co-chair of the Green Party of the United States and member of Military Families Speak Out <http://www.mfso.org>, with a brother who served a tour in Iraq as a navy SeaBee: "Cindy Sheehan's exhausting work, especially her long vigils at Camp Casey, stands as a monument to her son. When the war finally ends and the troops are ordered home some day, it'll be because of Ms. Sheehan's courage and personal sacrifice. We will never forget Cindy or Casey."
Carl Romanelli, Pennsylvania Green candidate for the US Senate in 2006: "We share Cindy Sheehan's dismay and anger at Democratic members of Congress for their continued support of the war in Iraq. The willingness of so many Democrats to drop the troop withdrawal timetable and vote for $120 billion more in war financing reminds us that the war machine has always been bipartisan. We extend thoughts of peace and comfort to Cindy Sheehan."
MORE INFORMATION
Green Party of the United States
http://www.gp.org
1700 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 404
Washington, DC 20009.
202-319-7191, 866-41GREEN
Fax 202-319-7193
Green Party News Center http://www.gp.org/newscenter.shtml
Peace Action Committee of the Green Party (GPAX)
http://www.gp.org/committees/peace/
"Green for a Change": 2007 Green Party Annual National Meeting
Reading, Pennsylvania, July 12-15
http://www.gp.org/meeting2007/
NOW WSWS Analysis:
http://wsws.org/articles/2007/jun2007/shee-j02.shtml
US antiwar protest groups silent on Cindy Sheehan’s resignation from Democratic Party
The Green Party
The Green Party issued a statement May 30 hailing Sheehan for “her courage and sacrifice.” The statement declared, “Green Party leaders offered their thanks to antiwar activist Cindy Sheehan for dedicating three years of her life to ending the Iraq War, in the wake of Ms. Sheehan’s announcement that she is retiring from the movement to end the war”.
This statement continued with quotations from various state and national representatives of the party. Nowhere in any of their comments was there a single reference to the Democratic Party, or to Sheehan’s break with it, despite the fact that the very existence of the Green Party as an electoral organization is supposedly bound up with a rejection of the two-party system.
The Greens do not welcome Sheehan’s public letter of resignation from the Democratic Party, comment on its significance, or suggest that in doing so she is giving voice to the sentiments of millions of people currently trapped within the two-party framework. This silence demonstrates that the Green Party’s independence from the Democratic Party is purely nominal, a device to allow the Greens to exert a bit of pressure in an attempt to push the Democrats to the left. They do not aspire to lead a mass break with the two-party system, nor do they believe such a political eruption is possible, or even desirable.
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<div>Just read "Our" Press Release on Cindy Sheehan. I have been sending around what I think is the most important paragraph from her Dublin statement 5/26,</div> <div> </div> <div><A href="http://www.counterpunch.org/sheehan05282007.html">http://www.counterpunch.org/sheehan05282007.html</A></div> <div><FONT face=Verdana size=-1>"The Camp Casey Peace Institute is calling all citizens who are as disgusted as we are with you all to join us in Philadelphia on July 4th to try and figure a way out of this "two" party system that is bought and paid for by the war machine which has a stranglehold on every aspect of our lives. As for myself, I am leaving the Democratic Party. You have completely failed those who put you in power to change the direction our country is heading. We did not elect you to help sink our ship of state but to guide it to safe harbor."</FONT></div> <div><FONT face=Verdana></FONT> </div> <div><FONT face=Verdana>The GP statement says
nothing about this. A major peace activist leaves the Democratic Party and they act like it didn't happen. It unfortunately is a very weak statement. No wonder she thinks we are a bunch of weaklings dominated by the 2 party system; even the GP is apparently.</FONT></div> <div><FONT face=Verdana></FONT> </div> <div><FONT face=Verdana>Below is the GP statement and below that is the WSWS analysis which brought my attention to it. The WSWS article shows the silence of the anti-war groups on her leaving the Dems and focusing on her announcing 5/28 she is taking a break from the movement. Instead of an analysis of the pressure she got from the Dems we get this:</FONT></div> <div><FONT face=Verdana></FONT> </div> <div><FONT face=Verdana>Jim</FONT></div> <div><FONT face=Verdana></FONT> </div> <div><FONT face=Verdana><A href="http://www.gp.org/press/pr_2007_05_30b.shtml">http://www.gp.org/press/pr_2007_05_30b.shtml</A></FONT></div> <H2>Green Party thanks
"Peace Mom" Cindy Sheehan for her courage and sacrifice</H2> <div class=navigate><B>Green Party of the United States</B><BR><A href="http://www.gp.org/">www.gp.org</A></div> <div class=navigate>Wednesday, May 30, 2007</div> <div class=navigate>Contacts:<BR>Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, <A href="mailto:mclarty@greens.org">mclarty@greens.org</A> <BR>Starlene Rankin, Media Coordinator, 916-995-3805, <A href="mailto:starlene@gp.org">starlene@gp.org</A> </div> <div class=navigate><B>Green Party thanks Cindy Sheehan for her courage, dedication, and sacrifice as she retires from antiwar activism</B></div> <div class=navigate>WASHINGTON, DC -- Green Party leaders offered their thanks to antiwar activist Cindy Sheehan for dedicating three years of her life to ending the Iraq War, in the wake of Ms. Sheehan's announcement that she is retiring from the movement to end the war.</div> <div class=navigate>Ms. Sheehan joined the antiwar movement and
emerged as a representative of those who suffered the loss of family members after her son Casey, a Specialist in the US Army, was killed in Iraq in April 2004. The Green Party has consistently supported Ms. Sheehan's call for a quick end to the occupation.</div> <div class=navigate>Bill Holloway, Chairperson of the Travis County (Austin, Texas) Green Party and participant in Camp Casey in August 2006: "Cindy Sheehan gave a human face to the peace and justice movement that neither the media, the White House, or Congress could ignore. Ms. Sheehan exposed the Bush Administration's lies and made it impossible for President Bush to hide the fact that the war has cost the lives of thousands of young American service members, as well as hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians."</div> <div class=navigate>Echo Steiner, co-chair of the Green Party of the United States and member of Military Families Speak Out <<A href="http://www.mfso.org/">http://www.mfso.org</A>>, with a
brother who served a tour in Iraq as a navy SeaBee: "Cindy Sheehan's exhausting work, especially her long vigils at Camp Casey, stands as a monument to her son. When the war finally ends and the troops are ordered home some day, it'll be because of Ms. Sheehan's courage and personal sacrifice. We will never forget Cindy or Casey."</div> <div class=navigate>Carl Romanelli, Pennsylvania Green candidate for the US Senate in 2006: "We share Cindy Sheehan's dismay and anger at Democratic members of Congress for their continued support of the war in Iraq. The willingness of so many Democrats to drop the troop withdrawal timetable and vote for $120 billion more in war financing reminds us that the war machine has always been bipartisan. We extend thoughts of peace and comfort to Cindy Sheehan."</div> <div class=navigate>MORE INFORMATION</div> <div class=navigate>Green Party of the United States<BR><A href="http://www.gp.org/">http://www.gp.org</A> <BR>1700 Connecticut
Avenue NW, Suite 404<BR>Washington, DC 20009.<BR>202-319-7191, 866-41GREEN<BR>Fax 202-319-7193<BR>Green Party News Center <A href="http://www.gp.org/newscenter.shtml">http://www.gp.org/newscenter.shtml</A></div> <div class=navigate>Peace Action Committee of the Green Party (GPAX)<BR><A href="http://www.gp.org/committees/peace/">http://www.gp.org/committees/peace/</A></div> <div class=navigate>"Green for a Change": 2007 Green Party Annual National Meeting<BR>Reading, Pennsylvania, July 12-15<BR><A href="http://www.gp.org/meeting2007/">http://www.gp.org/meeting2007/</A> <BR><BR></div> <div><FONT face=Verdana></FONT> </div> <div><FONT face=Verdana>NOW WSWS Analysis: </FONT></div> <div><FONT face=Verdana><A href="http://wsws.org/articles/2007/jun2007/shee-j02.shtml">http://wsws.org/articles/2007/jun2007/shee-j02.shtml</A></FONT></div> <div class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><B><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT face="Times
New Roman">US antiwar protest groups silent on Cindy Sheehan’s resignation from Democratic Party<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></B></div> <div><FONT face=Verdana></FONT> </div> <CENTER><STRONG>The Green Party</STRONG></CENTER> <div></div> <div>The Green Party issued a statement May 30 hailing Sheehan for “her courage and sacrifice.” The <A href="http://www.gp.org/press/pr_2007_05_30b.shtml">statement</A> declared, “Green Party leaders offered their thanks to antiwar activist Cindy Sheehan for dedicating three years of her life to ending the Iraq War, in the wake of Ms. Sheehan’s announcement that she is retiring from the movement to end the war”.</div> <div>This statement continued with quotations from various state and national representatives of the party. Nowhere in any of their comments was there a single reference to the Democratic Party, or to Sheehan’s break with it, despite the fact
that the very existence of the Green Party as an electoral organization is supposedly bound up with a rejection of the two-party system.</div> <div>The Greens do not welcome Sheehan’s public letter of resignation from the Democratic Party, comment on its significance, or suggest that in doing so she is giving voice to the sentiments of millions of people currently trapped within the two-party framework. This silence demonstrates that the Green Party’s independence from the Democratic Party is purely nominal, a device to allow the Greens to exert a bit of pressure in an attempt to push the Democrats to the left. They do not aspire to lead a mass break with the two-party system, nor do they believe such a political eruption is possible, or even desirable.</div> <div><FONT face=Verdana></FONT> </div> <div><FONT face=Verdana></FONT> </div><p> 
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