Rep. Cynthia McKinney, John McCain’s new best friend
Well here we go again. Last week it was Rev. Jesse Jackson, this week it is former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney’s turn to put her need for the spotlight and individual ego in the way of history. In case you haven’t heard, former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney accepted the Green Party’s nomination for President this past weekend. Although she has about as much chance of winning as I do, she happily stood on the podium and outlined her agenda while accepting the nomination. The same Cynthia McKinney who has courageously stood alone on many issues in the past including the war in Iraq. the same Cynthia McKinney who has been the lone voice willing to put her job on the line to stand up for unpopular issues is now going to serve as little more then a pawn in John McCain’s grand scheme to be elected president. For the life of me I cannot understand why she and others like her don’t seem to get it. Let me say it slowly for you “THIS ISN’T YOUR TIME AND THIS ELECTION ISN’T ABOUT YOU!!”
Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder could both SEE that the only thing Congresswoman McKinney could hope to accomplish, other then getting some face time on the news and stroking her own ego, is to syphon off just enough votes for Senator McCain to win. After Congresswoman McKinney’s critique of Isreal that ultimately led to her congressional defeat and her outspoken acceptance of several conspiracy theories that are directly critical of the USA, she has virtually ZERO support among white voters in this country. What she does have is support among “old school” African Americans and those that represent the somewhat extreme, somewhat militant African American vote. Although that population does not represent the majority of African Americans, it may represent enough to essentially kill Senator Obama’s chances to become the first African American President.
I hate to admit it but I am becoming increasingly disillusioned with the so called leaders within the African American community. The people who have for years told us to champion the cause and follow their lead are now making it clear that it wasn’t about us or history, it was about them. About their need to be in the spotlight, about their need to be listened to and about their need to stroke their own egos. Congresswoman McKinney and her supporters will no doubt point out that she has earned the right to expand the discussion, that her perspective must be heard and that Senator Obama cannot be allowed a free pass. They will say it over and over again and it will be complete BS.
This is not about us, expanding the discussion or Senator Obama. It is about leaders from the past being unwilling to step aside and join the movement rather then trying to lead it. It is yet another example of people who would prefer to crash the car if they can’t drive it. I believe it was Gandhi who said “There go my people, I am their leader let me hurry up and catch up with them.”
If only our leaders could assist, direct and educate from the pack rather then needing to have the spotlight shining on their own face. Rep McKinney I hope it’s worth it. Enjoy the spotlight while it lasts, it could be the very light that leads Senator McCain to the White House and you will be partially responsible!!
I believe Representative Cynthia McKinney, unlike Jesse Jackson, has a genuine political perspective which has to be shared with the people in America. Unfortunately, and in all due respect to my good sister, her candidacy, will just hurt Obama’s campaign. However, I don’t necessarily see her as a jealous person who can’t get out the way. TAgain, she is a genuine revolutionary thinker, who has always challenged the status quo in America. Unlike Jackson, she never was a cronie for the democratic party in this country! She has always been a strong and bold supporter of reparations for Blacks, a strong critic of the war, a passionate activist for self determination, and also, a fine looking sista with a African consciousness! I am definitely devided! However, I will not allow myself to criticize her, rather, just continue supporting Obama even stronger…
I agree whole heartedly with Hannibal’s response. Rep. Mckinney, unlike Senator Obama, has been brave enough to use her position in Congress to voice the “will of the people”, and her constituents rather than just “tow the party line”. I hate when people who actually ask questions, challenge the “status quo” and show that they can think critically, are pushed to the fringe and are made irrelevant by the mainstream media, and people who are of the philosophy that a vote for a third party candidate is a wasted vote!
Bill: One more point, yes, I agree, your criticism of Rep Cynthia Mkinney, is not being expressed with the same love and appreciation, in my opinion, the way you carefully, gingerly, with much respect, disagreed with, Reverend Jarimiah Wright. Now, I do recognize that Rev Wright is part of your extended family, back in Chicago. However, your binary differences with sister Cynthia Mckinney, is just a little more emotional and critical. Please be clear, this is not a criticim of you, just a interesting observation. Our sister has always been fighting for the liberation of African and African-American people. I am, from now on, getting out of the either-or, its both at the same-time. Again, this just means, we have to work harder to elect Obama!
I think it is a good thing that former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney is part of the discussion on the issues. She is not going to be the reason Obama wins or loses.Obama will win if the Democratic Party puts forth a platform of CHANGE that will make people’s lives better. Obama must articulate this platform of solutions to the serious problems that face the US and the world. The more than 50% of eligible voters who NEVER VOTE are the ones that will decide this election. They are the ones who are responsible for Obama’s win in the Primary.They are the ones that must vote because they have faith in Obama and the Democratic Party.McKinney’s 5% of the vote will not make the difference.
Respectfully, Hannibal and Jim are both completely wrong. This isn’t about asking questions or doing what’s best for her constituents. This is about ego - plain and simple. Just like Jeremiah Wright. It’s possible to respect an individual and their previous accomplishments while also being critical of bad decisions that they make. In this instance, Ms. McKinney is making a very bad decision. Driven by ego.
As for being divided…..PLEASE!!
Hannibal, I respectfully disagree with your analysis of my handling of Rev. Wright. If you recall, I handled the Rev Wright situation “gingerly” because he was being criticized for agreeing to appear on TV. I said that he had earned the benefit of the doubt prior to anyone having seen the interview. After his appearance at the national press club I pointed out that I love Rev Wright but I believe that he made a poor decision. I also feel that it is a completely different situation. At worst, Rev Wright was unable to move aside and allow Sen Obama to shine. I do not believe that he ever made a conscious decision to hurt Sen Obama’s campaign. By entering the race Rep McKinney’s purpose is to secure votes. Since her base is the African American community how can she succeed without (directly or indirectly) hurting Sen Obama’s chances. There are a limited number of votes, to gain votes, somebody has to lose them.
Rosita, on the contrary, 5% would in fact make a huge difference in this and most Presidential elections. The polls that are being taken currently include the expected increase in voter turnout in their projections. Of course turn out is important but syphoning votes away from any candidate is a strategy that has been used for years and could negatively impact Sen Obama this time.
-Bill Anderson
I read all of the previous responses and believe that there are valid points in each person’s argument. Though the point I believe is missing in all this remains the changing of the guard. Harriet Tubman, Fredrick Douglas, Marcus Garvey, Malcolm, and Martin all represent leadership that required different skill sets and abilities for the time they were around. Each person I named pushed the envelop as far as they could and in doing so accomplished some tremendous feats. But we must ask ourselves, what do we really want and need?
As a young man and a young parent, I want to be able to talk to my daughters 12, 15, and 20 years from now and talk about this historic presidential campaign and not have to say, “if we were only unified, we would have had a black president”. Every generation sees the world differently, and faces the world on different terms. Blacks are 15% of the national population, and far too many of us do not vote. Like it or not, there isn’t enough of us to change the outcome of a national election alone, but there are enough of us to make our presence felt.
The age of the civil rights has passed. The way of doing things has changed. It is time for us to stop marching, protesting, and bitching alone, and finally put people in office and/or leadership who has not only the sincerity, but more importantly the sophistication to manuever in times like these with the “community” at heart. Obama ‘08 stop hatin’
Behind Bill Anderson’s attack is an assumption that no-one, especially another black candidate, has a right to run for office when the next black President is about to take office by an overwhelming mandate. Apparently, vox populii does not matter. Libertarians,Indendendents,communists, Greenies, socialists, and other parties have no rights in this democracy according to Bill Anderson. How dare they take the national stage and push an agenda and take votes away from the certified winner of this election?
How dare anyone disagree with Obama.
If we want democracy, we have to give every candidate a chance to shine and give them a chance to voice their platform. I don’t see any of that happening here in America. Nader, Kucinich, McKinney, Gravel and others have not been given a fair hearing in our news media and they have run up against a conspiracy of the parties to prohibit them from floating their candidacy.
Bill Anderson is saying “lets not rock the vote” after the 8 years of fascism and genocide or else well Get a clone of George Bush back in office and nothing will change. It is clear that neither the Republicans or the democrats did rock the boat in the last 8 years. Obama and all the other democrats gave us free trade, immigration, FISA, this war, etc. etc. etc. Now that many millions of Americans are without good jobs and the economy is on the verge of collapse, Obama appears to be the black reincarnation of George Bush. He has supported every bill that George Bush proposed and intends to continue in his footsteps. He has argued publically that he would get everyone off of welfare at a time when massive aid is going to be needed. He smells just like those damned republicans. If fact, like Ralph Nader said, “there’s not an iota of difference between the republicans and the democrats!” and as far as I am concerned, there is very little difference between George Bush’s policies and Barak Obama’s. So far as I can tell, the only difference is in color. Where is the change and where would it be if he were in fact elected?
One commentator claimed that 50% of the voters don’t vote. The ignorant masses are not aware of the issues. And most of all, what did the democrats actually do to get their voters to go out to the polls? He says that the democrats did not have the stuff to bring out their constituencies. Now, Barak the flip-flopper has the same problem.
Cynthia McKinney is a third Party Candidate. I have not seen her in the news. She has as much a right to run as Barak and I suspect she would do a job 1000 times better than a slick wall street harvard man from the bowels of Mayor dailey’s corrupt machine. Who does Bill Anderson think he is that he can publically disgrace another candidate simply because she wants to run for President?
“Nean” asks, “Who does Bill Anderson think he is??” Well, He thinks that he has as much right to question the intentions of those who enter office as anyone else! If we are going to have this discussion then lets be honest. Nean is a self identified advocate for third party candidates. He launched into a similar attack of my perspective when I criticized Ralph Nader. The reality is that you can criticize my blog as much as you like while still not adding anything that changes the point or conclusion. Rep McKinney’s presence will most likely take votes away from Senator Obama.
I am an admitted supporter of Senator Obama but much more then that I am a realist who understands basic math. Being an advocate for third party politics in order to make some sort of symbolic point is not worth it to me if the result is John McCain. Perhaps it is to you and that is certainly your right….
-Bill Anderson
I think it’s great that she’s running. She won’t steal a single vote from Obama because she won’t get enough support to run a national campaign. And any votes that Obama does lose because of her, will be the DNC’s fault for not making “those” issues, “our” issues. Votes have to be earned, not freely given away.
Obama ‘08
This b is crazy. Thanks for supporting my candidate Cynthia! McCain in ‘08.
This is much to do about nothing. Cynthia McKinney won’t get enough votes to make a difference.
After having heard the interview on Tuesday, I am no more informed than before her planned run with the Green Party , I believe Sen McKinney would be more effective using her position and knowledge from within the framework where she has been so very progressive and longstanding. However the Obama votes I believe are permanent and will not be siphoned off by his activity from without.
Nean - how you can equate Barack Obama with G.W. Bush is astonishing! Clearly, you’ve not listened to anything that Barack has said. we have to think within the realms of political reality. within those parameters, barack obama is the real hope of this nation.
and as for the dems being no different from the reps….don’t believe the hype. dems have been hamstrung by slim majorities in the house and senate and a president who can’t spell veto but sure as hell uses it. that’s not to say that the dems have done everything they can - lack of courage is bi-partisan - but let’s be real.
According to Nean: “If fact, like Ralph Nader said, “there’s not an iota of difference between the republicans and the democrats!” My good brother, death penalty; a woman’s right of choice ; the reckless war in Iraq; Affirmative Action; privatization of our schools; privatization of Social Security; retaining our civil liberties; countering patriot act 1,2, and 3; also, opening up dialogs with other third-world countries, rather than just Isreal; etc: must I go on?
Nean, when it comes to the needs of the
African-American community, the Democratic party, far from being perfect, however, speaks more closely to our political, cultural, social, and economic concerns as a people, than the right-wing republican party.
Furthermore, according to Professor Manning Marable, of Columbia University, “Although the basis for contempory conservatism and Reaganism is the structual crisis of monopoly [white-supremacy] capitalism, various aspects of the trend toward reaction have been evident throughout American political and civil society. Since ‘Bakke’decision, for example, the number of black, latino, and Native American students recruited and admitted into many professional schools dropped sharply (see Marable, “Speaking Truth to Power: Essays on Race, Resistance,and Radicalism” page 35).
And last, are they unfortunate political similarities between the two parties? absolutely! However, when you check the history and our relationship with conservative thinking, they have, always been anti-Black. Thanks for the colloquy…
Ms.Mckinney wants to end the Iraq War. Obama wants to stay there another 16 months and then move to Afghanistan. Do you want your kids to die there?
No, I don’t see much difference between the two major parties. Never mind the “War on Drugs 3 Strikes you’re Out” authored by Biden. I cannot vote for warmongers or police-state supporters.
My people did a great thing Tuesday. We elected Barack Obama president. We overcame the usual and unusual smear and fear campaign. We overcame
If we want democracy, and I don’t, we need to hear all of the parties. However, All parties except the Democracts and the Republicans have been blacked out, kept out, and silenced. When debates go down, the Republicans and Democrats have barred third parties from participation. When Third Parties tried to buy Advertising, the newspapers refused. When third parties contacted the democrats and the Republicans, they were ignored. How can you call that “Democracy” or a fair hearing of ideas?
The democrats and Republicans limited their discussion by agreement to non-issues. As it was, nothing of value was really discussed. They even agreed on the bailout together, no questions asked. In fact, while we were all being screwed royally, the democrats and the republicans bailed out on us. If there was a press in this country or another opposing voice, all hell would have occurred. A debate would have happened. Instead, the banks were given 700 Billion with no questions asked. Tomorrow, those banks are going to buy the Pa. Turnpike and Philadelphia Water with our tax money. Then you will see why we should have had that debate.
Our press is muzzled; the doors are open to any immigrant that wants to come; our industry has fled the country; and this country is in for a big blow. It has not come yet; but Obama isn’t going to cure it.Civil Rights was 5 steps foreward but I suspect that G. Bush and B. Obama will take us 10 steps back. But how would you know? There is no free press except this little itzy bitsy radio, 900AM. All the rest of the News is blacked out. There is no discussion from other parties.
The Presidential Race was a farce because it was rigged for either a democrat or a republican. We need a communist point of view, a Green party point of view, an Independent point of view etc. You are all being short changed and Obama and the Republicans screwed you. This was no real election. Zimbabwe and Iraq under Sadaam had more democracy than you have here. Even Adolph Hitler was elected by a fairer process than what goes on here. In Venezuela, they had a free for all that was a better testament to democracy than our elections.
It doesn’t matter that Barak Obama was black. What really matters is what he had to say to you and me. So far as I can see, he is just another copy of George Bush.
Colon Powell, Condosleezy Rice and other blacks have made history just like Barak Obama is going to. But What does that matter if they can’t abide by the “Rule of Law?” What does it matter if they engage in war which is illegal? Colin Powell lied to the whole world in front of the United Nations and sold his black soul out to George Bush…just so he could keep his job. He betrayed you and all americans by lying and committing crimes against the world. When Condoleesa Rice supports torture and bugging of American citizens, she is just as rotten as George Bush. And when Barak Obama takes office, he will sell out the Palestinian people [and by this act, you] just as easily as George Bush did. Do you think he will bail out Philadelphia with a $1Billion grant to save Mayor Nutter or do you think he will give Israel $5Billion plus billions more in weapons? Do you think he will look the other way as genocide is perpetrated against the citizens of Gaza? Do you think he will do what is right to end war? I am a skeptic.
The only difference I see in Obama and in America is that their crimes will now be perpetrated by blacks. When the call for more soldiers comes from his office, I wonder if any black man can equate the crimes being committed against the moslem world with those that were once committed against him. That will be a cruel irony.
We have a Frederick Douglas on this board. In an autobiography written by his namesake in 1830, he listed the crimes that his slavemasters wreaked against him. Will you now go to another man’s land and commit those same crimes?
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