Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Dennis Kucinich, True American Patriot

Dennis Kucinich is the only presidential candidate to whom I have ever given a donation. L and I had traveled to a Kucinich gathering outside of Westport in 2004 to hear him speak. It was a lovely backyard affair, maybe 50 people in attendance. He was a wonderful speaker, not in rhetorical quality, but in his open and honest emotion, his passionate belief in peace, and his desire to take back the country from corporate dominance.

Last night Dennis stood on the floor of the House for almost 4.5 hours and called for the impeachment of GWB. The 35 Articles of Impeachment may be downloaded here. Kucinich's presentation was far-reaching, many will say too far, but for all true patriots, this was a moment that has long been awaited.; it is a first step towards righting the terrible assaults upon our Constitution and our electoral process that have been ongoing for the last seven years and that, sadly, have been largely ignored by Democrats and Republicans. It is a clear statement that there still remain at least a few people who are not willing to place personal safety above freedom or Presidential Politics above a sworn duty to defend the Constitution.

Today, almost 24 hours later, major newspapers seem to have considered this not to be news; most make only the briefest mention buried deep within the bowels of their cavernous websites. This is not surprising, the MSM shares heavy blame for failing to do any serious investigation of the issues the 35 Articles speak to.

More surprising is the general lack of attention being payed by liberal blogs that, for many years, were the only serious American media trying to unearth the truth and counter the spin of the Administration; TPM has posted only a copy of the AP article, FireDogLake and (most sadly for me) EmptyWheel and Digby have not touched it.

So what next? It appears that within two days, Pelosi will have to schedule debate on the issue (as a valid question of privilege). When Dennis's previous motion to impeach Cheney was debated an attempt to table failed (the Republicans thought they could have fun with it back in Nov. '07) and the Democrats called the question and referred it to the Judiciary Committee where it has been effectively buried (although Tammy Baldwin, Robert Wexler, and Luis Gutierrez have tried to take action on it.) (Breaking as I write, Nancy's lapdog, Steny, is already set to bury this in committee.)

No doubt Democrats will run away from this in droves; preferring to place electing Obama above protecting the Constitution. Lets be clear here, many of the Articles ARE offenses that rise to the level of impeachment and, if seriously and fully investigated, would almost certainly lead to the House impeaching the President. This makes an especially stark contrast as Dennis has stepped forward at a time that he is in a contested race to hold onto his seat. (This link is currently down and it is unclear at this time if the site is simply overloaded or if sabotage has been involved.)

This is all of a piece really, Dennis (and to a lesser degree Ron Paul) were the only candidates willing to speak the truth, both to power and to the American public, during the '08 Presidential Primaries and both were treated as jokes. I guess I have to admit it, by in large the US armed forces primarily now function as a private police for International Corporate government who run both our foreign and domestic policy. Regardless of the November elections, don't expect THAT to change easily!

Dennis Kucinich, A Real Democrat.

ShareThis