Cindy Sheehan, an an interview yesterday, breaks with Progressive Democrats of American on whose board she sits and re-states her endorsement of Zeese for Senate and other peace candidates. (PDA only endorses Democrats as they are essentially an arm of the Democratic Party and put party before principles.)  Cindy is highly critical of the Democrats to the point of saying that she is looking at starting a new third party that will be "viable and credible" and not ruled by the "corporate elite." 

Cindy's endorsement is particularly important in Maryland where Mike Hersh, the leader of Progressive Democrats of Maryland, has been on a Cardin crusade -- misstating Cardin's record by closing his eyes to Cardin's record of voting $320 billion for the war, opposing exit strategy amendments, supporting stay the course resolutions and voting for the Patriot Act as well as many other corporate-friendly pieces of legislation. See HYPERLINK "http://kevinzeese.com/content/view/205/5/" http://kevinzeese.com/content/view/205/5/ for Cardin's record.  Cardin has also refused to take the bombing of Iran off the table and is an ardent supporter of Israel no matter what they do.  The Jewish peace group, Jewish Voice for Peace gives Cardin a failing grade of 40%. Rather than allying with the peace movement in the Jewish community, Cardin allies with the hawks and is one of the top recipients of Israeli lobby money. Indeed, when one looks at Cardin's funding sources he fits exactly what Cindy is concerned about -- politicians who are funded by the corporate elite and have a history of doing their bidding in Congress. (Michael Steele is also wrong on these issues. For his record see  HYPERLINK "http://kevinzeese.com/content/view/207/5/" http://kevinzeese.com/content/view/207/5/.)

My hope is that peace advocates will vote peace -- if they do there is only one choice in Maryland. Further, voters that see that the broader issue of the day is corporate control of government will vote for the only candidate that is not taking money from the big business special interests.  We can change the direction of this country -- and it can begin in Maryland on November 7 if people vote for what they want and are not manipulated by the two party trap of voting for what you don't want. As Cindy says "Instead of voting for the 'lesser of two evils' we should be voting for a candidate that reflects our 'beatitudes' and not the war machine's."

If people want a copy of the DVD of the debate we held at the Urban League we have high quality copies available (better than the one on the web, this one has four camera angles rather than one).  Please get one and invite all of your neighbors over to watch it.  This was a historic debate for Maryland with three candidates sharing the stage -- this has never happened before in a statewide election in Maryland.  We will be having a televised debate on October 25th.  It will be on News Channel 8 as well as on Maryland Public Television. Spread the word so voters can really see their choices by comparing the three candidates as they stand together and exchange ideas.

Kevin

An Interview with Cindy Sheehan by Joshua Frank (repost and link) Saturday Oct 21st, 2006 10:14 PM

Cindy Sheehan responds to Joshua Frank's questions about her cooperation with the PDA (Progressive Democrats of America) and her future political plans.

An Interview with Cindy Sheehan
Independent Politics and the Antiwar Movement

Joshua Frank: Cindy, we are in the armpit of another election season and it seems that the mainstream antiwar movement is rallying behind the Democrats once again, hoping if the Dems can just recapture the House that the Republicans will finally be held accountable for all their horrible faults. Impeachment will follow and the war will end. What do you think? Where do you stand on all of this?

Cindy Sheehan: I hold very little hope that, due to the utter corruption of our electoral system, and the Republican reign of terror and fear against the American public, the Democrats will even take back one or more Houses of Congress.

Even if the Democrats take back the lower House, the potential Speaker, Nancy Pelosi (D-Ca) has already said that impeachment would not be “in the cards.” Rep. John Conyers (D-Mi) has also backed off of impeachment rhetoric. Since Bush has said over and over again that the troops aren't coming home while he is president, it is up to us to make sure that his presidency is cut short.

We all know that the Vietnam War ended when Congress cut its funding. There is a bill that has been sponsored by Rep. Jim McGovern, (D-Ma) HR4232 that cuts funding to leave our troops in Iraq, but he has very little support and even a smaller chance of getting it to the floor for a vote. I believe that most representatives don't support the bill because they will be accused of "not supporting the troops." I believe that it is not supporting the troops to leave them in that nightmare.

Although I admire the Democrats on many issues, when it comes to war and peace, most get their pockets lined by the same corporate interests. No matter which party has control of Congress come November, we the people have to keep the pressure up to stop the current course our country is taking.

Frank: You are currently serving on the Board of Directors for the Progressive Democrats of America, a pro-Democrat organization that calls for reform of the Democratic Party from within. The PDA consistently ignores progressive antiwar alternatives to the Democrats. Do you think that such a position could actually hurt the antiwar movement? Should we instead be supporting antiwar candidates who want to hold both parties accountable?

Sheehan: I think that the PDA endorses candidates based on their entire platforms. Of course, I only care about candidate's record on the war and what they say about peace. I prefer to call our movement a "peace" movement, because "antiwar" is too narrow.

I think it would be great if we didn't need a PDA, if all Democrats were progressive peace candidates, but we know they are not.

I would vote for a Republican if they were calling for the withdrawal of troops and for impeachment, and I definitely think a viable third party could rein in the "two" parties we have now

. We will never have a viable third party, though, as long as we vote out of fear and not out of integrity. Instead of voting for the "lesser of two evils" we should be voting for a candidate that reflects our "beatitudes" and not the war machine's.

Frank: The PDA may endorse candidates based on their entire platform, but they still won't support antiwar candidates that are not Democrats -- and they’ve received a fair amount of criticism for that position. Do you think that such a policy may be a problem for those who want to build an independent antiwar movement that seeks to challenge both parties?

Sheehan: Yes, well the group is called Progressive Democrats of America. They have had no problem with me endorsing third party candidates. I completely support a viable third party. I don't know if PDA's position is holding up an independent antiwar party as much as the mainstream Republican and Democrats are.

I think reform of the Democratic Party could only reinforce antiwar efforts and all progressive causes in general.

I don't think the PDA is hurting the antiwar movement because I don't think they have enough consolidated power to affect it one-way or the other.

Frank: It seems to me that working to reform the Democratic Party, like the PDA is, sidelines other issues, most importantly right now, the war effort. I guess you don’t agree?

Sheehan: I think it will take all of us working for all kinds of issues; the PDA can focus on their piece. I will continue to focus on mine just like you will continue to focus on yours.

Frank: Who are the peace candidates you are supporting this year?

Sheehan: So far I have supported three who ended up losing in the primaries: Marcy Winograd, Jonathan Tasisni and Christine Cegelis -- all of whom are Democrats, first two up against pro-war incumbents. I have also supported Jeanne Cricenzo, a Democrat, Malachy McCourt for Governor of New York who is a Green and Michael Berg and Todd Chretien, both of whom are Greens. Kevin Zeese of Maryland who is an independent candidate. And most recently I told Howie Hawkins, who is running against Hillary Clinton in New York as a Green, that I would support his antiwar campaign.

Frank: I've heard a rumor that you may be looking to start your own third party. Is that true?

Sheehan: Yes, it is true. I think that to save our democracy our country needs a viable and credible third party. This nation was founded on rule by a few rich white males, and for all intents and purposes, we are still ruled by a corporate elite.

We need a third party that will represent all the people, not just the wealthy. http://brickburner.blogs.com/my_weblog/200..

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