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White House election endorsement:
Teresa Heinz Kerry for First Lady
by Jan Lundberg
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I am urging people to vote this Tuesday in the U.S. presidential election, not merely against George Bush. A new, far superior occupant, who is at the ready, is overdue for the long-sullied White House.
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How many reasons do we need for a "regime change?" Reuters reported earlier this week:
About 100,000 or more excess deaths have happened since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, said a report published by The Lancet medical journal. Violent deaths were mainly attributed to "coalition forces, and most individuals reportedly killed by coalition forces were women and children."
John Kerry and what he represents would not be a real turnaround in U.S. policies foreign and domestic. The time is ripe for fundamental change that he does not offer. Perpetuating the growth economy and "free" trade cannot do humanity and the web of life any good whatsoever. It is also disappointing to hear John Kerry call for cheaper gasoline prices to get some votes.
But, Kerry-Edwards, compared to Bush-Cheney, is still like day compared to night regarding environmental, health policy and other issues. And, despite Kerry's being a probable "Clinton Democrat" -- Clinton started several policy trends that Bush & Co pushed -- I do not want Bush appointing any more judges. The primary/convention/election process being what it is, Kerry is the only alternative to Bush. A vote for Ralph Nader, although he has the best policy positions, could at best be symbolic in this election, and Nader will not even be on the ballot in every state.
Therefore, in good conscience, and to emphasize key issues of sustainability in this campaign, I hereby endorse Teresa Heinz Kerry for First Lady. She is not originally from the U.S., and she is world-wise. She has done her homework on sustainability and public health. I met her, we discussed issues, and found her to be most progressive, keenly aware, open minded, and ready to push for change in the areas of environment, energy and transportation. I would write her in on my ballot, if I thought it would do any good. However, next best is that she spends hours every day with the one who will be the next president, if my hunch on current voter excitement is any gauge. So, I hope John Kerry will become president, although I have contempt for the Democrat version of maintaining the status quo in this broken, destructive society in need of a complete cultural overhaul.
I am not fond of ketchup that is mass produced via agribusiness and petrochemicals, nor do I approve of petroleum plastic containers. I attempted to educate my two girls that ketchup was "pesticide sugar sauce," so they would eat more wholesomely. Heinz foods is big business, and the late Senator Heinz was pro-highway construction (which we at the Alliance for a Paving Moratorium opposed). Teresa, in her philanthropic career after marrying Heinz, is said to have been on a board with Kenneth Lay. Well, in my past I shook hands with major oil industry CEOs and would greet them by their first names. We all have our past education. The question is what we do with it later.
In February after I met Ms. Heinz Kerry and her son Andre Heinz in Tennessee, at a law school where I had spoken the day before, I wrote an essay on Heinz Kerry that was printed in such places as the Canadian business press, Pravda's Spanish edition, and elsewhere. She has since I met her had to keep too low a profile, unfortunately, for my preference. But I support her becoming the First Lady, and won't have to "hold my nose" while casting a Kerry vote. Perhaps I will be wrong, but we are all extra threatened by the prospect of more of Bush-Cheney and the rest of their cronies.
A movement to support the Earth's health and bring about social justice must not rely on an election or elections in general. If people relentlessly agitated for change after electing John Kerry, and people aggressively addressed fundamental issues, Kerry may emerge as either an enabler or an obstacle for the changes needed. However, the bigger picture is, to me, a matter of (1) the collapsing global economy, probably due to oil peaking in world extraction and other reasons, and (2) the even more scary phenomenon of "Nature bats last": Earth's life support system is starting to collapse. These two overwhelming forces are like runaway freight trains that cannot be altered much by any social movement, strong as it may be, or any elected official.
Any pro-NAFTA, maximum security-state leader may be eventually seen as a nail in the coffin both of our freedoms/rights and of the fast-deteriorating natural world. Still, one should vote for "Heinz Kerry for First Lady" by voting for Kerry-Edwards, for the reason that improvements in policy are possible in a Kerry Administration that are impossible with the Bushies Trouble is, there isn't time now for little reforms, as the juggernaut of the waste economy goes on and population grows thanks to petroleum addiction. A meaningful Kerry presidency would feature the equivalent of perestroika (ecostroika?) and glasnost (openness and honesty about petroleum at least).
I think it was great that John Kerry campaigned against the Vietnam War as a young man, and that is exactly the kind of background needed in the White House. I believe he would not be the imperialist aggressor, as have been so many presidents. His presidential campaign started long ago, and he has come to the point of trying to gain the trust of the military-minded chiefly as a tactic to get elected. Like Kerry's antiwar past, his wife Teresa Heinz Kerry is a clue to John Kerry's real self and probable leadership as the best improvement for a presidency this nation can hope for in these deadly, desperate times. Good luck Teresa and John; you seem to really sense we are all in the same boat.
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– Jan Lundberg
This piece was Culture Change Letter #78
October 30, 2004 Berkeley, California
Reader, you may agree with publicizing this endorsement for "Heinz Kerry for First Lady" far and wide, so as to educate the public on conservation. We can and must get discussion going on critical ecological issues. The Iraq war has served as a huge distraction, while the Earth is running out of time for humanity to assist in preserving biodiversity and a stable global climate.
The need we have is to push our endorsement in news media which costs money that we are raising now! Please send in a donation, and it will be used to spread the word. Thank you,
- JL
My original article, A First Lady of Sustainability?, is at:
http://www.culturechange.org/e-letter-54.html, and here on Blue.
To help me promote Culture Change's activities such as the reprinting and circulation online of that article, you may send a donation by visiting
http://www.culturechange.org/funding.htm. Thank you.
Jan Lundberg
P.O. Box 4347, Arcata, CA 95518 USA
Tel. 1-215-243-3144
If you are interested in receiving Culture Change's e-letter you can sign up to get Culture Change Letter directly, by clicking here: E-Letter
Jan Lundberg, co-founded the Lundberg Letter, called "the bible of the oil industry", in 1973. Mr. Lundberg ran Lundberg Survey Incorporated for the petroleum industry, utilities and government. He founded the Sustainable Energy Institute (SEI) in 1988.
We promote and practice cultural change as key to sustainability. Does economic growth via fossil fuels and materialism provide real security? A sustainable society features car-free living and growing food locally. Communities must return to self-sufficiency for food and energy.
Culture Change and SEI:
P.O. Box 4347
Arcata
California 95518
USA
E-mail: info@culturechange.org
Website: www.CultureChange.org
Published by Sustainable Energy Institute, a nonprofit charity 501(c)(3) California corporation.
To support Culture Change/Sustainable Energy Institute and its projects, make a tax-deductible donation http://www.culturechange.org/funding.htm.
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