With the public’s attention on the election, the time is now to push for change, but how to do that exactly will need the attention of great minds, which I know OpEdNews has as well as the Dennis for President crew too. Please post ideas for taking on media and debate reform effectively.
Plans for rallies on media exclusion across America were to be held before Super Tuesday on Saturday. Since Kucinich dropped his presidential bid, I do not know if plans for that are still being made. But let's get creative with this.
Also, go where the media is. We've been wronged severely. Go get in the way of the Obama and Clinton campaigns with signs for peace, media reform, and impeachment.
Naomi Wolf, author of The End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot, helped get this started and even asked all the presidential candidates to sign it. Guess what?
Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John Edwards all took the longest to sign the pledge.
Of course, Dennis Kucinich signed it and he did because his campaign was about impeachment, media and corporate reform, and one last thing---fighting fascism.
His campaign was the only one outspoken about the need to take care of the rise of fascism in America.
I am not going to be publicly supporting any of the remaining Democratic candidates. I will not be campaigning for any of them because after seven years of Bush, they just aren’t good enough.
If we really are serious that skin color and gender does not matter, than people won't be ashamed that I didn't vote for either of them because one is a woman and one is black. A woman president or black president does not automatically equal change for America.
I will be doing what I can in the three areas discussed above and will also be focusing on primary challengers of Bush Democrats in the primaries. That’s where the progressive movement needs to be and together unified, we must go there with great conviction in our hearts and minds.
***If anyone is interested in a Yahoo! Group or Google Group focused on these three key areas, comment here and let me know.***
Kevin Gosztola goes to Columbia College in Chicago where he is studying film. He hopes to become a documentary filmmaker. He is currently working as a production assistant on a documentary called "Seriously Green" which traces the development of the Green Party throughout the 2008 election. He has a passion for journalism and writes articles or press releases in his spare time. Kevin Gosztola is also a student activist who believes in questioning the way America's systems work(its electoral system, its military-industrial complex, its foreign policy of American exceptionalism, its media which has become the Fourth Branch of government,etc.)
His ambitions have him currently organizing and raising money for a Chicago Conference for Media Reform in April or May of 2009. It will be organized by college students to promote youth involvement in media reform and justice. Those interested in attending or helping with the organization of the program should contact him.
Kucinich wanted to have Ron Paul as his running mate, so I think he deserves a careful look by his supporters. Please don't believe the misinformation about Dr. Paul that he is some sort of fringe element...Dennis Kucinich did not buy that, and nor should you.
Ron Paul will respect the constitution, and will end the war in Iraq; furthermore, he will not start any new wars. He will protect our civil rights, and end the financial hi-jinks that have been going on since 1980, at least. He will not bring back the gold standard, but will allow people to buy and sell gold and silver without paying sales tax, so that people can choose not to keep all their money in a US dollar that is in free-fall. He will not ban abortion - he has said that he is personally opposed, but that it should be decided by the states (because the Constitution does not give the Federal Government the authority to do anything either way). He is opposed to capital punishment - something none of the Dems can claim, now that Kucinich is out. He will end the futile War on Drugs, which has done more to hurt minority communities than anything else. He is opposed to laws banning flag-burning , whereas Hillary introduced a bill making the penalty 1 year in prison and a $100K fine. He wants to end all military aid to Israel, as well as to all Arab states (and everyone else). He is the only candidate who wants freedom for all Americans, and has a record of protecting our rights and the Constitution, having voted against the Patriot Act not once but TWICE, unlike Hillary, who voted for it. And he is the only candidate with integrity- he refuses all pension money from the Congress, and always votes his conscience. When he disagrees with someone, he is respectful and presents his well-thought-out reasoning calmly, and does not attack his opponents as 'un-American' or anything like that. It is impossible to find a candidate with whom anyone can agree 100%, but what we need is a president who has integrity, intelligence, and experience. Ron Paul is the only one with all of these. Please keep an open mind.
by
Someone Somewhere (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 5 comments)
on Friday, January 25, 2008 at 4:36:34 PM
Ron seems to have his heart in the right place, pulling the plug on the mess in the middle east, withdrawing troops from a lot of places, cutting off monies to more than one foreign country, basically cleaning house in a lot of areas of policy, I was listening to the television today and Bill Clinton was on, extolling the virtues of some sort of foreign war thing, which implies that a Billary vote would be more of the same as far as I can tell, but a Paul vote, by all indications, would be a serious reform vote. Paul's a libertarian, and opposed to foreign entanglements.
But, before we even get to November, if you support the Kucinich/Paul principles, then consider signing on at the impeachment petition websites,
www.impeachbush.org, and www.wexlerwantshearings.com . Or, if you don't like those, write your own letters to your representatives. Maybe they'll go in the shredder with the others, and maybe they'll read em, only way to find out is to try.
Business-as-usual has fleshed out into this neverending Big Ugly. A highly LUCRATIVE Big Ugly, by all accounts, which would tend to explain why it's still going on. No, a LOT of money, like, more money than you could fit in your car, even. If we're ever really going to innovate, if we're ever really going to change, then they have to stop what they're doing now, which is shoveling hundreds of billions annually into the maw of the war machine. I think a Paul vote would be a good first step in stopping all of that. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe I'm stupid, maybe I'm stoned, but that's what I think.
by
truthtruffle (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 4 diaries, 94 comments)
on Saturday, January 26, 2008 at 4:40:52 AM
It is a recent urban legend that Kucinich "wanted Ron Paul" as a VP candidate. For various reasons, (such as supporting Paul with a phony report of support from a progressive like Kucinich or in order to tar Kucinich by association with Pau) it just never happened. Kucinich's response to a specific question was taken out of context. That's all there is to it.
by
Gregory Wonderwheel (3 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 99 comments)
on Sunday, January 27, 2008 at 4:08:08 PM
Mr. Kucinich is going to need his supporters and is in the process of creating integritynow.org.
"To those who supported this campaign with their energies and their hearts, I want you to know that we are transitioning the presidential campaign to a movement based on integrity, and based on practical ways we can affect policies on a local and national level," he said, announcing the launch of a new group called 'Integrity Now.'
"I'm no longer running for president, but I am intent on saving our nation," he said, directing supporters to a website called integritynow.org."
I hadn't heard of the organizations that you spotlight and am sure they will prove to be valuable assets in the quest to reclaim this Democratic Republic and evolve into our potential as citizens and a nation.
Wishing you well
Danielle Vyas
by
Danielle Vyas (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 6 comments)
on Friday, January 25, 2008 at 5:13:42 PM
----- Original Message ----- From: Tevin To: Kevin Gosztola Sent: Friday, January 25, 2008 5:22:54 PM
First rule of integrity is never give up...never quit what you start. I want my 25,000 dollors back and my 12 hours a day since June of 2007 to get out the vote for Dennis Kucinich...
by
Kevin Gosztola (207 articles, 111 quicklinks, 68 diaries, 804 comments)
on Friday, January 25, 2008 at 5:33:43 PM
First, since I am a Green, the idea of Dennis coming over to join us would be wonderful. He has had the Democratic party thumb their collective noses in his direction three times now (once on impeachment and twice as a candidate.)
Dennis has one thing in common with the most likely Green Party Presidential Candidate, Cynthia McKinney. They both had the chutzpah to introduce Impeachment in the House.
As for "finishing what he started" I would hold that question open. I am not sure truly what he started. Is he trying to reform American politics or is he trying to reform the Democratic Party? As I watch Clinton - Obama I am increasingly convinced that reforming the Democratic Party from inside is a losing proposition and that my decision to join the Greens was the right one.
by
Wes Rolley (4 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 2 comments)
on Friday, January 25, 2008 at 6:41:27 PM
The only important issue that I have ever disagreed with Dennis about is his continued participation in the Democratic Party. I understand why he does -- without it he would lose his congressional seat by an attack of the Democratic establishment. Only staying a Democrat keeps them at bay from a frontal attack.
But by staying a committed Democrat Dennis feeds the delusions of progressives that the Democratic Party cares about them or about any of the real progressive issues.
by
Gregory Wonderwheel (3 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 99 comments)
on Sunday, January 27, 2008 at 4:15:10 PM
...is what unites us all. But frredom has been impossible since 1913, when the federal reserve act was passed. We have no chance, NONE, but any meaningful change while an elite cartel of banks controls our currency.
The only candidate who has spoken to this issue is Ron Paul
by
Bob Tracey (3 articles, 0 quicklinks, 4 diaries, 41 comments)
on Friday, January 25, 2008 at 9:34:15 PM
The fight against Fascism is vitally important, and it is not at all abstract.
By definition Fascism is characterized by "severe economic and social regimentation." And one crucial way this condition is enforced is through the power of the purse.
Consider how Representative Kucinich's legislation to rebuild America's infrastructure (H.R. 3400) is designed to counter this with projects meant to serve the good of all, financed through the creation of a Federal Bank for Infrastructure Modernization.
This bank, funded by the Congress and run through the U.S. Treasury (just as the U.S. Constitution prescribes), would offer low-cost credit at a rate of 0.5% interest for infrastructure projects that "promote the general Welfare" (just as the U.S. Constitution mandates).
DO NOTE: neither local governments nor private enterprise can compete with these financial terms.
I point this out because it is a strong defense against those who would claim the uniquely American tradition of National Banking, whose history is not very well-known, is some form of "socialism." You are probably well-aware how this term is used to stir up fear, this by people who generally have a vested interest in maintaining the power of the purse.
DO NOTE: National Banking in no way whatsoever threatens to restrict capital available to the private sector.
I point this out because the issue financiers have with National Banking is not capital availability. Rather it is how it subdues their power of the purse.
Consider the manner in which tyranny is most efficiently exercised.
It is through the power of the purse.
This power, which has largely been consolidated in the hands of private financiers for more years than most in government are willing to say, and most private citizens are presently capable of fathoming, is largely responsible for the widening divide between the "haves" and the "have nots."
This widening divide is the very face of Fascism.
And it has been made possible through the power of the purse.
You can look at most every facet of our nation's abysmal financial position -- ever widening budget deficits and trade imbalances approaching $1 trillion per year -- and you can rest the blame for this upon those who have hijacked the power of the purse from the People.
EVERY BIT OF CIRCUMSTANCE BEHIND OUR WORSENING FINANCIAL POSITION HAS SERVED TO CONSOLIDATE THE POWER OF THE PURSE IN THE HANDS OF PRIVATE FINANCIERS.
Have no doubt about this, too. There is a world of difference between what H.R. 3400 proposes and those infrastructure projects being advocated by the likes of California Governor Arnold Schwartzenegger and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. These latter two are front-men for private finance.
The fight against Fascism demands return of the power of the purse to the People.
Thus, supporting Representative Kucinich's legislation for Rebuilding America's Infrastructure (H.R. 3400) is a crucial step we must take if we are to take on the many political patsies who promote the interests of those whose desperation to maintain the power of the purse utterly necessitates our nation's recent years' wreckless spending on war.
Yes, my friends, we need to call out the war-mongers for what they are: Fascists!
By their relentless expanding our nation's indebtedness through financing the war, they are serving those who are hell-bent on maintaining their power of the purse, this at great expense to "the general Welfare" of the People, and for a cause that is easily demonstrated to be in the spirit of Fascism, this by way the divide between the "haves" and the "have nots" persistently widens ($3+ per gallon gasoline being only the most recent example).
It is time to call these Fascists out!
Get to know and understand National Banking. It is, indeed, our capacity to possess power of the purse and which, alone, will allow us to end the war and defeat Fascism.
by
GoldenT (6 articles, 1 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 50 comments)
on Saturday, January 26, 2008 at 12:27:20 AM
I'm in California and already have my ballot. Kucinich is on the ballot and there's this little check mark along side his name - that's my check mark and when I get into the voting booth, if his name isn't there, it's write-in time.
by
Angelo (5 articles, 0 quicklinks, 7 diaries, 174 comments)
on Saturday, January 26, 2008 at 11:34:22 AM
I still plan to vote for Kucinich. I just don't see any other candidate who's an acceptable substitute for my vote. I know it may seem to many people like a waste of my vote, but so did voting for him when he was running, and I see voting for someone I don't believe will be the best President possible as a wasted vote.
I will, however, also support all the issues that are so important to me and are the reasons I supported Dennis Kucinich to begin with. I didn't support him because of his personality, his looks, his wife's looks, his party, his race, his gender, or anything else superficial. I supported him because of his positions on the issues and his voting track record. After I decided to support him, I also found him to be an inspirational person. I admire his courage, that he's willing to stand on the House floor and say what no one else will, the truth. He's a perfect fit for my political ideals, or at least the closest I've found in my 33 years of voting.
I know he's doing what he must to retain his House seat, and I hope and pray that he does keep it. We need him in Congress.
But vote for one of the others? Especially Clinton or Obama, who've taken so much support from corporate interests and appear to be the media's darlings, while they bicker like children? No thank you. And no, Ron Paul is not an acceptable substitute, for me. He and Kucinich are only alike in wanting out of the Iraq War. They come from different philosophies. Yes, Kucinich said he'd consider him as a running mate, but that doesn't make him a substitute. Kucinich also said he wanted an administration of people from different parts of the political spectrum -- which Ron Paul is. But there's too much about Paul's history that's still a question in my mind.
Still voting for Kucinich.
by
SpiritBlooms (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 55 comments)
on Saturday, January 26, 2008 at 2:45:09 PM
Great ideas, Kevin. And others here also have some great ideas. I am a Ron Paul supporter and my wife was/is supporting Kucinich. And we are very supportive of each other. Progressive and peaceful co-existence is possible when the welfare and benefit of all citizens via strict adherence to the Constitution is the guiding principle. This is what has held the country together so far and it won't last without it.
It would be disastrous to lose Dennis's voice in Congress. Anyone and everyone who can should get involved in his campaign to retain his seat. We need his leadership!
by
sunnyjim (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 5 comments)
on Saturday, January 26, 2008 at 9:00:30 AM
If Dennis was really for PEACE, wouldn't he put peace over party? Wouldn't he drop out before the GOP closed their primary ballot registration and advise peace voters to register GOP just to give Ron Paul, a PEACE candiate, an opportunity to win the GOP nomination since the Democrats are offering NOTHING for PEACE voters?
Dennis pulled simular crap in 2004 when he strung liberal peace voters until he could deliver them to Kerry (who won and conceeded to Bush without counting ONE precinct in Ohio).
I believe Kucinich supporters are PEACE voters who are being mislead to support war.
That's the dumbest argument for Ron Paul I've ever seen.
Paul has one important good point, as well as scores of lousy points (that his cultish following is completely incapable of perceiving).
Here we see you -- a Ron Paul cultist, who never posts anything besides "Vote for Ron Paul" commercials -- basing a plug for Paul on an attack against Kucinich. How incredibly silly! I'm not even a Kucinich supporter, but your idea that you can conclude DK is "not for PEACE" just because he didn't throw his miniscule amount of support to Paul -- that is just so breathtakingly lame, it's hard to find words for it.
You're basically saying that anyone who's for peace must also be for Ron Paul. In other words, to a Paul fanatic like you, Ron Paul equals Peace, and Peace equals Ron Paul.
I'm sure you don't grasp the absurdity of this, but I assure you, it's there.
by
Richard Mynick (2 articles, 3 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 1161 comments)
on Saturday, January 26, 2008 at 10:47:06 AM
My post is not an ad for Ron Paul. No where did I pitch: Vote Ron Paul. I would have suggested to VOTE RON PAUL before the GOP closed their registration, had Kucinich abandoned his bid BEFORE the GOP registration closed, but because Dennis waited until the day AFTER the GOP closed their registration, I was not in a respectable position to ask Kucinich voters to help Ron Paul kick the neocons OUT of the GOP. And let me go one further...Ron paul supporters bankrolled Kucinich's NH recount. Dennis could have been a mench and bowed out then, instead, he played Ron Paul supporters to weaken their Peace Chest.
For many liberals, Ron Paul will have NO good points, not even PEACE. Ron Paul and Kucinich may both be opposed to the wars, but they represent different paths to peace. Dennis sees working with the UN as a path to Peace (Cindy Sheehan others agree and they are "UN Agenda 21") . Ron Paul sees the UN as the hub for the UN= United Nazis to create a NWO destroying national sovreignity with WMD employing coalations of the willing and contractors building massive prisons while protecting the multinational corporate elite who finds "it's a small world after all" and you're either "with them (the UN NWO) or you're going to support Ron Paul, and USA Freedom 21. You can blame Bush for the war, but he went to the UN and got a Resolution to attack with pre-empt WMD. The UN has done NOTHING to stop Bush.
The term "cult" originated from the GOP NWO neocons Hannity and Rush, who lead MSM to "marginalize RP with such terms. The irony for me, is I went through this same crap supporting Nader in Y2K and 04.
Again, I say Kucinich is NOT for peace because many of us supporting Ron Paul today supported Kucinich in 04 before he dropped out...and it HURT!!!!! I was so happy Nader ran, I ran around the USA to collect signatures for Nader's ballot access. Democrats told me I should be shot in the head. I thanked Nibiru they didn't believe in guns.
Kucinich drops the ball or he tosses a curve ball...like impeaching Cheney...IMPEACH BUSH AND CHENEY..Dennis is a mega game player FOR the Democrat party...not for peace. He can vote for peace, but he's not standing and FIGHTING for peace. He put party FIRST. Majority of Ron paul supporters are fighting the GOP and the Democrats (and why Dennis betrayed us)
If you believe the UN is the path to peace. If you believe the government is your friend and loves you and does good things for the world so you need this BIG government to tell you how to live, Ron Paul is NOT your candidate.
I respectively disagree with Kucinich and his path to peace (which I knew would go no where) and I'm supporting Ron Paul. But that's me, an individual who is not here to tell you how to vote, but telling you that I think Dennis is a fraud when it comes to peace because he mis led the PEACE vote on the liberal left.
Ron Paul supporters PAID for Kucinich NH recount. What have Kucinich supporters done for Ron Paul? I really didn't think we were enemies until recently. I thought PEACE could unite people. I was wrong about that. But I'm not wrong about Dennis.
by
Jeanette Doney (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 6 diaries, 304 comments)
on Saturday, January 26, 2008 at 11:57:44 AM
Amazing how self-centered and myopic Ron Paul supporters can be. One might even say, "If they were really for peace they wouldn't be against government and against impeachment."
by
Gregory Wonderwheel (3 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 99 comments)
on Sunday, January 27, 2008 at 4:22:55 PM
www.peacecandidates.com is working toward replacing all members of Congress with Kucitizens who will vote Dennis into the Speaker of the House position. Peacecandidates.com is hoping for a Ron Paul presidency with Kucinich House leadership. Please join the site, enter your Congressional information and let's work together for a Congressional revolution.
(Kucinich ran a terrible campaign, screwed over his volunteers, has no idea how to utilized the net and hires incompetents to run his site- I think activists should work together outside of the Kucinich site.)
www.peacecandidates.com
by
Nadia (4 articles, 0 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 49 comments)
on Saturday, January 26, 2008 at 10:26:23 AM
