Dennis Kucinich, The Progressive Candidate
by Little Baby Ginn
Dennis Kucinich has been a busy guy, a busy guy indeed. Since 2004 the Democrat Congressman from Ohio has thrown his hat into the Presidential race, married a woman 31 years his junior, introduced legislation to impeach Vice-President Cheney, made calls to impeach President Bush. He introduced another piece of legislation to form a new bureaucracy, The Department of Peace, and was forced to reveal he had an encounter with a UFO.
A visit to the dennis4president website one can contribute twenty bucks to the Dennis Kucinich Grassroots Raffle and win one of their “amazing prizes.” Get a special Edition pocket copy of the US Constitution, or find out how to throw a Dennis Kucinich “House Party!”
A trip to the Official Campaign Store and for twenty three bucks you can purchase a Kucinich for President “Strength Through Peace” Home/Party Kit which includes ten buttons, ten bumper stickers, 10 rally signs, 10 balloons, and 10 lapel stickers.
Times must be hard: didn’t politicians running for office used to offer these things… for free?
From Kucinich’s bio on the webpage:
The oldest of seven children, Dennis was born in 1946 in Cleveland, Ohio to Frank and Virginia Kucinich. The family lived in 21 places, including a couple of cars, by the time he was 17 years-old. One of his most vivid memories was watching his family count out money on an old white counter top to see if they had enough for their bills. He attended Catholic grade and high schools.Kucinich’s public service life began after graduating from Case Western University. He served as a councilman and later Clerk Of Courts. Elected as Mayor of Cleveland at the tender age of 31 his bio relates how he ran on the promise to save the city’s municipally owned electric system.
He was elected mayor of Cleveland in 1977 on the promise to save the city’s municipally-owned electric system which offered customers significantly lower rates than the private utility. A year later, Cleveland’s banks demanded that he sell the city’s 70 year-old municipally-owned electric system to its private competitor (in which the banks had a financial interest) as a precondition of extending credit to the city.Huh?
The attempted political blackmail failed as did several assassination attempts. He remembered his parents counting out coins on the dresser and refused to sell the people’s power. In an incident unprecedented in modern American politics, the Cleveland banks plunged the city into default for a mere $15 million despite being offered triple collateral to protect the loan.
“The attempted political blackmail failed as did several assassination attempts?”
More from Kucinich’s Political Bio:
The principled stand destroyed his political career. He lost his reelection bid. He was demonized as the mayor who threw Cleveland into default.† Fifteen years later, the citizens of Cleveland - recognizing† he had saved them hundreds of millions of dollars in municipal power bills and also forced the private utility to keep bills low to compete – voted him into the Ohio Senate.†† His campaign signs featured† a light bulb and the expression “Because he was right.”† In 1998 the Cleveland City Council honored Dennis for “..having the courage and foresight to refuse to sell the city’s municipal electric system.”In 1996 Kucinich’s political career and reputation as a Progressive was back on track. He was elected to the House Of Representatives.
More from the Kucinich Bio:
In 2002 the second great challenge of his elected career occurred.† After analyzing the “evidence” presented by the Administration in its rush to folly in Iraq and actually reading the National Intelligence Estimate, he stepped forward to help lead 125 Democrats in voting against the blank check for the President to wage an illegal, immoral and ineffective war.
Speaking from the floor of the House some 140 times against the war and appearing on over 100 radio and talk shows was a risky political move.† But it did not stop him.† The neo-cons and their complicit friends in media engaged in a frenzy of caustic name calling.
Wait a sec? “The neo-cons and their complicit friends in the media?” So far Kucinich is making Ron Paul look positively… normal. Kucinich’s bio is reading like a melodrama.
More from the Kucinich Bio:
On July 11, 2001, inspired by the strength, leadership and teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King, Gandhi and Christ, Dennis authored and introduced legislation to create a Cabinet level Department of Peace and Nonviolence. Domestically the Department will create programs to deal with domestic violence, spousal abuse, child abuse, racial violence, gang violence and the root causes of all violence in our society. The legislation is now backed by a national movement.
An extremely ambitious endeavor all these new programs ranging from “domestic violence, spousal abuse, child abuse, racial violence, gang violence, and the root causes of all violence in our society.”
Of course, someone should point out that yet another Department added to our already bloated bureaucracy funded by strapped taxpayers which addresses problems which are already addressed at the federal, state, and local levels with hundreds of thousands of laws on the books…
On February 3, 2003, Dennis co-authored legislation HR 676 which he had previously proposed to the 2000 Democratic Platform Committee, to create a national health care system, Medicare for All.
Of course some might call this “Universal” Healthcare. “Medicare For All,” paid for by a few. Does this include the estimated 12-15 million “undocumented” workers who receive free healthcare without paying one peso out of pocket?
In 2004, Dennis ran for President on a platform of peace, universal single payer not for profit health care and fair trade conditioned on workers rights, human rights and environmental quality principles, only possible through the cancelling of NAFTA and withdrawal from the WTO. For the second time he presented a plan to the Democratic platform committee for Medicare for all.
Then “peace will guide the planets, and love will steer the stars” and the “dawning of the age of Aquarius. Aquarius!” Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.
In 2005, on May 4th, British born Elizabeth Harper went to Washington, D.C. during her second week in America, to discuss monetary policy with legislators. There she had an eight minute meeting with Dennis in his office. Though neither had known of the other prior to their meeting, each instantly knew they had just met their life partner, though they had barely spoken to each other. They met by chance again three weeks later in New Mexico, declared their love and got engaged. Dennis and Elizabeth were married on August 21st, 2005.
The best of luck to the both of them. More about Elizabeth from the Kucinich site:
You will understand Elizabeth Kucinich better if you answer one question. How many 18 year-olds do you know who leave their comfortable homes to travel alone to India to work with Mother Teresa's charity?† Or another? How many 14 year-olds do you know who have lobbied their national legislature? Or a last one? How many 28-year olds do you know who have traveled to five continents to work on and organize humanitarian projects?
The answer to those questions give a sense of who Elizabeth Jane Kucinich and the dedication to service and social justice that drives her.
Elizabeth is also Kucinich’s 3rd wife and thirty one years his junior, but I digress.
The Issues
Kucinich is clearly against the Iraq War. He voted against it and against funding. He believes in diplomacy. His policy is called, “Strength Through Peace.”
How to Emerge From the Neo-Con and Neo-Liberal Nightmare of the Arrogant Use of Power
“We need to understand the connection between peace and the environment. We know that life on our planet is threatened by the twin threats of global warring and global warming. They are linked, and we have to understand that as we cognize the world as being interconnected and interdependent, we know that resource wars are passe and that the focus on sustainability will create peace.”
--Dennis Kucinich
Lovely sentiments altogether and makes one wonder about Kucinich, that perhaps he’d be better off shaving his head and donning Ghandi robes. Kucinich obviously suffers from a rather blatant Messianic Complex where if one could only teach the world to sing in perfect harmony…
Kucinich on Terrorism:
We cannot hope to end terrorism by killing terrorists. Hatred feeds on violence and killing. I understand this and am here to offer a more practical approach: to reduce poverty worldwide with bold changes in current U.S. policy. NAFTA and the World Trade Organizations have only served to increase global poverty, thus deepening one of the most virulent causes of terrorism.
Yes, of course, it was poverty that drove those men to the acts of 9/11. Well, no, it wasn’t. Bin Laden was never poor and neither were the men who flew those planes into the World Trade Towers. But no one must burst Kucinich’s Progressive Bubble on how to solve terrorism through misconceptions.
Kucinich and Impeaching Bush And Cheney
Kucinich introduced House Resolution 333 to impeach Vice President Dick Cheney.
RESOLUTION
Impeaching Richard B. Cheney, Vice President of the United
States, for high crimes and misdemeanors.
Resolved, That Richard B. Cheney, Vice President of
the United States, is impeached for high crimes and mis-
demeanors, and that the following articles of impeachment
be exhibited to the United States Senate:
Articles of impeachment exhibited by the House of
Representatives of the United States of America in the
name of itself and of the people of the United States of
America, against Richard B. Cheney, Vice President of the
United States of America, in maintenance and support of
its impeachment against him for high crimes and mis-
demeanors.
Kucinich’s Encounter With A UFO
Shirley McClaine, the women with more past lives than a Cat revealed in a book yet to be released that on a visit to her home back in the 80’s Kucinich had spied a “gigantic triangular craft, silent and observing him. It hovered for about 10 minutes or so and sped away with a speed he couldn’t comprehend. He said he felt a connection in his heart and heard directions in his mind."
How nice of McClaine to put this information out during a crucial time of Kucinich’s bid for the office of President.
To sum up Kucinich’s views on issues, Kucinich is against the Iraq War, believes terrorism can be solved by pointing the finger of blame squarely at the United States. Bush and Cheney need to be impeached and everyone should have peace.
Sources:
Dennis4President
Impeach Bush
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