Re: [Fwd: [vgpDISCUSS] Signs, signs, everywhere]

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The best part of that is this:

  Speaking before a full house of about 900 in UVM's Ira Allen Chapel, 
as well as an additional 300 in an overflow area, the man widely viewed 
as the court's leading conservative intellectual said judges shouldn't 
read rights into the Constitution that aren't spelled out in the 
document itself.

...that's right, ignore that 9th amendment.


On Oct 12, 2004, at 11:20 AM, cpratt-UYko1UTVIqz2fBVCVOL8/[email protected] wrote:

> I witnessed the exchange between Steve Ekberg and Craig Chevrier.  The 
> Scalia
> speech was overhyped (Jon wanted a copy, but my friend who supposed to 
> tape it
> off of the campus feed didn't get it.  I'm working on getting a copy 
> from
> another source).  I kept hearing horns honking outside, so I went out 
> to see if
> there was some kind of protest.  Mr. Chevrier was very upset, trying 
> to convince
> Mr. Ekberg he was hurting the Green Party, etc, basically what he 
> outlines below.
>
> I walked over because at first I thought one of the nattily-dressed 
> Republicans
> (of which there were many at the event) was harrassing Steve Ekberg 
> over the F**
> * Off Scalia side of the banner.
>
> I took some notes, and if I finish the rest of my bs work today, I'll 
> write
> something about it.  You can also find a story on Scalia's speech done 
> by the
> BFP, but who really wants to read that?  Well, I'll post it.  You 
> decide.
>
> http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/bfpnews/local/saturday/1000h.htm
>
> -x
>
> Quoting dvanhorn <[email protected]>:
>
>> [ Interesting local Green drama. /d ]
>>
>> -------- Original Message --------
>> Subject: [vgpDISCUSS] Signs, signs, everywhere
>> Date: Mon, 11 Oct 2004 17:29:42 -0400
>> From: Craig Chevrier <[email protected]>
>> Reply-To: [email protected]
>> To: [email protected]
>>
>> Hello all:
>>
>> In a sad recent development for the Vermont Green Party, we have been
>> forced to bar Steve Ekberg, aka "Sign Man" from our future meetings,
>> events, and from distributing literature to the public on our behalf.
>> This is a decision reached by consensus of all elected officers of the
>> party who were present at our last officers' meeting, and one that I 
>> have
>> not made public, hoping that we could come to a final compromise with 
>> Mr.
>> Ekberg before taking such action, one that is difficult to reconcile 
>> with
>> our value of encouraging diversity in politics.
>>
>> As you know, last summer, when Sign Man made the local & state press 
>> (and
>> some national mentions) with his sign promoting Ralph Nader's 7% vote
>> tally in Vermont in 2000 during Governor Dean's campaign announcement
>> speech from Church St. in Burlington, we made every effort to defend 
>> his
>> right to free speech and to represent Greens in the way he knows best:
>> Through direct action. We went out on a limb to defend him, despite 
>> calls
>> at the time to disavow his sign and his message.  We respect that 
>> this is
>> the way Mr. Ekberg knows best to communicate, and wanted to take all
>> precautions against infringing on his right to speak out in the way he
>> sees fit.
>>
>> You are probably also aware that Mr. Ekberg has repeatedly used
>> offensive, foul, and belligerent language in many signs since then, 
>> using
>> words that, though protected under the First Amendment, are not
>> appropriate for the political realm, or for public gatherings where 
>> the
>> goal is to convince everyday people that voting Green is in their best
>> interest.  We simply cannot have such language associated with the 
>> Green
>> party or the Vermont Greens specifically. Our strategy, rather than to
>> shock people into agreement, which we believe can't work for most 
>> logical
>> individuals, is to point out what's wrong with other parties' and
>> candidates' approaches.  His signs -- on large fluorescent greens and
>> yellows -- have appeared at many events in Vermont, Boston, and New 
>> York.
>> I have received many complaints about such representation in these 
>> public
>> venues from Greens from all over the northeast. We have recognized 
>> that,
>> though the signs may be shocking and may garner some attention, do not
>> communicate what being Green is all about. We'd rather smaller 
>> amounts of
>> positive attention that large amounts of negative feedback -- or 
>> worse,
>> laughter.
>>
>> Since then, however, Ekberg has refused to work with the VGP steering
>> committee on improving his message so as to avoid offending the groups
>> and individuals with which we are trying to create relationships. We 
>> have
>> tried for 14 months to get Mr. Ekberg to work with us, not against us,
>> but he has, instead, labeled us as "Demo-Greens" and "Cobb Greens"
>> (whatever that means, an ironic statement in the context of the VGP 
>> vote
>> to not place Cobb on our ballot line) and insists his behavior is
>> protected by the 10 Key Values of the Green Party. We don't believe 
>> any
>> Green Party should tolerate alienating and abusive behavior, that the
>> 10KV don't protect such behavior, and that his violation of the 10KV
>> trumps Mr. Ekberg's right to associate himself and his signs with the
>> Green Party.
>>
>> There have been several individual reports of abusive, harassing, and
>> offensive behavior on the part of Mr. Ekberg -- both while leafleting 
>> and
>> petitioning for the Nader campaign and while representing himself as a
>> Vermont Green in public venues -- from strangers, friends in other
>> activist groups, and some Greens. We also have had complaints about 
>> his
>> behavior at our statewide convention, where he was verbally abusive 
>> to me
>> because I insisted that one of his handmade signs -- which could only 
>> be
>> the work of Sign Man -- be taken down, and where he exhibited what
>> observers at our meeting have called "intimidating and harassing"
>> behavior during the deliberations around our vote to ratify the
>> nomination of David Cobb as the Green Party presidential candidate. He
>> has offended several of our candidates to the point where they refuse 
>> to
>> allow him to do distribution of their literature. In an ironic twist 
>> of
>> fate, he refused this weekend to distribute literature as part of his
>> Nader brochure drop in the local area because our local candidate 
>> flier
>> has my name on it. Clearly, this is not someone willing to put his own
>> agenda aside for the betterment of the Green Party.
>>
>> On Friday evening, while working the door for the appearance of 
>> Supreme
>> Court Justice Antonin Scalia at the University of Vermont, I saw the
>> reaction from the attendees at the event who read a sign that (much 
>> to my
>> shock & chagrin as both a UVM staffer and a well-known representative 
>> of
>> the Green Party within the UVM administration) said F____ OFF SCALIA 
>> on
>> one side and VOTE GREEN PARTY on the other.  They laughed. Those are
>> people who, though they might have agreed with our positions, may 
>> never
>> see past that one negative message to the positive messages of the 
>> Green
>> Party. Rather, they don't think we are to be taken seriously. To make
>> matters worse, I witnessed Mr. Ekberg "giving the finger", shouting
>> obscenities, and making other obscene gestures to passers-by, 
>> including
>> automobiles with children inside.
>>
>> This, for me, was the last straw.  Patience has run its course, and 
>> has
>> failed.  We have written Church St. Marketplace to request that he 
>> not be
>> given any further permits to table as a Green, and we have notified 
>> him
>> that he may not attend future meetings of the party. Whether he 
>> obtains
>> permits under the guise of another group is beyond our control, and he
>> just may continue to portray himself as a representative of the Green
>> Party. Mr. Ekberg insists that I and our steering committee are but 
>> "Cobb
>> Greens", and that his actions would be defended by the GP-US at 
>> large. I
>> hope this is not the case.
>>
>> We may not be able to stop Mr. Ekberg from representing himself as a
>> Green, but we can publicly disavow association with that kind of
>> communication. If you agree with me, the best thing to do is to simply
>> tell your friends, fellow Greens, and would-be Greens that Ekberg is 
>> not
>> a Green, and that no Green would intentionally offend the masses with
>> obscene language, since that does nothing to promote the Green values 
>> we
>> hold dear:  Peace, Justice, Democracy, and Ecology.  I've watched 
>> many of
>> you ignore him at public events, but this, unfortunately, has not been
>> enough.
>>
>> Finally, the only way we can be sure to overcome the problems of one
>> person attempting to dominate the message of an entire -- growing --
>> group, is to support our candidates.  They're the people on the front
>> lines, and the ones who are bearing the mantle of the Green Party.  
>> Show
>> them your support by attending or viewing the events listed at
>> http://vermontgreens.org/events.html, or by donating to the VGP 
>> campaign
>> fund at http://vermontgreens.org/join.html.
>>
>> With warm wishes for a Green future,
>>
>> Craig Chevrier
>> Chair, Vermont Green Party
>> chair-HUVwuYCs0HHE+QnRsb7NIdi2O/[email protected]
>> LIVE>GREEN<VOTE
>>
>> -------------------------------------------------
>> Unless a reply is directed to all recipients on this list, please 
>> address
>> personal replies directly to the sender.
>>
>> The primary listserv for the Vermont Green Party, which is a 
>> non-posting list
>>
>> used to disseminate official Vermont Green Party news and information 
>> is
>> located at vermontgreens-3hfIC0tI0F+k/GrYEfjPQuG/[email protected]  To subscribe to that 
>> list, send a
>>
>> blank email message to:
>> vermontgreens-subscribe-3hfIC0tI0F+k/[email protected]
>> -------------------------------------------------
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>> vermontgreensDISCUSSION-subscribe-oneqCxcDAinQT0dZR+AlfA@public.gmane.org
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>
>
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The best part of that is this:


<fontfamily><param>Verdana</param><color><param>0000,0000,3333</param><x-tad-bigger>
Speaking before a full house of about 900 in UVM's Ira Allen Chapel,
as well as an additional 300 in an overflow area, the man widely
viewed as the court's leading conservative intellectual said judges
shouldn't read rights into the Constitution that aren't spelled out in
the document itself.


</x-tad-bigger></color></fontfamily>...that's right, ignore that 9th
amendment.



On Oct 12, 2004, at 11:20 AM, cpratt-UYko1UTVIqz2fBVCVOL8/[email protected] wrote:


<excerpt>I witnessed the exchange between Steve Ekberg and Craig
Chevrier.  The Scalia

speech was overhyped (Jon wanted a copy, but my friend who supposed to
tape it

off of the campus feed didn't get it.  I'm working on getting a copy
from

another source).  I kept hearing horns honking outside, so I went out
to see if

there was some kind of protest.  Mr. Chevrier was very upset, trying
to convince

Mr. Ekberg he was hurting the Green Party, etc, basically what he
outlines below.   


I walked over because at first I thought one of the nattily-dressed
Republicans

(of which there were many at the event) was harrassing Steve Ekberg
over the F**

* Off Scalia side of the banner.


I took some notes, and if I finish the rest of my bs work today, I'll
write

something about it.  You can also find a story on Scalia's speech done
by the

BFP, but who really wants to read that?  Well, I'll post it.  You
decide. 


http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/bfpnews/local/saturday/1000h.htm


-x


Quoting dvanhorn <<[email protected]>:


<excerpt>[ Interesting local Green drama. /d ]


-------- Original Message --------

Subject: [vgpDISCUSS] Signs, signs, everywhere

Date: Mon, 11 Oct 2004 17:29:42 -0400

From: Craig Chevrier <<[email protected]>

Reply-To: [email protected]

To: [email protected]


Hello all:


In a sad recent development for the Vermont Green Party, we have been

forced to bar Steve Ekberg, aka "Sign Man" from our future meetings,

events, and from distributing literature to the public on our behalf.

This is a decision reached by consensus of all elected officers of the

party who were present at our last officers' meeting, and one that I
have

not made public, hoping that we could come to a final compromise with
Mr.

Ekberg before taking such action, one that is difficult to reconcile
with

our value of encouraging diversity in politics.


As you know, last summer, when Sign Man made the local & state press
(and

some national mentions) with his sign promoting Ralph Nader's 7% vote

tally in Vermont in 2000 during Governor Dean's campaign announcement

speech from Church St. in Burlington, we made every effort to defend
his

right to free speech and to represent Greens in the way he knows best:

Through direct action. We went out on a limb to defend him, despite
calls

at the time to disavow his sign and his message.  We respect that this
is

the way Mr. Ekberg knows best to communicate, and wanted to take all

precautions against infringing on his right to speak out in the way he

sees fit.


You are probably also aware that Mr. Ekberg has repeatedly used

offensive, foul, and belligerent language in many signs since then,
using

words that, though protected under the First Amendment, are not

appropriate for the political realm, or for public gatherings where the

goal is to convince everyday people that voting Green is in their best

interest.  We simply cannot have such language associated with the
Green

party or the Vermont Greens specifically. Our strategy, rather than to

shock people into agreement, which we believe can't work for most
logical

individuals, is to point out what's wrong with other parties' and

candidates' approaches.  His signs -- on large fluorescent greens and

yellows -- have appeared at many events in Vermont, Boston, and New
York.

I have received many complaints about such representation in these
public

venues from Greens from all over the northeast. We have recognized
that,

though the signs may be shocking and may garner some attention, do not

communicate what being Green is all about. We'd rather smaller amounts
of

positive attention that large amounts of negative feedback -- or worse,

laughter.


Since then, however, Ekberg has refused to work with the VGP steering

committee on improving his message so as to avoid offending the groups

and individuals with which we are trying to create relationships. We
have

tried for 14 months to get Mr. Ekberg to work with us, not against us,

but he has, instead, labeled us as "Demo-Greens" and "Cobb Greens"

(whatever that means, an ironic statement in the context of the VGP
vote

to not place Cobb on our ballot line) and insists his behavior is

protected by the 10 Key Values of the Green Party. We don't believe any

Green Party should tolerate alienating and abusive behavior, that the

10KV don't protect such behavior, and that his violation of the 10KV

trumps Mr. Ekberg's right to associate himself and his signs with the

Green Party.


There have been several individual reports of abusive, harassing, and

offensive behavior on the part of Mr. Ekberg -- both while leafleting
and

petitioning for the Nader campaign and while representing himself as a

Vermont Green in public venues -- from strangers, friends in other

activist groups, and some Greens. We also have had complaints about his

behavior at our statewide convention, where he was verbally abusive to
me

because I insisted that one of his handmade signs -- which could only
be

the work of Sign Man -- be taken down, and where he exhibited what

observers at our meeting have called "intimidating and harassing"

behavior during the deliberations around our vote to ratify the

nomination of David Cobb as the Green Party presidential candidate. He

has offended several of our candidates to the point where they refuse
to

allow him to do distribution of their literature. In an ironic twist of

fate, he refused this weekend to distribute literature as part of his

Nader brochure drop in the local area because our local candidate flier

has my name on it. Clearly, this is not someone willing to put his own

agenda aside for the betterment of the Green Party.


On Friday evening, while working the door for the appearance of Supreme

Court Justice Antonin Scalia at the University of Vermont, I saw the

reaction from the attendees at the event who read a sign that (much to
my

shock & chagrin as both a UVM staffer and a well-known representative
of

the Green Party within the UVM administration) said F____ OFF SCALIA on

one side and VOTE GREEN PARTY on the other.  They laughed. Those are

people who, though they might have agreed with our positions, may never

see past that one negative message to the positive messages of the
Green

Party. Rather, they don't think we are to be taken seriously. To make

matters worse, I witnessed Mr. Ekberg "giving the finger", shouting

obscenities, and making other obscene gestures to passers-by, including

automobiles with children inside.


This, for me, was the last straw.  Patience has run its course, and has

failed.  We have written Church St. Marketplace to request that he not
be

given any further permits to table as a Green, and we have notified him

that he may not attend future meetings of the party. Whether he obtains

permits under the guise of another group is beyond our control, and he

just may continue to portray himself as a representative of the Green

Party. Mr. Ekberg insists that I and our steering committee are but
"Cobb

Greens", and that his actions would be defended by the GP-US at large. I

hope this is not the case.


We may not be able to stop Mr. Ekberg from representing himself as a

Green, but we can publicly disavow association with that kind of

communication. If you agree with me, the best thing to do is to simply

tell your friends, fellow Greens, and would-be Greens that Ekberg is
not

a Green, and that no Green would intentionally offend the masses with

obscene language, since that does nothing to promote the Green values
we

hold dear:  Peace, Justice, Democracy, and Ecology.  I've watched many
of

you ignore him at public events, but this, unfortunately, has not been

enough.


Finally, the only way we can be sure to overcome the problems of one

person attempting to dominate the message of an entire -- growing --

group, is to support our candidates.  They're the people on the front

lines, and the ones who are bearing the mantle of the Green Party. 
Show

them your support by attending or viewing the events listed at

http://vermontgreens.org/events.html, or by donating to the VGP
campaign

fund at http://vermontgreens.org/join.html.


With warm wishes for a Green future,


Craig Chevrier

Chair, Vermont Green Party

chair-HUVwuYCs0HHE+QnRsb7NIdi2O/[email protected]

LIVE>GREEN<<VOTE


-------------------------------------------------

Unless a reply is directed to all recipients on this list, please
address 

personal replies directly to the sender.


The primary listserv for the Vermont Green Party, which is a
non-posting list


used to disseminate official Vermont Green Party news and information
is 

located at vermontgreens-3hfIC0tI0F+k/GrYEfjPQuG/[email protected]  To subscribe to that list,
send a


blank email message to:

vermontgreens-subscribe-3hfIC0tI0F+k/[email protected]

-------------------------------------------------

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