WHO'S NEXT???-GPUSA-US Green Party leader 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