A note re Dennis

Reposting this email without the fundraising elements, which the Hatch Act forbids me to include. (It won't be hard to find them should you want to.)

I am writing to urge your support for the re-election campaign of Congressman Dennis Kucinich, who has been our nation’s most consistent voice for peace, economic and social justice. Months ago, Congressman Kucinich’s district was dramatically altered by the Republican state legislature and the primary election is in only 19 days with mail-in balloting well underway. As a result, he is facing a highly competitive primary with a majority of new territory.

Dennis Kucinich was a voice of sanity after 9/11, cautioning against lashing out at the world. He led the effort in Congress opposing George Bush’s Iraq War. His October 2002 analysis of the call for war against Iraq stands today as a statement of clarity of vision and courage which, if heeded, would have spared the lives of US soldiers and Iraqi citizens alike. His was a relentless challenge to the rationale for the war and a call for accountability for those who lied to drag us into the war. You may remember that it was Kucinich who led the effort to try to impeach George Bush and Dick Cheney for their fabrications, prevarications, and other misstatements. When others were promising ‘permanent war for permanent peace’ Kucinich was the one who pointed out the idiocy and the hypocrisy.

In the past decade, Kucinich opposed not only the war in Iraq, he voted against every single funding bill for war, whether Iraq or Afghanistan. It was Kucinich who again rose up to create a rare bipartisan coalition to thwart the war against Libya for a time. As the fundamentalists now take hold there, once again the question arises, why did we go into Libya? What was that really about?

Today, the neocons again are attempting to rush America into a war against Iran. It was Kucinich who took to the floor of the House in debate to knock down again and again the false claims that were being made to try to justify sanctions which could lead to still another war.

This champion of peace obviously cannot rely on war profiteers for funds necessary to gain re-election. He must rely on those of us who are peace profiteers, our friends and family, to be his support and his voice as he has been ours over the past decade and more.

We must protect Congress’ most consistent, most courageous voice for peace and for civil liberties which peace protects. Please help preserve his voice, his vote in the United States Congress.

Thank you,

Gore Vidal

Dennis brings crowd to feet

Dennis Kucinich gave a real crowd-rousing speech tonight. People were on their feet, screaming. Watch it and get revved up.

Must See TV

Congressman Dennis Kucinich will present a single Article of Impeachment to the House of Representatives sometime between 3:30 pm and 4:00 pm (EDT) today, Thursday, July 10th.

Sessions of the House of Representatives are broadcast live on C-SPAN (check your local cable listings for channel) and streamed live via the Internet (www.cspan.org).

The article of Impeachment will deal directly with President Bush fraudulently obtaining support for an attack on Iraq by creating a false case for war. Full details of the Article of Impeachment will be available after they are read on the floor of the House by Congressman Kucinich.

Roll Call on Impeachment

This afternoon the U. S. House of Representatives voted at 3:08 EDT (12:08 PDT) today on House Resolution 1258, calling for the impeachment of President Bush.

Roll Call 401 indicated Ayes, 251 (including Kucinich and 226 other Democratic plus 24 Republican); Noes, 166 (all Republican).

The motion is now going to the Judiciary Committee, where it will - in all surety - die, since the Speaker of the House has declared impeachment "off the table". Nonetheless, continuing to call your representative, and to contact Nancy Pelosi at her new link ( contact the Speaker (thanks, Barry!)) or by snail mail / phone at:

Office of the Speaker
H-232, US Capitol
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-0100

can't hurt, and will at least register the opinion. And that is the first step. As Keith Olbermann said Tuesday talking with Constitutional Law Professor Jonathan Turley, who make his own excellent point:

Olbermann: “I’ve often argued here, that even if you don’t think the words aren’t lead to any actions, say the words anyway, simply to get them on the record for history and simply because, nothing has ever changed from bad to good in this country without somebody first saying, this is bad. Assess the importance of what Dennis Kucinich did last night.”

Turley: “You know, it is very important. The fact is, that this is not supposed to happen the way it’s happened in the last seven years. The framers, I think, would have been astonished by the absolute passivity, if not the collusion of the Democrats in protecting President Bush from impeachment. I mean, they created a system that was essentially idiot-proof, and God knows we’ve put that to the test in the past few years, but I don’t think they anticipated that so many members of the opposition would stand quietly in the face of clear presidential crimes.”

Articles of Impeachment

check Dandelion Salad for videos of Keith Olberman actually covering Dennis Kucinich's 35 Articles of Impeachment against George W. Bush (pdf of the articles).

What's that? You hadn't heard?

Well, only MSNBC is covering it. But Dennis gave a four-hour speech on the House floor Monday. So far, the response of the media - and the House - is silence, or possibly a couple of paragraphs buried deep in the paper.

Let your voice be heard. Contact your representatives with your opinion, and your local media with your questions.

What's going on in Cleveland? And why should you care?

What's going on in Ohio? Dennis Kucinich was forced to call off his increasingly marginalized (more on that in a minute) presidential campaign to focus on his congressional primary. A heavy-hitting challenger, Councilman Joe Cimperman, showed up and began a serious run, although incumbent congressmen in a "safe district" like the Ohio 10th, rarely lose their seats. Kucinich was being outspent 5-to-1, and it didn't take long for people to start to wonder where Cimperman's support was coming from.

Joe Queenan of the UK newspaper The Guardian wrote a couple of weeks ago:

Be that as it may, his campaign was a source of frustration to at least one of the three high-profile attorneys seeking the nomination, because Kucinich kept pulling the conversation leftwards, a direction Hillary Clinton did not want to go.

And he added:

Some of us who are not men of the left are sorry to see Kucinich throw in the towel. This is not only because we believe that the 12% or so of Americans who consider themselves "very liberal" deserve a champion, but because gadflys such as Kucinich and Al Sharpton prevent presidential campaigns from becoming ideologically monochromatic.

Nor is it healthy for TV networks to stage-manage democracy. The candidate furthest to the left after Kucinich's exit, the man who vowed "to give voice to all those whose voices aren't being heard", is Edwards - a fabulously wealthy trial lawyer and hedge fund alumnus who lives in a mansion Kublai Khan would find roomy. Now he has dropped out too. Viable leftwing candidates in the US are now spotted less often than UFOs. And creatures in UFOs would have a better chance of getting invited to the debates.

Was Clinton glad to see him go? It certainly seems to be true that Kucinich's appearances in the debates - before the giant media companies began not just not asking him questions, but actually not letting him in the room. MSNBC actually went to court to keep him out - did force some leftward motion (though Edwards, right of Kucinich but left of the other two, helped with that). Now Clinton and Obama can "debate" the nuances of their terribly similar positions, while any genuine difference is gone.

It seems very clear to very many people that the DNC is happy to see Cimperman in the race. Certainly, big business - invested in NAFTA and other off-shoring legislation - is. Is there evidence that Pelosi is more than irritated at the gadfly who won't let "off the table" be the last word? Is there evidence she and the DNC aren't?

There are a lot of emails and posts going around flat out accusing Pelosi and the DNC of orchestrating this challenge (Google "Kucinich McKinneyed" and look at the results just for people using that term). It's not hard to understand why.

Let's take a look at a few positions. Kucinich

* Supports withdrawing from NAFTA and the WTO;

* Has no corporate strings - takes money only from individuals;

* Calls for true universal health care - no more big private insurers;

* Voted against the Patriot Act; and (most damningly?)

* Has called for impeachment of the Vice President and the President despite Speaker Pelosi's insistence that impeachment "is off the table."

In other words, Kucinich is an actual progressive, something the ever-right-moving Democratic Party has some trouble getting along with. Are they actually trying to unseat him, to replace him with someone who will be beholden to all the interests Kucinich spurns and who will be too junior to cause problems if by some chance he wanted to? You know, it wouldn't be the first time. (See: McKinney)

Just today, David Swanson of Democratic Underground shows us something about the man - and why it might not be that easy to get rid of him:

This past Tuesday morning, in the rain, in front of the U.S. Capitol, Kucinich took time off from campaigning in Cleveland and from his busy schedule on the Hill to join a handful of New York Congress Members in an event that no other representative from outside New York attended. Gathered on the Capitol lawn were hundreds of 9-11 rescue workers suffering from health problems dating from that toxic day, heroes lacking affordable health care. These people risked their lives for others and suffer every day for having done so.

Every district in this nation would vote to give these people health care for life. Many in Congress cheer for them and support the occupation of foreign nations in their name. But only Dennis Kucinich showed up, spoke, encouraged, and committed to holding the city of New York accountable through committee investigations. The people of Cleveland should be proud. The people of America should be proud. And everyone should give what they can to keep this courageous voice in our government.

This call echoes across the Internet, and it seems to be working. On Feb 22nd, Karen Schaefer of WKSU (NPR at Kent State in Ohio) reported that Kucinich had raised over $700,000 in the last six weeks, though most of his big supporters live outside Ohio, while most of Cimperman's live in the state.

In fact, it looks like he's doing well enough to frighten the admittedly right wing: Clear Channel's radio station WTAM is openly encouraging Republicans to participate in the Democratic primary and vote against Kucinich. (They must figure McCain to be a lock, eh?)

We can hope the professor quoted in RealClearPolitics (22 Feb) is right:

Still, Kucinich is popular in his district, and Cimperman will have to win over a large percentage of the electorate that has voted for the incumbent since he was first elected to the Cleveland City Council in 1970. Kucinich has many loyalists in the district who like his independent style, including local unions, to whom he has endeared himself because of his stance on trade issues.

"Cimperman's chances of beating Kucinich are remote, and, of course, even more remote for the others," said Alec Lamis, a political science professor at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. "Obviously, Kucinich has lost support as a result of his presidential bid, but not enough to defeat him."

Losing Kucinich would be more than a blow to the people of Cleveland. It would be a knife to the heart of progressive politics, a sign that the right wing of the Democratic Party won't tolerate dissenting voices - even if (maybe especially if) those voices are on the left.

9/11 profiteering? Maybe somebody should investigate

Did somebody profit from 9/11? Some put options (which allow you to make money on a stock that's falling) were made on United, Morgan Stanley, and others in the days just before the attack - firms whose stocks went through the floor in the days just after. Some ... in quantities out of all proportion to the average number made. So yeah, somebody made money. Who? Well, that's the problem...

Help Dennis Get Re-elected

And speaking of progressive candidates, Dennis Kucinich, under fire from the same corporate interests who kept him out of the debates, is fighting hard to retain his congressional seat.


He wasn't able to stay in the presidential race, but let's not lose him from Congress!

Dennis calls it a day

Dennis Kucinich has withdrawn from the presidential race:

In a speech delivered in his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio Congressman and Democratic Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich delivered an impassioned speech that said, in part:

"I deeply and sincerely believe that we fought the good fight – in large part because of the support from all of you here and from hundreds of thousands of people just like you all across this country. I stood strong because you gave me strength. I spoke out because your voices needed and deserved to be heard. And I told the truth, no matter how unpopular or inconvenient, because, no matter how long it takes, the truth really will set us free.

"I won't be President, but I can continue to fight for these important issues as a Congressman..."

His voice will be missed. The other three candidates are extremely close to each on most issues, and I won't have a problem voting for whichever of them ends up with the nomination (though I do have my clear favorite), but Dennis consistently raised issues they don't want to talk about. His exclusion from the debates - actual exclusion in the last few, and virtual exclusion in earlier ones, where the media and the "moderator" focused only on the big three, with no more than token questions to the others - made it harder for him to be heard, but he kept on until it became apparent that it wasn't working, and that his congressional seat was under attack.

We need to keep pushing and ask those questions every chance we get. Iran, real universal health care, civil liberties, checks on presidential power: these things are too important to let them slip off the table.

Ron Paul as VP? Well ... not exactly

A number of Kucinich supporters are upset with him for "picking Ron Paul as his running mate." I've got to agree - Paul gives me the creeps. He's anti-science, and the favorite candidate of white-power Christofascists even if (a big IF I don't buy) he isn't really one himself.

But.

This wasn't something DK said out of the blue. He was asked which GOP candidate currently running he'd pick for his running mate. I mean, think about it. Talk about a choice between evils! Whether Ron Paul is indeed the best of a bad lot may be arguable, but it's certain that being named the best of that crowd is no great accolade. Moreover, nowhere has DK indicated that he is actually considering this move - he was answering a question put to him on the campaign trail. In fact, he has explicitly said that he does not consider Paul running-mate material due to the racist literature and other revelations.

(It's worth noting, too, that this entire thing was originally blown out of proportion by the Cleveland Plain Dealer, which is not now nor has ever been a pro-Kucinich paper.)

But here's a slighlty different perspective, one which is worth some consideration, which was sent on a mailing list I belong to:

I strongly disagree with Ron Paul on a lot of very important issues – abortion, health care, global warming, gay rights, gun control, etc. (even though his positions on these issues are more understandable than the standard Republican line) – but if I had to pick one "Republican" (he's actually a libertarian) who I would trust to protect America from descending into a corporate-controlled theocracy, it's Ron Paul.

I really don't want to be in a position where I'm defending Ron Paul to a pack of progressives, but I'm not sure what about this Kucinich-Paul ticket has everyone so riled up? The question posed to Dennis in this video is, "If you had to pick someone who is seeking the Republican nomination as a running mate, who would you choose?"

Here is the substance of Dennis' response:

"As the Democratic nominee I'd consider Ron Paul because I think he's someone who has integrity, he has vision, he has courage…. Think about this, okay. I'm talking about an administration that isn't necessarily going to be made up of people I agree with on everything…. I want people who bring diversity of opinion so we have different ways of looking at the world. And Ron Paul would do that. He and I agree tremendously on international policy. If you look at the voting records, you might see a vote being 235-2 and you'll know who the two are. Kucinich and Paul…. On domestic policy, we're pretty far apart. But I think we could work with each other to talk about the direction America is capable of and find ways to meet on common ground. Are there Democrats I would consider, of course. But I want it known that, as the nominee of the party, that I keep my options very wide open. I want our party to be able to have the broadest appeal so that we're not just representing one type of politics. Ron Paul is a person who could help us do that."

Can we have a discussion about what Republican this group would rather have as Dennis's running mate, considering that was the question posed? Ron Paul is and has always been opposed to the Iraq war (and all wars waged in anything but self-defense). He is strongly opposed to the death penalty. He's strongly opposed to the war on drugs. Though not for gay marriage, he's strongly opposed to a constitutional amendment barring it. He opposes all forms of domestic surveillance and infringements on individual liberties, and has spoken out strongly against secret prisons, torture, and American imperialism. On many of the most important and politically divisive issues, Paul has taken extremely courageous positions for a white Republican old guy from Texas.

So yeah, Ron Paul isn't anywhere near the top of my list for DK's running mate, either. But given the question, he was probably the best answer ... except, of course, for "What are you, insane? Pick a Republican?"

(thanks, evmonk)

Locked Out

Davis Fleetwood, with the campaign in New Hampshire, gives us a video of the protest outside the debate hall last night, where ABC/Disney corporate headquarters took it upon themselves to decide who was a "real" candidate and who wasn't.

Vote for what you want, not what you think you can get

Dennis is all fired up in New Hampshire:



"We must believe that peace is viable. We must believe our constitution is viable. We must believe the laws of this land will be upheld by our president."

"[I will be a president] who believes that the main reason for our country is to abide by this Constitution. This is our Bible and this is what I will put my hand on and swear an oath to the people."

If you don't vote your heart...

"Wake up, this winter take a stand"

What's your mindset?

George! Woot!

And Dennis ... Watch it and give it some serious thought, won't you? (And sing along - you know you want to...)

Balls of Steel...

This one's funny as well as true!

Heartland Presidential Forum

Just a short post with a link to The Largest Minority, where you can watch videos from the Heartland Presidential Forum. For a change, all the candidates got equal time. No more moderator talking for more time than some of the candidates (yes, Stephanopoulos, I'm looking at you), or tossing questions at the media's annointed big three and cutting off the others when they did get tossed a bone (yeah, Blitzer. You).

So watch it and see what you think.

It's your election. You make the call.

Live Forum Tomorrow - Defend the Constitution

IN DEFENSE OF DEMOCRACY

We all know that something is very wrong in our country. The Rule of Law, the Balance of Powers, and our Constitutionally guaranteed Civil Liberties have been under sustained assault by an Administration that is brazen and unrepentant in its abuses of our rights and our founding principles. And, to make matters worse, the Democratic leadership of the House and the Senate have failed to exercise the Constitutional authority granted to Congress to stop those abuses and hold violators accountable.

The results? The powers of the Executive Branch have gone unchecked and its policies unchallenged. The Congress and the American people were deceived into an illegal and immoral war in Iraq, and those same deceptions and manipulations are being used to justify a new war in Iran. The government is spying on its own citizens, ignoring judicial protections and due process, denying the right of habeas corpus, and refusing to abide by international laws, treaties, and principles.

Our nation faces a crisis, yet its leaders, and the candidates campaigning for the Presidency, refuse to acknowledge or address it in any substantive way.
That's why it's time for: A DIALOGUE FOR DEMOCRACY.

This Thursday, November 29, Democratic Presidential Candidate Dennis Kucinich will host an unprecedented "Dialogue for Democracy" forum that will be streamed LIVE on the Internet at KucinichTV.com. Along with invited guests, Dennis will bring this crisis to the attention of the nation and the world so we can better understand what's wrong, and, more importantly, what we can do about it. The first segment of the LIVE broadcast begins at 11 a.m. and continues until 1 p.m. The LIVE forum will resume at 5 p.m. and end at 9:30 p.m.

AN INVITATION TO SPEAK OUT! The Kucinich campaign is also extending this open invitation to representatives of interested organizations and concerned citizens to participate in this "Dialogue" by sending an email to dialogue@kucinich.us. Tell us who you are, the issues you want discussed, and whether you or your organization would like to participate directly during any of the LIVE broadcasts.

OUR DEMOCRACY - YOUR DEMOCRACY - is at stake in this election. And there's something you can do about it. You can stand with the candidate who stands with you. The one candidate who isn't afraid to speak the truth, to give honest answers, and to lay out real solutions that don't protect the status quo. If that's the kind of leader you want, someone who will protect and defend YOUR interests and rights under the Constitution, consider making a contribution to the Kucinich for President Campaign today. It's your way of ensuring that your voice will continue to be heard throughout the debates, the primaries, and the caucuses.

DOUBLE YOUR IMPACT! Any contribution you make now through November 29th is eligible for federal matching funds. That means your $50 contribution becomes a $100 contribution. A $100 contribution becomes $200. BUT THE DEADLINE IS THURSDAY NIGHT, so please don't wait.

Click here to double the impact of your contribution so you can have an even bigger impact on the campaign, and on the future of our nation.

Defend the Constitution
The Kucinich Campaign

Chuck Who?

http://www.dennis4president.com

As the makers of this video say:

"CNN's agenda was apparent during their November 15th "debate" as they tried to force the narrative to favor conservative corporate candidates. However, this attempt did not phase Congressman Kucinich, who has come back strong with the endorsement of a special friend. Chuck who?"

Donate $100 or more on December 15th, 2007. The goal is to create a one-day contribution of $10 million. Please spread the word and invest in your country this holiday season. There is no better gift to the world and future generations than a Kucinich presidency. Visit the following link to make your pledge:

www.December152007.com

If you can also contribute now, please do so. All donations until November 29th are eligible for matching funds through public financing. That means your contribution will be doubled!

Narrator: Manila Ryce
Writer: Manila Ryce
Director: Manila Ryce

Light up Black Friday

A Kucinich campaign intern with a suggestion: