Green Party Rally

Here are some good quotes from the Green Party Rally in St. Paul October 26. 

Trahern Crews, activist with Black Lives Matter and spokesperson for the Fourth Congressional District Green Party: “It’s time to do away with the two-party system in American politics...the Republicans and the Democrats are equally evil, equally corrupt....In cities where you see a lot of Democrat control, you’re going to see a lot of disparities, whether it’s in housing, whether it’s in economics, whether it’s in health, whether it’s police brutality. These are all a cause of pretend progressive policies put forth by the Democrat Party, and the Democrat Party has a stranglehold on people of color, so we have to end that and start convincing people to vote independent and vote for the Green Party.”

Coleen Rowley, former FBI agent, whistleblower, and current peace activist: “I ran for Congress down in our second district back in 2006...when I ran against John Kline, the Republican warmonger...I thought the Democrats were the party of peace that opposed the Republicans...then in 2009 it really dawned on me that they were just changing slightly, tweaking, going from torture and detention, indefinite detention, to drone assassination under Obama. So I’ve been betrayed by these parties big-time....Hillary Clinton...has pledged to initiate a no-fly zone over Syria....General Dunford sat there and said ‘this means war on Syria and war on Russia.’ Russia is another nuclear superpower.”

Brandon Long, Chair of the Green Party of Minnesota: “If we were to get just one percent, it continues our minor party status....If we get five percent, this is the golden number here, we are a major party in Minnesota....What you’re going to hear from the corporate parties, particularly from the Democrats, is that this is a close race. This is in no way a close race. Today I just saw that Clinton is up by eight points. She can afford to lose a few percentage points....So what major party status means for us is that we no longer have to collect signatures just to get on the ballot....These are the kinds of barriers the corporate parties have set up for us.”

Cam Gordon, Minneapolis City Council Member: “I believe that we have an obligation to vote our heart, to vote our values, to vote our conscience, and a vote doesn’t even have to be for a winner. And I’m not pretending that Jill’s even going to win Minnesota. It would be fabulous, she’d definitely be the best president, the best choice. But every time we vote, we’re also making a statement. This is our chance, in the privacy [of the voting booth], whoever we are, we have as much voice as anybody else, however rich and powerful they are...we get to stake out what we believe in, and where we are....And it’s really important that the more votes that go for Green and that go for Jill Stein, the more people are going to see that that stuff’s important.”

YahNe Ndgo, spokesperson for Bernie or Bust movement: “We’re just accepting whatever we get. People are accepting Hillary Clinton just because of Donald Trump. Donald Trump is horrible, but he is not a good enough excuse to ignore how horrible Hillary Clinton is....Nuclear war with Russia over hacking?...She actually said out of her mouth, we consider this hacking to be like a threat we will respond to with military force, and one of the first things I will do as President is to reassess our nuclear reality....I don’t understand how people after knowing that the Clinton campaign intentionally elevated Donald Trump...that they can say he’s a greater evil, how do you know that...[if you allow yourself] to be manipulated into voting for the person who gave you the greater evil?...I’m having a hard time being able to still have compassion for people who know who Hillary Clinton is, and are still using Donald Trump as an excuse to vote for her...’If I was born during the time of the slavery, if I was around during that time, I would have fought.’ I don’t think so. I don’t think so. It doesn’t seem like it, because we’re in that sort of time, and you’re not fighting....And that’s what’s happening right now. People are saying Black lives matter, unless they’re in Haiti. People are saying all lives matter, unless they’re Syrian, unless they’re Libyan, unless they’re Honduran. Like these are things Hillary Clinton had her hands directly in...she was a leading force....All day in my mind, I mean certain people, specific people, I’m like, oh my God, I need to say this to her, and I need to say that, because I can’t understand...I’m screaming in my Facebook chat, I DON’T CARE IF SHE CAN WIN! THAT’S NOT THE POINT! THAT’S NOT THE POINT! I DON’T WANT ANYBODY WHO’S PART OF MY CIRCLE TO BE CASTING THEIR VOTE FOR A MURDERING RACIST!...The point is that Jill stands where I stand. The point is that Jill is like me and that she cares about the lives of the people of Syria...she cares about the lives of the people of Rwanda, she actually does not believe that we need to dominate the whole globe. She wants to free the people of the U.S., and to free us to free the people of the world. THAT’S why I stand with her!”