Murphy on Pennsylvania ‘democracy’
In the course of last year’s rough congressional race I had the extreme good fortune to meet Mr. John A. Murphy a few times at various panels and conferences at which one or both of us spoke. Murphy is a tireless democracy and anti-war activist with a commanding intellect and speaking style, one who doesn’t suffer fools gladly and who has zero tolerance for mincing quasi-liberals standing in the way of change. His keen eye for hypocrisy, willingness to speak honestly about the issues and devastating wit make him one of my favorite political figures/commentators.
A few months ago Murphy called me to discuss the (written and unwritten) rules and process for ballot access in a PA congressional race. I’m happy to say that my brutally frank description of the situation has left him undaunted and that he will be running as a Green for PA’s 16th Congressional District in 2006. May he have ample opportunity to skewer the competition in as many public forums as possible! Murphy is also involved in the most important domestic endeavor in which citizens of this commonwealth could be involved, the Pennsylvania Ballot Access Coalition. Please visit the link and join the fight.
CounterPunch published a piece by Murphy today, a dissection of the Pennsylvania Democrats’ $4,000,000+ series of anti-democratic lawsuits and dirty tricks against the Nader 2004 campaign. Not a single elected Democrat at any level made a peep about these and similar actions in over 30 states, preferring instead changing Illinois law and looking the other way in Florida to aid George W. Bush get on the ballot in those states after the Republicans somehow missed certification and filing deadlines.
