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Oregon Party Leaders, Local Organizers and Community Activists Endorse Bernie Sanders for President

1/31/2020

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Press Release - For Immediate Release
Contact: Sean Nikas
503-585-8050                                                   
seannikas@gmail.com                               
NEWS: Oregon Party Leaders, Local Organizers 
and Community Activists
Endorse Bernie Sanders for President
Date: January 30, 2020
SALEM - Ahead of the Iowa caucuses and the official launch of the 2020 Presidential Primaries, the below Oregon Democratic Party leaders, local organizers and community activists throughout the state of Oregon announced their endorsement of Bernie Sanders as the next president of the United States. 
“Senator Bernie Sanders is the only candidate offering true hope and opportunity for the average American citizen. It is past time for our tax dollars go toward services for our community members, rather than a redistribution of wealth to the top 1%.” - Mary Nikas, local party activist 

The following Democratic Party leaders and local activists announce their endorsement:
  • Albert Lee  - Candidate, U.S. Congressional District 3 
  • Mark Gamba  - Mayor of Milwaukie, Oregon; Candidate, U.S. Congressional District 5 
  • Leigha LeFleur - Chair, Congressional District 3; Multnomah County Precinct Committee Person (PCP); BerniePDX Leadership Team; 2016 Oregon National Delegate for Bernie Sanders; Candidate, Metro Council District 6
  • Sean Nikas - Chair, U.S. Congressional District 5 Committee (Presidential Elector); PCP, Marion County Democrats; Delegate to SCC for CD5; Past Chair, DPO Small Business Caucus; Member - Our Revolution Central Willamette; Small business owner 
  • Lawrence D. Taylor - Chair, First Congressional District Committee (Presidential Elector); Delegate, DPO State Central Committee; Clatsop County Precinct Committee Person; Delegate, DPO Rules Committee; 2016 DNC Member for Bernie Sanders; Professional Registered Parliamentarian
  • Valdez Bravo - Precinct Committee Person, Clackamas County (HD38); Vice Chair, Native American Caucus; Secretary, Veterans Caucus; immediate past Vice Chair of the Democratic Party of Oregon; Member, Democratic Socialists of America; 2016 Oregon National Delegate for Bernie Sanders
  • Sherry Healy - Chair, Elections Integrity Caucus of the Democratic Party of Oregon; Clackamas County Precinct Committee Person
  • James Barber - Chair, DPO Small Business Caucu; State Central Committee (SCC) Delegate; 2016 Oregon State Delegate for Bernie Sanders
  • Sarah Landstrom - Candidate, Oregon House District 19
  • Paige Kreisman - Candidate, Oregon House District 42
  • Dan Goetz  - District Leader, Oregon House District 27/36; Delegate, DPO State Central Committee (SCC)
  • Gregory McKelvey - Vice Chair, Black Caucus, Democratic Party of Oregon
  • J. R. Chase  - Vice Chair, DPO Elections Integrity Caucus
  • Jeremy Likens - Vice-Chair, Democratic Party of Washington County
  • Ross Swartzendruber  - Candidate, Oregon Senate District 12, Sheep Farmer
  • Keri Capen - Elected Precinct Committee Person, Marion County; Chair, Rules Committee for the Marion County Central Committee; Member, DPO Executive Committee for Region 2.
  • Lisa Stiller - Chair, DPO Health Care Caucus; Co-Chair, Washington County Democrats Education Caucus; Secretary, DPO Education Caucus; Alternate Delegate, State Central Committee (SCC) and Congressional District 1; 2016 Oregon National Delegate for Bernie Sanders
  • Lisa Wolf - District Leader, HD 35/38 Multnomah County; SCC Delegate for Multnomah County; Chair, Alternative Voting Methods subcommittee for the DPO Elections Integrity Caucus; Member, Healthcare Caucus; Member, Native American Caucus; former delegation Chair CD3 (2017-2019); elected to the DPO Executive Committee 2017-2019. Occupational therapist.
  • Jason Allen - Precinct Committee Person, Multnomah County; Chair, Endorsement Task Force, Multnomah County; SCC Delegate to the Democratic Party of Oregon; Member, DPO Conduct Special Committee; 2016 Oregon National Delegate for Bernie Sanders
  • Mary Nikas - Membership Chair, Marion County Democrats; Precinct Committee Person (PCP); Alternate Delegate, State Central Committee (SCC); Founding member, Our Revolution Central Willamette; Small business owner
  • Heather Bishop - Second Vice Chair, Benton County Democrats;
    Delegate, State Central Committee; Chair, Membership Involvement Committee
  • Abigail Collins - 2016 Oregon National Delegate for Bernie Sanders
  • Solea Kabakov - Director, Zone 5 School Board; Delegate, State Central Committee; Delegate, Congressional District 2 Committee, Wasco County; Leader, Gorge ICE Resistance
  • Eleanor Wynn - Precinct Committee Person, Clackamas County, Neighborhood Leader; Delegate to DPO Congressional District 5 Committee.
  • Steve Bintliff - Precinct Committee Person; Member of the DPO Election Integrity Caucus; Former member of the DPO Executive Committee; Former member of the DPO Credentials Committee; 2016 Oregon National Delegate for Bernie Sanders; BerniePDX Leadership Team
  • John Harris Knight - DPO State Central Committee Delegate; DPO Platform and Resolutions Committee; Multnomah County Precinct Committee Person, Multnomah County; 2016 Oregon National Delegate for Bernie Sanders
  • Justin Brice - Member, DPO Budget Committee; Member, Environmental Caucus; Alternate Delegate, State Central Committee; Precinct Committee Person, Benton County; 2016 Oregon National Delegate for Bernie Sanders
  • Carol Scherer - Precinct Committee Person, Lane County; 2016 Oregon National Delegate for Bernie Sanders
  • Suzanne O'Shea - Precinct Committee Person, Lane County, Precinct 1671; Vice-Chair DPO Small Business Caucus
  • Maryann Beirne - Precinct Committee Person, Marion County; Alternate Delegate to State Central Committee and Congressional District 5 Committee
  • Lowell Wetzel - Treasurer, Marion County; Precinct Committee Person
  • Michael Burleson - Precinct Committee Person, Multnomah County; Chair, Rules Committee, Multnomah County; Member, DPO Executive Committee; Associate at Morris and Sullivan PC
  • Clarity Sanderson - Precinct Committee Person, Clackamas County; Neighborhood Leader; Communications Director at iPA/Our Revolution, Clackamas County; Left Show Podcast.
  • Gregory Gregg  - Precinct Committee Person, Polk County; Retired RN
  • Jennifer Sprague - Precinct Committee Person, Polk County; Social Media Coordinator for Progressive Democrats of America (Oregon Chapter)
  • Margot Black - Democratic Activist; Co-Chair, Portland Tenants United; Candidate for Portland City Council
  • Theresa Kohlhoff  - Lake Oswego City Councilor; Precinct Committee Person
  • Lee Mercer - Precinct Committee Person,  Marion County; Retired Small business owner and non-profit manager
  • Matt Plummer - Silverton City Councilor; Chair, Silverton Transportation Advisory Committee; Precinct Committee Person, Marion County 
  • Charles Maughan - Corvallis City Councilor for Ward 2; Delegation Chair, State Delegate, Precinct Committee Person for Precinct 2 Benton County
  • Matthew Aaron - Lane County Precinct Committee Person; Co-Chair, Our Revolution Lane County
  • Catherine Stearns - Founding member, Our Revolution Corvallis Allies; Precinct Committee Person, Benton County; Delegate to Congressional District 5 Committee; Secretary for CD5 committee.
  • Natalie Bloodgood  - Precinct Committee Person, Multnomah County; Delegate to Congressional District 3 Committee 
  • Holly Shutta - Benton County Precinct Committee Person; Delegate, State Central Committee; Chair, Fundraising Committee
  • Dr. Henry Elderm - Precinct Committee Person, Lane County; Chair, Healthcare For All Oregon, Lane County Chapter.
  • Melanie Pinto - 2016 CD4 State and National Delegate for Bernie Sanders; Member,  Oregon Education Association, and Eugene Education Association; Co-Chair, Our Revolution Lane County
  • Thomas Brown - Precinct Committee Person, Lane County; Education Coordinator for Our Revolution Lane County
  • Jerry Reed  - Chair, Healthcare Caucus for Josephine County Democrats; Precinct Committee Person, Josephine County
  • Mary Closson - Precinct Committee Person, Wilsonville
  • Susan Heath - Precinct Committee Person
  • Rebekah Morgan - Volunteer for Bernie 2020 Campaign
  • Melisa Crosby - Precinct Committee Person, HD 45/11
  • Lin Woodrich - Precinct Committee Person, Bethel Citizens Co-Chair, Eugene
  • Cheryl Fisher - Precinct Committee Person, Clackamas County; Delegate, State Central Committee; 2016 Oregon National Delegate for Bernie Sanders
  • Julie Caldwell - Precinct Leader, PCP, Jackson County (Ashland)
  • Virginia Moon - Precinct Committee Person, Josephine County
  • Alan Zundel - Precinct Committee Person
  • Joy Thomson - Elected Precinct Committee Person
  • Susan Heath - Precinct Committee Person
  • Sherry Genauer - Precinct Committee Person, Multnomah County
  • Sheryl Wetzel - Member, Marion County Democrats Membership Committee; Retired Teacher; Precinct Committee Person
  • Joseph Ycaza - Precinct Committee Person, Lane County, Outreach Coordinator for UO Students for Bernie 2020
  • Holly Oakes-Miller - Marion County Precinct Committee Person; Communications Facilitator, Salem Democratic Socialists of America
  • Gary Miller - Marion County Precinct Committee Person, Precinct #351; Treasurer, Salem Democratic Socialists of America
  • Rochelle Santiago - Marion County Precinct Committee Person, Member, Marion County Membership Standing Committee; Retired public school teacher; Member SEIU
  • Michael Cojocaru- Precinct Committee Person, Multnomah County; Member, Congressional District 3 Committee; Member, DPO Young Democrats
  • Robin Gottlieb - Precinct Committee Person, Multnomah County; BerniePDX Leadership Team; Organizer, Non-Profit development
  • Carolanne Fry - Precinct Committee Person, Clackamas County; 2016 Oregon National Delegate for Bernie Sanders
  • Daphne Wysham - Precinct Committee Person, Clackamas County; Delegate to SCC for the Environmental Caucus (DPO)
  • Erika Wolf -Precinct Committee Person, Multnomah County; Member, DPO Health Care Caucus and DPO Election Integrity Caucus
  • Judy Bartha  - Precinct Committee Person, Clackamas County
  • Lisa Ortiz - Precinct Committee Person, Multnomah County; Chair, iPA/Our Revolution Clackamas County; Member, DPO Platform Committee; 2016 Oregon National Delegate for Bernie Sanders; Teacher; Union member
  • Eric Sherman - Precinct Committee Person, Lincoln County
  • Pablo Martos - Precinct Committee Person, Multnomah County; Assistant District Leader, House District 42; Steward, AFSCME Local 3336; Environmental Resource Specialist
  • James Davis - Precinct Committee Person, Multnomah County; Delegation Chair, DPO Congressional District 3 Committee (DPO) 
  • Janet Afzelius - Precinct Committee Person, Clackamas County; Organizing member of iPA/Our Revolution; SLP Infinity Rehab.
  • Sara Wolk - Precinct Committee Member, Multnomah County; Delegate to DPO State Central Committee
  • Ruth Jensen - Precinct Committee Person; Founding member, Native American Caucus of the Democratic Party of Oregon; Delegate, DPO State Central Committee
  • Connie H. Lee - Precinct Committee Person, Clackamas County; Chair, Racial Justice Subcommittee, Clackamas County; Secretary at iPA/Our Revolution
  • Dana Carstensen - Precinct Committee Person, Washington County; Member, LiUNA 483; Member, AFSCME 3580; Hazmat technician
  • Ami Fox - Precinct Committee Person, Multnomah County; Former Communications Officer, Multnomah County; SCC Delegate for the Elections Integrity Caucus
  • Leah Gibbs - Precinct Committee Person, Multnomah County; Delegate to the SCC from Multnomah County
  • Dan Kaufman - Precinct Committee Person, Multnomah County; Assistant District Leader, House District 41; Musician; Member, AFM Local 99; Small Business Owner
  • Ben Lavine  - Precinct Committee Person, Multnomah County; Delegate, DPO Congressional District 3 Committee (DPO) 
  • Ira Erbs - Precinct Committee Person, Multnomah County; Member, Steering Committee, Jobs With Justice; Executive VP at large of AFT Oregon; Adjunct Professor, Portland Community College
  • Eileen Reavey - Precinct Committee Person, Multnomah County; Delegation Chair, Multnomah County State Central Committee; Consultant
  • Matthew Rock - Democratic Activist/Organizer; Member, Central Oregon for Bernie 2020; 2016 National Convention Delegate for Bernie Sanders
  • Farrah Chaichi - Precinct Committee Person, Washington County; Secretary, Washington County Democratic Socialists of America (DSA)
  • Kate Flanagan - Precinct Committee Person, Multnomah County; Member, DPO Budget Committee; Lewis and Clark College Law student; Private mathematics tutor; Law clerk; Member, SEIU
  • Graham Parks -  Delegate to the SCC from Multnomah County; Precinct Committee Person; Member, DPO Rules Standing Committee; Delegate to the DPO Congressional District 3 Committee
  • Chris Lowe  - Precinct Committee Person, Multnomah County 
  • Mike Ellison - Delegate to the State Central Committee, Marion County; Member, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW)
  • Rick Staggerborg  - Precinct Committee Person; Retired VA Psychiatrist
  • Marcia Stewart  - Precinct Committee Person, Linn County; Founder, Rural Oregon Progressives; Founder, Rural Oregon for Bernie
  • Michelle Brenard - Precinct Committeeperson
  • Natalie Bloodgood - Precinct Committeeperson
  • Tom Sincic  - Precinct Committee Person, Marion County; Registered Nurse
  • Glen Wolf - Member, Silverton Progressives, Our Revolution, Extinction Rebellion, and ACLU; Chabad Center for Jewish Life and Temple Beth Shalom of Salem; Artist
  • Veronica Cruse - Member, Silverton Progressives; Member, Our Revolution and  Extinction Rebellion; Member, ACLU; Member, Chabad Center for Jewish Life and Temple Beth Shalom, Salem
  • Kathy Randall - Precinct Committee Person, Marion County
  • Jarryd Mitchell  - Candidate, Precinct Committeeperson
  • Tyler Cohen  - Intern for Mark Gamba, Student, Gig Worker
  • Jonathan Tasini - Author, “The Essential Bernie Sanders and His Vision For America” and TV Talking Head
  • Kathleen Moss - Commissioner, City of Carlton Oregon
  • Jason Clark - City Councilor (Talent, Oregon)
  • Emma Easley Darden - Co-Founder, Our Revolution PDX; Active Democrat 
  • Suzanne O'Shea - Community Activist; Treasurer, Neighborhood Association
  • Ginny Osteen - Community Activist
  • Jodi Saloga - Medical Lab Courier
  • Jim Cupples - Small Business Owner
  • Kelly & Joseph Miles - Owner/Operators, non-profit, non-corporate Bandon Community Radio, KBOG 97.9 FM
  • Ethan George  - South Zone Road Manager, Umatilla National Forest
  • Gloria Westfall - Full-time student; mother of two
  • Holly Shutta - 5th Grade Teacher, Retired Soldier
  • Holly Prideaux - Sign Language Interpreter
  • Shawna Henarie - Bookkeeper; Community Activist
  • Ron Gibbons - Community Activist
  • Michael Phelan - Community Activist
  • Tristin Wellnik - Medical Laboratory Scientist
  • Ron Green - Community Activist
  • Sarah Spansail - Community Organizer, Mother
  • Zac Spansail  - Journeyman Electrician, Father
  • Collette Pare-Miller  - Community Organizer
  • Gerry Pare  - Retired Teacher, Musician
  • Robin Maroney  - Administrative Specialist, State of Oregon
  • Peter Maroney  - Retired - Retail Management/Sales
  • Jonathon Fujier - Community Activist; Cook
  • Erika Byerly - Peer Support Specialist
  • Loretta Rivard - Retired Occupational Therapist, 350.org Activist
  • Michelle DeParne  - Human Services Specialist, Department of Health Services (Oregon); Union Steward, SEIU 503
  • Alan Ege  - Load Planner; Community Activist
  • Etian Gutierrez - Career Coach, Latino Network
  • Erin Anderson  - Homemaker; Community Activist
  • Zach Anderson  - Sales Associate
  • Brian Waters  - Construction Worker
  • Patrick Briggs  - IT Analyst
  • Jevon Ruis  - Unemployed; Community Activist
  • Casey Snoeberger  - College Student
  • Maddie Gavel-Briggs   - Marketing Writer
  • Erika Ferrer   - Unemployed; Community Activist
  • Isamar Chavez   - Americorps Volunteer
  • Gary Mulhern  - Registered Nurse, disabled
  • Ruth Roberts   - Retired; Community Activist
  • Beth Daniel  - Retired; Community Activist
  • Tom Christopher  - Mail Carrier, Disabled Vet
  • J. W. Horner   - Creative Director
  • Nicole Vranizan - Sales Representative
  • Will Landstrom - Database Administrator
  • Jess Jurries  - Bartender
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Uphill December 2019 Holiday Update

12/28/2019

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Happy Holidays from UHM! 

We have some very exciting news...
Are you ready for a place where we won’t be censored? Where we can play whatever music we want? Where we can listen to political speech without being shut down?

Are you ready for 105.9 KORC FM radio?

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It’s gonna be awesome and we need your help!
We have the opportunity to own 105.9 KORC FM, a radio station license in Corvallis, Oregon - home of Oregon State University. The license is currently held by Veterans for Peace who are generously giving it to us. UHM has agreed to take over the license and build a station with a physical studio in Corvallis, Oregon. By FCC rules, the station has to be broadcasting content or we will lose the license.

The license is for educational use only. There will be no advertisements! The content will be civics, related news, and music.
KORC-FM will have access to a library of other stations’ content through sharing platforms including Democracy Now!, and will also publish original content on these platforms. The reach of the station is far beyond the FM signal. The station will be able to play music, news, and political speech without censorship or copyright issues. It will also have the right to stream to the Internet. This bypasses the censorship enforced on behalf of corporate interests by sites like YouTube and Facebook. This is something we have been fighting for since we were Bernie2016TV.
We will be reaching out to syndicate content from our favorite Indie Media peers like Jimmy Dore, Krystal Ball, Lee Camp, and many more.

Of course...this is radio and we’re all about playing music! KORC-FM comes with a MASSIVE music library ~ 10 times larger than a typical MSM station. We will also be curating our own music from local and national indie artists. Interested artist? Contact us at info@uphillmedia.org
It’s not a low tech “old school” station. It is computer driven, low maintenance, runs independent of the Internet, and has backup power in emergencies. This is a powerful medium for the production and proliferation of civics related content and good censorship free music.

The station gear includes the computer with a MASSIVE music library, the antenna, transmitter, amplifiers, and Emergency Alert Systems (EAS) transceivers. It's ready to go.
The station gear is owned by Open Sky Radio (OSR), a nonprofit that helps other nonprofits buy, build, and run radio stations. UHM will sign a contract with OSR to help us setup the station (antenna and gear placement on the roof), build a studio, and grow the station audience. They have done this with lots of other orgs successfully. We’re not entering into this without some expert assistance.
​
The contract is $15,000 for the station gear, install, and consulting. We will be launching a GoFundMe campaign to help pay off the contract and run the station for the first year. For more information email info@UphillMedia.org.

Thank you all for your continued support.
​
Laura, Larry, Ashley, Markus, and John
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#WeThePeople interview Dr. Jill Stein (2016 Green Party Presidential Nominee).

11/4/2018

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Katie Dunne, Passionate believer in democracy and member of UHM's Digital Media Content Crew.

​Jill Stein on Supporting California’s Green candidates; Latinx Greens; Green Party members in local office; Open debate and the Right to vote; Green-Party policy priorities; Long-term alliances and Uniting around issues; State-level races; Top-two races; the Corporate media;  Internet censorship; getting Money out of Politics;  Real versus Staged news and Ranked choice voting.

​#WeThePeople had a special guest on October 25th, 2018.  Thank you (Sadie) – John says, for setting this up and we now welcome to the show Dr. Jill Stein!
 
Our guest is headed to California tomorrow – he continues, to support a lot of Green Party candidates.  Myth has it - Jill Stein says, that the Green Party just runs a Presidential candidate every 4 years and that they go to sleep in-between elections.  That’s not true at all.  We really are a grassroots, bottom-up party. 
 
Slide:  To show perhaps that there are indeed Green Party candidates outside of Jill Stein, John puts up a slide mentioning Laura Wells who is running for House of Representatives, District 13 (CA).
 
There are some really dynamite candidates at all levels we learn.  Jill is going to Coachella where a young man - Victor Alcantara, is running for city council for the first time.  He is Latinx and a very active member of the community – she says.  Thus far, he has felt incredibly unrepresented.  Like many Latinos and Latinas he has felt thrown under the bus, previously by the Deporter-in-Chief and now by the outrageous policies of Donald Trump.  The Latinx turnout in the midterms is very uncertain for obvious historic reasons, and now Donald Trump is engaged in this horrendous persecution of refugees coming to this country in the caravan from Honduras - fleeing violence and chaos which was instigated in part by centuries of colonialism and oppression, and most recently a military coup supported by Obama, and by HRC.  They are fleeing U.S. policies and militarism and when Trump talks about the aid going to Central America, that’s mostly military aid and policing.  It’s not surprising that they are fleeing.  Anyway, it’s exciting to see many Latinx candidates coming into the Green Party.
 
Slide:  Announcing Nuestra Comunidad Primero / Our Community First.  It is a gathering in Coachella on October 26th, 2018.  Jill invites everyone in the vicinity to come along.
 
John has heard of Victor Alcantara and he was impressed by him.  Jill says that there are already about 150 Green Party members in local office, from Commissioners of Parks (and Public Property) to (Economic) Development Commissions to Library Boards and Education Boards.  We are very active at all levels of our community, but as you know we are systematically wiped out of the news cycle.  In the last Presidential election something like 75% of Americans are on record - in polls, screaming for open debate in order to find out what their other choices were, and they were systematically denied that knowledge.  In America we should have the right to vote - yet millions are denied that right, and we should have the right to know who we can vote for too.  All the things that appeal to people about Bernie Sanders’ agenda … healthcare as a human right through an approved Medicare-for-All system, strong public education, free public higher-education … We’ve been on that for a very long time.  We’ve been ahead of the curve on equal marriage, green energy etc.
 
John and Jill kid about Jill’s dog who photobombs the shot.
 
On the 27th (of October 2018), Dr. Rodolfo Cortes Barragan, Laura Wells and Kenneth Mejia will be attending the Summit for Independent Politics, where Jill is the special guest.  There are a whole series of panels focusing on key issues for the Los Angeles area, including:  Affordable housing and Prop 10; Environmental pollution and Climate change; Justice reform and specifically Police reform and Immigration reform.  These three Congressional candidates are in top-two races, so there is no chance of splitting the vote (which doesn’t happen anyway – Jill says).  In 2016 most Green Party votes came from the non-voting bloc.  They wouldn’t otherwise BE voting.  Democrats and Republicans don’t own our votes – Jill says.  Are we seeing the results of that in the popularity of the Green Party candidates in their runs - John asks?  He refers to a Democratic candidate who is also endorsed by the Green Party.  I’m seeing a lot of that – he says, where the Independent voters or the Progressives in the party - wherever they are, are coming together around the person not the letter.  Yes – Jill replies.  People have lost faith and confidence in the political parties that are bought and paid for by Big-money.  She refers to non-corporate parties and then says that many people in the Green Party say it is a Non-Party because they don’t share the tribalism of political parties but they really support the agenda.  Even more than personalities – she says, people believe that we have to form long-term alliances in order to advance a non-corporate agenda because we don’t have the corporate money, just the people and the power of our vision and the things that we need.  That need is growing more urgent by the day.  We have 12 years - says John.  Yes, if even - says Jill.  Climate change and nuclear weapons, these are not just a Donald Trump problem.  Jill says that the Democratic Establishment always talks about the right stuff - until they get into power and then they don’t do (anything about) it.  John laughs and agrees.  They refer back to Obama and the bailing out of the banks, and the disappointment of it all.
 
John says he didn’t wake up until “Bernie” and then watched MSM blackout both Jill Stein and Bernie Sanders.  Given that - he says, it’s amazing where we are at today and how we have been able to push the message through.  And talking about introspection - the Democratic Party has none at the top level, but I’m seeing a lot of battles going on at the State level – in Oregon.  We have a progressive majority here but some people at the top are still clutching on to the purse strings.  What worries Jill is that this is not new with the Democrats.  She refers to Henry Wallace and his mike being shut off, way back when.
 
Slide:  John shows another slide - advertising the Northern California Green Power Rally.  This is an event on the 28th of October 2018.  Jill Stein and the Bay Area Green Party candidates:  Aidan Hill, Saied Karamooz, Mike Murphy and Laura Wells will be there.
 
Jill is excited about the elections and especially about Rodolfo’s and Kenneth’s races.  There are no excuses because they are challenging Establishment Democrats, both sponsored by corporate money.  There is really no need to shy away from what we need.  Both of these Green Party candidates look and talk like the community they already serve.  What’s not to love about them?  Whether they win or not, it is a win to stand up and be heard – she says.  How has the response been - asks John?  They aren’t getting media coverage but they are getting great response door-to-door – she replies.  Rodolfo is very good with numbers and is keeping track of the results of his canvassing.  90% of the time when people hear and have a chance to actually learn about him, they change their vote.  The issue is money and coverage.  This is why independent media like this is so critical.  You cannot have democracy without an educated electorate.  We are seeing that lesson on steroids with the media being so toxic.  We badly need more of what you are doing, so thank you so much – Jill says to John and Laura. 
 
Any questions Laura?  Melissa from Vermont - who is in YouTube chat, wonders whether you might be planning to run for Congress, as it seems like this might be your best place to win and get exposure in order to put forth bills to save our planet and our people – Laura reports.  This is a possibility and thank you for the suggestion – Jill replies.  Where I am right now is mostly trying to help other candidates to sort of clone us, because that is what we need.  The bogus spoiler accusations are a big deterrent to successful campaigns.  I’m not in California unfortunately, so I’m trying to help these great candidates.  As regards Congress I agree, but it’s not so easy to win and Congressional Districts are big.  Jill thinks State level is a good place for Greens to concentrate on breaking in at.  It’s the best bang for your buck so to speak, and you can move on from there.  You can get out and canvass and personally go door-to-door and have contact with a State-Representative sized district.  I saw a statistic - I think on PBS NewsHour tonight in fact, that 80% of Congressional races are won by the candidate with the most money.  However even to compete you need a lot of money.  It’s crazy.  We are headed for a crash-landing in one form or another.  It is really important for us to be developing our connections at a community level and to be fighting for democracy.  I’m going to pin you down a little here – John says.  By 2020 you could be in California.  Is that what I’m hearing – he asks with a wide smile?  Jill and Laura laugh.  Now let’s see, most of my family is here on the East coast – Jill replies.  Ah, I guess - John says, everybody is hoping you will run for something.   He encourages Jill, telling her she has the credibility and that she is an asset to the Green Party and to everybody who wants to save humanity, so she really should run again.  Laura adds that Jill is an asset doing what she is doing now also.  Jill says that she very much believes that we are all assets to each other and more than the sum of our parts.
 
The critical challenge for us right now is to find ways to run without needing billions of dollars (which leave you accountable to donors).  The internet is one of them.  Many of those internet tools are being deeply compromised in this new era of McCarthyism, which is censoring us – as you well know, in every dimension – she says.  She lists legacy media, the internet, the loss of net neutrality, the censorship of progressive-left and anti-war sites, the new algorithms on social media … but e-mail can still be a very effective means of communication.  Here Jill encourages people to connect with her on social media (detail below video) and to stay in touch because we are going to have to work together for the foreseeable future – she emphasizes.  John agrees.
 
John wants to talk about accountability now.  It seems we have a Democratic Party that doesn’t want to look at itself and a surge of Progressives trying to come in from all across the spectrum.  We talked about media.  When is media going to have some introspection?  How do we deal with that?  Do we have to put people in power first - to make laws to control them again … because we don’t control this narrative?  What can we do at a grassroots level?  You can do more of what you are doing right now - Jill answers, grassroots community-based media – as the norm not the rare exception.  The big corporate media needs to be broken up.  We need anti-trust laws.  Even PBS is partly sponsored by the Koch Brothers and you see it in their programming.  The same is true even for National Public Radio.  It has all been really corporatized.  It is not only that it is not covering “good stuff”, but that the coverage they do is so skewed.  The silver lining is that more and more people - especially the young, aren’t paying attention in the same way anymore.
 
Social media is also very corrupted though - whether it is Cambridge Analytica type-stuff going on in the background ... Here Jill mentions a book that came out recently called Antisocial Media.  It is essentially an exposé on social media and how it is itself corporatized, and very much built on a predatory-sales model wherein things that are sensational get lots of eyeballs and are inherently favored by social media’s models, by Facebook, and so on.  I’ll give you one example.  The New York Times (I think) – Jill says, had a story on Jamal Khashoggi this last week.  He was harassed systematically on social media - probably by (whichever parts of) the monarchy.  The campaign against him was administered by Saudis and assisted by U.S. Corporations including McKinsey (& Company) - Financial Services (consulting).  Yet Saudi Arabia itself is a sponsor of the Atlantic Council (a think-tank for NATO) which has partnered with Facebook in order to censor so-called “Fake news” … There are much more nefarious forces at work than is widely understood.  John feels that with regard to social media, there is censorship going on but that people have some measure of choice and you are not dealing with a one-way pipeline of spun narrative coming out of a single network.  Yes that’s true – Jill agrees.  A study - John continues, which just came out shows that young people are better at coping with facts, logic and information from social media than older people who still get information from network television - which is more inaccurate.  That is a hopeful sign.  My dad will see something on Facebook that he doesn’t understand, but (that’s maybe because) he is also listening to spun narrative.
 
So – John says, do you mean that we have to put these candidates in power first in order to be able to change all this and to bring back the Fairness Doctrine and rewrite the Telecom Act?  Yes – Jill says, and it is not like Facebook, Twitter and social media have to remain a No-Man’s-Land.  Ro Khanna has been talking about an internet bill of rights.  We have to protect privacy, but we also should be protecting people from outright harassment and bullying, and protecting their freedom of speech.  It’s not an easy balance and it requires people.  Algorithms won’t do.  It should not be done by corporations.  Social media should be like the telephone - a public utility, subject to public protections and protections of our Constitutional rights.   This isn’t rocket science and again it comes down to democracy.  We don’t need representatives of corporations who are on the take from the corporate sponsors that got them elected and who are basically doing payback.  Of course we need to get money out of politics.  What makes me hopeful is that there is an inevitable mobilization going on right now.  Jill refers to the 100 million people who chose to sit out the last election …
 
Slide:  Showing various newspaper headlines attacking Jill Stein.
 
(Yola the dog) looks in and the smiles become comments about real news (versus staged – which this is not).  We aren’t paying you a whole load of money, and I’m not a six-figured anchor paid to lie.  This is real – John says, and we are trying to fix our democracy and that is what makes this right.  No worries!  Yes - Jill continues, let’s get the corporate poison out of our media, our schools, our healthcare … It’s like a poison that has permeated society and corporations have been protected with “rights” that trump our human rights and our Constitutional rights.  The largest plurality of voters is not buying it anymore, so those who want to blame and shame non-voters or third-party voters for rejecting a corrupt and brutal political system, they’ve got it wrong.
 
The solution - Jill says, isn’t less but more democracy, along with ranked-choice voting.  There are other forms of the latter, take your pick.  John agrees.  We should have a lot of experiments going on in other forms of voting – Jill says.  Maine led the way with a referendum – which was overwhelmingly passed.  The legislators tried to stop it, and the people passed it again in order to implement it and they had one of the biggest historic turnouts in the last election.  It encourages collegial campaigning and de-emphasizes negative campaigning because you are trying to get second-choice votes from fellow candidates.  It also liberates our values.  How do you have a democracy if you are only voting against what you hate the most?  It never provides guidance.  It never gives a moral compass.  We never get close to a just, sustainable or peaceful world that way.  Polls show 60% of U.S. voters and 70% of Millennials calling for a new independent political party.  We mustn’t allow ourselves to be intimidated into voting against our values.  It’s only our values that will save us.  Here too John agrees.  We are starting to see that now – he says, with a lot of Progressive wins.  It gives him hope, although he is conscious that time is limited.  He is also aware that it is late for Jill and invites her to come back another time.  She says she will do so and has some final thoughts she’d like to leave us with.  Forget the lesser evil and fight for the greater good like our lives depend on it, because they do – she tells us.  We have the power when we stand up with the courage of our convictions and we connect across issues.  The number of young people who have been locked into predatory debt (John raises his hand) is going on 45 million!  That’s almost enough to win an election right there based on bailing them out.  Add immigrants who care about their relations and friends who are threatened with deportations - that’s about 25 million and people who need healthcare as a human right … tens of millions more.  You can vote strategically if you need to, but in my view I could not bring myself to vote for a predator.  If we can reach out, hold hands and bring our fellow brothers and sisters into this political process - those who are on the front lines, then that’s the liberation for us all.
 
John sees that Donald Trump’s election has unified the three of them (Jill, John and Laura) plus Bernie around issues, rather than party.  We kind of did America a good thing in the long term, I think – he says.
 
By the way, Green and Independent voters – Jill says, would not have voted for Donald Trump.  We know that from exit polls.  What made the difference were voters who were denied the right to vote; voter ID laws; the stripping of voter rolls and the censorship of the political dialogue which made people think they had to pick between the two most disliked and untrusted candidates in our history.  If we had gotten into the debates it would have been a different ball game.
It was spoiled by Big-money and by CBS giving all that airtime to Donald Trump.  John reminds Jill that she doesn’t have to defend that position here.  We voted for you – he says!
 
Slide:  John again shows the slide with some of the headlines referring to Jill in 2016.  Markus prepared it.  One reads “Do you still feel good about that Jill Stein protest vote?”  Yes I do - he says, and it wasn’t a protest vote.  It was just my vote!  It has been awesome - he says.  I look forward to talking to you again.  And it has been great talking to you John and Laura - Jill replies.  John gives thanks all around, including to those who donated (in YouTube chat).  I really appreciate it.  That’s what it takes to keep the lights on here, just like it does when you donate to the Green Party to help them put money into the down-ballot candidates, and I suggest you do that – he says.  We need to help everybody.
 
Jill has been working on this for a lot longer than every Berner – John says.  I‘d like to say to every Progressive Democrat, that there is very little difference between you and the Green Party and you really should vote for the person that’s best to win the race, not the (letter) D.  Thank you so much Dr. Jill Stein.
 
Jill is busy so I didn’t ask her to pick a song, but she did better … We have a song – which aged well I believe.  It apparently caught a lot of crap in the past.  It is from Somebody’s Sister (Jill Stein and Ken Selcer – a great musician) singing American Dream in 1995.  Check out the lyrics … 
                                                               
… Times are changin’
It ain’t a joke
Hey, revolution
Take back your vote…
 
It is a nice song and a lovely voice that you have Dr. Jill Stein.  It did indeed age well!

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