The Time Has Come

 

The gaudy spectacles called political conventions are mercifully over.  Delegates cheered their candidate; political operatives careened from lies to bombast and back again.  They were at once strong, caring, individualistic, and uniting.  The choirs were preached to on both sides.  We heard about it on the evening news shows. Pundits analyzed nearly every word; from fact-checkers to fashion experts, nothing was omitted.  It wasn’t possible to not know of the spectacle no matter how hard one tried.

But how many know that this past July another national nominating convention took place right near here, in Baltimore?  Did you see it reported on the local nightly news?  Did you read about it in this paper or in any other, for that matter?  Probably not.  Why?  It was the Green Party National Nominating Convention, that’s why.

The Maryland Green Party’s long, difficult struggle to remain on the ballot has ended successfully and the Green Party’s presidential candidates will be on the ballot in enough states to win in the Electoral College.  And, for the first time in the Greens’ history our presidential candidates have raised enough money to qualify for federal matching funds; no small feat considering Greens do not accept PAC, corporate, or large donations.  Matching funds gives a significant financial boost that Green’s have never had before.

Our presidential candidate, Dr Jill Stein and her vice presidential running mate, Cheri Honkala are not members of the 1%.  They are intelligent, articulate, passionate people who stand side-by-side with the poor, working people, people of color, women, and everyone else marginalized by corporate politics.   Our candidates don’t sit around counting their millions stashed in Swiss banks or promising us change…someday; they are implementing real change, true progress every day in communities around the country.  Cheri is an activist; a single mother who has been homeless and who took refuge with her children in vacant houses.  She pioneered and became a leader in the housing takeover movement.   Jill is a doctor and environmental activist who knows how to deal with Mitt Romney, having run against him for governor of Massachusetts.

Today, as the economic system is at long last unmasked as an unsustainable scheme of unlimited growth with finite resources and the political system stands exposed as a system of corruption and deceit, it’s clear why policies are bankrupt and so few people vote.

The time has come, not for everyone to “play by the same rules” but to implement a new set of rules that are fair to everyone.

The time has come, not to “restore the American (day) dream”, but to embrace the reality that we share life on this planet and we must accept the responsibility to live sustainably if we are to have the resources necessary to live in peace, today and into the future.

The time has come, not for new weapons systems, more wars, and more threats of war but rather to implement the policies that lead the world to peace.

None of these changes can happen overnight.  But neither can they happen at all unless we implement those changes now.  Anyone can hold out the promise of a grand and glorious future; we hear those same empty promises yet again.  And yet, those glorious days elude them and us. 

The time has come to actually implement real change.  And it can start as soon as this November.  There will be many people on that ballot for president in addition to the two candidates selected by the privileged elite.  Rather than vote so that the “other guy” doesn’t win, vote for real, substantive progress.