USA: What About Jill Stein?

[Oscar]

When Plan A Meets Plan B: Talking Politics and Revolution with the (US) Green Party’s Jill Stein

[ http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/02/12/ ... ill-stein/ ]

- by Paul Street, author of "They Rule: The 1% v. Democracy " February 12, 2016

“We are in a state of emergency and it requires a new way of thinking and political independence to stand up not just for what we can get but what we must have if we are to survive as a human species.” – Jill Stein, February 3, 2016

EXCERPT:

After Pearl Harbor, Dr. Stein notes, the U.S. took just six months to convert to a full-blown war economy to help defeat the leading global threat of fascism. The current ecological crisis, Stein argues, “makes Pearl Harbor look like small potatoes.” And once again, to update Rosie the Riveter for the 21st century, “we can do it”: transform our economy to address what is now the world’s leading threat – environmental collapse rooted in predatory capitalism [2]. Getting to a 100% renewables-based economy is entirely achieve-able by 2030, Stein notes, provided that we have the courage and decency to reject the viciously circular and self-fulfilling politics of fear and to make the real revolution required.

[Oscar]

Meet the presidential candidate who makes Bernie Sanders look conservative

[ http://grist.org/politics/meet-the-pres ... kly-static ]

By Katie Herzog on 14 Mar 2016 150 comments

Jill Stein has a plan to win the presidency.

Her idea is almost genius in its simplicity. There are 43 million Americans with student debt, Stein tells me over the phone, and if every one of them cast their ballot for her — the one candidate who has promised to cancel their debt — she could get a plurality of the vote and win the general election. “Young people are discovering that they can check the Green box and reclaim their lives,” she says.

It’s a nice thought, especially now, when the average student with loans leaves school $30,000 in debt. But unfortunately for Stein, it’s not really true that 43 million votes would take the presidency. America, as anyone who voted for Al Gore in 2000 will remember, doesn’t elect presidents through a popular vote. We elect them through the Electoral College — and if no candidate gets a majority of electoral votes, the House of Representatives gets to pick the president. This is one of the many problems with our electoral process, Stein says — a system designed to discourage people from voting. She has a plan to fix that too.

Stein, a Massachusetts doctor, is seeking the Green Party’s nomination for president, which will be decided at the party’s convention in August. She won that nomination in 2012, and then went on to get arrested three times during that campaign: at a bank sit-in in Philadelphia, when she tried to get into a presidential debate on Long Island, and when she tried to deliver supplies to activists fighting the Keystone XL pipeline in Texas. Despite her arrest record — and not being invited to a single general election debate — Stein won nearly half a million votes, making her the most successful female presidential candidate in American history.

It’s a record that may not hold for long.

MORE:

[ http://grist.org/politics/meet-the-pres ... kly-static ]

[Oscar]

LISTEN: The third party candidate - April 3, 2016 - 27 minutes

[ http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thesundayeditio ... -1.3515457 ]

[ NOTE: Show is usually podcast later also . . . . ]

With the American media focussing all its attention on who will be the presidential candidates for the Republican and the Democratic parties, it's easy to forget that there is a third party. We have not heard much about it, in the midst of what has become a political circus.

The Green Party of the United States will hold its own nominating convention in August. Members of the U.S. Green Party have been elected in state legislatures in California, Maine and Arkansas. Others hold positions at the municipal level, on school boards, city councils, and as mayors.

Dr. Jill Stein is the leader of the Green Party of the United States; she is running for President for the second time. She is a physician and a committed activist. [ http://www.jill2016.com/ ]

[Oscar]

WATCH: Chris Hedges vs. Robert Reich on Clinton, Third Parties, Capitalism & Next Steps for Sanders Backers

[ http://www.democracynow.org/2016/8/4/as ... -191067101 ]

Chris Hedges - Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, award-winning author and activist. His most recent book is Wages of Rebellion: The Moral Imperative of Revolt.

Robert Reich - former labor secretary under President Clinton and professor at the University of California, Berkeley. His latest book is Saving Capitalism.


The Green Party’s national convention opens today in Houston, Texas, and Dr. Jill Stein is expected to win the party’s nomination. But will she win the support of former Bernie Sanders supporters? Last week, Democracy Now! hosted a debate between the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Chris Hedges and former Labor Secretary Robert Reich about the presidential race. Hedges has endorsed Jill Stein. Reich is backing Hillary Clinton after endorsing Bernie Sanders during the primaries. Reich served in Bill Clinton’s Cabinet as labor secretary from 1993 to 1997.

TRANSCRIPT:

[ http://www.democracynow.org/2016/8/4/as ... -191067101 ]

[Oscar]

Green Party Presidential Convention Begins in Houston, TX

[ http://www.democracynow.org/2016/8/4/he ... -191067101 ]

August 04, 2016

The Green Party presidential convention begins today in Houston, Texas.

The agenda includes workshops on abolishing constitutional rights for corporations and how to run for public office.

Presumptive Green Party presidential nominee Jill Stein will be there with her running mate, human rights activist Ajamu Baraka.

[Oscar]

WATCH: Democracy Now! Green Party Nominee Jill Stein: "We Are Saying No to the 'Lesser Evil' and Yes to the Greater Good"

FULL SHOW: [ http://www.democracynow.org/shows/2016/ ... start=true ]

Daily Digest 08/08/2016

Stories

1) Green Party Nominee Jill Stein: "We Are Saying No to the 'Lesser Evil' and Yes to the Greater Good"
[ http://www.democracynow.org/2016/8/8/gr ... -191067101 ]
In Houston, Texas, Dr. Jill Stein formally accepted the Green Party's nomination for president at the party's convention over the weekend. Interest in the Green Party has jumped in ... Read More →


2) WikiLeaks' Julian Assange: Attacks Against Jill Stein Are "Going to Go Through the Roof"
[ http://www.democracynow.org/2016/8/8/wi ... -191067101 ]
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange spoke via video stream to the Green Party convention in Houston, Texas, about the corporate control of information during the 2016 election. ... Read More →


3) Google in the White House? Assange Warns of Close Ties Between Hillary Clinton & Internet Giant
[ http://www.democracynow.org/2016/8/8/go ... -191067101 ]
During the Green Party convention in Houston, Texas, over the weekend, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange spoke via video stream about his book When Google Met WikiLeaks ... Read More →


4) Julian Assange: Leaked DNC Emails Show Democrats Waged "Propaganda" Campaign Against Sanders
[ http://www.democracynow.org/2016/8/8/ju ... -191067101 ]
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange spoke via video stream at the Green Party convention in Houston, Texas, over the weekend. Assange has been confined to the Ecuadorean ... Read More →


5) Julian Assange on the Green Party's Rising Popularity & the November Election: "Anything is Possible"
[ http://www.democracynow.org/2016/8/8/ju ... -191067101 ]
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange spoke via video stream to the Green Party convention in Houston, Texas, over the weekend about the Green Party's rising popularity ahead of ... Read More →


6) A New Day & Another Way: Green VP Nominee Ajamu Baraka Urges Progressives to Reject Two-Party System
[ http://www.democracynow.org/2016/8/8/a_ ... -191067101 ]
The Green Party nominated human rights activist Ajamu Baraka to be Dr. Jill Stein's vice-presidential running mate during the party's convention in Houston, Texas, over the ... Read More →

[Oscar]

WATCH: DEMOCRACY NOW! - August 18, 2016

[ http://www.democracynow.org/shows/2016/8/18 ]

STORIES:

Open Up the Debates: Green Party's Jill Stein Accuses Democrats & GOP of Rigging Debate Rules
[ http://www.democracynow.org/2016/8/18/o ... -191067101 ]
While polls show Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are among the least popular major-party candidates to ever run for the White House, it appears no third-party candidates ... Read More →


Stopping the Snake: Indigenous Protesters Shut Down Construction of Dakota Access Pipeline
[ http://www.democracynow.org/2016/8/18/s ... -191067101 ]
We turn now to a growing protest in North Dakota, where hundreds of indigenous activists have shut down construction on a multibillion-dollar pipeline project. The ... Read More →


Meet Ajamu Baraka: Green VP Candidate Aims to Continue the Legacy of W.E.B. Du Bois & Malcolm X
[ http://www.democracynow.org/2016/8/18/m ... -191067101 ]
The Green Party's vice-presidential nominee Ajamu Baraka is a longtime human rights activist. He is the founding executive director of the U.S. Human Rights Network and ... Read More →


Green Party's Jill Stein: U.S. Should Stop Funding Israel & Saudi Arabia
[ http://www.democracynow.org/2016/8/18/g ... -191067101 ]
Over the last few weeks, the U.S.-backed, Saudi-led coalition in Yemen has killed dozens of civilians and bombed at least one school and one hospital supported by Doctors Without ... Read More →


Stein & Baraka to Bernie Sanders Supporters: Vote Green & Abandon the Party of War and Wall Street
[ http://www.democracynow.org/2016/8/18/j ... -191067101 ]
For months, Jill Stein of the Green Party attempted to push Bernie Sanders to join the Green ticket. While he ignored the call, Stein is now reaching out to Sanders supporters for ... Read More →

[Oscar]

WATCH: EXCELLENT!!! Green Party US News Conference - 51 mins.

[ https://www.c-span.org/video/?414279-1/ ... live=&vod= ]

August 23, 2016

Green Party Presidential Nominee Jill Stein News Conference Jill Stein, 2016 Green Party presidential nominee, held a news conference at the National Press Club to talk about her visit to Louisiana to tour flooded areas in the state. She also talked about climate change and run for the presidency.

[Oscar]

It is undemocratic to exclude me and Gary Johnson from presidential debates

[ https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... ry-johnson ]

The overwhelming majority of Americans want to hear us debate the Republican and Democratic candidates. Will Trump and Clinton stand up for democracy?

Tuesday 6 September 2016 17.13 BST Last modified on Wednesday 7 September 2016 14.12 BST

Presidential debates should be an opportunity for the American people to decide the direction of our nation. But since 1987, everything about the debates has been predetermined by the party bosses who run Washington.

Consider that 76% of Americans want the presidential debates to include Gary Johnson and me. [ http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/poli ... /89710228/ ] Yet the phony Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) is trying to rob voters of the open debates they want.

The CPD is actually a private corporation that refuses to disclose its current funders or sponsors. [ http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Co ... al_Debates ] The Democratic and Republican National Committees both select its leaders. The CPD literally excludes the 50% of voters who reject their parties.

This two-party cartel posing as a public service “commission” admitted in a 1987 press conference that independent candidates and alternative political parties should be excluded from the debates, and they create artificial barriers to exclude them.

For example, the CPD demands that candidates poll at 15% or higher to be included in the debates. This arbitrary number was put in place the year after third-party candidate Jesse Ventura won the governorship of Minnesota. Ventura was included in debates when he was at 10% in the polls, and his performance carried him to victory. To prevent a similar upset at the national level, the CPD quickly raised the bar to the arbitrary 15% requirement.

The former president of the League of Women Voters, one of the most respected nonpartisan organizations in the country, called the commission “a fraud on the American voter”. [ http://lwv.org/press-releases/league-re ... rate-fraud ]

The CPD also keeps the debates within a narrow set of issues determined by party bosses. In 2012, the presidential debates skipped over major issues including gay rights, the war on drugs, domestic surveillance, housing and abortion. Climate change, the greatest crisis facing humankind, wasn’t mentioned even once.

Again, the League of Women Voters said it best: “It has become clear to us that the candidates’ organizations aim to add debates to their list of campaign-trail charades devoid of substance, spontaneity and honest answers to tough questions. The League has no intention of becoming an accessory to the hoodwinking of the American public.” [ http://lwv.org/press-releases/league-re ... rate-fraud ]

MORE:

[ https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... ry-johnson ]