Green Mass Group to Provide Much Needed Online Space for Progressive Political Discussion
Web-based platforms for political discussion have really taken off in Massachusetts in the last few years. First there was Blue Mass Group - a very popular and groundbreaking online forum for partisans of the Mass. Democratic Party and liberals in general. Then Red Mass Group launched - and provided the same kind of virtual space for the Mass. Republican Party and right-wingers in general. Then there were further spinoffs like (the aptly named) Gold Mass Group by Mass. Libertarian Party folks and even an anti-genetic engineering Purple State Group.
Yet although many Open Media Boston viewers might be satisfied with much of the discussion on Blue Mass. Group, their cleaving to the Democrats leaves many of us on the political left unsatisfied (although it's certainly a welcoming community). Especially considering the many conservative Democratic politicians at all levels of government that seem to spend more of their time trying to thwart the progressive wing of their party than politicians on the official right. And the swiftly growing numbers of wars that President Barack Obama and company are prosecuting or instigating at the moment definitely gives the broad American left cause for alarm.
Turning to Red Mass Group (with tongue firmly in cheek), the fact that the Republicans stole the left's color - red - over the last decade annoys most left-wingers too much to even think about trying to debate with them on their site. I mean can you imagine your average Cold War era conservative bragging about being from a "red state" back in the 1950s or 1960s? I can't either. I've actually considered creating something like a "Wicked Red Mass Group" just to make the point. Regarding the other "color sites" that have sprung up representing other perspectives, I don't expect many progressives have spent much time on them.
So it comes as a pleasant surprise that Mass. Green-Rainbow Party activists have just started upGreen Mass Group to provide an open forum for Bay State residents to discuss issues of the day from the progressive side of the political fence - with a welcome focus on independent progressive electoral politics.
In that vein, a first order of business for the new site was to announce Jill Stein's candidacy for governor in the upcoming election. So we expect the site will heat up on the strength of that statewide campaign rather quickly. And spark interesting debates about the efficacy of higher level campaigns by relatively small independent parties at this point in time.
The whole project looks great to us. We look forward to spending some of our "down time" kibbitzing on Green Mass Group. We strongly support the new effort, and encourage our viewers tocheck it out soon. We believe it will do more to help foster useful discussion and debate among Mass. progressives than any web-based effort we've seen in a long time. And that's all to the good.
