Green Party Candidates Arrested at Hofstra Debate
Green Party candidates Jill Stein and Cheri Honkala were arrested upon attempting to enter the presidential debate site at Hofstra University on Tuesday night, an election event from which they were barred by the Democrat- and Republican-controlled corporation that runs the debates.
Green Party candidates Jill Stein and Cheri Honkala were arrested upon attempting to enter the presidential debate site at Hofstra University on Tuesday night, an election event from which they were barred by the Democrat- and Republican-controlled corporation that runs the debates.
“Do you have credentials?” a university security official asked the women.
“Yes, we do have credentials,” Stein and Honkala replied, explaining that their party is on the presidential ballot in most of the country. The two were apprehended and briefly held by straight-faced security guards wearing broad hats and dark glasses before being removed from the site.
“We’re here to stand our ground,” Stein said before they were taken away. “We’re here to stand ground for the American people who have been systematically locked out of these debates for decades by the Commission on Presidential Debates. We think that this commission is entirely illegitimate, that if democracy truly prevailed there would be no such commission, that the debates would still be run by the League of Women Voters, that the debates would be open with the criteria that the League of Women Voters had always used, which was that if you have done the work to get on the ballot … that you deserve to be in the election and you deserve to be heard, and that the American people actually deserve to hear choices that are not bought and paid for by multinational corporations and Wall Street.”
A thorough explanation of how the major parties came to dominate the debate system can be heard here.
— Posted by Alexander Reed Kelly.
“Democracy Now!”:
Your support matters…Independent journalism is under threat and overshadowed by heavily funded mainstream media.
You can help level the playing field. Become a member.
Your tax-deductible contribution keeps us digging beneath the headlines to give you thought-provoking, investigative reporting and analysis that unearths what's really happening- without compromise.
Give today to support our courageous, independent journalists.
Our addiction to empire is killing us. When will we recognize that this planet is big enough for every global citizen to have a patch of serenity?
Now that the Dakota Access pipeline protest has galvanized the Native American community, the Advance Native Political Leadership group wants to build a pathway to more government inclusion.
A look at the day's political happenings, including Mitt Romney denies his infamous "47 percent" remark and Eliot Spitzer weighs in on Anthony Weiner's latest round of illicit messages.
A look at the day's political happenings, including Gabrielle Giffords and Mark Kelly renewing their gun control push and why Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's catchy new campaign video against his Democratic Senate opponent is a big fail.
It’s as if they didn’t learn a thing from the 2012 elections. Republicans are on the same suicide mission as before--trying to block immigration reform, roll back the clock on abortion rights and stop gay marriage wherever possible. Why can’t Republicans learn?
The war of words between the site and the statistician appears to be escalating yet again after Politico co-founder Jim VandeHei accused Silver of getting "up on his high horse quite a lot" in an interview in New Republic.
You need to be a supporter to comment.
There are currently no responses to this article.
Be the first to respond.