CINCINNATI (TDB) -- The president of Cincinnati's NAACP branch, Christopher Smitherman, is vowing to drink water and live without food in a civil rights protest. Smitherman plans to continue the hunger strike until a Hamilton County Jail inmate held since Sept. 14 receives a trial. Marc Frison, the inmate, is a martial arts instructor arrested after a short-bladed knife was discovered in his backpack. Frison was stopped at a Hamilton County Courthouse metal detector while entering the building for a traffic court date. Smitherman contends the $100,000 bond set on Frison is excessive and says it was set only to punish a black man who aggressively questioned authorities. Prosecutors have described Frison as belligerent after his knife was found at the security checkpoint.
The NAACP chief, a former Cincinnati City Council member, announced the hunger strike started today. He characterized it as a move to show that blacks are treated unfairly by the criminal justice system in Ohio and the story was quickly picked up by the local news media. Information about the Cincinnati NAACP branch is here.
Showing posts with label Chris Smitherman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chris Smitherman. Show all posts
Thursday, November 08, 2007
Monday, July 30, 2007
How Pure Are Ohio's Greens? Next Door In Pa. It's Been The Green-O-P
CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Cincinnati NAACP president Chris Smitherman has stirred up a firestorm with his plans to run for a City Council seat on the Green Party ticket. All of the debate has focused on whether or not he has a conflict with the NAACP, which tends to discourage local chapter leaders from running for elective offices.
But there has not been much aired about efforts in Pennsylvania to use the Green Party as a front. There have been hijack attempts by Republicans, a tactic designed to siphon progressive votes away from Democrats. Some Greens clearly are concerned that anybody who shows up is welcome. And they are not exactly enthused about poseurs financing and entering their party. Last year, there was an uproar when a when the Green Party's U.S. Senate candidate in the contest involving Rick Santorum's reelection bid wound up being funded by Santorum's backers. Nearly all the money for Green Party nominee Carl Romanelli came from GOP sources -- almost turning it into the Green-Old-Party.
This month, another GOP official in Pennsylvania briefly declared himself a Green. Again, it looked like a strategic move rather than a true political conversion.
Some Greens have argued that their party is the victim of both the major parties. However, they also contend the party has opened itself to abuse by outside political operatives and people who just show up and declare themselves true-blue Greens.
"Part of the reason for its bad decision is that the GP or PA is part of the GPUS. GPUS models itself on the corporate parties by refusing to have a defined membership. Since it does not base itself on a dues paid membership, GPUS must look to other sources . . .
"Not all Green Party activists accept the corporate structure of GPUS and the GP of PA. The original Green Party, the GPUSA, is based on a dues-paying membership. It is this defined membership, not anyone who shows up, who makes policy, including what money to accept and from where. GPUSA has never knowingly accepted money."
But there has not been much aired about efforts in Pennsylvania to use the Green Party as a front. There have been hijack attempts by Republicans, a tactic designed to siphon progressive votes away from Democrats. Some Greens clearly are concerned that anybody who shows up is welcome. And they are not exactly enthused about poseurs financing and entering their party. Last year, there was an uproar when a when the Green Party's U.S. Senate candidate in the contest involving Rick Santorum's reelection bid wound up being funded by Santorum's backers. Nearly all the money for Green Party nominee Carl Romanelli came from GOP sources -- almost turning it into the Green-Old-Party.
This month, another GOP official in Pennsylvania briefly declared himself a Green. Again, it looked like a strategic move rather than a true political conversion.
Some Greens have argued that their party is the victim of both the major parties. However, they also contend the party has opened itself to abuse by outside political operatives and people who just show up and declare themselves true-blue Greens.
"Part of the reason for its bad decision is that the GP or PA is part of the GPUS. GPUS models itself on the corporate parties by refusing to have a defined membership. Since it does not base itself on a dues paid membership, GPUS must look to other sources . . .
"Not all Green Party activists accept the corporate structure of GPUS and the GP of PA. The original Green Party, the GPUSA, is based on a dues-paying membership. It is this defined membership, not anyone who shows up, who makes policy, including what money to accept and from where. GPUSA has never knowingly accepted money."
Monday, July 02, 2007
Cincy Dems To Blast Green Party: Gets Blame For W's Election
CINCINNATI (TDB) -- The Green Party has recruited Cincinnati NAACP president Chris Smitherman as a City Council candidate, and some Democrats already see it as a partnership that is going nowhere. They say the Greens --- who ran Ralph Nader for president in 2000 -- helped put President Bush and Dick Cheney in office by siphoning votes away from Al Gore in Florida.
They think they can pin some responsibility for the Bush years, a presidency that is held in low esteem, on the Greens. It could be a tactic that has some impact. The Bush-Cheney legacy is beginning to look toxic, particularly in urban areas, and the Dems can blame the Greens for the misery caused by an abuse of executive privilege.
UPDATE: This just arrived from a Dem source who notes it is the kind of evidence available to make the case Nader and the Green Party cost Gore the White House.
Local Green Party spokesman Josh Krekeler was indirectly quoted in today's Cincinnati Enquirer saying that Smitherman is the party's most viable local candidate ever. Smitherman served a two-year City Council term, but was defeated for reelection in November 2005. He was a member of the Charter Party then. The Charter Party is a Cincinnati-based political organization that has been active in city politics since the 1920s. It is not aligned with Republicans or Democrats, and declares itself to be an independent group.
The 2000 presidential election still rankles. Gore won the popular vote, but a 5-4 Supreme Court ruling, with a conservative bloc of justices backing Bush, settled a dispute over Florida's electoral votes and handed the Republican the presidency. The conventional wisdom about Florida holds that Nader
's Green Party candidacy took votes from Gore, thus giving America Bush, the Iraq War, and a host of other policies that have harmed the middle and lower classes.
While the conventional wisdom is open to debate, there is no question the Greens and Nader remain close to this day. He's scheduled to address a Green Party conclave in Pennsylvania later this month, and will talk about ballot access -- the difficult legal barriers candidates outside the two main political parties have to surmount to secure spots on the ballot.
The national Green Party's political reform agenda speaks about the the "power of civic action" as an antidote to corporate control over the nation's law-making and regulatory agencies. The agenda is worth reading. Interestingly, the Greens want to abolish the Electoral College, and favor direct election of the president. That means they want to scrap the system that put Bush in power.
They think they can pin some responsibility for the Bush years, a presidency that is held in low esteem, on the Greens. It could be a tactic that has some impact. The Bush-Cheney legacy is beginning to look toxic, particularly in urban areas, and the Dems can blame the Greens for the misery caused by an abuse of executive privilege.
UPDATE: This just arrived from a Dem source who notes it is the kind of evidence available to make the case Nader and the Green Party cost Gore the White House.
Local Green Party spokesman Josh Krekeler was indirectly quoted in today's Cincinnati Enquirer saying that Smitherman is the party's most viable local candidate ever. Smitherman served a two-year City Council term, but was defeated for reelection in November 2005. He was a member of the Charter Party then. The Charter Party is a Cincinnati-based political organization that has been active in city politics since the 1920s. It is not aligned with Republicans or Democrats, and declares itself to be an independent group.
The 2000 presidential election still rankles. Gore won the popular vote, but a 5-4 Supreme Court ruling, with a conservative bloc of justices backing Bush, settled a dispute over Florida's electoral votes and handed the Republican the presidency. The conventional wisdom about Florida holds that Nader
's Green Party candidacy took votes from Gore, thus giving America Bush, the Iraq War, and a host of other policies that have harmed the middle and lower classes.
While the conventional wisdom is open to debate, there is no question the Greens and Nader remain close to this day. He's scheduled to address a Green Party conclave in Pennsylvania later this month, and will talk about ballot access -- the difficult legal barriers candidates outside the two main political parties have to surmount to secure spots on the ballot.
The national Green Party's political reform agenda speaks about the the "power of civic action" as an antidote to corporate control over the nation's law-making and regulatory agencies. The agenda is worth reading. Interestingly, the Greens want to abolish the Electoral College, and favor direct election of the president. That means they want to scrap the system that put Bush in power.
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