http://www.democracynow.org/2016/8/8/green_party_nominee_jill_stein_we
The Green Party this past weekend officially nominated Dr. Jill Stein to be its candidate in the 2016 US Presidential Election. Dr. Stein is running on a platform of a very strong progressive agenda. Her major policy aims are a major international mobilization to convert from fossil fuel energy sources to 100% clean and renewable energy sources by 2030. This will help avert the worst consequences of man-made global warming by stopping the alarming buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Her other major policy aim includes a sharp cut to the US military budget, already more than all the leading nations combined. She wants to de-escalate military campaigns in the Middle East and also lead the way for nuclear arms disarmament. In addition, Dr. Stein will fight for a living wage for all workers to raise wages and insure no working American has to live in poverty. Dr. Stein wants to improve the quality of life for all Americans. This is just a brief summary of her many progressive and world-changing policies.
Eight years ago in 2008, I wrote in my blog that while many were hopeful popular President-elect Barack Obama would bring change and hope to the USA, I felt like some others that Obama would be similar to George W. Bush in policy and a good indicator of this was his major Wall Street campaign donors and his lack of specific policy ideas. President Obama has been a better manager of the US empire than President George W. Bush was. But President Obama let the grassroots popular movement of young people and minorities wither away early in his presidency and did not organize them into a sustained movement for change. In 2010 control of Congress shifted into Republican hands and for the rest of his presidency he has been dealing with a very obstructionist Republican Congress. President Obama has clamped down on whistle blowers like Edward Snowden and Chelsea Manning and Julian Assange who are all either being prosecuted and jailed or living in exile from the USA. All these people did was hold the US government and military accountable to the US public. President Obama has also maintained and even expanded Bush's war on terror programs. The drone targeted assassinations program has been a terror campaign of unprecedented scale which led to the death of many innocent civilians. There has been no progress in the Israel-Palestinian dispute, full support for the repressive dictatorship of Saudi Arabia continues, there is rising tension with China and Russia, and ongoing bombing of Iraq and Syria. All in all the threat of terrorism and US military involvement appears to be never-ending.
Barack Obama has not provided the kind of leadership that is needed to solve major problems. He has made a few steps in the right direction, but without the sustained popular movement behind him his efforts to end conflicts in the Middle East has failed...greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise...the cost of college education continues to rise...US working-class wages have stagnated helping lead to the rise of right-wing extremism like in Europe...and efforts to normalize relations with Cuba have been stalled due to Republican obstructionism.
In the 2016 election, it is clear the two-party system lets down a majority of Americans and condemns the world to a dangerous future. Hillary Clinton, the Democratic Party nominee, has crafted this election as a referendum on Republican Party candidate Donald Trump. Choosing the lesser of two evils is not the way to lead the people to a better future. Both candidates have historically high disapproval ratings among the American public. Hillary Clinton is not a candidate who is going to support the bold and significant policy changes are needed for the USA to change course. Clinton has a record of being a hawk on US military intervention. She has long had a cozy relationship with big corporate lobbyists and Wall Street insiders. There a lot of good things about Clinton, as there was about President Obama in 2008, but she is not a candidate who is even proposing nor will push for the major changes are needed to avert environmental catastrophe, improve the quality of life of Americans of all ages and backgrounds, and de-escalate the international tensions.
That is why I support the third party candidacy of Green Party nominee Dr. Jill Stein.
