Arizona Green Party Now Has Over 5,000 Members; Unclear How Many Regarded as "Sham" Members by Party Leaders

According to Green Party Watch, The Arizona Green Party has increased party registration to over 5,000 voters, including the growing number of Pinal County Greens. As the Arizona Green Party notes, this is an increase of almost 500 Greens since last August, so it appears that the party was greatly helped by the large number of candidates it ran for office in 2010, including those it unsuccessfully sued and tried to remove from the ballot as "sham" candidates.

From the Arizona Green Party's press release:

2010 marked the 20 year anniversary of the Arizona Green Party and they look forward to broadening their base by educating voters on their progressive positions on local and national issues. “Most people have this notion that a stereotypical Green Party member is this hippie tree-hugging environmentalist, and that isn’t always the case,” says Luisa Evonne Valdez, who was recently elected as AZGP Co-Chair this month. “What people don’t see enough of is the social justice and economic reform that the Green Party fights for. We focus on 10 Key Values that encompass a wide variety of issues. We believe in Single-Payer Health Care for all, we have been against SB1070 from the beginning, we believe in Marriage Equality and Equal Rights/Protections for our LGBTQ communities, we want to Close Corporate Tax Loopholes, fight for fiscal responsibility and a balanced budget that is based on fair taxation and not dependent on sales tax or through slashing funding for our most vulnerable populations. We support conservation of our land and resources, protecting our parks and wildlife, as well issues like strengthening our middle class and increasing green jobs in Arizona through clean energy. The more we can create awareness for the diverse and all-encompassing issues we strive to achieve, the more people will understand that being Green is more than just hugging trees, it is about restoring civility and humanity through compassion and common sense.”

Pinal County Greens totally support Luisa's statement. Congratulations to all of us in the Arizona Green Party for this accomplishment.

Pinal County Greens Support Egyptian Green Party and the Egyptian People

Apache Junction, Ariz., Jan. 29, 2011
Yesterday the Pinal County Greens, members of the Arizona Green Party in Pinal County, passed a resolution supporting the Egyptian Green Party الخضر..المستقبل..جريدة الوطن
and the struggle of the Egyptian people. We are reprinting this from Another Green World:

URGENT MESSAGE FROM EGYPT: (re-post if you can)

To all the people of world:

The people in Egypt are under governmental siege. Mubarak regime is banning Facebook, Twitter, and all other popular internet sites Now, the internet are completely blocked in Egypt. Tomorrow the government will block the 3 mobile phone network will be completely blocked. And there is news that even the phone landlines will be cut tomorrow, to prevent any news agency from following what will happen.

Suez city is already under siege now. The government cut the water supply and electricity, people, including, children and elderly are suffering there now. The patients in hospitals cannot get urgent medical care. The injured protesters are lying in the streets and the riot police are preventing people from helping them. The families of the killed protesters cannot get the bodies of their sons to bury them. This picture is the same in north Saini (El-Sheikh zoyad city) and in western Egypt (Al-salom). The riot police is cracking down on protesters in Ismailia, Alexandria, Fayoum, Shbin Elkoum, and Cairo, the capital, in many neighborhoods across the city.

The government is preparing to crackdown on the protesters in all Egyptian cities. They are using tear gas bombs, rubber and plastic pullets, chemicals like dilutes mustard gas against protesters. Several protesters today have been killed when the armored vehicles of the riot police hit them. Officials in plain clothes carrying blades and knives used to intimidate protesters. Thugs deployed by the Egyptian Ministry of Interior are roaming the streets of Cairo, setting fire on car-wheels as means of black propaganda to demonize protesters and justify police beatings and state torture.

All this has been taken place over the past three days during the peaceful demonstrations in Cairo and other cities. Now, with the suspicious silence of the local media and the lack of coverage from the international media, Mubarak and his gang are blocking all the channels that can tell the world about what is happening.

People who call for their freedom need your support and help. Will you give them a hand?

The activists are flooding the net (youtube and other sites) with thousands of pictures and videos showing the riot police firing on armless people. The police started to use ammunition against protesters. 15-year old girl has been injured and another 25 year old man has been shot in the mouth. While nothing of these has appeared in the media, there is more to happen tomorrow. Will you keep silent? Will you keep your mouth shut while seeing all these cruelty and inhumane actions?

We don’t ask for much, just broadcast what is happening

Written by: Mariam Hussien

Also, check out the solidarity statement at Green Eve. Thanks from the Pinal County Greens.

Pinal County Greens Call for Ouster of Belarus Strongman Lukashenko, Replacement by Puppet Government Headed by Kermit the Frog

Apache Junction, Ariz., Jan. 15 -

The Pinal County Greens have passed a resolution calling on German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk to overthrow the repressive Lukashenko regime in Belarus and replace it with a puppet government headed by Kermit the Frog.

At their monthly meeting yesterday, the Pinal County Greens, a group of Arizona Green Party members in Pinal County, voted unanimously for the resolution. Richard Grayson, chair of the Pinal County Greens, said his family roots go back to Minsk, and that the party members didn't take this step lightly.

"We understand that is a difficult way to replace a brutal, controlling regime," Grayson said. "But as Kermit the Frog has said, 'It ain't easy being green.' Гэта не лёгка быць зялёным."

The Pinal County Greens' resolution also demanded the immediate release of over 20 political prisoners held in the remand cells of the KGB in Minsk, an investigation of the brutal beating of the opposition’s rally in Minsk on December 19,

an end to the repression of independent media in Belarus, and following the takeover by the interim puppet government headed by Kermit the Frog and his cabinet (including Lamb Chop, Topo Gigio and Triumph the Insult Comic Dog), the holding of free and fair presidential and parliamentary elections in Belarus.

As Marie-Luise Beck, Green Party member of the Bundestag from Bremen, said last week, we "must support the Belarusians in their legitimate quest for democratic change and the European future of the country, so that Belarusians could avoid being hostages of the dictator and his isolation policy."

Pinal County Greens Vote to Contribute $100 for Penis Enlargement Surgery for Gun Owners of America Director of Communications Erich Pratt

Apache Junction, Ariz., Jan. 14, 2011 -
At their monthly meeting today, the Pinal County Greens, an official group of members of the Arizona Green Party in Pinal County, voted unanimously to donate $100 to help Gun Owners of America Director of Communications Erich Pratt get surgery to enlarge his penis.

In the wake of the tragedy in Tucson, Mr. Pratt today told the New York Times:

These politicians need to remember that these [gun] rights aren't given to us by then. They come from God. They are God-given rights. They cant be infringed or limited in any way. What are they going to do: limit it to two or three rounds? Having lots of ammunition is critical...

Mr. Pratt had previously said:

If our government chooses to violate our unalienable rights; if our government chooses to pass unjust laws, contrary to the consent of the governed; if our government chooses to take despotic actions that reduce us to servitude of the government, or some political agenda – then we have a right and a duty according to the Declaration of Independence to throw off such Government.

With the hope that appropriate medical treatment will help Mr. Pratt recover, the Pinal County Greens voted to donate $100 to the fund established for the communications director for Gun Owners of America.

Tragedy in Tucson

The Arizona Green Party continues to advocate for non-violence after tragedy in Tucson


ARIZONA – The Arizona Green Party is both saddened and outraged in response to the acts of domestic terrorism that plagued not only the City of Tucson this weekend, but our whole nation. Our hearts go out to Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords as well as all the victims and their families, friends, and communities affected by this senseless tragedy. Our sincerest condolences to those lives that were lost devastatingly on Saturday and we hope for a speedy recovery to those beginning their healing process.

Nonviolence is one of The Ten Key Values of the Green Party. We promote non-violent methods to oppose practices and policies with which we disagree, and will guide our actions toward lasting personal, community and global peace. Peace is not just the absence of violence; it is a willingness to resolve conflict in a constructive manner with a spirit of good will and respect.

Violence is never an answer. We, the Arizona Green Party, will continue to advocate for peace and non-violence in the wake of this tragedy in Tucson and everyday that bloodshed and brutality are replacements for compassionate dialogue and diplomatic action.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
DATE: January 10, 2010


Marcus Bellamy, AZGP Media Outreach Coordinator, (602) 703-6243, trotmium@hotmail.com

Angel Torres, AZGP Co-Chair, (623) 202-3747, info@azgp.org

Luisa Evonne Valdez, AZGP Co-Chair, 602-413-3182, lehallvaldez@gmail.com

Celeste Castorena, AZGP at-large member, (602) 430-9714 (bilingual media contact)

Pinal County Greens Welcome Brisol Palin to Pinal County, Urge Her to Register to Vote as Member of Arizona Green Party

The Pinal County Greens yesterday released the following statement from its chair, Richard Grayson:

We warmly welcome Bristol Palin to Pinal County and wish her much happiness in her new home in the booming city of Maricopa and much success in her academic and business endeavors. We urge Ms. Palin to register to vote as a member of the Arizona Green Party and join the Pinal County Greens in its important work.

Grayson noted that "Palin" is an anagram for "Pinal" but not a palindrome.

The Pinal County Greens are members of the Arizona Green Party in Pinal County. The group's chair, Richard Grayson, received 3,407 votes in this year's election as the Green Party candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives from Arizona's Sixth Congressional District.

Reflections on the Election of 2010 and the Arizona Green Party

Richard Grayson, the candidate for Congress from Apache Junction and a member of Pinal Greens and the Arizona Green Party, posted this on his blog earlier today:

It's now several weeks after the November 2 election. Even the closest races have been or will be decided soon, and we thought we'd give -- for ourselves, if no one else (like our entire campaign) -- some reflections on it.

Today's Arizona election results update shows that we got 3,407 votes in the Sixth Congressional District. (Sincere thanks to all the folks who voted for us.) That's more than the other two on-the-ballot Green candidates for Congress, the ones who were "endorsed" by the Arizona Green Party, not pointedly sued in federal and state court to keep us off the ballot like we were. Of course, we got 1.36% of the vote, and Leonard Clark in the Third District got 1.58% (3,298 votes) and Rebecca DeWitt in the Fourth District got 2.57% (2,365 votes). The Arizona Green Party also endorsed William Crum in the Second Congressional District, but he ran as a write-in (apparently the AZGP's antipathy to write-in candidacies extends only to those candidates they don't like anyway) and there are just 290 write-in votes (just 0.11%, some no doubt for Mickey Mouse or Lady Gaga).

Our 1.36% share of the vote in the Sixth Congressional District is about what the "endorsed" U.S. Senate candidate, Jerry Joslyn got: 1.44% statewide. For someone who ran a "serious" campaign and who appeared on TV debates, that was a pathetic showing. In the state Treasurer's race, Thomas Meadows achieved 2.58% of the vote, beating the pants off Joslyn in a similar four-way race. Compared to Joslyn's 24,603 votes, Thomas Meadows managed to garner 46,115 votes, making him the Arizona Green Party's top vote-getter along with the Arizona Green Party's champ of 2010, 20-year-old Benjamin Pearcy, who got 47,121 votes running for one of two open seats on the Corporation Commission. Go Benjamin! Not bad for a 20-year-old kid who lives on Mill Avenue (near the Starbucks that was his campaign HQ) and who couldn't testify at the federal trial when the Arizona Green Party tried to kick all of us non-endorsed candidates off the ballot because he was in jail at the time.

Indeed, if Pearcy or Meadows -- who's 27 and was described as "a tarot card reader with less than a dollar to his name" in the New York Times article about Republican Steve May recruiting Mill Avenue street people to run write-in candidacies in the Arizona Green Party primary -- had been the Arizona Green Party's gubernatorial candidate and had gotten 3,000-4,000 more votes, the party would have achieved the magic number of 50,000 votes to make its place on the ballot secure for the next four years (as state Green Parties did in New York, Massachusetts and Texas), without having to get petitions again in 2012 or being subject to the law that made the party vulnerable to write-in candidates winning primaries with a literal handful of votes (we won with six votes).

The non-endorsed Arizona Green Party candidate for governor, Larry Gist -- who petitioned his way onto the ballot -- had the worst percentage showing of any party candidate, endorsed or not -- with a truly bad 0.93% of the vote: 16,128 votes (again, remember that Meadows got 30,000 votes more than he did although they both ran in four-way statewide races).

Another supposedly "sham" candidate, Theodore Gomez, got 42,645 votes running for the other seat on the Corporation Commission. If the good results (at least by Arizona Green Party 2010 election standards) for the candidates supposedly recruited by the Republican Party to siphon off votes for Democrats don't gall the bosses of the Arizona Green Party, you can blame it on their trademark stupidity.

Suing the ballot-qualified candidates in federal court and then in state court -- a miserable failure both times -- was the perhaps the height of the Arizona Green Party's stupidity in this election. It will be their major contribution to the 2010 election and only solidified the public image of the Arizona Green Party as a laughingstock in the minds of both conservative and liberal Arizonans.

And it was needless. The Arizona Green Party is very touchy about not "endorsing" Democratic candidates even in races where there is no Green candidate, but they didn't hesitate in letting the Arizona Democratic Party pay for their lawsuits. Nor did they care about employing aggressive and untruthful tactics (the federal complaint contained numerous lies and errors, and in court the Democratic Party's hired lawyers said the Arizona Green Party didn't want to be associated with us because of a swastika on our blog here, completely ignoring the obvious context in which we were protesting the Nazi-like SB 1070).

Indeed, as Leonard Clark, an endorsed candidate for Congress, said in disgust, the lawsuits had the effect of showing the Arizona Green Party disregarding several of its Ten Key Values (Grassroots Democracy, Social Equality, Decentralization), the party's credo that we explicitly swore (and still affirm) our allegiance to many times -- though that wasn't good enough for the poohbahs of the Arizona Green Party to consider us anything more than a "sham" candidate.

We never understood the Arizona Green Party and Democratic Party contending that the "sham" candidates would siphon off votes and allow the Republicans to win some races they otherwise wouldn't. The laughable logical conclusion of this argument seemed to be that they expected the "sham" (non-endorsed) candidates would actually do better than the "real" (endorsed) candidates in garnering votes! If any Green candidate would take votes that would otherwise go to Democrats, why did it matter if she was endorsed by the party or not?

The AZGP bosses don't seem to understand that a political party on the ballot isn't a club; it's a party. It uses the state to hold its primaries. Anyone can join at any time. The Secretary of State or local elections officials have no business asking any Arizonan why she is choosing to register as a member of a political party or if she is a "sincere" or "genuine" member of that party. Thank God in America we don't have to uphold loyalty oaths to political parties.

Secretary of State Ken Bennett was right when he said he had no choice but to uphold the candidacies of people who, like us -- or Benjamin Pearcy, Thomas Meadows or Theodore Gomez -- who upheld the letter of the law and got their paperwork in without anything being wrong with it. If you don't like it, Arizona Green Party bosses, then you're fools for working so hard to get on the ballot. You can't guarantee that the candidates you disfavor will not win your primaries; just ask the Republican party leaders in Delaware, Nevada and Alaska.

The Democratic Party also were hypocrites in the so-called "Siphongate" brouhaha. It's clear that Arizona Democrats were complicit in covertly supporting Libertarian candidacies among conservative voters, just as Democrats in other states got fake "Tea Party" candidates on the ballots to siphon off votes for Republicans.

Meanwhile, challenging the non-endorsed Arizona Green Party candidates was moot, given that there's not one race in the entire state where any Green Party candidate, endorsed or not, made a difference in who won an election. The margin of victory for every Republican who won was greater -- usually much greater -- than the percentage of the vote garnered by any Arizona Green Party candidate.

Indeed, in the race where a third-party mattered most, Democratic Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords' successful race for re-election in the Eighth Congressional Distict, the 3.93% of the vote for the Libertarian candidate was twice the size of Giffords' 1.46% margin of victory. There was no Green candidate, and if there had no Libertarian candidate, the Republicans probably would have picked up their third Democratic U.S. House seat.

It appears that none of the endorsed Arizona Green Party candidates for the state legislature ran in any district that was not reliably Republican or Democratic. Linda Macias, who we (as a member of the Pinal County Greens) endorsed for State Representative in District 21, got a really impressive 17.15% of the vote, but she ran in a race with two Republicans and no Democrats or other candidates.

We were not impressed, as we said, in our meeting by phone conference with the Arizona Green Party. If we were so abhorrent to them, why did they allow us to vote on endorsing other candidates for Congress and the state legislature? Why did they invite us to join their Yahoo Group for Arizona Green Party candidates?

What surprised us was the low level of educational attainment among the Arizona Green Party leaders. But of course, in Arizona, there's a much lower percentage of college graduates than in most states, so that's kind of understandable. But the stupidity of some of their questions and remarks floored us. Some of them didn't seem to understand that members of Congress serve in Washington, D.C. and not Phoenix or were not subject to the state Clean Elections laws. They seemed ignorant about electoral history and few seemed actually to have taken part in campaigns despite being around for a while. Perhaps it was more naïveté or ignorance than stupidity, but these were the leaders of the Arizona Green Party.

Anyway, we wonder what their contribution to the election of 2010 was. Arizona Green Party bosses seem content with their little fiefdom -- one gets the impression that these are people who are content to be big machers in a little world rather than foot soldiers in the Democratic party.

Of course we would be hypocrites if we didn't understand that. Nobody runs for Congress or the state legislature or anything else without being somewhat of an egotist. It's just that egotists are helped if they're also a little savvy.

And so, since we still adhere to the principles of the Arizona Green Party's Ten Key Values -- like transparency, which is why we posted the memo by Claudia Ellquist that so pissed off the party bosses -- even if they don't, we've decided to remain a registered voter in the Arizona Green Party.

And just to piss them off and give them advance notice of 20 months, we are today announcing that we will be a candidate for the Arizona Green Party nomination for Congress in the 2012 primary. That is, if they can do the work to make sure we're on the ballot again. All we need is one write-in vote to win! And our name's easier to spell than "Murkowski."

* * *

(We're posting the Arizona Green Party logo on top of this post because it concerns the Arizona Green Party. Previously the party bosses complained to Google's Blogger service about us using the logo without permission and so we removed it from our website even though all Pinal County Greens are members of the Arizona Green Party, and we put up the logo of Canada's Green Party, who are a little less inclined toward censorship than the Arizona Green Party, for all their talk about supporting the Ten Key Values. Apparently the Arizona Green Party doesn't believe in the "fair use" provision of U.S. copyright law and so we await their next legal move, as they apparently have nothing better to do.)