Question: Are there any examples of corruption from the Greens or Libertarians?

[Ignacio Upton]

Corruption is well-known in both major political parties, with the Rethugs being the worst of the two. However, I'm wondering if any third parties have had their own corruption "scandals." I heard recently about a Green Party official (I think he was elected) who got in trouble for accepting a dinner of Bacardi and chicken wings. I wouldn't be surprised if the so-called "purists" among the GP and the LP have ethical issues, as many small parties tend to be run in ways that aren't quite organized with checks and balances (ie. primaries, which as far as I know, neither party has.)

[Syrinx]

1. I seem to recall that Greens have run Republican-funded campaigns

I would consider that a corrupt practice.

[Ignacio Upton]

4. Didn't the Green candidate for PA-Sen use the same signature-gatherers

That Nader used? The majority of Romanelli's signatures (or close to it) were found invalid!

[Richard Steele]

15. Yes indeed, that seems pretty CORRUPT to me.

Luckily, they generally fail to achieve election to any office
where they could do REAL damage to the entire electorate
(instead of just to Dems).

[NoodleBoy]

2. usually, you have to have some sort of power to be corrupted

if not, you're Lyndon LaRouche, ingeniously being corrupt and corrupting the people around him with merely the illusion of power.



sorry, but sometimes I gratuitously third party bash. such as, I'm pretty sure none of the third party or independent candidates for President would ever know what to do with the government if they ever did win, aside from soiling themselves, emberassing the nation, then resigning and living out their days in isolation.

[azurnoir]

3. I think here in Mn

an Indy candidate got in trouble for accepting a pie, a few years back. The smaller parties do not have the influence or money to generate any major corruption scandals, they might be just as corrupt but no one gives them the opportunity.

[Ignacio Upton]

6. If I ever hear about a Green getting indicted for corruption

I will laugh my ass off and break dance on my floor.

[kiahzero]

5. That'd require someone trying to corrupt them.

They're powerless, so no one cares to bother in most cases.

[MADem]

7. Ralph Nader, Republican enabler who took their lucre and did their bidding.

http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0720-15.htm
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/07/09/MNGQQ7J31K1.DTL
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0327-05.htm

[Ignacio Upton]

9. I didn't realize that Kevin Zeese was Nader's campaign manager

Nader campaign spokesman Kevin Zeese initially took a principled stand, telling Associated Press last week that the campaign would not accept the GOP's help: "We won't take any signatures from them." But within hours he flip-flopped, AP reported, saying the campaign might accept the Republican signatures if state officials did not certify Nader as the nominee of the Reform Party in Michigan, which is split into two factions.

Yesterday, team Nader made it official: They'll accept the "independent" ballot line provided by the Republican signatures in case they fail to get the Reform Party nomination: "We have to get on the ballot somehow," said Zeese.

His son actually posts on DU. He posted something in the Maryland forum a month or two ago.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=157x4096

[blondeatlast]

22. self-delete nt

[Hippo_Tron]

8. Of course not, the Greens are perfect, just ask them...

:eyes:

[MADem]

14. Yeah, that Green Underground website they have is really hopping!!!

:rofl:

[azurnoir]

16. It's not nice to fool Mother nature n/t

[The Sushi Bandit]

10. NO!!

[Ignacio Upton]

11. Well...Nader and Romanelli weren't in cohoats with the GOP, were they?

n/t.

[not_a_robot]

12. WOW

with all the green hate here I guess I'm not welcome. Bye.

[DRoseDARs]

13. Not all of us here paint others with such wide brushes and broad strokes... n/t

[markiegreg]

18. From my experiences, the majority of Libertarians

support a laissez-faire free market economy. With corporate and money interests attempting to obtain beneficial legislation and the Libertarians wanting to remove monopoly, regulative and legislative advantages, my guess is, the corporate world views Libertarians like the plague. IMO, a corporate or money scandal is less likely with Libertarians as compared to Dems, Reps or Greens. Some interests may view a free market as beneficial but in the words of a Rockefeller: "Competition is sin." As for personal conduct, in general, Libertarians are similar to liberals so any faulty character traits found in liberals could be found in libertarians.

[LWolf]

21. Sure you are:

2. Who We Are: Democratic Underground is an online community for Democrats and other progressives. Members are expected to be generally supportive of progressive ideals, and to support Democratic candidates for political office. Democratic Underground is not affiliated with the Democratic Party, and comments posted here are not representative of the Democratic Party or its candidates.

I had to go to the "old lobby" to find the rules; I'm not sure where they are stashed in the most recent update of the site.

The rules obviously state that you are welcome, and there are posters here who will welcome you. You can't campaign for Green candidates, but you can discuss isses that Greens and Democrats may have in common. That said, there is a contingent of Green-haters, as well. They like to spend energy, bandwidth, and space on blaming Greens for Democratic Party losses so that they don't have to confront the real source of failure; the party or campaign itself. There's really no point in arguing with them; they've mastered hate and denial pretty well. If you're going to hang out at DU, you have to be prepared to run the gauntlet from time to time.

You don't have to engage with them, though. No rules requiring a response to any particular post/topic!

[blondeatlast]

23. GreenPartyVoter has been here almost as long as I have

(almost 4 years) and is a well-respected DUer.

[Azathoth]

17. It's difficult to be corrupt when you have nothing to bargain with

Corruption in politics almost always involves either some type of favor exchange or some abuse of power. I pay for your trip to Scotland, you earmark 20 million for my pet project in the next appropriations bill, etc. Greens and Libertarians wield virtually no power on the national stage, and very limited and sporadic power at the state and local levels. When you have nothing to bargain with and no power to abuse, it's far more difficult to be corrupt in the "classical" sense. I'm sure there's plenty of unethical behavior lurking under the surfaces of the third parties, but I doubt you're gonna find a Jack Abramoff or a Tom DeLay in there.

[RoyGBiv]

19. Depends on what you mean ...

A "scandal" in the context you frame the question implies something high-profile that would make the evening news.

Used more broadly, I could write you a book about Libertarian scandals, such as a certain Libertarian economist pretending to be a historian, claiming all sorts of ludicrous things, all the while plagiarizing his little ass off. But except in certain circles, no one cares about him because he is, or appears to be on the surface, irrelevant outside those circles.

[Ian David]

20. Who was that Libertarian who got caught taking bribes...

and said something to the effect of, "I don't care if the money comes from Republicans or Democrats. Money is money."