Lawrence,

If you look at JUST the time period Dennis was in office as mayor of Cleveland, you may assume that he was a poor mayor. However, had he not had the foresight, Cleveland citizens would be out millions of dollars - and would still be paying to this day. Time vindicated Dennis.

And as far as your slanderous comment that Dennis is inept because of a lack of passage of bills - well, couldn’t that comment just as well show the need for a paradigm change in congress? That is exactly what Dennis is fighting for - an effort to move Washington away from politicos and those in bed with corporations. How can one man combat a house full of politicos? As a congressman, he can’t. As president, he will - and that’s why he as my vote.

ruth,
you need to vote for kucinich. i’m not interested in continuing this conversation. if kucinich’s actual political history, including his disastrous single term as mayor of cleveland and his zero accomplishments in the House of Representatives (not a single bill that he authored ever became law) isn’t enough to convince you of your hero’s ineptitude, then nothing will. good luck.

Lawrence, we have provided you with facts and links.  Yet, you still continue to provide your false statements about Dennis and to attack those of us who are on top of the facts. 

What is your purpose in being here?  It is not to persuade the informed Kucinich supporters of your position. One thing you will discover about Kucinich supporters is that we are backing him because facts matter to us.  While other candidates say one thing and do another, Dennis always keeps his promises and always backs the will of the people.

The facts discredit your accusations about Dennis.  Are you hoping uninformed people will wander here from elsewhere and fall for your ridiculous accusations about Dennis?

hi linda,
if you can provide this forun with some factual evidence that I have “meared”, or otherwise spread falsehoods about Rep.Dennis Kucinich(D-OH), his political history or his legislative record, you should do so. Otherwise, others might get the impression that you’re just an idealogue; that your idealism of your candidate prevents you from accepting the provable evidence associated with the life and political history of the six-term congressman. My congressman.

If you don’t know your history, you’re doomed to repeat it.

Well Lawerence

You sound like the people that one can sell the Brooklyn Bridge to you for several million dollars and you will buy it. Try to wake up and smell the real coffee!!!

Just because Kucinich refuses to be in the corporate pocket… you have no right to try to smear him. He is the most honest man in government yet.

Lawrence, we know the neo-con corporations don’t like Dennis because he refuses to sell out the people for the corporations.  That’s part of what makes him so honorable.

It was the people and local leaders of Cleveland who declared Dennis a national hero for saving the people of Cleveland hundreds of millions of dollars.  He can be mayor of my city anytime.  I like the idea of having a mayor who will save me money.

One of a long list of articles that mentions that”...local leaders said he had saved city residents hundreds of millions of dollars in bills by refusing to sell the utility,” was published in the New York Times, http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE7D D113FF937A25753C1A9659C8B63

We know that the neo-con corporations are financing the three candidates you like.  Perhaps you are working for one of the neo-con corporations that have looted the American economy.  That might be why you don’t want Dennis to save the American people trillions of dollars.  He is the only candidate who will save us money instead of helping the looters.

As an American taxpayer, I want a President like Dennis, who will save the American people those trillions of dollars.  I’m also looking forward to seeing the looters pay up.

Dennis is the most honorable leader who has ever walked the halls of Congress.  Stop spreading lies about this great man.

The 1999 book “The American Mayor” by Melvin G. Holli, ranked Kucinich the 7th worst mayor in the nation’s long history. Here’s an exerpt:

“Only thirty-one years old when elected, Cleveland’s “boy mayor” had failings that were not the sins of venality or graft for personal gain, but rather matters of style, temperament, and bad judgment in office. Kucinich earned seventh place the hard way: by his abrasive, intemperate, and chaotic administration. He barely survived a recall vote just ten months in office, then disappeared for five weeks, reportedly recuperating from an ulcer. When he got back into the political fray, his demagogic rhetoric and slash-and-burn political style got him into serious trouble when he stubbornly refused to compromise and led Cleveland into financial default in late 1978 - the first major city to default since the Great Depression. That led also to Kucinich’s defeat and exit from executive office. Out of office, he dabbled in a Hollywoodesque spirit world and once believed that he had met Shirley MacLaine in a previous life, seemingly confirming his critics’ charges that he was a “nutcake.” After that, he experienced downward mobility, losing races for several other offices and finally ending up with a council seat; but more recently, he climbed back up to a seat in Congress. Bad judgment, demagoguery, and default also spelled political failure in the eyes of twenty-five of our experts, who ranked Dennis, whom the press called “Dennis the Menace”, as seventh-worst”.

This survey spanned mayors in the United States between 1820 and 1993. Notching the “7th Worst” slot was a serious accomplishment.

Lawrence, your fabrication about Kucinich comes across as delusional.  Dennis is always ready to speak with the public and answer any questions the public has.  This is what sets him apart from Edwards, Richardson and Obama, three politicians who have to hide their positions from the public.  Dennis is very Presidential.

Edwards voted one way and now pretends he supports the opposite of his own record.  That’s not Presidential.  That’s dishonest or wishy-washy.  Edwards’s pet project now is getting us into a war with Iran.  That’s even stupider than his co-authorship of the war.  Edwards 37% support for the environment means he won’t get the vote of most Californians and young Americans.

Richardson has spoken publicly in support of war with Iraq and Iran and in favor of the Patriot Act.  Now he wants everyone to shut up so no one will know where he stands.  That’s not Presidential either.

Obama got where he is by using the dirtiest of tricks to knock out his opponent.  Check how he won this other elections.  The guy even deserts his friends when they become homeless.  His 20 votes for war make him pro-war, not anti-war. That’s not Presidential.  I don’t want to say what that is. 

I’m voting my first vote for Kucinich and that makes me proud.

Sorry Lawrence, your information about Dennis comes across as completely bogus.  I do not believe you know Dennis at all.  That is how off base your information is.  I believe one of the three candidates you mentioned sent you here to present a false picture of Dennis.  Those of us, who know Dennis, know that your claims about him couldn’t be further from the truth.

First, Dennis regularly presents himself to public scrutiny.  He speaks in Cleveland and all across America to crowds of people and eagerly answers any question asked.  He provides complete and honest answers to all questions as he doesn’t have anything to hide.  This can be frightening to the other candidates, who have to speak in generalities.

I do not believe Edwards, Richardson or Obama are qualified to be President.  Edwards and Richardson were fooled by Bush and eagerly backed the war and the Patriot Act, though Richardson just did so with his rhetoric.

Edwards is so wishy-washy, no one can figure out from one day to the next what his position on any particular issue will be.  His positions changes as his audience changes.  I recall seeing Edwards in one of his more honest days when he was booed by the members of the California Democratic Party for standing up and saying that security was more important than freedom or peace.  He was admittedly a co-sponsor of the war and also pushed through the Patriot Act.  For the damage done by both, Edwards should be ashamed.

Obama voted 20 times in support of the war and then lied by pretending to be an antiwar candidate.  He is to the right of Hillary Clinton in his voting record.

Today, someone sent me a link to a site about how Obama uses dirty, underhanded tactics to go after his opponents.  It is at: http://politicallyingliars.blogspot.com

I must say that I am not surprised to see people here spreading false information about Dennis.  Dennis’s supporters will not believe the false information because they know that Dennis is the most open, honest, trustworthy candidate in the history of this country.

Sorry Lawrence, your information about Dennis comes across as completely bogus.  I do not believe you know Dennis at all.  That is how off base your information is.  I believe one of the three candidates you mentioned sent you here to present a false picture of Dennis.  Those of us, who know Dennis, know that your claims about him couldn’t be further from the truth.

First, Dennis regularly presents himself to public scrutiny.  He speaks in Cleveland and all across America to crowds of people and eagerly answers any question asked.  He provides complete and honest answers to all questions as he doesn’t have anything to hide.  This can be frightening to the other candidates, who have to speak in generalities.

I do not believe Edwards, Richardson or Obama are qualified to be President.  Edwards and Richardson were fooled by Bush and eagerly backed the war and the Patriot Act, though Richardson just did so with his rhetoric.

Edwards is so wishy-washy, no one can figure out from one day to the next what his position on any particular issue will be.  His positions changes as his audience changes.  I recall seeing Edwards in one of his more honest days when he was booed by the members of the California Democratic Party for standing up and saying that security was more important than freedom or peace.  He was admittedly a co-sponsor of the war and also pushed through the Patriot Act.  For the damage done by both, Edwards should be ashamed.

Obama voted 20 times in support of the war and then lied by pretending to be an antiwar candidate.  He is to the right of Hillary Clinton in his voting record.

Today, someone sent me a link to a site about how Obama uses dirty, underhanded tactics to go after his opponents.  It is at: http://politicallyingliars.blogspot.com

I must say that I am not surprised to see people here spreading false information about Dennis.  Dennis’s supporters will not believe the false information because they know that Dennis is the most open, honest, trustworthy candidate they will ever find.

Ruth,
I’ve never made a “misportrayal” of Dennis Kucinich. If there’s anyone whose “misportrayed” Dennis J. Kucinich over the years, it’s Kucinich himself. My interest in other Democratic candidates has nothing to do with Kucinich either. It’s my opinion that Edwards, Richardson, and Obama are quality people who, I believe, would be fine presidents. I don’t believe Dennis Kucinich is anywhere near as qualified or competent as those three gentlemen.

Dennis is not the “honest” politician that his small band of supporters have convinced themselves he is. Don’t forget, Ruth, I’ve known Kucinich for 45 years. We’re exactly the same age (60) so I have an edge on you and his other fans.

His recent ranting about the other Dem candidates cancelling out on the FoxNews-sponsored presidential candidate debate/forum caused a stir here (Cleveland). Kucinich was quoted as saying: “it’s an insult to the voters, and the height of cynicism, for candidates to refuse to take the public stage and subject themselves to public scrutiny.” Interesting comment from Kucinich given the FACT that your hero has REFUSED to debate every single challenger to his House seat in every single election campaign since he took office in January, 1997. That’s a FACT, Ruth. Trust me, Dennis Kucinich is not the shining knight that you’ve, obviouslt, convinced yourself that he is.

I like that one, Ruth!

Lawrence, how does your misportrayal of Kucinich help Obama or Edwards or Richardson?  I’ve seen at least one of those candidates use some pretty dirty tricks in his past elections.  Were you part of that?

One of the reason I like Dennis is that he encourages his supporers to be honest.  I am really getting tired of dirty politics from the other candidates.  The only reason I still care at all about politics is that I believe an honest candidate like Dennis can be elected President.

It’s nice to see that Dennis has the support of so many Natashas.  I personally know at least two other Natashas who are backing Dennis.  At first, I thought you might be a Natasha I know, but I asked her and she said it was a different Natasha. It is great to see more and more individuals backing Dennis for President.  I think he is really going to win this time.

I like that idea about promoting Dennis in the signature of emails.

How about this?  “Why settle for less when you can have the best, Kucinich for President, 2008.”

Ruth,
I haven’t settled on one Democratic candidate yet but Bill Richardson, Barack Obama, and John Edwards are three who I like so far.

Here’s a tip about getting the word out (as well as sending articles like this to your mailing lists):  Use your SIGNATURE on your email to advertise him instead of your info (or both).  Writea catchy phrase and provide at least one good link.  You won’t even be thinking about it and the clerk at the electric company will get the message. 

Right now, though, my sig is for something more important.  Here is my sig: 
************
WE PREVENTED THE OCTOBER SURPRISE,

Now Talk! Write! Blog! Call! Spread the News to PREVENT OPERATION BITE:

OPERATION BITE:  US Military Plans Airstrike On Iran on April 6, 2007, 4AM till 4PM.

DO SOMETHING!!!

****************
I’m sure Dennis would be pleased to help out with that as well.  BTW if they don’t do it then, next scheduled date is April 16-17 so we have to really get the news out.

Lawrence, which of his Democratic opponents are you backing?  From your post, it is clear you are with a different candidate.  Which one?

No, Ruth, I’m not a Republican. Been a Democrat all my life. I’ve known Dennis Kucinich longer than the majority of his supporters have been alive. My information is correct.

Lawrence, since your information about Kucinich is incorrect, it seems to me that you have an ax to grind.  Who are you supporting for President? What is your real agenda here?

Ruth,
Firsty, I never said that I supported Dovilla or any of the other challengers to Kucinich over the years. My point is that Kucinich has NEVER debated Any of the men and women who challenged him in primary and general elections since he was elected to Congress. He’s been criticized throughout his tenure by the Cleveland Plain Dealer for avoiding public debates with his challengers.

Kucinich’s national supporters are always citing his unusual honesty and integrity when defending or promoting his candidacy for president. If Kucinich is going to condemn his fellow candidates for “insulting” the voters by refusing to participate in a public debate forum, than the congressman must answer why he, apparently, feels he hasn’t “insulted” the voters of Ohio’s 10th congressional district by NEVER debating ANY of of his opponents during his 10-year congressional career.

He’s being a hypocrite; pure and simple. Unless, of course, there are different standards for Dennis J. Kucinich than there are for everyone else. Is that your assessment?

Dennis talked the talk and walked the walk back in the late 70’s. When he did not sell out to special interest groups over Muny Lite (power to the people). Why has he sold out to a special interest group the Democratic National Commitee on the issue of abortion. If he was truly a man of integrity he would have told them all to go pound salt let him be a viable candidate for President as one opposed to this murderous plot against the voiceless. Smoke and mirrors he is no different than the rest. “What is Truth”. I pray that you haven’t forgotten where you really came from....

Mike Dovilla ran an inflammatory campaign aimed at terrorizing the people of Cleveland into voting for him out of fear.  The fact that you would back that kind of person makes me question your credibility, Lawrence.

Dennis ran a quality campaign based on truth and peace.

Dovilla was not interested in an honest debate.  Dovilla was just interested in flashing pictures of Osama Bin Laden around. 

Any claims by Dovilla lack any credibility.  Dennis made a great many appearances before his constituents.  Dennis is always open to honest debate.

Rather than another new department, a Peace Department - why not rename the current Defense Department (formerly the War Department) as the ‘Peace Department’?  Afterall isn’t that the purpose of American sponsored war - to make Peace!

This would really get the nation’s attention!

Kucinich’s has refused to debate his last three congressional opponents for various “reasons”: He wouldn’t meet with Ed Herman (R) because, he said, the City Club of Cleveland, located in downtown Cleveland, was outside his district and his “policy” was not to debate opponents outside his district. Apparently, his “policy” did not include appearances for his then-failed presidential campaign because one week prior the City Club forum, he gave a speech to supporters in Bellefontaine, Washington, some 2000 miles from his district.
He snubbed Barbara Ferris at another scheduled City Club debate; telling her, the City Club, and the voters that, due to a “scheduling conflict”, he was unable to meet Ms. Ferris. He had scheduled a veterans summit in his Lakewood office and could not participate. Ferris was so infuriated that she stormed Kucinich’s “summit”, accompanied by a local TV crew, and challenged Him to a debate right there. Of course, he refused.
Mike Dovilla (R)was stood up twice by Kucinich: the first time, again, at a City Club forum and the next week, he failed to show at a League of Womens Voters (LWV)conference, scheduled at Cuyahoga Community College. Again, “scheduling conflicts” were his stated reasons for insulting the gathered voters.
You can support and Dennis Kucinich if you feel compelled to do so but, I assure you, Kucinich’s track record, when it comes to debating congressional challengers, is abysmal.
He stood up Mike Dovilla(R)

Lawrence,
Do you recall if Dennis ever stated his reason for not debating those candidates?  He debated in the 2004 Democratic primary race.
Also, do you, Lawrence, think Dennis Kucinich is the best candidate available who is running for the Democratic Presidential nomination?
For what do you think people attempted to ridicule Dennis?  As I see it, those who have attempted to ridicule him, have succeeded only in making their selves ridiculous.

Lawrence, I am curious if you are pro war or pro peace, as a way of life.

Thank you.

It’s nice to see that his Republican opponents are still running their campaign of disinformation. 

I happen to know that Dennis has frequently had appearances in his district as I have received notice of those events but was unable to attend because of the distance.

I saw the nonsense that Dovilla was circulating about Dennis.  Dovilla used falsehoods and lies to spread his message.  The people in Dennis’s district knew the truth.  That is why Dennis received a landslide, as usual, in his Congressional election.

I think it is time for the campaign of lies against Dennis to end.  Dennis is the most open member of Congress.  He is always open to questions and completely honest in his dealing with his constituents and with everyone.  That is why America loves Kucinich.

Dear “Ruth” and “AE”

Kucinich has refused to debate every challenger to his congressional seat since he was first elected to congress in 1996.

The last three opponents who he refused to debate have been Ed Herman (R), Barbara Ferris (I), and Mike Dovilla (R). Kucinich has been criticized locally for years for “hiding” from his opponents in editorials by The Cleveland Plain Dealer, Ohio’s largest newspaper but to no avail. In fact, he hasn’t made a personal appearance in his district in four (4) years. He may be the darling of progressives in some quarters but he’s become a target of dericion and jokes within his district, for years. He’s become extremely unpopular and some prominent local Dems are planning on challenging him for his seat. His days are definetely numbered here.

Lawrence McDonald
Fairview Park, OH

Dennis Kucinich is happy to debate and let the public know where he stands on the issues at all opportunities.  The other Presidential candidates are running from debates because they know they lack Kucinich’s debating skills.

Dennis has an advantage over all other candidates.  He is open and honest and always wants the public to know all of the truth.  If you see the other candidates, you notice they speak in generalities because they don’t dare tell the truth about their pro-war positions.

I am very proud that I will be voting for Kucinich for President next year.

Lawrence,
I am curious who has challenged Dennis to a debate during a Congressional campaign.

Also, do you think Dennis Kucinich is the best candidate available who is running for the Democratic nomination?

Thank you.

Dennis Kucinich is upset at the cancellation of a FoxNewsChannel-sponsored presidential candidate debate scheduled for this August ("Kucinich says debate skippers are scaredy cats”, P.D. 03/12/07). Apparently, some prominent Nevada Democrats and several presidential candidates have forced the cancellation of an August presidential candidate debate, sponsored by Fox News because, they feel that, the conservative cable news channel is biased. Kucinich says that “it’s an insult to the voters, and the height of cynicism, for candidates to refuse to take the public stage and subject themselves to public scrutiny.”

High-minded rhetoric from a guy who has refused to debate any challenger since he was elected to Congress. The last congressional debate in which Kucinich participated was in 1996 when Rep.Martin Hoke, the then-incumbent , agreed to debate him, the challenger, at the prestigious City Club of Cleveland. Apparently, the congressman has had no trouble insulting the voters in all the years he’s been the incumbent. 

Kucinich now asserts that “The public deserves honest, open, and fair public debate”. Only time will tell if the self-righteous politician lives up to his new standards and agrees to publicly debate any and all future political opponents when so challenged. Unfortunately, given his past record, the chances of that happening are slim and none; and slim has left the building.

Lawrence J. McDonald
20201 Lorain Rd. #910
Fairview Park, OH 44126
440-356-2358

The Cleveland Plain Dealer
Kucinich’s bill comes due

Monday, March 12, 2007

Three years after the fact, the Federal Election Commission has made official what almost everyone except Dennis Kucinich knew about his 2004 presidential campaign: It went on way too long.

The FEC has billed Kucinich for $137,358 in taxpayer-generated campaign funds that its auditors say he misspent. Because Kucinich got so few primary votes, the FEC says he could use matching funds after March 4, 2004, only to shut down his campaign. Instead, Kucinich kept right on running - if you choose to call it that - until just before the Democratic convention in late July.

Kucinich’s campaign treasurer, Columbus lawyer Donald Mc- Tigue, concedes that his man kept going after he was ineligible for new federal dollars, but that the frugal Clevelander was simply spending money he had already received. He says Kucinich was determined to keep his anti-war message alive. No doubt he was. But on whose dime?

© 2007 The Plain Dealer. Used with permission

Dennis Kucinich is an eloquent idealistic Congressman.

After hearing him speak in our community, I voted for him in the 2004 Democratic primary.

Dennis has shown throughout his service as Mayor of Cleveland and as a United States Congressman, how a good representative stands up for people, regardless of corrupt political and big money opposition to a strong ethical stand.

We need somebody in the White House who is an honest person, backed by honest people.

We need someone who has always stood up for the rights of all Americans, and who is prepared to speak truth when facing a troublesome, potentially dangerous situation.

Our economy must be based on peaceful, sustainable, and free markets, not on forced sales of weapons of mass destruction.

The war criminals occupying the Oval Office profit monetarily from sales and construction of war supplies, and also by theft of resources from murdered citizens of our home, planet Earth.

This is not something we can afford to be apathetic about, or treat as a joke. 
Insidiously evil monetary profits have been destroying our economy, our ecosystem, the lives of ourselves and fellow citizens.

Young people have, in many cases enrolled in the military via a coercive recruitment, then treated as U.S. Government Property, literally.

If Kucinich cared about opinion polls as so called, “career politicians”, do, he would not have consistently voted against the Iraq war. He would not have a history of speaking his ideals.

He has the distinction of having the majority of public opinion slowly come around TO HIS VIEWPOINT. Not the other way. This is because he has been an ethically upstanding American Patriot all along.

Anyone with any sense that is aware of this Honorable Congressman from Ohio will stand by him in his race for the highest public office in the United States.

If it had not been for a media black-out, Congressman Kucinich would likely have had the 2004 Democratic nomination.  Until reporters were literally ordered not to cover, on the highly suspect premise of “unelectability” he was tied with Howard Dean as the front-runner.

When occasionally characterized as comical rather than eloquent, I ask, “Is someone on the payroll of a “Rethuglican” think tank, or is their sense of what is funny simply broken?”

If you want to know what Congressman Dennis Kucinich stands for besides ending illegal wars, please use a moment of your time to visit http://kucinich.us/issues

Dennis Kucinich explains simply and eloquently, his stand on issues.

His Top Ten Key Issues

1. Universal Health Care for all Americans
2. International Cooperation: US out of Iraq, United Nations in. (If Democratic Iraqi citizens desire U.N. peacekeepers present once Executive orders bring our soldiers home peacefully.)
3. Jobs for all who want them + U.S. Withdrawal from NAFTA and WTO
4. Repeal of the so called, “Patriot Act”
5. Guaranteed Quality Education, Pre-K Through College
6. Full Social Security Benefits at Age 65
7. Right-to-Choose, Privacy, and Civil Rights
8. Balance Between Workers and Corporations
9. Environmental Renewal and Clean Energy
10. Restored Rural Communities and Family Farms

See his page to find out where he stands on any issue.

I firmly believe his plans and ideals are exactly what this United States needs!

To see his announcement of candidacy, where he explains why he is running, go to http://kucinich.us/node/728

Wishing you all the best: that we all work together realizing a dream of a world that we all enjoy life upon.

In 1999, Melvin G. Holli wrote: “The American Mayor: The Best and the Worst Big-City Leaders”, the definitive analysis and ranking of the best and worst big-city American mayors since 1820. An outgrowth of “The Biographical Dictionary of American Mayors, 1820-1980, Mr. Holli’s compilation is widely recognized by scholars and academics as the best single source for comparing big-city American mayoral administrations throughout our nation’s history. Needing just a single term in office, Dennis J. Kucinich managed to be recognized as the “seventh-worst” big-city mayor in the entire history of the United States of America.

Here’s an excerpt of what Professor Holli said of Kucinich;
“Next, and seventh, is Cleveland’s Dennis Kucinich (1977-1979). Only thirty-one years old when elected, Cleveland’s “boy” mayor had failings that were not the sins of venality or graft for personal gain, but matters of style, temperment, and bad judgement in office. Kucinich earned seventh worse the hard way; by his abrasive, intemperate, and confrontational populist political style, which led to a disorderly and chaotic administration. He barely survived a recall vote just ten months into office, then just disappeared for five weeks, reportedly recovering from an ulcer. When he got back into the political fray, his demagogic rhetoric and slash-and-burn political style got him into serious trouble when he stubbornly refused to compromise and led Cleveland into financial default in late 1978 - the first major city to default since the Great Depression. That led also to Kucinich’s defeat and exit from executive office. Out of office, he dabbled in a Hollywoodesqe spirit world and once believed he had met actress Shirley MacLaine in a previous life, seemingly confirming his critics’ charges that he was a ‘nut-cake’. After that, he experienced downward mobility, losing races for several offices and finally ending up with a council seat; but more recently, he climbed back to a seat in Congress. Bad judgement, demagogery, and default also spelled ‘failure’ in the eyes of twenty-five of our experts, who ranked Dennis, whom the press called ‘the Menace’, as seventh-worst mayor in the history of the United States.”

This appraisal was not written by a vengeful political opponent; a hostile bank or corporate tycoon; or a conservative newspaper editor just out to smear or destroy Kucinich’s reputation. Not hardly. It’s author is a fair-minded, objective, highly-respected academic whose sole purpose was to research and write (along with 69 contributors) a scholarly comparative analysis of the administrative abilities of big-city American mayors. Furthermore, it was published by the highly-respected Penn State University Press.

Even if what you say about Dennis is true, Dennis has talked about the spiritual awakening he experienced in the interim of many years when he had problems surviving due to inability to get a job as no one would hire him.

He certainly is against this war and has been from the start and backed it up with not voting for funding of it.

I have attended at least 15 speeches and Dennis treats everyone with respect.  I saw him once speak at a very poor, graffiti ridden black area of Cincinnati at a homeless shelter center and speak with black Americans, the time he took with each of their questions (running far over the time for his next speaking engagement) and the deep concern and look of concern for an older black woman worried she’s lose her home were extremely apparent.  He went right up to each and looked with interest into their eyes and with intense focus on what they said.  Regardless of how you perceive he felt back then, he certainly cares for minorities now.

Most people do grow in maturity and wisdom with age...few of us are the same people we were in our youth.  I am proud to be a Kucinich supporter.

I, too, was in Washington for the protest.  Dennis’ speech can be found by going to youtube and typing Dennis Kucinich January 27, 2007 in the search.

Dear Dennis,

I personally contributed hard-earned funds to your last campaign. Not because you fully represent my politics, but because you were (and remain) the best alternative. I then watched, at some point in 1984 (whoops) 2004, Chris Matthews do a Hardass number on you. It was typical Matthews-ugly.

Therefore, as one not from Cleveland, I offer some advice: Come over (please) as less of a pie-in-the-sky, idealistic liberal, lest the media sharks cut you to pieces, as Matthews did that evening. (Recall what media did to Dean, who wimped out instead of fighting back.) You seem a little wild-eyed and harebrained in media appearances. I, and most readers at this site, know of your good intentions, but America at large thinks you’re a liberal loon--interesting but not to be taken seriously. Simply running losing campaigns does no one any good. Seriously, Dennis, you’re not going to win beauty/personality contests. Edwards is all over ya on those counts, while Hillary is all over ya on other counts. You’ve nothing to lose in becoming seriously aggressive, taking on pretenders in no uncertain terms. Call ‘em out on their votes to go to war, Hillary on her dismal attempt way back when to devise a plan to provide healthcare to ALL Americans. Bring up the long-forgotten meeting in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, when she met with insurance company execs. Insist on time to spell out how you plan to get passed single-payer healthcare, how you plan to get past the insurance lobby. Don’t be Mr. Nice when appearing on Hardball or anywhere else; give Matthews as good as he doles out. Media lightweights like Matthews are taken seriously in this culture. Don’t THANK Chris--ever! As though you’re in his debt for having allowed you to appear. You’re the candidate, not him! In short, don’t come over as a pansy-ass as you did in 04. We know you aren’t, but America thinks you are, since you come over as one in media. It takes a lot to get Americans’ attention. Since you have nothing to lose, get NASTY, man! Deal a few body blows to Dem opponents. C’mon! And make an appeal to those who used to be the Democrats base: labor, women and minorities, instead of to Birkenstock/Hollywood liberals, who though they can provide lots of money can never deliver enough votes. You could win the election if you would but appeal to those who rarely vote, to those Americans who are leading lives of quiet desperation. Your real opponent is Edwards, who is doing fairly well in appealing to lower-class Americans, and who, let’s face it, looks great and is a hellacious stump-speaker.

And for cryin’ out loud, take a serious position vis-à-vis Israel, long as you’re running, long as you’re laying claim to being a man interested in social justice, and long as you keep emailing me asking for contributions. Otherwise, speaking as a guy spit out by corporate America, funds are precious and I got none to give a campaign again on the verge of losing.

Re: 1/29/07 L. J. Mcdonald.
Well now, this is most interesting...and only one day after I asked ‘...what do we really know?’.
Now I, and hopefully others, must really dig a lot further. Not that I am disparaging the man in question; rather, let’s do it before we ‘all get fooled again.’
I just re-read a lot of the comments here again before hitting ‘submit’.
Sigh. So many sheep, such little time left to get our country back. Comparing this man to our countries greatest without knowing anything but the above interview and/or that he stood up to controlling forces. I do admire that...and his record in DC, also.
Truth is always recorded as what is believed by the populace at the time it happened.
I am a vietnam vet; so what? I cling by my fingernails to the belief that my country is ‘the land of the free’.:
The massacre of the American People [Indians] was wrong. Now they don’t even know their own languages.
The enslavement of Africans was wrong. It took almost a hundred years for them to vote down here.
We hung the proud ones that would dare to even look us in the eye.
Vietnam was wrong. Macnamara even admitted that! Iraq was/is a lie. And my brothers, black and white and red still die for something that country does not believe in.
We justifibly went in to Afghanistan...only to turn at the moment we spied Ben L. [figure that out Hon. Mr. Kucinich, it’s really very easy...if one knows what’s really going one...clue:it’s not oil]
Persia is a beautiful country with beautiful people. We will soon justify the destruction of them, too. Watch out China [N.Korea hasn’t to worry yet...we are working on China to get that done].
And Syria; and then Lebonan; the supplier of the tinber for King Soloman’s palace.
What do you people want anyway? The destruction of everyone because you believe yourself superior?
Well, I may be jumping ship soon, and all my many many friends with me. I want answers Now...not during the primaries or somewhere after the ‘party selection’.
What a joke we all are.
Thomas J. must be drinking very heavily at this point. I know some of his brown children are!

Two of the more celebrated speakers at last Saturday’s anti-Iraq war rall in Washington were Jane Fonda and Dennis Kucinich. Ms. Fonda remarked that it was the first antiwar rally that she had participated in in 34 years. From 1969 to 1973, Fonda was one of the highest profile activista against Richard Nixon and the Vietnam war. She was also an advocate for native-american rights as well as a supporter of Huey Newton and the Black Panthers.

Dennis Kucinich’s activities 34 years ago were drastically different: In the early 70’s, Kucinich was candidate a Cleveland city council seat who resorted to some pretty racist tactics against his opponents. Kucinch handed out campaign literature featuring a photo of Black City Council President George Forbes leering at one of Kucinch’s white female opponents with the title “What’s Going on Here?” As the Cleveland Plain Dealer describes, “It showed a lascivious-looking picture of Forbes gazing at a picture of Mary Rose Oakar, who is white”. According to accounts in the Plain Dealer, it said Oakar was a pawn of Forbes and elements “east of the river,” a reference to Blacks and the racial dividing line of the Cuyahoga River.” In fact, Kucinich regularly attacked white politicians who supported Blacks in office as “puppets.” In 1974, Kucinich criticized political rival Ron Mott for voting in favor of instituting Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a legal holiday.

This may be a shock to Kucinich’s current supporters but, sadly, it’s very true. It should also be noted that Kucinich, although a very public official, never publicly expressed any dissatisfaction or anger about the Vietnam war in those days. The war was not on his radar screen then. He obtained a medical deferment for a heart condition and was classified 4-F. Funny, that heart condition never seemed to affect his ability to run for office TWENTY-FOUR different times.

I am stilling following this thread and wonder if Dennis does the same. I still need to follow up on some of the other strings listed to read & watch & digest before deciding.
My question:
Is Mr. Kucinich our man for the job? Some here say yes; some say no. And how can we ever truly know, anyway; [we have all been let down so many times before]? Does he [do you] understand the underlying cause/aims of the real power [s] that are destroying this country for their personal greed and do you feel you can actually buck that all-powerful group of ten that own almost everything? [Yes,it can be done...but most of the ones who’ve tried are not with us now!].
My long, two-part, [and very true] comment of earlier was written for the reason of pointing out that most of those who are our ‘leaders’ do not ever get the opportunity to talk to the real people that truly drive the spirit of change...and yes, some of them are also very wrongheaded but only feel that something, anything[!], must be done, not only here...but everywhere!
Can you lay down a program of true reform that the mass of sheep will follow? I am just so tired of lip service but do understand that you stood up to a local, yet major, machine.
I do hope that at least a few will respond to my question [s]...and perchance Mr. Kucinich himself will too.
{Things are coming to a head...EVERYWHERE!.}
If you do read this please tell an old friend ‘hi’. That would be the Hon. Roger Wicker, Rep., state of Ms.
I will be waiting and will soon post again.
Thank you,
Thomas Higginbotham
‘Those who are not part of the Solution are part of the Problem.’[-Eldridge Cleaver, 1935]

Re: Comment #49412 by colbert2422 on 1/24 at 9:16 am

“Dennis is collateral damage in the BIG war between Rome and Jerusalem for control of the US.

“We picked up Rome’s war in Vietnam from the French, who had done Rome’s fighting there since the 1800s.

“We are now in Iraq fighting Jerusalem’s war, and soon will go to Iran, even if we have to shoot at our own ships to get an excuse.

“Some of the slugging is visible, as when Jerusalem uses the courts and the media to go after Rome’s Priests.

“In a pathetic attempt to retaliate, Fitzgerald (Rome) goes after Scooter (Jerusalem).

“Mahoney (Rome) escalates the Rome body count strategy, bringing in huge numbers of grunts from central America and Mexico, and builds a palace in Los Angeles. The new reconquista gets a big boost.

“Rome scored some points when Jerusalem used Wild Bill Donovan (Rome) to set up what is now the CIA. Many skirmishes between Rome and Jerusalem took place in the CIA, and are still going on, all through the intelligence community.

“Pelosi is a big win for Rome. Hoyer is Jerusalem’s major piece of the action. Murtha and Kucinich and Jarman are collateral damage.

“At least this is how it looks from the bleachers.”

William

EARTH TO WILLIAM: THAT TIN-FOIL BEANY IS ROTTING YOUR HEAD!

Dennis is collateral damage in the BIG war between Rome and Jerusalem for control of the US.

We picked up Rome’s war in Vietnam from the French, who had done Rome’s fighting there since the 1800s.

We are now in Iraq fighting Jerusalem’s war, and soon will go to Iran, even if we have to shoot at our own ships to get an excuse.

Some of the slugging is visible, as when Jerusalem uses the courts and the media to go after Rome’s Priests.

In a pathetic attempt to retaliate, Fitzgerald (Rome) goes after Scooter (Jerusalem).

Mahoney (Rome) escalates the Rome body count strategy, bringing in huge numbers of grunts from central America and Mexico, and builds a palace in Los Angeles. The new reconquista gets a big boost.

Rome scored some points when Jerusalem used Wild Bill Donovan (Rome) to set up what is now the CIA. Many skirmishes between Rome and Jerusalem took place in the CIA, and are still going on, all through the intelligence community.

Pelosi is a big win for Rome. Hoyer is Jerusalem’s major piece of the action. Murtha and Kucinich and Jarman are collateral damage.

At least this is how it looks from the bleachers.

William

Recently, Plain Dealer correspondent Sabrina Heaton reported that Rep. Dennis Kucinich (OH-10) had been named chairman of the new House Government Reform and Oversight subcommittee on domestic policy ("Kucinich to chair domestic rreform panel”, 01/18/07). This new subcommittee will, apparently, investigate domestic issues like electric utilities, nuclear power plants, water safety, health care, media concentration, and government treatment of American Indians. After ten long years in the minority, Kucinich would finally chair a House subcommittee but, at the same time, the failed 2004 antiwar presidential candidate had to be devastated with the decision. 

Ever since the November elections, Kucinich and his supporters have (properly) assumed that he would be named chairman of the House Government Reform Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats, and International Relations; a powerful subcommittee slated to investigate Bush administration officials and their roles in the disastrous Iraq war. As the ranking Democratic member, Kucinich was the likely successor to outgoing chairman Rep. Chris Shay (R-CT) and. was, apparently, anxious to begin. In a recent interview with Truthdig.com’s Joshua Scheer, the antiwar presidential candidate was already planning to hold hearings to get answers to “the questions about those who led us into war based on lies.” Without question, Kucinich was salivating at the prospect of grilling Bush administration officials about the war that he has condemned for years. And why not? Televised hearings on C-SPAN would be a major boon to his 2008 (fake) presidential campaign. His presidential stock would soar. Unfortunately (for him), House Speaker Nancy Pelossi (D-CA), doesn’t share his dream. 

So why was Kucinich passed over for the National Security (et al) subcommittee chairmanship? Was it because he had so publicly criticized party leaders for not cutting off future funding for the war? Or maybe because he disrespected the Dem’s 2004 presidential candidate, Senator John Kerrey, by continuing his own (fake) campaign for months after the senator clinched the party’s nomination? Or was it simply because Pelosi (et al) didn’t think Kucinich had the “chops” for such an important chairmanship? (Congress.com rates Kucinich #391 out of 435 Houses members, in terms of influence). Whatever the reason, Kucinich will be questioning utility and health care executives in front of a handful of observors, instead of grilling administration officials and top generals in front of C-SPAN’s national (and worldwide) viewers.

Poor Dennis. He’s become the Rodney Dangerfield of national politics.

Lawrence J. McDonald
Fairview Park, OH.

....part 2....
for a month i waited every day for prayers to end in the taliban embassy so i could climb to the roof & microwave their insipide speeches live to the world. they could no more figure out how to tie their shoes...much less hi-jack 4 planes & ‘take out’ america. Wake the hell up America, your children need you more than ever now!
i flew over the stark mountains of afghanistan & into the refugee city of Kabul..to party for a month with UN workers [& locals & others] who hadn’t a clue how to spend 5 billion dollars; but first i had to spend a month in ‘viper city’ & swap stories with special forces & the tenth mountain army division of new york & the 101 & the 81st, & catch camel spiders to par off against the scorpions...for entertainment. and then learned we
were gonna get those damn terrorists...in baghdad!
holy f--king shee-ite! [so how does ben laden keep his blood filtered & the machine turned on?..LOL]
so then i flew to palistine to do a ‘death watch’ for the late great leader of their party & got to meet leiberman...and watched as the unmarked mazda drove by a few ‘daze’later with the israel soldiers...who stopped in the mystical square of ramallah...& got out & shot down 3 teenagers. well, only one died...the other 2 were taken to hospital trauma center..where the soldiers burst in & took them out & then calmly drove away.
the papers & the networks of freedom reported the next day that 3 more ‘terrorists of Hamas’ had been elimanated. [they were listed as terrorists because they had been caught outside their compound one nite...past their imposed 12 o’clock ‘curfew’, by the by. how wonderful our freedom protected them!
i left that beautiful ancient city finally, a feeling of emptiness for the human race in my heart, & headed for jordan...so i might forge the paperwork needed to get into kuwait with...so the equipment could then be mounted..& taken into baghdad...so you people could see live what freedom & democracy can really do!
once again i refused to go into that bomb torn country where our religions began [alas babylon! the city of Abraham, El & Ishtar. ancient city of light.]. although i did make forrays to the barbed wire ditches of the border [camp new york]
to uplink the...boxing matches for the army. in consession, i must say; most of those young guys had never personnally witnessed the earlier mess both sides made from the border crossing to the city in 92..or the firefight at midnight at the kuwait airport. or the day of ‘black monday’ when the U.S. embassy was ‘accidently’ blown up across the street as the skies suddenly darkened beyond a ‘black hell’ & rained oil & weird sh-t down at noon upon us as some officer went running and yelling ‘gas, gas, gas!’...& i found that someone had stolen my gas mask from my honda civic.
at camp NY, looking across that immense spanse of barren desert, i thought; ‘they soon will...and many here will soon die [back home, mothers & fathers will cry] & many will simply live out the rest of their rapidly aging lives in VA hospitals, having their bags changed every few hours...as their younger brothers go off to boot camp...to train themselves to ‘preserve our freedoms’ once more.
somebody do something and do it damn soon!

signed; Thomas Higginbotham, former Senior Field Engineer, CNN [and vietnam era vet & the proud son of a Marine from a brigade who raised a flag on Iwa Jima, semper fi, dad...wherever you are]

where do i begin?  caveat emptor; this is NOT a list of corrections, it is merely one man’s story:
i was in england after just leaving pakistan when i heard about this ‘patriot act’ being voted for. i was telling a fellow american worker that it would cancel our constitution if voted for. and then he informed me that it had ALREADY passed!
the country I once fought for is now almost non-existant.
now, four years after returning from fourteen years in the mid-east & many other places I can no longer talk to many ‘fellow’americans who find my ideas...NON-american [oh mine god!].
they have been brain-washed so badly that they shout me down and ask me to refrain from my ‘radical’ ideas because i tell them this is not the ‘land of the free’ anymore.
they tell me that i don’t know anything of what is going on...even tho’i have been in almost every single minor and major conflict in the known world. but I don’t know what the hell is going on?

i worked for the upper etchelon for vietnam & saw my brothers being zipped up to be shipped home.
i was in moscow when it fell & saw old people being told they must ‘change’ for us & democracy.
i saw the tanks burning in kuwait in 92; the 10,000 lb. USAF bomb sticking nose first into the ground outside the border contol building as the mine sweepers cleared our path. smelled the dead bodies as we drove around the once proud city that the english separated from iraq in the forties.
i drove thru the bosnia alps from croatia to split thru seravo to tusla, dodging the mine fields & weeping at the sights of beautiful villages with nobody home; their roofs caved in from the ‘cleansing fires’ as my driver explained the meanings...& how he awoke one morning to go to his college but...a machine gun had taken out the back of his apartment & he became a freedom fighter for the next four years of his young life.
i listened to the drones of military bombers over- head in macedonia as i prepared to cross into kosovo & sat and drank with their freedom fighters as they cleaned their weapons & listened to Cher.
i crossed the great rift of ethiopia [one week after that revolt] to witness 60,000 starving refuges streaming across the barron border from somalia during the revolts of the warlords.
several months later...i paid ten thousand dollars
to a somolian warlord to not kill me as i unloaded my gear in mogadishu. a month later i celebrated new years morning watching from a roof as the US hellfire missles rained overhead into a warlord’s convoy just outside the city.
i sat enthralled one afternoon during a sniper attack and listened to the young U.S. officer tell me the story of the building that snipper was in & how
certain ‘people’ had given him orders not to blow the place up just after his party had found a huge cache of weapons in it. weapons that ‘mysteriously’ dissappeared the next week!
one year later i sat with the us army & marines special forces as a battle raged just over the hill & the wonderful irish chaplain played his guitar and sang in a heavenly tenor voice of the tales of ireland & war. & then we hopped onto an amphibious assault vehicle and were soon safe in the belly of the USS Bella Wood & off to Mombosa.
......end of part 1....

The biggest issue for you Dennis to overcome is the corporate media!  There’s no doubt you are the educated people’s choice!  I stated before you need to be on left wing radio at least to help your campaign.  Even they aren’t giving you much of a chance. They say he’s a good or nice guy but can’t win. Prove them wrong!  I wish I had your courage.  Winterfire6 comment 44092 said it best of all comments before this.  I believe in you and truly hope you can win!  As I said in other comments, keep speaking the truth and eventually the DNC will either join you or endorse someone like you. Al Gore would win again, have him make you vice president if nothing else!  It’s a start!  And from there you could be president!

Dennis, none of the Democrats address US military bases around the world, to begin. The crime of US history is 9/11. If you do not address this you will be forgotten. Start reading, get 9/11 AND AAMERICAN EMPIRE:INTELLECTUALS SPEAK OUT No skyscraper falls from fire ever in history.  Only controll by human demolition experts can fell one into its foundation.  You are a nice person but sleeping. Think about getting real.

How to get Dennis Kucinich elected?  Answer: Guerrilla Marketing!  Follow my story here.  I currently drive a taxicab part-time to pay my expenses so I can stay politically free to speak my truth to anyone, anytime, anywhere; as well as in control of my own hours - so I can serve my various causes (including the Kucinich campaign) on MY own time schedule.  In some ways cabbies are one of the last of the “rogue”, politically free, corporate rule – free, independent vocations.  If people don’t want to hear what I have to say, they can get out of my cab - right where we are, right here, right now!  No one gets to infringe on my “free speech” in MY cab.  I actually don’t abuse this power - I am just demonstrating what’s possible here.  Cab drivers interact with hundreds of people a week - most being among the most disaffected, disenchanted, and disenfranchised people in our society, while others are some of the highest level movers and shakers of society - on their way to and from the airport/hotels – corporate CEO’s, managers, consultants, lawyers, etc.  I particularly like having controversial, “no holes barred” conversations with this later group in MY cab where, like I said, they are “in my office” - I am not in theirs.  I know that many of these conversations actually end up making a difference with both of these constituencies - and they are highly informative for me as well.  Consider the Kucinich campaign focusing on creating cab drivers nationally as a political action group - armed with targeted information and campaign support materials.  Also include instructions on how to help these passengers organize the hundreds and thousands of similarly fed up people in those housing “projects” where they and often the drivers themselves live.  We may even be able to arm the inside of these driver’s cabs with stickers and signs; give the driver’s Kucinich campaign shirts and caps, and buy ads for the signs on top o