{"article":{"id":56442,"heading":"Kucinich answers controversial issues","author":"forwarded by S.King","created":"2003-05-08 20:27:34","modified":"2003-05-09 22:07:38","last_modified":"Sat, 10 May 2003 05:07:38","article":"
Anti-war activists who are crying bloody murder in the streets over the US
occupation of Iraq, parents who can't afford food or healthcare for their
children, people who feel locked out of the political process, anyone who
sympathizes with progressive causes listen up!
Congressman Dennis Kucinich wants your vote in the Democratic Party
primaries next March. Kucinich, once derided in his hometown of Cleveland,
Ohio, as 'Dennis the Menace'and the 'Boy-Mayor' who drove that city into
default some 25 years ago, has risen from relative obscurity as author of a
bill that would create a US Department of Peace. He also led the failed
battle to halt congressional authorization for a pre-emptive strike against
Iraq.
The Department of Peace legislation, supported by 47 members of Congress,
would create an executive branch department advising the president on issues
of peacekeeping diplomacy and address domestic issues of family and
gang-related violence, as well as hate-motivated crime.
But the peace candidate, 56, is no docile puppy when it comes to his
politics. When Kucinich speaks he shakes his fist and shouts to make a
point, then breaks into a cappella renditions of the national anthem. This
five-foot-five vegan gets in people's faces.
\"I'm passionate. Being for peace doesn't imply passivity,\" Kucinich told
the Weekly in an interview on the campaign trail in Los Angeles. \"There are
people today who might be uncomfortable with the insistence on peace while
our armies are in Baghdad, but I say it is urgent that we speak out for
peace because the whole world is at risk now. This war is wrong. It's
illegal. It's immoral.\"
Kucinich, co-chair of the Democratic Progressive Caucus with Oakland Rep.
Barbara Lee, is running on an anti-war platform that also includes universal
health care and strengthened environmental protections. He rails against
President Bush's plans for the economy and has vowed to defend the working
class on every issue.
He aims to be inclusive of minority voters, and has succeeded, said
Congresswoman Hilda Solis, D-Monterey Park, and former California Rainbow
Coalition Caucus leader Ralph McKnight Kucinich has the full endorsement of
Los Angeles Congresswoman Diane Watson and actor-activist Ed Asner, who
called him a perfect candidate and introduced him to some 300 liberal LA
voters at a campaign stop in LA's Koreatown earlier this month.
Those who endorse Kucinich credit him with bravery for his dissent against
Bush. Ed Asner, a regular at anti-war protests in Los Angeles, introduced
Kucinich during a recent stop in LA's Koreatown and fully endorsed him.
\"He's letter perfect,\" Asner told the Weekly. \"He's unique in this day and
age with nothing but supreme cowards all around us. His opponents keep
fumbling and fumbling and fumbling. This man has yet to trip.\"Watson, who
serves with Kucinich on the Progressive Caucus, has given Kucinich her full
endorsement while also condemning other Democrats for supporting the Bush
ddministration's agenda.
AND HE DOES NOT ACCEPT CORPORATE CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS!!
For the entire article, click;
http:\/\/pasadenaweekly.com\/features\/coverStory\/coverstory.html<\/a>
\n","contact":"","link":"http:\/\/www.up4peace.com","address":"","phone":"","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"text\/plain","summary":"Sent: Friday, May 02, 2003 11:57 AM\r\nFor many, anti-war presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich is the best person to help Democrats find their voice in time for 2004\r\nBy Joe Piasecki","numcomment":10,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/","filesize":null,"article_url":"\/news\/2003\/05\/56442.php"},"attachments":[],"comments":[{"id":56446,"heading":"KUCINICH STOOD UP TO THE ENRON OF HIS DAY","article":"\r\nPresidential candidate Dennis Kucinich has recently faced attacks from \r\nGeorge Will and other conservative pundits over his tenure as Mayor of \r\nCleveland. The truth is that the stand Kucinich took was a profile in \r\npolitical courage, and his stand has been fully vindicated by events \r\nand even by those who opposed him at the time. As is typical, George \r\nWill and those who dominate American punditry haven't gotten the news. \r\nPlease CIRCULATE THIS WIDELY, and help set the record straight when you \r\nsee misinformation in the media.\r\n\r\nAS CLEVELAND MAYOR, KUCINICH'S FIGHT TO SAVE PUBLIC POWER\r\n\r\nDennis Kucinich was elected Mayor of Cleveland, Ohio, in 1977 at age 31, \r\nthe youngest person to lead a major U.S. city. He was elected on a promise \r\nthat he would not sell off or privatize the beloved and trusted city-owned \r\npower system, though Cleveland was deeply in debt.\r\n\r\nCleveland Magazine offered this summary: "Kucinich refused to yield to \r\nbankers who gave him a choice -- Sell the Municipal Light System to the \r\nCleveland Electric Illuminating Co. or the city will go into default. \r\nThe mayor said no."\r\n\r\nWhen Kucinich refused to sell Muny Light, the banks took the unprecedented \r\nstep of refusing to roll over the city's debt, as is customary. Instead, \r\nthey pushed the city into default. It turned out the banks were thoroughly \r\ninterlocked with the private utility, CEI, which would have acquired monopoly \r\nstatus by taking over Muny Light. Five of the six banks held almost 1.8 million \r\nshares of CEI stock; of the 11 directors of CEI, eight were also directors of \r\nfour of the six banks involved.\r\n\r\nBy holding to his campaign promise and putting principle above politics, he \r\nlost his re-election bid and his political career was derailed. But today \r\nKucinich stands vindicated for having confronted the Enron of his day, and \r\nfor saving the municipal power company. "There is little debate," wrote \r\nCleveland Magazine in May 1996, "over the value of Muny Light today. Now \r\nCleveland Public Power, it is a proven asset to the city that between 1985 \r\nand 1995 saved its customers $195,148,520 over what they would have paid CEI."\r\n\r\nWhen Kucinich re-launched his political career in the mid-1990s, it was on the \r\nstrength of having saved public power. His campaign symbol was a light bulb. \r\n"Because he was right!" was his campaign slogan when he won his seat in the \r\nstate senate in 1994. The slogan that sent him to Washington two years later \r\nwas "Light Up Congress."\r\n\r\nIn 1998, the Cleveland City Council issued a commendation to Dennis Kucinich for \r\n"having the courage and foresight to refuse to sell the city's municipal electric \r\nsystem."\r\n\r\n***\r\n\r\nOur country needs a President who will stand up against -- and not with -- today's \r\nEnrons. A President who puts the public interest before private profit. Such a \r\ncandidate is Dennis Kucinich, a rare elected official whose political career has \r\nbeen devoted to winning victories against corporate power on behalf of workers, \r\nconsumers, the poor and the environment. He battles for the people, and he wins.\r\n\r\nHelp spread the word about the Kucinich for President Campaign by making a donation\r\n[https:\/\/www.kucinich.us\/contribute.php]. \r\nFor background on the campaign [http:\/\/www.kucinich.us\/]\r\n","author":"forwaded by S.King","parent_id":56442,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-05-08 20:42:55","modified":"2003-05-08 20:42:55","fileurl":""},{"id":56471,"heading":"What a complete crock","article":"Socialism always sucks.\r\n\r\nKucinich is a Socialist and he sucks.\r\n\r\nPrivatization always beats government owned -- always!\r\n\r\nBig mistake not to privatize the Cleveland electric utilities.\r\n\r\nBigger mistake electing Kucinich. The guy is a loser - big time!","author":"Bush Admirer","parent_id":56442,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-05-09 01:34:47","modified":"2003-05-09 01:34:47","fileurl":""},{"id":56472,"heading":"BA, deeeeep thinker","article":"BA, glad you're around, with your powerful (not) brain","author":"x","parent_id":56442,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-05-09 01:44:26","modified":"2003-05-09 01:44:26","fileurl":""},{"id":56477,"heading":"Dear Bush Admirer...","article":"please take the red pill...\r\nhttp:\/\/la.indymedia.org\/news\/2003\/04\/54640.php\r\nhttp:\/\/la.indymedia.org\/news\/2003\/05\/56054.php\r\n\r\nthen please respond with your reasons for still admiring bush if you do.","author":"S.King","parent_id":56442,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","created":"2003-05-09 02:42:20","modified":"2005-08-15 01:29:29","fileurl":"\/usr\/local\/www-domains\/la.indymedia.org\/public\/uploads\/2003\/05\/bushmonster.jpg3pfhzn.jpg","image":{"original":"\/usr\/local\/www-domains\/la.indymedia.org\/public\/uploads\/2003\/05\/bushmonster.jpg3pfhzn.jpg"}},{"id":56478,"heading":"Dear Bush Admirer...","article":"please take the red pill...\r\nhttp:\/\/la.indymedia.org\/news\/2003\/04\/54640.php\r\nhttp:\/\/la.indymedia.org\/news\/2003\/05\/56054.php\r\n\r\nthen please respond with your reasons for still admiring bush if you do.","author":"S.King","parent_id":56442,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","created":"2003-05-09 02:42:20","modified":"2005-08-15 01:29:29","fileurl":"\/usr\/local\/www-domains\/la.indymedia.org\/public\/uploads\/2003\/05\/bushmonster.jpgg7shiz.jpg","image":{"original":"\/usr\/local\/www-domains\/la.indymedia.org\/public\/uploads\/2003\/05\/bushmonster.jpgg7shiz.jpg"}},{"id":56502,"heading":"Bush Admirer","article":""Socialism always sucks."\r\n\r\nNo, dear, YOU suck. And quite well, I might add. \r\n\r\n","author":"Elton John","parent_id":56442,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-05-09 10:23:54","modified":"2003-05-09 10:23:54","fileurl":""},{"id":56737,"heading":"Sir Elton","article":"I'll bet I could give Bush Admirer a run for his money, Sir Elton. ","author":"daveman","parent_id":56442,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-05-09 21:10:22","modified":"2003-05-09 21:10:22","fileurl":""},{"id":56741,"heading":"it's funny when the fake guy...","article":"...posts in threads I don't even care about.","author":"daveman","parent_id":56442,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-05-09 21:21:17","modified":"2003-05-09 21:21:17","fileurl":""},{"id":56746,"heading":"daveman","article":"It's funny when you have conversations with yourself.","author":"?","parent_id":56442,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-05-09 21:32:59","modified":"2003-05-09 21:32:59","fileurl":""},{"id":56749,"heading":"daveman","article":"You have posted in most all the threads. I'm following you. You are my hero...You don't have to talk to yourself. I may be closer than you think. :->\r\n","author":"fakey","parent_id":56442,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-05-09 22:05:43","modified":"2003-05-09 22:05:43","fileurl":""},{"id":56751,"heading":"fakey","article":"No. He's MY hero.","author":"KOBE SBM","parent_id":56442,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-05-09 22:07:38","modified":"2003-05-09 22:07:38","fileurl":""}]}