The Re Collection

Ken Sain, partly due to the prominence of his blog in the Green world and partly due to his experience as a professional journalist, has taken the lead in trying to fairly present the two strains in the Green Party today, and work to bring them together.

After hearing a report from a meeting of his own local, the DC Statehood Party, which he could not attend, he has again issued a call for mediation and cooperation.

This is the most concise and even-handed statement on the matter I’ve seen. I completely agree with Ken and I hope that GDI will not continue its hardline and antagonistic stance on the matter. To do so would serve to confirm the worst suspicions of those who think that the GDI leaders might not have the best interests of the Green Party at heart.

Digby noted on Friday (during my news blackout while attending the annual Greens meeting) that not one Democratic member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee showed up for the hearing to review the confirmation of Karen Hughes to handle public relations for the State Department.

As usual, the Democrats have their heads up their asses at exactly the wrong moment, and miss a golden opportunity to actually communicate something substantial to the American public.

The absence of the Democrats is even more glaring considering just today the New York Times reported that Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald called Karen Hughes before the grand jury to testify as to her involvement in the leak-case. Of course, this begs the obvious question: Karen Hughes, did you have a role in leaking the name of an undercover CIA agent?

And, also as usual, the online/grassroots are doing all the heavy lifting. I am continually amazed at how much frustration, neglect and abuse progressive Democrats can take.

Think Progress has a list of questions the Democrats might have asked if they could have gotten it up to attend the meeting. I assume they were too busy with their preparations to lionize John Roberts and didn’t have the time.

Digby, despite his (?) great insight and wicked-good rants, is one of those ever-faithful-against-all-reason Democrats. I just don’t know what it will take for those folks to see the light.

As for Paul S. Sarbanes (MD), Christopher J. Dodd (CT), John F. Kerry (MA), Russell D. Feingold (WI), Barbara Boxer (CA), Bill Nelson (FL), and Barack Obama (IL), I hope they enjoyed their Friday afternoon.

By the way, did I mention that on Friday, I was in Tulsa at the Green Party annual meeting?

I’m about to leave for Tulsa, for the national Greens meeting. Looking forward to talking with attendees from around the country, as well as other Okie Greens. I still don’t know where I’ll be sleeping, but going on faith that something will materialize.

Oklahoma’s red flag waves again, thanks to my friends and OK Greens co-conspirators, Rachel Jackson and James Branum. They have developed and are selling t-shirts (maybe later other products?) that are based on the now-banned agrarian-socialist flag that symbolized the state from 1911 to 1924.

As I told James, I think the forbidden nature of this shirt is its biggest marketing angle. The law against it is stupid. I would like to see a huge group of folks wearing the flag-shirts descend on the Capitol for a press conference and rally.

If you’d like to get a shirt, you can order through the web site, www.redflagpress.com (or jmbzine.com/redflagpress if that doesn’t work). A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Green Party of Oklahoma.

The Green Party issued a stinging rebuke of the Dems over the horrible bankruptcy bill passed and signed this week.

“72 Democrats handed President Bush, the Republicans, and corporate America a victory last week, proving that Americans have only one party for working people — the Green Party,” said Peggy Lewis, co-chair of the Green Party of the United States.

Today’s statement, Dems Sell Out on Bankruptcy, was instigated by fellow Okie Green, JMB.