[GPSCC-chat] McKinney

[Wes Rolley]

I took a quick look at the website, and listened to a few
> minutes of the YouTube clip.  The quality of the sound and
> video of the YouTube clip is not the best.
>
> But I did not see what indicates that she no longer cares about
> democracy.  I suppose one might say it was unwise to appear on
> Libya state run TV, but I saw no anti democracy statement from
> her.  What have I missed?
>
> Gerry

Two issues:

While there are questions about the scope of our own democracy... it is 
the best that any corporation can buy... anyone with McKinney's supposed 
political acumen would know that her appearances in Iran and Libya will 
go a log way to legitimize repressive dictatorial regimes at the expense 
of those who are seeking a path to some form of participation in 
government.

California Green Party activist, Kamran Ghasri, put it very well in his 
response to Cynthia's participation in Iran:

> Cynthia;
>
>    When attending the "Peace Conference" in Tehran,
> - Did you meet with and talked to any of the political dissidents?
> - did you meet with and talked to any of the political prisoners, whom
> thousands of them are kept and tortured in prisons all over the country?
> - Did you meet with and talked to the families of those killed by the
> regime?
> - Did you meet with and talked to workers who are trying to organize in
> independent unions?
> - Did you meet with and talked to ordinary people?
>
> If your answers are no, let me express my deep disbelief, disgust and
> disappointment with your attendance at this conference. By doing so, you
> showed a total disregard for the ongoing struggle of the people of my
> country, Iran for social justice and put an approval stamp on the crimes
> committed by its regime. You gave your hand to an illegal regime which is
> torturing and killing its citizens every minute. By doing so, you made
> yourself a shameless partner in these crimes.
> There is a thick red line between anti-American political activism and
> legitimizing criminal regimes which claim to do so and you failed to see
> that. 
<snip>