{"article":{"id":114936,"heading":"Peace and Freedom Party picks Leonard Peltier for President","author":"Adam Richmond","created":"2004-08-03 20:41:12","modified":"2013-11-11 00:30:28","last_modified":"Mon, 11 Nov 2013 07:30:28","article":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><body><p>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 &ldquo;swing&rdquo; 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&rsquo;s Nobel  Peace Prize. Peltier&rsquo;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> * * * * * Luther Standing Bear, a Sioux Chief, stated: &ldquo;Out of the Indian   approach to life came a great freedom, an intense and absorbing love   for nature; a respect for life&hellip; and principals of truth, honesty,   generosity, equity, and brotherhood as a guard to mundane   relations.&rdquo;  These values will guide me as president.   I am a Native American, deprived of my language, culture, and   traditions; yet, I have survived the genocidal government policies   against Indigenous Peoples.  I will ensure equal rights to liberty,   education, employment, housing, and health care, regardless of race,   ethnicity, gender, religion, or sexual orientation.  I will work   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   crime I did not commit, I am a political prisoner wrongfully   convicted by a government that indisputably withheld and fabricated   evidence, as well as coerced witnesses.  No branch of the government   will correct this injustice.  At the root of this injustice are the   oppressive policies of the U.S. government against people of color   and those with dissenting opinions.  I pledge to eliminate such   policies.  I will abolish the federal death penalty and restore the   constitutional protections which ensure justice for all people.   Our environment is the essence of our life, but our government  in   partnership with greedy corporations  haphazardly destroys it for   the monetary benefit of a few.  I will protect our environment to   ensure our survival and the survival of our future generations.   * * * * *  <br><br> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.peaceandfreedom2004.org\">http:\/\/www.peaceandfreedom2004.org<\/a> <br>  <br> www.peaceandfreedom.org <br>  <br> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.peaceandfreedom.org\/\">http:\/\/www.peaceandfreedom.org\/<\/a> <br>  <br> <a href=\"http:\/\/la-peaceandfreedom.org\">http:\/\/la-peaceandfreedom.org<\/a> <br><br> Leonard Peltier Defense Committee <br>  <br> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.leonardpeltier.org\/\">http:\/\/www.leonardpeltier.org\/<\/a> <br><br> LeiLani Dowell for Congress <br>  <br> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.workers.org\/Dowell_for_Congress\/\">http:\/\/www.workers.org\/Dowell_for_Congress\/<\/a> <br>  <br> <\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","contact":"","link":"http:\/\/www.peaceandfreedom2004.org","address":"","phone":"","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","summary":"Delegates to the Peace and Freedom Party convention, July 31, selected  Native American political prisoner Leonard Peltier as their  presidential candidate for 2004.","numcomment":4,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/2004\/08\/peltier.jpg","filesize":"3.8 kibibytes","article_url":"\/news\/2004\/08\/114936.php","image":{"original":"\/uploads\/2004\/08\/peltier.jpg","small":"\/uploads\/2004\/08\/peltier.jpgthumb.jpg"}},"attachments":[],"comments":[{"id":114938,"heading":"symbolic but futile","article":"Yes, the FBI was complicit in the murdered and railroaded people at Pine Ridge.  Yes it seems, after reviewing the court record that the courts and the FBI are liars and co conspirators.\r\nThis man needs to be allowed  a new trial in another venue.\r\nBut this political prisoner has a snowflake's chance in hell of being elected.","author":"Sheepdog","parent_id":114936,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2004-08-03 22:20:21","modified":"2004-08-03 22:20:21","fileurl":""},{"id":115005,"heading":"Response to Sheepdog","article":"99% of the folks reading Indymedia who vote are being pressure into into voting for Kerry as a substitute for what they really want and stand for.\r\n\r\nA vote for Leonard Peltier is a vote against the lie that America is the land of democracy and justice.  \r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n","author":"Adam","parent_id":114936,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2004-08-04 20:39:38","modified":"2004-08-04 20:39:38","fileurl":""},{"id":115008,"heading":"don't get me wrong","article":"In a culture where criminals rule and heros languish behind  bars...\r\nMy best hopes for this man.","author":"Sheepdog","parent_id":114936,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2004-08-04 21:29:36","modified":"2004-08-04 21:29:36","fileurl":""}]}