Breaking: Greens Nominate McKinney for President

An Original Report from Chicago
by Sander Hicks
July 12, 9:10 PM, Chicago, IL

The Green Party of the United States today nominated truth activist and seasoned politician Cynthia McKinney for U.S. President. In her 12 years in Congress, McKinney distinguished herself for questioning Donald Rumsfeld under oath about missing trillions at the Pentagon. She introduced articles of impeachment and asked questions about the 9/11 attacks, in 2002, when such skepticism was not tolerated from public figures.
 

 
McKinney’s story includes many accomplishments as a legislator. She has been the conscience for a misguided nation. But the other half of her story is not what she has done, but what has been done to her. She took the blows of fierce reaction when the political establishment and corporate centrist media attacked her for violating the taboo that demanded silence about 9/11. In 2002, GOP strategists used a special “crossover” strategy to get their voters to vote in the Democratic primary for a fake Democrat substitute for McKinney. She came back in 2004. After introducing articles of impeachment and holding congressional hearings into 9/11, Capitol Police pretended not to recognize her, which sparked a confrontation with a frustrated McKinney. The media claimed she punched a cop. McKinney lost re-election in 2006.

So it was a comeback of another kind today. Greens all over the convention today were fond of quoting Jesse Jackson who said “the Democratic Party is where progressive politics go to die.” In her speech today, McKinney spoke of annually swearing to herself that all the maiming, and bombing of children, and killing of peoples that our government does, is not done in her name. Recently, she decided to make that statement more real.

350 Green delegates from as far away as Hawaii, Montana, and Rhode Island voted today for a choice of four candidates plus a few stray votes for Nader, the ghost in the machine. McKinney was the clear winner. It was a landslide. It was politics at a whole new level. After seven years of struggling to dig up the truth on 9/11, how refreshing is it to hear the biggest third party have a champion asking “what did they know and when did they know it?” in her acceptance speech. This is not a cottage industry of idle speculation. 9/11 is now a national political issue. So is Katrina. So is Pentagon accountability. So is impeachment.

But really the issue for me is McKinney herself. We are lucky in the Green Party that she has come to us. Our first star. Our first media-rich, well-known, well-loved and much-hated, loaded, messianic, prophetic, truth-telling figure. Obama seems wispy when you imagine them side by side for any reason. McKinney has a gravitas. A serious mass to her passion for TRUTH. Truth is in some ways her strongest campaign slogan. It was one of the signs hoisted aloft today as she won. Black background, big white letters, with the campaign logo below. Truth. A people living in darkness have seen a great light. Truth. The movement for truth has been given a candidate. This is the moment I came for.