{"article":{"id":114911,"heading":"Peace and Freedom Party picks Peltier for President\/Nader now off CA ballot!","author":"hanging chad","created":"2004-08-03 00:13:45","modified":"2005-08-15 03:00:02","last_modified":"Mon, 15 Aug 2005 10:00:02","article":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><body><p>Peace and Freedom Party picks Peltier for President <br><br> Delegates to the Peace and Freedom Party convention, July 31, selected Native American political prisoner Leonard Peltier as their presidential candidate for 2004. The delegates, meeting in Los Angeles, rejected an impassioned plea from Ralph Nader supporters for his nomination. Nader appeared at the convention a few hours before the vote but was unable to sway a majority of the delegates, many of whom were already committed to Peltier. Nader did finish second in the voting ahead of Walt Brown, who has been nominated by the Socialist Party USA as their presidential candidate. <br><br> The Peace and Freedom Party apparently was the last hope of Nader to get on the California ballot unless a petition drive is successful in qualifying him as an \"independent\" candidate. Democrats have been challenging his efforts to get on the ballot, particularly in certain key ?swing? states. <br><br> Many believe Leonard Peltier was framed for the killing of two FBI agents at Wounded Knee in 1975. A worldwide effort to free Peltier has been endorsed by Bishop Desmond Tutu, Mikail Gorbachov, Madonna, Dustin Hoffman, Bono, the European Parliament and more than 300 other world leaders and celebrities. He has been nominated for this year?s Nobel Peace Prize. Peltier?s running mate is Janice Jordan, a community and Native American rights activist in San Diego. <br><br> Peltier will join the following presidential candidates on the California ballot on Nov. 2: Michael Badnarik (Libertarian), George W. Bush (Republican), David Cobb (Green), John Kerry (Democrat), Michael A. Peroutka (American Independent). <br><br> This is the 250-work statement from Leonard Peltier for placement on the California Secretary of State's website.  <br><br> * * * * * <br>  <br> Luther Standing Bear, a Sioux Chief, stated: ?Out of the Indian <br>  <br> approach to life came a great freedom, an intense and absorbing love <br>  <br> for nature; a respect for life? and principals of truth, honesty, <br>  <br> generosity, equity, and brotherhood as a guard to mundane <br>  <br> relations.?  These values will guide me as president. <br>  <br>   <br>  <br> I am a Native American, deprived of my language, culture, and <br>  <br> traditions; yet, I have survived the genocidal government policies <br>  <br> against Indigenous Peoples.  I will ensure equal rights to liberty, <br>  <br> education, employment, housing, and health care, regardless of race, <br>  <br> ethnicity, gender, religion, or sexual orientation.  I will work <br>  <br> towards conflict resolution without the use of violence and ensure self-determination for all peoples. <br><br> I live with injustice every day.  Caged for over 28 years for a <br>  <br> crime I did not commit, I am a political prisoner wrongfully <br>  <br> convicted by a government that indisputably withheld and fabricated <br>  <br> evidence, as well as coerced witnesses.  No branch of the government <br>  <br> will correct this injustice.  At the root of this injustice are the <br>  <br> oppressive policies of the U.S. government against people of color <br>  <br> and those with dissenting opinions.  I pledge to eliminate such <br>  <br> policies.  I will abolish the federal death penalty and restore the <br>  <br> constitutional protections which ensure justice for all people. <br>  <br> Our environment is the essence of our life, but our government  in <br>  <br> partnership with greedy corporations  haphazardly destroys it for <br>  <br> the monetary benefit of a few.  I will protect our environment to <br>  <br> ensure our survival and the survival of our future generations. <br>  <br> <\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","contact":"","link":"","address":"","phone":"","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","summary":"The July 31st Peace and Freedom Party convention turned its back on Ralph Nader and instead nominated as its presidential candidate, political prisoner Leonard Peltier, who is serving a life sentence for the alleged killing of two FBI agents at Wounded Knee in 1975. ","numcomment":8,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/2004\/08\/leonard.jpg","filesize":"6.0 kibibytes","article_url":"\/news\/2004\/08\/114911.php","image":{"original":"\/uploads\/2004\/08\/leonard.jpg","small":"\/uploads\/2004\/08\/leonard.jpgthumb.jpg"}},"attachments":[],"comments":[{"id":115058,"heading":"it's a shame","article":"unless we on a the anti imperialist, anti capitalist left - whether you're anarchist, socialist, communist, or unaffiliated - can mount a real challenge to the choke hold of the Democrats, Peltier and other political prisoners don't stand a chance.  By not nominating Nader, Peace and Freedom are simply ducking from the fire from ABB liberals.  That's the issue.  Remember that Winona LaDuke was his 2000 running mate, and is the only presidential candidate to ever bring the issue of honoring treaties to a national platform.  The fact that he has been stopped from being on the California ballot says much about the fraud that is our so called democracy.  &quot;you can't spoil a spoil system&quot; is Nader's response to those who've denounced him as a spoiler.\r\n\r\nKerry vs. Bush - whoever wins . . . we lose.\r\n\r\nstill vote Nader 2004","author":"jo","parent_id":114911,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2004-08-06 06:23:00","modified":"2004-08-06 06:23:00","fileurl":""},{"id":115061,"heading":"&quot;still vote Nader 2004&quot;","article":"If Nader won the election would you be content then? Or would you still be here on IMC everyday whining about the terrible government.\r\n\r\nNobody ... I repeat ... nobody of any consequence is voting for Nader. Anyone who does is attempting to participate in a system that never was and is not now.","author":"Black November","parent_id":114911,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2004-08-06 09:23:53","modified":"2004-08-06 09:23:53","fileurl":""},{"id":115063,"heading":"Republicrat for Prez.","article":"Vote  or die.","author":"S&B '04","parent_id":114911,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","created":"2004-08-06 09:51:53","modified":"2005-08-15 03:00:02","fileurl":"\/usr\/local\/www-domains\/la.indymedia.org\/public\/uploads\/2004\/08\/republicrat.jpgmb5ovj.jpg","image":{"original":"\/usr\/local\/www-domains\/la.indymedia.org\/public\/uploads\/2004\/08\/republicrat.jpgmb5ovj.jpg"}},{"id":115064,"heading":"this is for  Black November","article":"'don't  vote'\r\n'a vote for Nader is a vote for Bush'\r\n\r\nRun hide and complain.  But don't vote.","author":"anti-mole","parent_id":114911,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","created":"2004-08-06 11:22:15","modified":"2005-08-15 03:00:02","fileurl":"\/usr\/local\/www-domains\/la.indymedia.org\/public\/uploads\/2004\/08\/s___bones.jpg","image":{"original":"\/usr\/local\/www-domains\/la.indymedia.org\/public\/uploads\/2004\/08\/s___bones.jpg"}}]}