Who is Denis Kucinich?

[Sultan Bhargash]

Apparently he's the guy Democrats.com is endorsing for the next election, but I've never heard of him. The following is a paste in of the email letter Democrats.com sent me. Note the extreme spin...

March 24, 2003

Dear Friend of Democrats.com,

Since last summer, we have all done everything we possibly could to stop Bush
from invading Iraq.

We have documented the truth, discredited the lies, and exposed Bush's hidden
agenda: to conquer Iraq in order to control its oil and create a 21st Century
American Empire, as dreamt up by the right-wingers in the Project for a New
American Century who now run the Bush Administration.

We have worked with our progressive allies to organize an unprecedented
grassroots movement opposed to War. By the millions, we have petitioned,
e-mailed and called our Representatives and the media. And we have gone out into
the streets in massive marches all around the world.

Our efforts have produced some stunning successes. Despite overwhelming
diplomatic and economic pressure from Bush and Blair, the people of the world
persuaded the United Nations to Say No to War.

But on Wednesday March 19, George W. Bush launched an invasion of Iraq. He did
so in defiance of the United Nations, world opinion, and international law.

And two days later, after Iraqi troops responded with conventional arms only,
George W. Bush unleashed his dreaded "Shock and Awe" bombardment of Baghdad, a
city of 5 million people, half of whom are children under 15.

We believe Bush's actions are war crimes, and we believe Bush should be
indicted, prosecuted, and punished. We encourage you to sign our petition here:
http://democrats.com/warcrimes

Of course, we recognize the difficulty of achieving this goal, as well as the
goal of impeachment, which we also support here:
http://democrats.com/impeach

So we are turning our attention to defeating Bush in the 2004 election - that
is, if the election is not cancelled by Bush, his Republican Congress, and his
Republican Supreme Court.

There are nine credible Democrats running for President. Five of them oppose
Bush's War - Howard Dean, Bob Graham, Dennis Kucinich, Carol Moseley Braun, and
Al Sharpton. Of the five, the strongest opponent of Bush's War has been Dennis
Kucinich.

Dennis Kucinich has been working for peace his whole life, and has even defied
warmongers and cynics by introducing legislation to create a Department of
Peace. As chair of the House Progressive Caucus, he has led the fight on issues
we all care about - including health care, a living wage, and globalization, to
name just a few.

When Bush declared War on Wednesday, there was tremendous pressure on Democrats
to declare their support for War. But Dennis Kucinich stood firmly for peace.
Here is what he said:

"I support the brave young men and women who are following orders that have
placed them in harm's way. I hope and pray for their safe return. My thoughts
and prayers are with them, their families and loved ones in this difficult time.
While I will always support the troops, I cannot support this mission. Last
night, the President ordered an unprovoked aggressive attack against Iraq in
violation of American traditions of defensive war. This war is wrong. As a
nation we must come together to support the troops but, continue to challenge
the policy that has put them at grave risk."

Kucinich did not just make a personal statement. As the leader of the opposition
to War in the House of Representatives, he also attempted to bring a
non-controversial resolution to the House floor, H. Con. Res. 105, to support
the brave men and women who are serving in our Armed Service. But that
resolution was rejected by Republicans, because they wanted a resolution hailing
their newly-crowned Caesar, George W. Bush.

On Friday, Bush launched his "Shock and Awe" attack on Iraq. Once again,
Republicans pressured Democrats to stand and salute. But once again, Kucinich
stood firm:

"Today is a sad day, the United States has begun its 'shock and awe' air
campaign against Iraq. By all accounts this attack will rain thousands of bombs
down on a heavily populated area. The 'shock and awe' air campaign is a horrific
acceleration of the United States' unprovoked attack against Iraq. This air
campaign is designed to aim the full might of the United States military
apparatus at the center of a civilian population. Today, my thoughts and prayers
are with the coalition service men and women serving in the region and with the
innocent Iraqi civilians. We must end this unjustified war."

Kucinich's opposition has not gone unnoticed. In reporting on Kucinich's
powerfully principled words, the arch-conservative Manchester (NH) Union Leader
published an utterly false headline declaring "Kucinich Ridicules Bush." No
doubt this is just a hint of the full-scale assault on Kucinich that
conservatives will unleash. But Kucinich refuses to be cowed, and he has sent a
reply that fights fire with fire.

This is exactly the kind of "aggressive progressive" approach that Democrats.com
has advocated since we began publishing at the Democratic National Convention in
August 2000. Dennis Kucinich will stand up to right-wing attacks, and he will
fight back with reason, eloquence, and passion - just like Paul Wellstone.

For these reasons, Democrats.com has officially signed on with Dennis Kucinich
as a provider of Internet services. (As a company, we must charge for our
services or we would be prosecuted for making an illegal corporate
contribution.)

To help spread the word about Dennis Kucinich, Democrats.com has created a new
e-mail newsletter list from our existing lists, and this is the first mailing to
this list. This list is completely separate from our Daily and Weekly
Newsletters, and our occasional Activist Alerts, so you can subscribe and
unsubscribe independently to each. If you do not receive our free Daily or
Weekly news, subscribe here:
http://democrats.com/subscribe

We hope all of our readers will find these newsletters informative. Even if you
support another candidate at this stage, we hope you will consider Kucinich's
words and actions, and consider supporting him in the future if your favorite
candidate fails.

 

[Greadius]

Wow... Democrats.com has really fallen off the deep end since I was a regular there.

Dennis Kucinich represents is the wing of the Democratic party that thinks it ought to run the country, and Democrats ought to be an ideological party. He'll be soundly defeated in the primaries, and it'll widely be attributed to the fact that his views are out of sync with the American and Democratic mainstream.

Except for his supporters, who will blame corporations.

 

[metalhead]

Originally posted by Greadius
Except for his supporters, who will blame corporations.

I think they're more likely to blame the vast, right-wing conspiracy. You know, the same thing they blame for all of the world's ills

 

[napoleon526]

I agree, Greadius. Those at Democrats.com are to our party what extreme conservative southern baptists are to the GOP.

 

[thestonesfan]

"So we are turning our attention to defeating Bush in the 2004 election - that
is, if the election is not cancelled by Bush, his Republican Congress, and his
Republican Supreme Court."

If they keep spewing crap like this, the Repubs won't need to sabotage ANY election. They may not even have to campaign!

 

[napoleon526]

How do you pronounce this guy's name? Is it "Coo-sin-itch?"

 

[jumbo2002]

Native Clevelander jumping into this thread...

Dennis Kucinich is the former "Boy Mayor" of Cleveland in the late 1970s. During his tenure (which preceded the mayorship of George Voinovich, formerly Ohio Governor and now Senator), there were serious budget crises that led to Cleveland going into default on its city bonds. As I recall from reading about it (as I was not yet alive until a year after he left office) the major "fight" that led to the default was a refusal by Kucinich to sell city-owned Cleveland Public Power in order to meet the city's debt service. Kucinich did not last long, and a quick check indicates that his term as mayor was 1977-1979. Kucinich disappeared politically for the next 15 or so years (aside from being a target of some jokes as the last mayor of the Dark Ages of Cleveland) before resurfacing as the representative to Congress from the West Side of Cleveland...and now he's running for President.

 

[Greadius]

Originally posted by napoleon526
How do you pronounce this guy's name? Is it "Coo-sin-itch?"

I think its Coo-sin-ich.

 

[andrewgprv]

Oh well that article was scary.....