Protesting Injustice

Dear Mr. President,

Visiting my brother last week, our conversations often turned to the mess this country is in and the hopelessness of politicians to do anything but make it worse. He too feels betrayed by you, promising one thing, doing another. He too is sickened by the wars that do nothing but engender hatred and more violence, the waste of human life and national treasure. “It just seems hopeless” he kept saying. “What kind of a world are we leaving for our kids and grandkids? Will we even have a world anyone can live in?” He’s as disgusted by Democrats and Republicans as I am, but he hasn’t moved beyond the What choice do we have? stage. Yet. “Romney’s even worse than Obama.” That old familiar refrain you’re counting on to get re-elected. I told him I was voting for Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate. “Who’s that?” he asked. “I never heard of her.” So I started talking about her platform, what she calls the Green New Deal and how the political system is set up to guarantee most people will never hear of a third party. The mainstream media won’t cover her, the Presidential debates are rigged so she can’t participate, and even getting on the ballot is a tough state-by-state uphill slog. But Jill Stein is a candidate and a real alternative to the Republicrats’ Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum. She collected enough contributions to qualify for federal campaign financing and she’s already on the ballot in 23 states. While you and Mitt sling mud at each other, Jill Stein discusses the issues facing us: ending the wars, cutting the bloated Pentagon budget, increasing taxes on the rich, investing n green energy—wind, solar, etc.—instead of continuing our disastrous burning of fossil fuels, fighting global warming… everything you and Mitt avoid talking about. This morning I checked the latest news on her: she spent Wednesday night in a Philadelphia jail after being arrested at a sit-in protesting bank foreclosures! When was the last time you were arrested for protesting injustice, Mr. President? Did you ever spend the night in an overcrowded cell with no bed, standing all night long? Imagine the impact that would have—President Obama arrested protesting foreclosures. Imagine the Hope that would engender. My brother’s a skeptic and it takes time for him to accept something or someone this radical. He, like most Americans, thinks all politicians are crooks and liars, so it will take time for him to get comfortable with Jill Stein. But he’s thinking about it.

 Green Party presidential nominee Jill Stein is transported in restraints to be arrested on Wednesday after a sit-in at a downtown Philadelphia bank over housing foreclosures. (Brynn Anderson / AP Photo)