How
the Green Party Slays Their Own
By Joshua Frank
10 March, 2006
Countercurrents.org
John Murphy is running an
antiwar pro-civil liberties campaign for US Congress from the 16th District
of Pennsylvania (www.johnmurphyforcongress.org).
Murphy, a Green, was denied his party’s endorsement last month
because, as Murphy believes, he supported Ralph Nader and was critical
of David Cobb in 2004. Murphy recently spoke with Joshua Frank about
his campaign as well as the future of the Green Party.
Joshua Frank: John, you've been a Green Party member for a while
now. Can you tell us a bit about what capacity you've played in your
state's Green Party?
John Murphy: I never wanted
to get involved in the internal operations of the state Green Party.
I thought this was better left to younger men and women. I have, however
been active in helping campaign for Green candidates at the local level.
My political activism took on an interesting form in the last few years.
I became what some people call a "photo essayist". I simply
began by writing to my friends and business associates several years
ago asking them to contact their senators to prevent an unconstitutional
transference of legislative power to the executive branch whereby President
Bush would be given unlimited power to wage war at his discretion.
These simple letters to friends
became more and more sophisticated as I began to embellish them with
editorial cartoons, articles written by other people and then my own
comments often spicing up my essays with my own form of editorial cartoons.
Now I have lost count of how many thousands of people receive them.
I have been active in the
antiwar movement ever since the 60s but the Nader campaign of 2004 gave
me the opportunity to use many of the skills I have developed over the
last 60 years as an educator, union negotiator and business owner in
support of his campaign. Consequently when the Nader campaign needed
someone to represent Mr. Nader in a series of debate-like forums throughout
Southeastern Pennsylvania they chose me. When they wanted someone to
speak prior to his press conferences and fundraisers in Philadelphia,
they chose me. When they wanted someone to represent the independent
candidacy of Nader/Camejo in the Pennsylvania Ballot Access Coalition,
an organization consisting of the leaders of the "minor parties"
organized to change the egregious ballot access laws in Pennsylvania,
they again chose me.
My organizational and leadership
skills coupled with my seniority were put to much greater use in this
capacity than serving in any position as an internal officer in the
official state Green Party organization. I paid those kinds of dues
many years ago when I held several functional vice-presidencies, including
chairman of the board, of a prominent professional association in Philadelphia.
Joshua Frank: Can
you talk a little about what it was like being a Nader supporter in
the Green Party during the 2004 elections?
John Murphy: First of all
you should keep in mind that the entire reason for my joining the Green
Party was that since I voted for Mr. Nader in both 1996 and 2000, I
simply decided that if there were a couple of hundred thousand people
who felt the way I did, at least I ought to join their party.
I had no idea how intimidated
the Greens in leadership positions had become as a result of the scapegoating
efforts of the Democratic Party after the 2000 election. As the 2004
election approached, a lot of the Pennsylvania Greens were saying things
like "we don't want our Democratic friends to hold us responsible
again for Bush's election".
Truthfully I was surprised
by that entire line of thinking because I never felt "responsible"
nor did I hold Mr. Nader "responsible" for Gore's loss in
2000. I had always held the Democrats responsible for that. In any event
there was no way that I could possibly support someone like John Kerry
whose position on the Iraq war, the USA Patriot Act and a dozen or so
other issues were diametrically opposed to the values espoused by the
Green Party. The GPUS as well as the GPPA supported Kerry through his
surrogate candidate David Cobb who told the Greens that it would be
all right to vote for him in states like Texas and Massachusetts where
it didn't matter but they should vote for Kerry everywhere else.
In the meantime the leadership
of the Pennsylvania Green Party had become completely seduced by the
"safe-states" philosophy of David Cobb. I am strained to describe
in polite language how anyone could embrace this philosophy; especially
people I once would have described as courageous. Suffice it to say
that any courage that I once believed existed in the Green Party leadership
was ephemeral.
I could understand how the
Democrats who, in good conscience, thought they were supporting the
antiwar movement through the candidacy of Kucinich or even Dean might
have been flimflammed by the ABB (Anybody But Bush) strategy of the
Democratic Party but I just couldn't believe that my fellow Greens had
gotten sucked into that black hole.
So while I was gathering
signatures for Nader's nominating petitions, the Green Party was working
hand in glove with the Democratic Party whose sole purpose was to subvert
Nader's candidacy by denying him ballot access in Pennsylvania. It's
very spooky to realize that while the Democratic Party challenged every
one of Nader's signatures, not even one of David Cobb's signatures were
challenged by the Democratic Party -- not even for the sake of appearances.
I did not stop simply at
supporting Mr. Nader. I chastised those who came to be known as the
"lesser evil Greens" whenever the opportunity arose. Since
I had a pretty powerful Internet presence, that opportunity arose on
a pretty regular basis.
The events that began to
unfold in Pennsylvania even became more bizarre. The Pennsylvania leadership
eventually passed a resolution condemning the safe-states philosophy.
When I learned of this I immediately thought, well I guess they're finally
going to dump David Cobb. But they did not. In fact they put him on
the ballot in a state where he did not even want any votes!
How could the Pennsylvania
Greens take this action? How could they condemn the safe states gospel
and then actually put its evangelist on the ballot? How could they have
squandered our meager resources in such a way when they were so desperately
needed to support Mr. Nader whose position actually reflected what Greens
like to call their "ten key values"?
When it became clear that
they couldn't even come up with enough volunteers to collect a sufficient
number of signatures for David Cobb the chairman of the Green Party
himself financed a private contractor to collect the balance of the
necessary signatures. What were these people thinking? Clearly the Pennsylvania
Greens didn't want this guy Cobb but the chairman himself paid to have
him put on the ballot!
For some reason I still considered
myself a member of the Green Party but I had become part of an internal
movement called the "GDI" -- Greens for Democracy and Independence
which had developed a series of proposals that would prevent another
bastardization of the democratic process like the Milwaukee convention
where David Cobb who actually had gotten only 12% of the Green Party
votes ended up as the official candidate.
Joshua Frank: I've
heard quite a few stories like yours, and there are purportedly a lot
of things going on within the Green Party; a split between Cobb Greens
and Camejo Greens and even the impeachment of a few Steering Committee
members. Not to open up all those issues here, but can you expand more
on what has recently happened with your campaign for Congress? Was it
more personal than strategic on the part of those who didn't support
you? I'm assuming that the majority of them were, and are, Cobb supporters?
Are the Greens in PA trying to dump the Naderites?
John Murphy: Yes, there was
a failed effort to impeach five members of the steering committee because
they refused to seat a validly elected member of the GDI. It had to
do with two separate results from the IRV voting that took place at
the plenary meeting of the Green Party in Tulsa last July. Two different
programs were used yielding two separate results. But the truth of the
matter is they simply did not want to seat a Naderite!
Joshua Frank: Can
you tell us more about the GDI?
John Murphy: Sure, for all
practical purposes the GDI is composed of former Nader supporters. There
may be one or two repentant Cobbites in the group but the “lesser
evil Greens” want absolutely nothing to do with the GDI members
whom they see as some kind of a radical fringe. There has even been
an incredible amount of red-baiting going on. But you're correct; trying
to delve into this business would take quite some time. To make a long
story short however if the GDI is not ultimately successful in getting
its proposals passed, I find it hard to imagine how the Green Party
will survive after 2008.
The Green Party in Pennsylvania
decided not to nominate me for House of Representatives in the 16th
Congressional District. The reasons leading up to this decision are
truly byzantine.
Joshua Frank: What
is the nominating process like for Greens in Pennsylvania?
John Murphy: In order to
receive the nomination of the PA Green Party you must first have the
endorsement of your local party. Four members of the Chester County
Green Party (my local Green Party) met in secret and decided not to
call the local party into session for a period of six months in order
to avoid the possibility that I might show up with sufficient supporters
to obtain the local party's endorsement. These four former officers
actually admitted this abuse of the democratic process in front of the
chairman of the Pennsylvania Green Party, three officers of the Pennsylvania
Green Party, nine of my supporters along with my wife and children!
There are two ways you can destroy democracy. One way is by preventing
people from voting the other is by preventing worthy candidates from
ever appearing on the ballot. The Green Party of Pennsylvania has chosen
the latter.
When the Chester County Green
Party was forced to have a reorganization meeting on January 30, the
party chairman tried to cut a deal in order to prevent this disgrace
from becoming public. Since they deliberately prohibited the Chester
County Green Party from meeting in order to endorse me, the party chairman
tried to get a motion passed whereby my endorsement would be deferred
to the delegates of the Green Party itself. Although it looked like
these four former officers were going to go along with the deal he was
trying to cut, a few days later one of them went on the listserv of
the Pennsylvania delegates and told them that the Green Party of Chester
County could not recommend me for endorsement. A feeding frenzy followed
whereby the Cobbites trotted out one red herring after another for condemning
my candidacy. At the Green Party convention they would use this as the
linchpin upon which they would hang their refusal to grant me their
nomination.
Tragically, but not unexpectedly,
the Green Party chairman in a monumental act of CYA did not even tell
the delegates what he witnessed at the meeting at the Chester County
Green Party.
I attended the Pennsylvania
state Green Party convention last week (February 25 and 26). It was
a cross between a high school pep rally and a meeting of a religious
cult. Of course not having a beard and ponytail, as I had back in 1967,
made me a bit out of place. Guess I just never recovered form going
“clean for Gene” in ’68.
These folks had decided quite
some time ago that there was no way they were going to allow my nomination.
They even engaged in emotional blackmail. One of the former officers
of Chester County Green Party wrote to the Pennsylvania delegates saying
that if the Pennsylvania Green Party nominated me it would destroy the
Green Party in Chester County and the PA Green Party could forget about
getting any signatures on its nominating petitions in Chester County.
As a matter of fact, I have more volunteers from the Chester County
Green Party in my campaign than have participated in any meeting of
the Chester County Green Party for the past two years. Furthermore,
because I have been endorsed by the Libertarian Party, they have already
arranged to get all the necessary signatures for my nominating petitions!
Now ironically the Green Party candidates will have no signatures on
their petitions from Chester County. In a year when they need 67,000
signatures they have essentially thrown away the 5000 signatures that
my candidacy would have brought them.
If that were not bad enough
one person who constitutes an entire hate group all by himself joined
the GDI listserv some time ago under false pretenses. When the GDI was
considering endorsing me he tried to blackmail them by telling them
that if they gave me their endorsement they could forget all about their
three proposals ever passing in Pennsylvania. You might get away with
that kind of emotional blackmail in Pennsylvania but the GDI would never
buy into something like that and I am pleased to say that I have been
endorsed by the GDI as well as by Peter Camejo. I expect to have the
formal endorsement of Ralph Nader as soon as he returns from Connecticut.
Joshua Frank: So
what is their public rationale for not endorsing you?
John Murphy: The Green Party
here has said they can't have someone like me represent them because
of the way I criticized them for supporting David Cobb. This decision
was not strategic; it was personal. Unfortunately, the GPPA and by extension
the GPUS, has not yet developed the talent for strategic thought. The
Republicans are going to be represented in the 16th Congressional District
by a man who took money from Jack Abramoff and who blames Homer Simpson
for the decline of fatherhood in the United States. This man of course
also supports the war, the Patriot Act and countless other pieces of
legislative atrocities.
The Democratic Party is being
represented by a retired school administrator who believes that terrorists
should be tried by military tribunals instead of civilian courts. She
too believes that the occupation of Iraq should continue and gives her
support to the Patriot Act along with free-trade agreements like NAFTA.
The Democrat does not even support equal rights for gays and lesbians
and she thinks that individual countries must be held responsible for
acts of terrorism committed by their citizens. The implication being
that the United States therefore has the right to invade any such country
anytime it chooses. The Green Party of Pennsylvania, however, will not
allow an antiwar, pro-civil liberties candidate to represent it because
he called them a dirty word two years ago!
Joshua Frank: On
the whole, does this pro-Cobb sect represent the majority of Greens
you know?
John Murphy: Most Greens
are well-meaning environmentalists who see the Green Party as some kind
of a social club where people should sit around and talk about our stinking
air and dirty water but should not sink to the level of electoral politics.
The Pennsylvania Greens, following the GPUS in the 2004 presidential
contest essentially backed off from the whole question of electoral
politics. The Pennsylvania Greens again had an opportunity to back a
strong antiwar/pro-civil liberties candidate for House of Representatives
in the 16th district against the two warmongering candidates, but again
it backed off from that race as well.
If the Green Party ever hopes
to overcome its characterization as being a fringe group full of tree
hugging hippies it’s definitely going to have to stop electing
such politically naïve leaders. The Green Party of Pennsylvania
refused to support a truly antiwar candidate in the 2004 presidential
election deferring to John Kerry through the surrogacy of David Cobb
and now they have decided not to field an antiwar Green candidate to
run against the two pro war candidates for House of Representatives
in the 16th District.
I will be running as an independent
and my ballot line will read "Pennsylvania Populist Party".
As you may recall the Green Party of Maryland refused to endorse Mr.
Nader consequently he started the Maryland Populist Party. I will run
under the Populist banner in honor of Mr. Nader. Fortunately the local
Greens -- the real Greens in Chester County -- will be supporting me.
I will also be endorsed by both the Libertarian Party and the Reform
Party. Although the Pennsylvania Socialist Party had endorsed me, they
had their hands slapped by their own National Committee whose policy
does not permit the endorsement of non-socialists. Nevertheless the
rank-and-file members of the Socialist Party will be providing me "feet
on the street" during my campaign. I have linked my candidacy not
only with Kevin Zeese who is running for Senate in Maryland but to a
network of non-duopoly antiwar candidates that has sprung up all over
the country.
As far as the Green Party
actually trying to get rid of the Naderites; I'm afraid it is really
true. Most of the Nader supporters have become members of the GDI. One
of our proposals requires the complete independence of the Green Party
from the two old parties which of course really means the Democratic
Party. There is a strong element in the leadership of the Green Party
which, in the words of Jody Haug, one of the co-chairs on the National
Steering Committee of the Green Party, "we need to keep our options
open". A large majority of the Green Party's National Committee
refuses to declare its independence from the Democratic Party and wishes
to retain the option of supporting a Democrat either openly or simply
by running no candidate in closely contested elections. Those of us
in the GDI, primarily the Nader supporters, feel that this will spell
the death of the Green Party.
Joshua Frank edits the radical news blog www.BrickBurner.org
and is the author of Left Out! How Liberals Helped Reelect
George W. Bush, published by Common Courage Press (2005). Josh can be
reached at [email protected].