|
Green Party's Response
to Bush's State of the Union Address
Posted on Wednesday, January 29 @ 01:00:00 EST by stormbear
America
can make peace, not war, only if we are consistent in our
support for democracy. The foreign policy of supporting "our" dictators against "their"
dictators has been a failure. Saddam Hussein is in power today
because the U.S. government once supported him, just as it once
supported bin Laden. It is time instead to consistently support
democracy. Perhaps it is unfair to expect George W. Bush to
understand democracy, much less consistently promote it, but
that's the agenda that will win America trust and allies in
an uncertain world.
Greetings from the Green Party, the party of peace!
 My
name is Natalie Johnson Lee. I am privileged to represent Ward
5 in the great city of Minneapolis, Minnesota, in the heart
of the United States of America. And I am proud to be a member
of the Green Party of the United States!
Tonight the President promised America a policy of war. War
on Iraq. War on minorities. War on America's most vulnerable.
War on regular working people.
In response, the Green Party, America's only growing political
party,
offers an alternative of peace.
I represent almost 30,000 working people in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
I know my constituents personally, and I know their struggles
for decent housing and decent work. When my constituents need
help, they call me on the phone. That's grassroots democracy
in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Tonight, in Washington D.C., I must ask: 'Who phoned Bush and
asked for this war?' 'Who phoned Congress and asked for this
war?'
America did not dial that number. Someone else did.
I've got a message for the CEOs of the oil corporations and
of the weapons
manufacturers. You're tying up the line. America is trying to
get through.
Like 170 other Green city council members, mayors, county supervisors,
school board members, and state representatives, my phone is
ringing off
the hook. Our constituents are calling us.
They are saying, 'We are worried about this war.' They are
saying, 'We want
respect and equality.' They are saying, 'We want good jobs,
education, and
health care.' The Green response is always the same: 'You are
not alone.
The Green Party stands with you.'
 That's
our message tonight.
The President promised a policy of war on Iraq.
In response, the Green Party offers the only national security
policy that
really works: A policy whose goal is peace, not war.
America can wage peace, not war, by breaking the hold of the
oil
corporations on Congress and the White House. It's time to kick
the oil
addiction. Right now. America has the technological know-how
and the
renewable resources to make the break from fossil fuel dependence.
We can
and should build up our solar, wind, and other renewable energy
sources now.
America can wage peace, not war, by putting a stop to the global
trade in
weapons. We must stop it at its source. That's here, at home,
in the United
States. U.S.-based corporations are the prime suppliers of weapons
to the
world. It's time to beat swords into plowshares. It's time to
put the arm
profiteers out of business.
America can wage peace, not war, only if we are consistent
in our support
for democracy. The foreign policy of supporting 'our' dictators
against
'their' dictators has been a failure. Saddam Hussein is in power
today
because the U.S. government once supported him, just as it once
supported
bin Laden. Thank you, Mr. Rumsfeld.
It is time to consistently support democracy. Perhaps it is
unfair to
expect George W. Bush to understand democracy, much less promote
it, but
that's the agenda that will win America trust and allies in
an uncertain
world.
America can wage peace, instead of war, by helping the economies
of the
poorer countries of the world. Exploitation breed poverty, poverty
breeds
hatred, and hatred breeds terror. Unrestricted corporate power
has caused
massive unemployment and environmental destruction across Asia,
Africa, and
Latin America, and today threatens the United States as well.
The Green
Party calls for a global economic policy whose goal is the elimination
of
poverty, the creation of sustainable industries, and support
for real
democracy based on the empowerment of working people.
Americans want security, not unending war. In its eagerness
to invade Iraq,
the political establishment has revealed its true purpose. Not
security for
Americans, but control over oil. Not peace in the Middle East,
but military
bases across the globe. Not rule of law, but violation of the
Constitution.
Bush is no reluctant warrior, he is a warmongering draft-dodger,
and
together with a weak and compliant Democratic Party in Congress,
he is
threatening American interests.
The President claims the inspections have failed. He is wrong.
In fact, his
attempts to drum up a war fever are what has failed.
The Green Party believes that Bush's oil is not worth the loss
of millions
of innocent Iraqi civilian lives.
The Green Party says: We support our troops! Mr. President:
Bring Our
Troops Home!
The Green Party knows we must build our security on a foundation
of
international peace, justice, and democracy.
We say Peace is Patriotic. Who is with us?
Americans want a policy for domestic peace as well.
 The
Bush administration's attacks on civil rights don't sit well
with many
Americans. The Democratic silence in the face of these attacks
is shameful.
The slogan 'United We Stand' is mirrored by 'Divided We Fall'
and the
constant chipping away at the legacy of the civil rights movement
leaves us
wondering why he is promoting division. Why the attacks on human
rights, on
immigrants, and on affirmative action?
'Who phoned Bush and asked for these attacks?'
America did not dial that number.
I am a proud to be a member of the political party that guarantees
the
rights of ALL Americans. That's the guarantee of the Green Party.
We defend
the rights of immigrants. We call for amnesty for all undocumented
workers.
We support the civil rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered
people in housing, jobs, civil marriage and benefits, child
custody and in
all areas of life, the right to be treated equally with all
other people.
We believe in making right the wrongs of history, and we support
affirmative action and reparations for slavery.
The Green Party knows there is no equality without justice.
We Greens say to the President and to Congress: 'Immigrants
are not the
enemy!' 'Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered people are
not the
enemy!' 'People of color are not the enemy!' It's time to secure
domestic
peace through equal rights and justice for all. That is the
Green guarantee.
Americans want not only peace, we also want prosperity.
Struggling to pay for housing, struggling to pay for school,
struggling to
find a secure job, worrying about whether we'll keep it, working
people in
this country have gotten a raw deal. Now the administration
would compound
our pain by cutting taxes on the rich, at a time when public
services are
being eliminated.
"Who
phoned Bush and asked for these cuts?'
America did not dial that number.
Bush calls it an economic stimulus package. Greens ask 'economic
stimulus
for whom?' It is time for an economic stimulus package for the
rest of us.
Where the Washington establishment wages a war on public education,
social
welfare, public lands, and local government, the Green Party
takes a very
different view.
We call for full federal funding to support children, families,
the
unemployed, elderly and disabled. We call for a graduated supplemental
income to maintain all adult incomes above the poverty level.
We support a
guaranteed living wage for all Americans. We support universal
health care
coverage for all through single-payer national health insurance.
We support
the preservation of public wilderness areas for future generations.
We
support the labor movement and call for the repeal of the undemocratic
Taft-Hartley law so that workers can freely organize unions.
The Green Party stands with working people because we ARE working
people.
We're committed to an economic policy that puts human need before
corporate
greed.
Yet tonight, as the economy is failing most Americans, the
President
promises war.
Mr. President, America did not ask you for this war. America
did not ask
you for these attacks on civil rights. America did not ask you
for tax cuts
for the rich.
Mr. President, it is time to hang up the phone. America's trying
to get through!
And to the members of Congress, both Democrat and Republican,
the 250,000
members of the Green Party, and the millions more who support
what we stand
for, have this to say:
You have wasted too many opportunities to deal directly with
America's
problems. Tonight, on the eve of war, America cannot wait any
longer.
Our nation cannot afford to see pressing issues, like health
care for all,
kicked back and forth like a political football from election
to election.
Working people need health care now.
Our people and planet cannot afford this war for oil. Dependence
on oil is
unhealthy for Americans and it is contributing to global warming.
The time
for political procrastination is long gone; it's time for corrective
action
now.
 I
know that many Americans feel the same way. I hear it from my
constituents all the time.
To those Americans who are looking for a way out, the Green
Party says, 'We
are here, we are growing, we are your way out!' We are the alternative.
Together with Greens in 90 nations worldwide, we represent
a new kind of
politics resting on four pillar values: Grassroots Democracy
- Ecology -
Social Justice - Non-Violence.
The Green Party is waiting to hear from you. No corporate contributors
are
tying up our phone lines. We accept no corporate contributions.
Call 1-866-41-GREEN. Look us up on the web at www.GP.org.
Millions of Americans want peace, want equality, want social
justice. We
are with you. We know that another world is possible. If we
will it, and
act on it, it is not just a dream. |
