Peter Camejo: 1939-2008
Peter Camejo, one of the nation's leading progressive voices, died Saturday at the age of 68. We at the Guardian mourn this brilliant, compassionate man who we came to know well and admire during his runs for governor and president. Camejo was a truly unique leader, marrying a consistently progressive worldview that has changed little since his 1976 presidential run as a socialist with a proven record as a socially responsible investor who made millions and showed the pursuit of wealth needn't come at the expense of people or the planet. May we all long remember the lessons he taught us.
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Comments (6)
RIP, Peter. Thank you for the wonderful example you set. Your integrity and passion for social and economic justice will be missed.
Posted by joewmorse![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.sfbg.com/blogs/politics/nav-commenters.gif)
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September 16, 2008 06:44 AM
Unfortunately, Camejo's lingering legacy will be one of divisiveness, sectarianism and cliquishness which might well have delivered a coup de grace to the Green Party.
At some point, COINTELPRO and Camejo's sectarian, authoritarian leftism meet on the other side, one wanting to destroy a progressive party which might threaten the system one day, and Camejo with a trail of divisiveness and splitting of parties based on ultraleftist fixation with being the most radical, the furthest to the left.
In order to be the most left, others have to be not as far left. Camejo reveled in creating that false dichotomy which he used to divide the Green Party to the point of fatally injuring it.
It is one matter to show up with what you think are good ideas, and quite another to use suasion and electoral tactics to help those ideas see the light of day as enacted public policy.
What is not acceptable, however, is for leaders to get frustrated at their inability to achieve top-down change and to take out that frustration on others who are taking a bottom-up approach.
Sure Camejo's loved ones are mourning him and their humanity and loss must be respected. But many of us are mourning the demise of Green Party that had required increasing levels of life support since Camejo showed up on the scene in 2002.
-marc
Posted by marc | September 16, 2008 11:51 AM
Have you no shame, Marc? Are you so filled with bile and bitterness that you'd write such a vicious broadside of a widely admired ally who just died?
As to the substance of your remarks, might your own divisiveness and repeated vicious attacks on people's lefty credentials have something to do with the local Green Party's dysfunction? It's astounding that you can't even see how hypocritical you are.
Get some help.
Posted by Scribe![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.sfbg.com/blogs/politics/nav-commenters.gif)
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September 16, 2008 12:23 PM
Marc, Scribe's ridiculous diatribe and personal attack on you aside, I agree with the sentiment. Sure, we both had some problems with some things that Peter did. But this is no time for rehashing the old watermellon greens vs real greens argument. This is no time for bile from anyone.
Posted by joewmorse![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.sfbg.com/blogs/politics/nav-commenters.gif)
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September 16, 2008 01:00 PM
Joe, now is not the time for us to paint a false history of someone who did very real damage to a party that held promise for advancing the progressive agenda at these critical times.
This is the time for us to take stock of his legacy in its entirety and to learn from what went wrong so that we don't repeat the same mistake in the future.
If Camejo was so widely admired, why did he get fewer votes on each successive venture before the voters?
I almost expect to see a soviet era film of Stalin's funeral where nobody dare call him for what he was because the climate of fear was so thick.
As the planet is dying at the hands of corporate dominance, just as Peter had no compunctions about tearing the party apart in order to advance his vision, I have no compunctions about offending a few people's sensibilities so that an important lesson about a known dead end alley might be seared into people's brains while they're paying attention.
As for Steve, well, when he speaks, he speaks for himself.
-marc
Posted by marc | September 16, 2008 05:34 PM
Here's a link to the "strategy" debate in Oakland in 2005 between Camejo and Mike Feinstein ( former Santa Monica, CA mayor and city council member ) "moderated" by Gonzalez.
As you might note, Mike Fienstien discusses strategy and Camejo rails against everyone who he thinks is against him and his friends in the party, denegrating their motives and dismissing them as Democrat Party collaborators.
Purely Trotskyite stuff right here, all from someone who had not moved a single piece of progressive policy into reality for anyone.
This is where Gonzalez revealed himself as closer to Camejo's jihads against Feinstein rather than someone who would support a strategic plan to grow the Green Party.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrLKchqwJWs
Gonzalez' branch snapped here for many Greens, and the leaves began to dry and fall off, as he aided and abetted Camejo's dysfunction and jihads.
-marc
Posted by marc salomon | September 17, 2008 07:24 AM