Speaking truth to power (even though power already knows what it's doing)

While one of the main strengths of the conservative movement is that it tends to remain (relatively) united throughout its political peaks and troughs, the same cannot be said of the left, which seems to fragment into splinter factions over the biggest and smallest issues alike. Regular or decaffe, anyone?

As a proud leftist, this can be frustrating, and little within the politics of the left has been as frustrating during the past six years as watching US Greens tear themselves apart over one-time Green Party presidential nominee Ralph Nader. As a member of both the Green Party of California and, on this side of the Atlantic, the Green Party of England & Wales, I believe that the Nader issue squandered the sense of momentum that the Greens had been building at grassroots level across the US and that the damage caused, if not permanent, may now take a decade or more to repair.

The Party - or at least a fair chunk of its membership - certainly made a bit of a mess of things during the Nader debacle. However, when the Greens get it right, they really get it right. And here, in the form of the latest media communiqué from the Green Party of California, is a prime example of why I'm still proud to be a Green:

Green Party of California
http://cagreens.org/

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, December 8, 2006

Green Party challengers urge soon-to-be House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to impeach Bush for ‘crimes against humanity,' note Pelosi's failure to support impeachment is betrayal of voters

SAN FRANCISCO (December 8, 2006) – The failure of soon-to-be House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) to call for the impeachment of President George W. Bush and members of his administration should be considered a "betrayal" of her oath of office, said two former Green Party congressional candidates today.

Pelosi, who has stated that impeachment is off the table, should "call George Bush before the U.S. Congress to be fully investigated for high crimes and misdemeanors, including crimes against humanity from Baghdad to Biloxi," said Krissy Keefer, who opposed Pelosi in November as the Green Party candidate in the 8th CD.

Not only did Keefer receive 7.5 percent of the vote running an anti-war campaign with virtually no budget against an incumbent, San Francisco voters also approved Measure J, which asks their representatives to impeach Bush and vice president Dick Cheney.

And, on Sunday, San Franciscans will be holding a giant "impeachment rally" at UN Plaza.

"The war in Iraq, the botched response to Hurricane Katrina and the erosion of the Constitution cannot be overlooked. We have the moral responsibility to impeach. Failing to impeach will increase the likelihood that we may get someone capable of such crimes again," Keefer said.

And, Carol Brouillet, the Green Party candidate for Congress in the nearby 14th CD (Palo Alto), said she believes Pelosi has a "duty and obligation to impeach the Bush Regime. Silence in the face of an avalanche of evidence of criminality would be a betrayal of their oath of office, the people of this country, and our hopes for the future.

"The Bush Administration has flagrantly violated our Constitution, trashed the Bill of Rights, launched illegal, immoral wars, lied about matters of utmost importance to the American people. These people are, truly, terrorists on an unprecedented scale. It is up to us, the people, to force our elected representatives to recognize and adhere to their duty and hold top officials accountable for their heinous crimes, that means impeachment," Brouillet added.