Nancy Oden: Screwing the Greens?

[Michael Pugliese]

http://www.counterpunch.org/oden3.html
>...Here's a little footnote on sectarianism. Oden's a member of the Green
Party USA, as distinct from the Association of Green Parties with which
Ralph Nader is associated. There's ill-feeling between the two groups. When
Oden's experience at Bangor went the rounds, Naderite Greens were quick to
belittle the affair. "Leader of Green splinter group fibs about airport
hassle" was the title on one sneering email forwarded by Naderite Bill
Kaufman of the Manhattan Greens. It went on, "while the undue harassment of
airline travelers is to be condemned, it does not seem that this incident
warrants fears of a major violation of Constitutional guarantees of free
speech, as it first appeared. The group that Nancy Oden leads is
nevertheless using the incident to draw attention and support to itself."

When we posted Oden's press release about the incident on our site, along
with Declan's interview with her, we were flooded with emails from angry
Naderite Greens, who smeared Oden in the vilest terms. Lorna Saltzman
denounced her as "Marxist-Stalinist-lentilist." Another referred to her as a
"hysterical woman" who probably deserved whatever she got. Yet another said
that she wasn't really a political leader but only "an organic farmer with
an axe to grind about genetically engineered crops." Other Green Party
flacks were just glad that their faction of the party wasn't on a no-fly
list and they could continue to rack up the frequent flier miles.
<snippy>