Rembering Granny D

Doris Haddock, aka Granny D, passed away yesterday after a full life. At the age of 89 ten years ago she walked 3200 miles across the country in support of campaign finance controls. Let's remember her with a few quotes.

After the recent SCOTUS ruling on corporate speech

“The Supreme Court, representing a radical fringe that does not share the despair of the grand majority of Americans, has today made things considerably worse by undoing the modest reforms I walked for and went to jail for and that tens of thousand of other Americans fought very hard to see enacted. The Supreme Court now opens the floodgates to usher in a new tsunami of corporate money into politics.”

Court statement in 2000 after being arrested reading the Declaration of Independence

Your Honor, it is now your turn to be a part of this arrest. If your concern is that we might have interfered with the visitor's right to a meaningful tour of their Capitol, I tell you that we helped them have a more meaningful one. If your concern is that we might have been blocking the halls of our government, let me assure you that we stood to one side of the Rotunda where we would not be in anyone's way. But I inform you that the halls are indeed blocked over there.

In a BBC interview during her walk across the country

This country has become one in which, in order to run for office, a poor man has to sell his soul, or he has to be a multi-millionaire. That's not democracy

From a Democracy Now! interview with Amy Goodman when she ran for senate against Judd Gregg in 2004 (and got 34% of the vote!!)

My main interest is campaign finance reform, and until we get public funding in this country, we will be in the mess that we’re in today. There is no other way to save our democracy and no other way to keep it a democracy, except through public funding.

But I care about the fact that we are the only civilized nation in the world that doesn’t have national health. We are letting our schools go to pieces. On one side, you have a country club-type of school; on the other side, you have a place that our children are ashamed to go into. That’s not fair. We are supposed to be a fair nation. And we’re not being fair at all.

What an incredible woman. Hats off.