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Republicans recognize the true democrat
So as far as I can see, Dennis Kucinich is the real deal.
In an earlier column I called him an "odd little man."
I regret that slight.
After meeting and speaking with him, he's not odd at all. He's lucid and sticks to his bedrock principles, which, in theory, are the same as his party.
So why have the Democratic bosses and their stalwart members swung behind Kerry the Waffler when Kucinich is their man?
In an earlier column I called him an "odd little man."
I regret that slight.
After meeting and speaking with him, he's not odd at all. He's lucid and sticks to his bedrock principles, which, in theory, are the same as his party.
So why have the Democratic bosses and their stalwart members swung behind Kerry the Waffler when Kucinich is their man?
Kucinich should be Democratic nominee
Bucks County Courier Times
J.D. Mullane
http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/219-06082004-313092.html
As Sen. John Kerry waffles his way to the Democratic nomination for president, it's fairly forgotten that U.S. Congressman Dennis Kucinich of Ohio still wants the spot.
Mostly abandoned by the press, Kucinich and his team remain on a lonely campaign.
They made a swing through New Jersey late last week, stopping at the Moorestown Friends School, where Kucinich spoke to a packed auditorium.
Kucinich embodies cutting-edge liberalism, which can be summed up thusly: The only thing better than Big Government is Bigger Government.
In his remarks, he said he proposed legislation in 2001 to create a cabinet level office called the "Department of Peace." Through this, he would institutionalize principles of nonviolence and make them "the everyday principles of all Americans."
He would accomplish this through government programs in schools and by working with non-government organizations and community groups.
"We [would] systematically look at the challenges of violence in our homes, in our society and in our world and create all new structures and new programs to address those challenges in ways that can really bring about a transformation," he said.
In Iraq, he wants America replaced by U.N. peacekeepers, since war is always bad and peace is always good.
He would create universal health care, abolish the death penalty and prevent the privatization of Social Security.
He believes in the right to abortion, but said sex education and birth control should be widely available so abortion is "less necessary."
Why Kucinich never rose above single digits in popularity in the party's primaries mystifies.
He's a liberal's liberal.
In fact, after listening to him, I had an urge to put on a pair of Birkenstocks, ride a mountain bike to a health food store, eat granola and purchase organically grown vegetables.
"The direction of the nomination was determined in Iowa and New Hampshire, but the direction of the party has not been determined," Kucinich told me, explaining why he's still campaigning.
"And I'm staying in this race to do everything I can do to move the party towards a direction that stands for peace, for civil liberties, ending the Patriot Act, for universal health care, for fair trade. It's catching on. We're gaining more and more support."
He predicts he'll have about 80 delegates by the time the Democrats meet in Boston late next month.
"There's a concern that people have about where's the party headed. Are there real differences?"
I tossed him a few questions, to test if he's the real deal.
Q: Do you believe there's such a thing as a good war?
A: If there is, Iraq isn't one.
Q: Do you believe there's such a thing as a good war?
A: I think the idea of war stems from a misunderstanding of the human condition.
Q: Was the American Revolution a good war or a bad war?
A: What we need to do is to have a discussion, not have a parlor game about what wars should and shouldn't have been fought, but to create conditions where we don't have to fight anymore.
A good place to begin is to use the Iraq war as an object lesson in what's wrong about war. And so, I'm not into parlor games. I'm into creating conditions where we can demonstrate that this nation has evolved - and the world has evolved - past the place where war has become inevitable.
Q: The Catholic Church teaches that life begins at conception. You're a Catholic. When do you believe life begins?
A: I'm not going to dispute the teachings of the Church. What I am going to do is assert that, as a democratic society, a woman has a right to choose.
Q: Then why make abortions "less necessary?"
A: Because most people realize that sex education and birth control can go a long way to meeting the concerns of those who oppose abortion.
Q: You for gay marriage?
A: I'm for people who happen to be gay having the full protection of the United States Constitution.
Q: Civil unions?
A: Not civil unions. If they want to get married, that's their right. No question about it.
So as far as I can see, Dennis Kucinich is the real deal.
In an earlier column I called him an "odd little man."
I regret that slight.
After meeting and speaking with him, he's not odd at all. He's lucid and sticks to his bedrock principles, which, in theory, are the same as his party.
So why have the Democratic bosses and their stalwart members swung behind Kerry the Waffler when Kucinich is their man?
Well, a diet of granola and hippie dippy veggies is fine for starry-eyed dreamers who believe government can be a force of good to improve people's lives.
But if you're merely hungry for the power, and for the delicious triumph of defeating Bush, then you ditch your principles and go for the waffles.
J.D. Mullane can be reached at 215-949-5745 or at jmullane [at] phillyBurbs.com. His opinion column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday.
June 8, 2004 4:33 AM
Bucks County Courier Times
J.D. Mullane
http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/219-06082004-313092.html
As Sen. John Kerry waffles his way to the Democratic nomination for president, it's fairly forgotten that U.S. Congressman Dennis Kucinich of Ohio still wants the spot.
Mostly abandoned by the press, Kucinich and his team remain on a lonely campaign.
They made a swing through New Jersey late last week, stopping at the Moorestown Friends School, where Kucinich spoke to a packed auditorium.
Kucinich embodies cutting-edge liberalism, which can be summed up thusly: The only thing better than Big Government is Bigger Government.
In his remarks, he said he proposed legislation in 2001 to create a cabinet level office called the "Department of Peace." Through this, he would institutionalize principles of nonviolence and make them "the everyday principles of all Americans."
He would accomplish this through government programs in schools and by working with non-government organizations and community groups.
"We [would] systematically look at the challenges of violence in our homes, in our society and in our world and create all new structures and new programs to address those challenges in ways that can really bring about a transformation," he said.
In Iraq, he wants America replaced by U.N. peacekeepers, since war is always bad and peace is always good.
He would create universal health care, abolish the death penalty and prevent the privatization of Social Security.
He believes in the right to abortion, but said sex education and birth control should be widely available so abortion is "less necessary."
Why Kucinich never rose above single digits in popularity in the party's primaries mystifies.
He's a liberal's liberal.
In fact, after listening to him, I had an urge to put on a pair of Birkenstocks, ride a mountain bike to a health food store, eat granola and purchase organically grown vegetables.
"The direction of the nomination was determined in Iowa and New Hampshire, but the direction of the party has not been determined," Kucinich told me, explaining why he's still campaigning.
"And I'm staying in this race to do everything I can do to move the party towards a direction that stands for peace, for civil liberties, ending the Patriot Act, for universal health care, for fair trade. It's catching on. We're gaining more and more support."
He predicts he'll have about 80 delegates by the time the Democrats meet in Boston late next month.
"There's a concern that people have about where's the party headed. Are there real differences?"
I tossed him a few questions, to test if he's the real deal.
Q: Do you believe there's such a thing as a good war?
A: If there is, Iraq isn't one.
Q: Do you believe there's such a thing as a good war?
A: I think the idea of war stems from a misunderstanding of the human condition.
Q: Was the American Revolution a good war or a bad war?
A: What we need to do is to have a discussion, not have a parlor game about what wars should and shouldn't have been fought, but to create conditions where we don't have to fight anymore.
A good place to begin is to use the Iraq war as an object lesson in what's wrong about war. And so, I'm not into parlor games. I'm into creating conditions where we can demonstrate that this nation has evolved - and the world has evolved - past the place where war has become inevitable.
Q: The Catholic Church teaches that life begins at conception. You're a Catholic. When do you believe life begins?
A: I'm not going to dispute the teachings of the Church. What I am going to do is assert that, as a democratic society, a woman has a right to choose.
Q: Then why make abortions "less necessary?"
A: Because most people realize that sex education and birth control can go a long way to meeting the concerns of those who oppose abortion.
Q: You for gay marriage?
A: I'm for people who happen to be gay having the full protection of the United States Constitution.
Q: Civil unions?
A: Not civil unions. If they want to get married, that's their right. No question about it.
So as far as I can see, Dennis Kucinich is the real deal.
In an earlier column I called him an "odd little man."
I regret that slight.
After meeting and speaking with him, he's not odd at all. He's lucid and sticks to his bedrock principles, which, in theory, are the same as his party.
So why have the Democratic bosses and their stalwart members swung behind Kerry the Waffler when Kucinich is their man?
Well, a diet of granola and hippie dippy veggies is fine for starry-eyed dreamers who believe government can be a force of good to improve people's lives.
But if you're merely hungry for the power, and for the delicious triumph of defeating Bush, then you ditch your principles and go for the waffles.
J.D. Mullane can be reached at 215-949-5745 or at jmullane [at] phillyBurbs.com. His opinion column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday.
June 8, 2004 4:33 AM
For more information:
http://www.benfrank.net/nuke/dk/t-shirts/
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