Saturday, April 3, 2010

Green Tea Party


While I have a different view on many issues, I get the feeling that at a deep level we have very much the same concerns as tea party people. The Constitution is being trampled, the wealth of the nation is being wasted, the government is more and more intruding into our lives, education is a joke, the health care bill is unbelievably horrible, we're over-extended in mad wars, and the list goes on. At this level I think we are mostly in agreement. Where we part ways is when the enemy is identified as liberals, progressives, the poor, the addicted, the obese, the immigrant, the handicapped, the others who are different in almost any way. We all know where that brand of disgust leads and believe me we do not want to go there. Having elected Obama on a Tsunami of hope after the disaster of Reagan/Bush/Clinton/Bush, America is waking up but they're still pretty groggy and confused. Republican extremists are trying to exploit that confusion but I'm hoping they will soon see through that nonsense and realize it is the corporatist democratic and republican parties both that got us into this mess. One is as culpable as the other but we should look beyond them for the answers, beyond them to the industrialist bankers and their corporations that dominate our political system, which even includes the Supreme Court apparently as they concur with them that only money should rule. I am encouraged to see Americans getting off their couches and on their feet but it is a well informed citizenry that is required and if they continue to listen to the political pundits on TV, as has been proven, they will know less and less. I would very much like to sit down with you, drink some green tea, and talk about the future. I think we will need to take care of one another in order to get to the world we all want.

keep our mountains ...green


Hi All, this is something I support without reservation, keep our mountains green.

Tennessee Conservation Voters
Applauds EPA's Order to
Curb Mountaintop Removal Mining,
Calls on Tennessee Legislature to Pass
Bi-partisan Scenic Vistas Legislation

NASHVILLE- Tennessee Conservation Voters releases the following statement on the Environmental Protection Agency's order to ban moutaintop removal mining:

Chris Ford, TCV Executive Director:

"Today TCV and our member organizations and many partners throughout the state join our Appalachian brothers and sisters to gratefully celebrate the EPA's announcement by Administrator Lisa Jackson to significantly curb the senselessly destructive practive of Mountaintop Removal Mining in Appalachia."

"Banning Mountaintop Remvoal Mining in Tennesee has been a top priority for Tennessee Conservation Voters, committed citizens and the faith community throughout our state for quite some time. I could not agree more with Administrator Jackson----our mountain people should not have to choose between their health, safety and job security. Sound economic development that is sustainable for future generations is the only reasonable solution to protect our mountain heritage and Tennessee way of life. Correcting the injustice visited among Appalachians for the benefit of the wealthy hundreds of miles away is long overdue.
"On this Good Friday I am reminded of a scripture passage that exhorts us to let justice roll down like water----CLEAN WATER! We are grateful that many prayers have been answered, but diligent in our resolve to continue forward in our work for clean water, clean air, healthy living and economically strong communities in our mountain communities.
Our organization now calls upon our Tennessee elected officials to codify these orders and pass the bipartisan Scenic Vistas legislation presently before the Tennessee House and Senate to stop this destructive practice in Tennessee before it spreads any further. Our future lies before us with endless possibilities for cleaner energy solutions---stand up and be counted as those who are demanding justice and healthy living for Appalachian Tennesseans."

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Running through the green hills


HI all, I am running for governor of Tennessee again. Why, you might ask, would I do that? Well I could say because I think we need a better government, one that represents the interests of common people, one that does not roll over for large corporations. Or because I think we need a public bank like North Dakota has that protected it from the recent Wall Street shenanigans, or because we need a single-payer health care system like Canada, one that cares not excludes. Or because we need to build a state economy based on producing the essential needs of Tennesseans first, food, housing, medicine, clothing, fuel, etc.. Those are all good reasons however my main motivation today is because we need to open up the current corrupt political process to all parties so we can begin to reclaim the rights and responsibilities of a free people as enumerated in the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. And as part of that to make reparations to natives, former slave families, the land, the water and the air, without whom we would have nothing.