Cynthia McKinney is my one-woman answer to people who accuse me of being anti-American.
She represents the change we need with style. She’s courageous, honest, well-informed, humane – a passionate advocate for social justice, peace, environmental sustainability and grass-roots democracy. Cynthia’s best public speeches and media appearances are among the most inspiring I’ve ever seen – and I’ve been watching fine speeches since the 1960s.
An American the world can love and respect: Cynthia McKinney visits Gaza
If I had one vote for World President, Cynthia would be my choice.
After a few turbulent and interupted terms as a Democrat from Georgia in the US House of Reps, Cynthia McKinney made the leap to The Greens in 2007 and ran as the 2008 Presidential candidate for the US Greens Party.
She seems to be on the growing list of people the Australian mass media avoid mentioning or interviewing in case it disturbs our Commentariat’s accepted verities.
But instead of waiting for hell to freeze over before ‘your’ Australian Broadcasting Corporation brings you Cynthia McKinney*, we can watch her on YouTube instead! A few of my favourites are below.
In this first video, she speaks to a small gathering of Greens supporters in Arizona in late 2007 and explains why she made the shift to The Greens.
9-11 was an important part of the story.
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The next video was made earlier.
It’s about the media assault on McKinney once she started raising questions about 9-11 back in 2002.
It may be of special interest to anyone trying to understand the attempted media demolition of Kevin Bracken this week (fortunately, both McKinney and Bracken are made of tough stuff and don’t cower before bullies).
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The third video was filmed earlier still in the decade – on March 11th 2005 at a House Hearing on the Financial Year 2006 Budget for the Department of Defense and Military Services.
It shows Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney questioning Secretry of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Tina Jonas (Department of Defense Chief Financial Officer) and Joint Chief of Staff General Richard Myers.
McKinney’s questions range from a military subcontractor’s involvement in the sex-trade, missing TRILLIONS from Department of Defense accounts and multiple wargames that ‘happened’ to be taking place on the morning of September 11th 2001. In the exchange, Cynthia ask hard questions with guts and persistance.
What a shame she was almost the only member of Congress doing this at the time!
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Finally, here’s Cynthia McKinney again, this time speaking in London earlier this year in the to an Members of Parliament meeting about the need for an independent investigation into the events of September 11th 2001.
Parts one and two of this three part series cover the co-presentation by Dr Nafeez Ahmed. This is what Cynthia McKinney had to say…
I wonder if the Australian Greens have invited her to speak to interested members of the Australian Parliament about the mysteries of 9-11 and the murderous wars and loss of civil liberties since that day?
If Cynthia did come all the way to Canberra, would our Capital Circle Commentariat of self-styled ‘insiders’ ignore that too?
Since they might well do precisely that – given past experience – it’s lucky Australians are able to read British daily newspapers via the internet these days. Otherwise we really would be out of touch.
Here’s an article by Cynthia McKinney, published in The Independent on March 15th 2010. As far as I’m aware, no major Australian newspaper has republished it:
The war on terror did not go away with George Bush. When President Barack Obama came to power there was so much hope, but as the US Green Party presidential candidate I did not share it.
I heard candidate Obama’s speeches and knew that he would be a War President. What I did not realise was the extent to which the policies of President Obama would mirror those of his predecessor, including the renewal of the Patriot Act and commission of war crimes. Sadly, President Obama’s Justice Department is now in US courts defending the criminal acts of the Bush administration.
In his State of the Union address to the nation, President Obama defended war, erosion of civil and human rights, creation of the police state, ignoring the US Constitution and the norms of international law, by invoking the tragedy of 11 September, 2001. Tony Blair also leaps to his own criminal defence by invoking 9/11.
All of us in the peace community, who stand for justice and human dignity, have become victims of 9/11. Those of us who expect our national leaders to promote respect for the environment are now victims of 9/11. Survivors of those who are now dead from the prosecution of these wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, Yemen, and elsewhere around the world are now victims of 9/11. And the mothers and fathers, siblings and family of the too many dead soldiers are now counted among the victims of 9/11. And sadly, the entire global community that expects national leaders to respect the rule of law and tell them the truth are now victims of 9/11.
Everyone now knows that the Bush administration did not tell the truth about many things, including the Iraq war and 9/11. The leaders of the 9/11 Commission told us that. Why must the world continue to live inside a lie? I remain hopeful that we will learn the truth because more and more people around the world are demanding it.
Cynthia McKinney served in the US Congress for 12 years and was the 2008 Green Party nominee for President of the United States. She now serves as a juror on the Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation’s Russell Tribunal on Palestine
www.allthingscynthiamckinney.com; more information on 9/11 at www.reinvestigate911.org
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* In fairness to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, it appears Phillip Adams interviewed Cynthia McKinney on Late Night Live back in 1999. Perhaps Phillip lost his Rolodex early in the 21st century?
