Oden a Victim of Dirty Politics
As a member of both Green parties, I must protest Starlene Rankin's "USGP advisory on detention of a Green at Maine airport" at http://www.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=83634&group=webcast . Her failure to support a fellow Green manhandled by the military and barred from her flight raises disturbing questions about Rankin herself.
The GPUSA statement on Nancy Oden's airport ordeal needs no "correction" from Rankin, as it is clearly labeled "GREEN PARTY USA COORDINATOR DETAINED AT AIRPORT" (GPUSA) -- SEE http://www.greenparty.org/bangor.txt .
The real confusion arises from Rankin's attempt to conceal the fact there are TWO Green parties. She is NOW working for Green Party of the United States - GPUS, but in fact she WAS the office secretary for Green Party USA -- GPUSA-- until recently-- when she deserted under a cloud of allegations of embezzlement and sabotage against her employer, GPUSA. She fails to mention these publicly known facts. Also missing is any mention of her long-running war against Nancy Oden, the very subject of the Maine airport ordeal. Some have called Rankin's post dirty politics.
Yet Rankin made the astounding claim: "The Green Party of the United States is the only Green political organization organized nationally as a party". One can imagine why she would like people to believe that.
The confusion over party names is not the fault of the Green Party USA. The Green Party USA has been the Green Party for years, and held national conventions since 1984. SEE http://www.greenparty.org/intro.html
But it wasn't until July 1, 2001 that the Association of State Green Parties formed a national party called Green Party of the United States --GPUS. SEE GPUS own page at http://www.greenparties.org/fec/fec.html . "7.01.01 - In our annual meeting in Santa Barbara on July 27 and 28, the Association of State Green Parties will vote on whether to form the national Green Party of the United States" And SEE GPUS own page at http://gpus.org>/press/pr_07_30_01.html "July 30, 2001: Greens Create National Party - Santa Monica, Calif. -- Green Party leaders today celebrated the formation of the Green Party of the United States"
The choice of party name, Green Party of the United States, is unfortunate. But of course the confusion was predicted by the 16-year old Green Party USA when GPUS announced themselves last July as THE ONLY Green Party of the United States.
For those interested in facts, there's an interview with Nancy Oden at http://www.wartimeliberty.com/article.pl?sid=01/11/03/1813233 -- AND The Bangor, Maine paper report is at http://www.bangornews.com/editorialnews/article.html?ID=44958 . Even AFTER she was completely searched and cleared, and her baggage, she was STILL barred from her flight, or any other flight out of there. Officials did not report that she refused any search. IF she had, you can be certain they would have told the paper, and the paper would have reported it. The officials did not report any kind of disturbance or prohibited items on her or in her baggage, nor any abusive language or threats from her. Note: Nancy Oden is a 60-year old activist. Does anyone seriously believe they had any legitimate reason to bar her from her flight to her party convention, and forfeit hundreds of dollars she paid for her ticket?
Some political enemies are claiming it would be happening to others, if her account is true. But it IS happening to others, and probably far more often that we hear about. People lose their jobs when it gets back. But here's one such story, from a Sacramento reporter. http://www.newsreview.com/issues/sacto/2001-10-25/cover.asp#
A Green Party leader in Canada --Joan Russow, PhD-- was "tagged" as a terrorist threat and barred from the APEC convention THREE YEARS ago http://www.green.ca/english/news/nr980929.htm . She found out by accident that she was on a secret hit list.
We know thousands of activists have been stopped at border crossings, airports, train stations etc where WTO meetings were scheduled in different countries. We saw police using video cameras to record marchers. We know they use face recognition computers for matching records on people.
Bangor International Airport is a jumping off point for Canada.
Nancy's enemies on the Right insist she wasn't on any target list. THEY haven't had problems with the law. Yet Nancy is a well known, highly visible activist in Maine, a veteran of Monsanto campaigns and antiwar efforts, among others, and her signed articles have been published in Maine newspapers. Of course the FBI knows who she is. They know who everybody is.
Unfortunately, Nancy's flight plans were public information in advance, and serious activists have serious enemies who work covertly with intelligence and law enforcement.
--paul, webmaster http://globalcircle.net networking for ecology, justice, and all our relations