Socialist Wins Recount, Greens Prove Viable

Last Friday, Kshama Sawant PhD of the Socialist Alternative Party was declared the winner of a nonpartisan race for the Council of Seattle, Washington.  The professor of economics, who rose to prominence as an activist in the Occupy Movement, defeated a 16-year incumbent Democrat.  Sawant is the first socialist elected to public office in that city since over a century ago.  Her candidacy was endorsed by the Green Party, which is building momentum as demonstrated by other results from November 5...

Some members/endorsees of the Green Party in nonpartisan elections

Cameron Gordon re-elected to Council of Minneapolis, MN

Brian Cummins re-elected to Council of Cleveland, OH

John Reed re-elected to Council of Fairfax, CA

Renée Goddard re-elected to Council of Fairfax
Joshua Plourde elected to Council of Bangor, ME
Anna Trevorrow elected to Board of Education of Portland, ME

Ty Moore: 42% for Council of Minneapolis

Sawant (City of Seattle)

Joseph Carvalho: 31% for mayor of Fall River, MA
Audrey Clement: 31% for Bd. of Arlington County, VA

Christopher Shorr: 25% for Council of Portland

Johnny Howard: 15% for Council of Saint Paul, MN
Gladwyn D'Souza: 14% for Council of Belmont, CA §

Chris Lautenschlager: 11% for Council of Minneapolis
Joseph DeMare: 11% for Council of Bowling Green, OH ‡
Brian Rencher: 7% for Council of Ventura, CA #

Kale Severson: 6% for Council of Minneapolis

Kristina Gronquist: 6% for Council of Minneapolis

Some Green nominees

Neil Haagen elected to Council of Snow Shoe Borough, PA

Mirna Martinez* elected to Bd. of Ed. of New London, CT

Howie Hawkins: 40% for Council of Syracuse, NY

Laurie Rogers: 24% for Bd. of Selectmen of Columbia, CT †

Darin Robbins: 22% for mayor of Corning, NY

Susie Beiersdorfer: 18% for pres. of the Council of Youngstown, OH

Kevin Bott: 15% for mayor of Syracuse

Lynne Serpe: 15% for Council of New York City

Peter LaVenia Jr.: 12% for Council of Albany, NY

Emily Good: 12% for sheriff of Monroe County, NY

Beth Riso: 11% for mayor of Nyack, NY

William Stevenson: 9% for Legislature of Suffolk County, NY

Christina Gonzalez: 8% for Council of NYC

Miles Budde: 7% for Council of NYC

Alexander White: 5% for mayor of Rochester, NY

*Member of Green Party, nominated by Republican and Green parties
†Three-way race for two seats | ‡Four-way, two seats
§Six-way, three seats | #Nine-way, four seats

This piece originally appeared on punkpatriot.com.

Obama Whitewashes Bush Again

The following are excerpts from remarks President Obama delivered today at the dedication of the lie-brary of a "president" whose negligence allowed this country to be attacked, who allowed Osama bin Laden to escape, whose policy on education was disastrous, who sent troops into battle unnecessarily and without adequate provisions or proper training, who cut benefits for troops and for veterans, and who sought to cut those benefits by even more.

Obama, Bush (Eric Draper / White House)

This is a Texas-sized party.  And that's worthy of what we're here to do today...  We're reminded of the incredible strength and resolve that came through that bullhorn as [George W. Bush] stood amid the rubble and the ruins of Ground Zero, promising to deliver justice to those who had sought to destroy our way of life...

He believed we had to reform our schools in ways that help every child learn...  We share a profound respect and reverence for the men and women of our military and their families.  And we are united in our determination to comfort the families of the fallen and to care for those who wear the uniform...

America needs leaders who are willing to face the storm head-on...  That's what Pres. George W. Bush chose to do.  That's why I'm honored to be part of today's celebration.  Mr. President, for your service, for your courage... for your love of country, thank you very much.  From all the citizens of the United States of America, God bless you.


This piece originally appeared on Facebook.

How a People's President Sounds

John Kiriakou, who is the only person who has been prosecuted in connection to the torture program of the Central Intelligence Agency, was sentenced last month to two and a half years in prison -- not for torture (which he did not commit), but because he confirmed the name of one torturer to a journalist who did not publish it.  Ever since Kiriakou began to inform the public about said program, largely through interviews with media, he and his wife have been harassed by the CIA, by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and by the Internal Revenue Service.  The Department of Justice even charged him with multiple counts of espionage but later dropped those charges.

President Obama, three months after an election he won with a campaign that sought to keep the masses ill-informed, still refuses to prosecute anyone who ordered, performed, covered up or legally excused torture, or who participated in the politically-motivated disclosure of the identity of covert agent Valerie Plame Wilson of the CIA.  Meanwhile, Obama continues an unprecedented war on whistleblowers, most notably Pfc. Bradley Manning, and continues an avoidance of print journalists that is highly unusual for a modern chief executive of the United States, as the media in this land continue to increase focus on domestic and irrelevant matters.

On April 27, 1961, Pres. John Kennedy addressed the American Newspaper Publishers Association.  After his witty reference to the pro-Republican bias of the media, he stated government transparency and the public debate that results from it are essential to the meaning of this country.  Kennedy challenged the media to be critical.  He declared the government and media should grant the public more news that is substantive, especially with regard to international affairs, and explain it better.  Here are excerpts from that speech.  Boldface is added.

_

Kennedy (Abbie Rowe / White House)

I have selected as the title of my remarks, "The President and the Press."  Some may suggest this would be more naturally worded, "The President versus the Press," but those are not my sentiments.  However, when a well-known diplomat from another country demanded recently that our State Department repudiate certain newspaper attacks on his colleague, it was unnecessary for us to reply that this administration was not responsible for the press, for the press had already made clear it was not responsible for this administration.

(laughter, applause)

Nevertheless, my purpose here tonight is not to deliver the usual assault on the so-called one-party press...  Nor is my purpose tonight to discuss... the televising of presidential press conferences.  I think it is highly beneficial to have some 20 million Americans regularly sit in on these conferences to observe, if I may say so, the incisive, intelligent, and courteous qualities displayed by your Washington correspondents.

(laughter, applause)

...My topic tonight is a more sober one...  The very word "secrecy" is repugnant in a free and open society; and we are, as a people, inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths and to secret proceedings.  We decided long ago that the dangers of excessive and unwarranted concealment of pertinent facts far outweigh the dangers cited to justify it...

Even today, there is little value in ensuring the survival of our nation if our traditions do not survive with it.  And there is very grave danger that an announced need for increased security will be seized upon by those anxious to expand its meaning to the very limits of official censorship and concealment.  That I do not intend to permit, to the extent it is in my control.  And no official of my administration, whether his rank is high or low, civilian or military, should interpret my words here tonight as an excuse to censor the news, to stifle dissent, to cover up our mistakes, or to withhold from the press and the public the facts they deserve to know.

(applause)

...[The Soviet regime's] preparations are concealed, not published.  Its mistakes are buried, not headlined.  Its dissenters are silenced, not praised.  No expenditure is questioned, no rumor is printed, no secret is revealed.  It conducts the Cold War, in short, with a wartime discipline no democracy would ever hope or wish to match...

[A]n obligation I share... is our obligation to inform and alert the American people -- to make certain they possess all the facts they need, and understand them as well -- the perils, the prospects, the purposes of our program and the choices we face.

No president should fear public scrutiny of his program, for from that scrutiny comes understanding, and from that understanding comes support or opposition.  And both are necessary.  I do not ask your newspapers to support an administration, but I do ask for your help in the tremendous task to inform and alert the American people.

(applause)

For I have complete confidence in the response and dedication of our citizens whenever they are fully informed.  I not only could not stifle controversy among your readers -- I welcome it.  This administration intends to be candid about its errors, for as a wise man once said, "An error does not become a mistake until you refuse to correct it."  We intend to accept full responsibility for our errors and we expect you to point them out when we miss them.

Without debate, without criticism, no administration and no country can succeed -- and no republic can survive.  That is why the Athenian lawmaker Solon decreed it a crime for any citizen to shrink from controversy, and why our press is... specifically protected by the Constitution -- not primarily to amuse and entertain, not to emphasize the trivial and the sentimental, not to simply "give the public what it wants" -- but to inform, to arouse, to reflect, to state our dangers and our opportunities, to indicate our crises and our choices, to lead, mold, educate and sometimes even anger public opinion.

This means greater coverage and analysis of international news, for it is no longer far away and foreign but close at hand and local.  It means greater attention to improved understanding of the news as well as improved transmission.  And it means, finally, that government, at all levels, must meet its obligation to provide you with the fullest possible information outside the narrowest limits of national security, and we intend to do it.

Early in the 17th Century, Francis Bacon remarked on three recent inventions that were already transforming the world: the compass, gunpowder, and the printing press.  The international links that were first forged by the compass have made us all citizens of the world, the hopes and threats of one becoming the hopes and threats of us all...  And so, it is to the printing press -- the recorder of man's deeds, the keeper of his conscience, the courier of his news -- that we look for strength and assistance, confident that with your help, man will be what he was born to be: free and independent.


This piece originally appeared on Facebook.