Sunday, January 14, 2007
Crystal Balls for Everyone!
Behind the "Read more!" link you will find the York County (SC) Greens' monthly column in YC Magazine for November 15th to December 15th, 2006.
Crystal Balls for Everyone!
When you hear political pundits on TV or radio you will often hear them say “I won’t make predictions.” Since I am not a journalist, but a spokesperson for my party instead, I am free to make predictions and will do so here. Guess you’ll just have to trust my promise that these predictions are being written before the election of November 7th.
I predict that John Spratt will be re-elected to Congress, as will every other incumbent Congressman running for re-election in South Carolina. The Governor will be re-elected, almost every incumbent member of the state legislature and county councils across the state will be re-elected. And most of the voters will be unhappy with the outcome no matter if they voted for “winners” or “losers”. Why? Because most of us voted against someone one we didn’t want, not for someone we did want.
When we vote this way we wind up getting the least bad, not the best. The time has come for us to stand up and demand the choice of the best candidates, not the lesser of two evils. Voting for someone because you think the other guy might be worse is not the way to make progress. Instead, it is the sort of thinking that leads to a slow decline of American Values, of our family’s future prosperity, our democratic system, and our very environmental survival. The changes we must make if we are to
leave future generations with a sustainable economy, a just society, a non-violent international policy and real democracy will demand uncommon vision. It will also demand a common shared direction and a dedicated group of people working for the good of the nation and it’s people.
You can, and must, provide that vision. The professional politicians will not do it. If they could, they would. The money they are given makes it impossible for them to see the needs of the common people. Instead, they must focus on corporate cash. To replace them will demand that you get involved. You can do this by trying to change the Republican of Democratic parties, something I think is impossible, or by joining forces with others who are willing to pull with you in the same direction to make change happen.
The Green Party is not only dedicated to the sorts of broad principles we have written about before, like community based economics or personal and global responsibility but to other values we might not think of as political, but personal. Values like honesty and openness. Values like hard work and dedication to people and causes. Values like listening and organizing. Values like community and family. These too are Green Values, and American Values. Are these the values of the candidates you voted for? Think about all the accusations, the ill-tempered ads and ask yourself,
would you have made a better choice if there had been one to make?
I can also make another prediction. Greens will win. All across America Greens will be elected to office. Some will be re-elected. Some will serve for the first time. And some will not win, but will get their message out to a broad audience. Many will put the party on the map locally for the first time. Many will allow their state to secure or keep access to the ballot. And there will be more votes for Green candidates in York County in 2006 than there were in 2004, in large part due to the exceptional access YC Magazine has offered us.
But most important of all, I can predict that every ballot cast for a Green will be cast FOR the Green nominee, not against another candidate. And that vote is always a winning vote in my book.
Crystal Balls for Everyone!
When you hear political pundits on TV or radio you will often hear them say “I won’t make predictions.” Since I am not a journalist, but a spokesperson for my party instead, I am free to make predictions and will do so here. Guess you’ll just have to trust my promise that these predictions are being written before the election of November 7th.
I predict that John Spratt will be re-elected to Congress, as will every other incumbent Congressman running for re-election in South Carolina. The Governor will be re-elected, almost every incumbent member of the state legislature and county councils across the state will be re-elected. And most of the voters will be unhappy with the outcome no matter if they voted for “winners” or “losers”. Why? Because most of us voted against someone one we didn’t want, not for someone we did want.
When we vote this way we wind up getting the least bad, not the best. The time has come for us to stand up and demand the choice of the best candidates, not the lesser of two evils. Voting for someone because you think the other guy might be worse is not the way to make progress. Instead, it is the sort of thinking that leads to a slow decline of American Values, of our family’s future prosperity, our democratic system, and our very environmental survival. The changes we must make if we are to
leave future generations with a sustainable economy, a just society, a non-violent international policy and real democracy will demand uncommon vision. It will also demand a common shared direction and a dedicated group of people working for the good of the nation and it’s people.
You can, and must, provide that vision. The professional politicians will not do it. If they could, they would. The money they are given makes it impossible for them to see the needs of the common people. Instead, they must focus on corporate cash. To replace them will demand that you get involved. You can do this by trying to change the Republican of Democratic parties, something I think is impossible, or by joining forces with others who are willing to pull with you in the same direction to make change happen.
The Green Party is not only dedicated to the sorts of broad principles we have written about before, like community based economics or personal and global responsibility but to other values we might not think of as political, but personal. Values like honesty and openness. Values like hard work and dedication to people and causes. Values like listening and organizing. Values like community and family. These too are Green Values, and American Values. Are these the values of the candidates you voted for? Think about all the accusations, the ill-tempered ads and ask yourself,
would you have made a better choice if there had been one to make?
I can also make another prediction. Greens will win. All across America Greens will be elected to office. Some will be re-elected. Some will serve for the first time. And some will not win, but will get their message out to a broad audience. Many will put the party on the map locally for the first time. Many will allow their state to secure or keep access to the ballot. And there will be more votes for Green candidates in York County in 2006 than there were in 2004, in large part due to the exceptional access YC Magazine has offered us.
But most important of all, I can predict that every ballot cast for a Green will be cast FOR the Green nominee, not against another candidate. And that vote is always a winning vote in my book.
// posted by Gregg Jocoy @ 3:15 PM 
