Chlorophyll

Hello -

I've been thinking a great deal about how best to convey, in a simple manner, why the Green Party is needed today more than ever.

Therefore, I would like to share the speech I gave at an anti-war event at the Beneficent Church this past Sunday in Providence RI. I'd love feedback should you have interest in reading all or part. However, it is the last six paragraphs where I summarize the need to build the party.

Thank you,
Jeff Toste
Green Party
Rhode Island

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What was the result of the 2006 elections? What happened to the anti-war mandate that voted in the new Congress? Did the people of this country vote for a "non-binding anti-war Congress?" Did they vote for a possible 2008 deadline to the war? NO, they voted for a Congress that would bring U.S. troops home from Iraq now.

Some say that we cannot leave Iraq because we will create a power vacuum or somehow aid terrorism. Then, let us work sincerely with the international
community to monitor and establish peace in Iraq as we move U.S. troops out.
Congress needs to take action now.

What good is YOUR VOICE and YOUR VOTE when lip service replaces leadership?
The National Priorities Project puts the cost of the Iraq war at over $400 billion while Congress plans to give the President ANOTHER $100 billion. Where is the "new" leadership that was promised to voters by the Democrats?

Bush may be the boogeyman to many, but all he's done is demonstrate that when power goes unchallenged, it knows no limits. The Democratic Party has done a great deal of reactive finger pointing at Bush's policies and actions, but has offered few concrete challenges to his power and few real alternatives or solutions to his policies. How long will voters accept this "finger pointing" approach to politics? I suggest to you that it is this kind of reactive and misguided politics that allows for the Iraq War to continue, for future wars to begin, and for war to even go by different names.

We' ve seen recent examples of this as two different styles of "war" against Iraq have taken place with the past two administrations: A pre-emptive strike under Bush's Republican administration and twelve years of economic sanctions against Iraq -- started by Bush Sr. -- and continued under President Clinton's eight-year Democratic administration. A study published in the Washington Post Oct. 11th 2006 estimated civilian deaths from the pre-emptive Iraq War at approximately. 650,000 and UNICEF has put the civilian death toll from the Iraq sanctions at approximately 500,000. A
total of well over ONE MILLION innocent civilian lives lost IN ADDITION to thousands of U.S. troops. It would appear that whichever of these styles of "war" you have, both are equally horrific. We can't have international peace without sincere, intelligent and strategic efforts for international justice.

In 2003 I met with my Democratic U.S. Senator before the start of Bush's war, and my U.S. Senator?s view was more or less a "wait and see" strategy. I found this rationale hard to accept, as we both knew many innocent lives were at stake and many lives had already been lost due to the sanctions. However, I have now come to understand that "wait and see" is a popular strategy, as Congress remains reluctant to take immediate action to stop this war. It seems strange to me that a political party that claims to
represent working people, doesn?t seem to listen to the working people who voted them in. Maybe this explains why Congress' approval rating at 31% is lower than President Bush?s approval rating at 35%. The Democratic-controlled Congress has the power to end this war now.

We see more examples of misguided politics by looking at our country's last two elections. We saw the Democratic Party point their finger at Ralph Nader in 2000 and claim he put Bush in office, but it was NOT Ralph Nader but the Supreme Court of the United States that went unchallenged as it did something it has never done in our country's history: It stopped the counting of our votes.

Many voting irregularities also took place nationwide in 2004, but these irregularities went unchallenged as Bush won reelection. It was not the Democratic Party, but the GREEN PARTY that challenged Bush and led the Ohio vote recount. But even with numerous discrepancies documented as a result of the recount, the Democratic Party took no substantive action. What good is your vote when lip service replaces leadership?

Our country's leaders continue to allow billions to be spent on this war as working families continue an economic race to the bottom. Our economic slide is due in large part to global TRADE AGREEMENTS like NAFTA--signed into law by President Clinton--and CAFTA--signed into law by President Bush. As U.S. jobs are lost as a result of "outsourcing" due to these trade treaties, many in our country now choose to enlist in the military not ONLY to fight for freedom, but because they have few other choices to support themselves and their families.

With power unchallenged, war becomes policy, so long as the majority of the people can be convinced they are in danger. This was clearly achieved as the Iraq War was MARKETED to the American people with the help of an obedient media and Democratic leadership that took a "wait and see" approach. The accusations against Iraq made by the Bush administration imply went unchallenged by the Democratic Party, and power unchallenged knows no limits.

No country is safe from war--not Iran, not Syria, not the United States--when might makes right and innocent people are killed for the sake of one tyrant or terrorist. No country is safe when its leaders can be impeached for lying but NOT for a war based on lies.

To stop this war and future wars we must be vigilant but we must also be strategic. We must keep up the pressure and force leadership FROM lip service, but we must do this as we work together to build a NEW foundation for justice and democracy.

If you want different politics, if you want a foreign policy of international justice, if you want leadership that respects and listens to all people, then you need a political party that is fundamentally different.

You need to be a part of building a new political party in your community.

I am here today as a representative of the Green Party, because I am committed to building a fundamentally different political party in the United States. As a former candidate for RI State Senate I built a campaign of neighbors and community organizers. A different kind of political campaign where all worked as equals. Although we did not win this past election, our message of a return to local manufacturing for local jobs; universal healthcare; and fair taxes for all will act as a foundation for future Green Party campaigns. Campaigns built on community-based leadership, not lip service.

With leadership the Green Party was the first political party to speak out against this war, the first party to call for Bush's impeachment, the first
party to speak out against the unpatriotic patriot act, and the only major political party calling for the public funding of public elections instead of moneyed or corporate interests that dominate the funding of today's political campaigns and put war and greed above the need of working families.

You cannot salvage or rebuild a party whose leadership is actively working against you. You need a political party whose leadership actively practices grassroots democracy. The Green Party IS that political party but it cannot build real democracy unless YOU decide to take part.

We CAN build a political party that will challenge unchallenged power. We CAN end this war and prevent future wars. We CAN build a political movement whose leadership practices grassroots democracy NOT lip service. But we can't do it unless we work together. I ask you to work with me and help me build a different kind of political party.

I hope that many more join us as we continue to work together to end this war, to bring our troops home now, and to build a NEW foundation for justice at home and abroad.

Thank you very much and god bless.