I have to say about this post about the man Kucinich time is on his side people, slow down don't move so fast think plan, wait, then act is the key I believe It's sad but what's been done has been done. Humans are dead wounded and maimed because of the war our government has brought us into. Time must be right to hold the criminals accountable. since we will be in the middle east in my opinion for generations to come in one form or another. Once we set foot on the Holy Ground and shit all over it back in the 90's the Bush administration opened a can of worms that will haunt this world for the rest of our life for sure.
Alex Jones and publications like this is voice we need to alert citizens of our great nation the neo - con Bush cabinet has destroyed in my humble opinion the more people that know the truths of how our leaders go about business dirty deals done dirt cheap! I'm moving out of US with disgust to work overseas for 2 years. I live in a country that was a great powerful nation but seems like such a long time ago. Like the web image Same Shit Different asshole Hilter - Bush**** Priceless! Mr. Bush when you make bold statements of doing the right thing, but knowing you are the root cause of the evil is so so wrong I hope you root in prison with the rest of your lads. Death would be to ez for you. I propose we bring back the stocks and pillories and stick them in them so the citizens of the US can spit, throw shit at them and do it for the rest of their lives! thank you I'm off my soap box now. Go Kucinich ! But bottom line it all don't mean jack. the world is messed up and that's that. the 2 faced monsters are the evil ones and they are everywhere and you know who you are! At least I do.. BOO!

stonecutter--your post is rational until the part where you hope that Obama is the "real deal." I'm sorry but you're in for a big letdown. Kucinich is the real deal. That's why he had no chance.

Congressman Henry Waxman justifies backing off from the impeachment process as well - partly so Dems don't look as ridiculous as Repubs did post-Clinton. Check it out here:

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/013108A.shtml

i must agree with earlier posters, DK's problems were with Democratic "leadership", more so than media, but then again, why would "DIM leaders" want the Iraq Issue Front and Center, not good for the corporate sponsors at the feeding frenzy we call Global War on Terror. Move over coporate DEM enablers, time to Move On in a progressive manner. Peace is not good for Americans, but is good for business. Tax cuts and more yes to war funding, and impeachment off the table, yeah, that's the ticket - insert sarcasm at will. DIMs take congress in 06, and more of the same. End the Iraqi Occupation, same 10 bill a month, and bring troops home Peace brother.

Hello! I am for the moment recovered from my bout of disgust---reading the subsequent postings made me see that in my own feelings of disappointment and rage at a system that has worked to silence any and all dissenters, DK just the latest, I painted too many of you with the same brush. There are many very committed and decent contributors here and I am proud to see you as my " virtual sister and brother warriors" for Peace, Justice, Truth and Compassion. We all must resist the all too human tendency to turn on the nearest to us, in our impotent rage. I am guilty of that. I am 61 years old--a disabled, grandmother who has been fighting the "good fight" all my life and I am dog tired. Aren't we all? But can we just reture from the fray? I think not. Even though at times I am tempted.

So many good posts---I agree with who ever said that DC and those weilding power there are not where real change will take place--they are lost to the people and the people defintely do not seem to be in their equations. We must make changes as close to home as we can and trust that it will build from the gorund up. Top down is allot like trickle down---it just doesn't get the job done and seems good only for those at the top.

hedi January 30th, 2008 10:57 am

"It is very disappointing that you, Dennis Kucinich, have seemingly also collapsed under pressure (possibly) from the Demcratic Party leadership. It is a Constitutional mandate to hold the president and vice-president accountable for their actions."

hedi,

Why continue wasting precious time beating a dead horse when your own party is trying to replace you in the House of Representatives? This guy is a gem! He needs to spend his time right now trying to keep his seat in the House. WE NEED HIM THERE!

How many Congressmen and Senators have you written to reminding them that it's a "Constitutional mandate to hold the president and vice-president accountable for their actions"? Did they answer your letter or sign-on to Kucinich's bill to impeach?

All, Reading all your comments, it strikes me that COINTELPRO is still up and functioning, regardless of who is running it... This is what it is meant to do--all the bickering and back-stabbing and quickness to judge. It is interesting that a couple of folks have mentioned Peltier--look what happened to so many of the AIMsters and their supporters, dead because of COINTELPRO and all the mistrust, paranioa and fear it generated. We as a nation are in really deep trouble and it seems to me that looking for a bullet-proof champion is not the answer, because one does not exist. Kucinich has his reasons for backing off, and I trust he is using his best judgement and knows why he does what he does, and maybe all of y'all who support impeachment ought to get on the phone and in the papers and on the radio and push YOUR senators and reps to get on the ball with it. And get more of a movement in our local communities. WE THE PEOPLE need to do the work, and need to do it as a united entity. Really, does it matter if we try it from within a party or ababndon ship and go Green? No, but we need to stop slaughtering ourselves and everyone who is an ally, even a potential ally. One more thing: these crooked elections. We all know Nader and Kucinich were both attacked by the national Democratic party, as well as by the media who run the show, and by the folks in charge of the "debates" who are in fact the parties and their corporate sponsors...so maybe we need to set up our own election processes or at the very least raise a voice to have a FAIR election process. Right now we're S.O.L. and face it, it's our responsibility to change that, hard as that will be. Are you in?

I don't think so, didn't they just endorse another candidate in the dist. 10 race?
they (the plains dealer) have spent much print denouncing, denigrating, and dissing Dennis Kucinich, so no they are definitely NOT pro Kucinich.

"claudius, I would guess Sarina Eaton is a staff writer for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, which is pro-Dennis. He is Cleveland's hero, having sacrificed his career to save them 100 million bucks.

The frustration and anger in most of these above comments comes from the overwhelming sense of powerless most of us feel to affect any real fundamental change in the direction of this government, regardless of our individiual or small group passions, ideas or commitment. Somehow, as we struggle up the chain of influence trying to impact not only the outcome of elections but the very creation and execution of broad policy, we hit the virtually insurmountable stone walls of the establishment, the elites, the backroom, the conventional wisdom, the entrenched powers, the status quo, or whatever named obstacle we're simply unable to penetrate, let alone impact, let alone overcome.

The very essence of modern American presidential or even congressional politics is by its nature--fueled by corporate mega-money and the mind-numbing, repetitive drumbeat of mainstream media--a demeaning, degenerative process of grinding MANY impassioned, righteous, authentic issue positions at the start of the campaign (two years before the election!) into pasteurized, homogenized, lowest-common-denominator platitudes, devoid of substance, inspiration or any call to real action beyond "VOTE FOR ME!" at the end...those candidates who choose to stick to their small guns and keeping firing their version of the truth usually get clobbered in the press and/or the primaries---which influences the other first?--
leaving behind the vacuous, scripted, profoundly boring "frontrunners", from which we get to choose our next George Bush Clone.

Given this painful but real scenario, DK never had a prayer, and given his anti-telegenic persona, his slavish commitment to "the party" and his persistent record as merely an annoying gadfly, pathetically buzzing the ear of the real power in his party and this country,the idea that he could ever be or have been a serious candidate for president would be laughable if it wasn't so tragic. His championing of impeachment has always been a fantasy, perhaps shared by other deeply frustrated or even delusional citizens, who could not or would not acknowledge the hard fact that the 2006 elections guaranteed impeachment would NEVER be "on the table", since the leadership has been far too complicit in the crimes of this administration, and the propaganda value of allowing the war to fester until 2008 far outweighed any moral imperative to pursue actual impeachment. Isn't it maddenly ironic that now, so close to the election, the war has taken a media back seat to the economy. so even if impeachment was commenced next week, too few Americans actually give a shit anymore to sustain such a process.

DK may have made many of us feel better about our self-righteousness and anti-war virtue, but in truth he was a tiny pimple on the ass of a donkey, in this case the donkey being his beloved, paralyzed, impotent Democratic party.

The one bright spot in this dismal swamp is the possibility, however remote, that Obama is the real deal...a true leader coming out of nowhere to lead us to the promised land. It's either him, or a very old, white haired, reactionary broken record with a frail wife who never speaks (publically) about anything...a resurrected Pat Nixon. Forward, or backward into oblivion.

"Ron January 29th, 2008 11:55 am

I didn't exactly have my hopes up. No impeachment "this year." Thanks for nothing, Dennis."

WHY FAULT HIM, what, do you think he's some sort of jinny sent by God, that all he has to do is blink his eyes or say a word and it's going to make the world all better overnight?

It's disgustingly naive to think that he has any power to be able to do more than he has done; it's up to the others to do their parts to complete what only they can do. BLAME THEM for NOT acting! Kucinich did his part.

And none of the people who bitch like that here or anywhere else have done ANYTHING at all except bitch; never seeing their own laziness, cowardice, inactions, their own negatives. YOU cannot judge another without having first walked in his or her shoes.

"howie d January 29th, 2008 12:06 pm

democrat is as democrat does."

NOT that I like either party, but 'democrat is as democrat does' and it's clearly much more than any RP member has done so far; but then there's little difference between the two anyway. Nonetheless, NO ONE from the RP side has proposed anything even nearing impeachment.

Around 300MN people make up the U.S. population and he's done much MORE than MOST; he doesn't bitch about you lazy asses who've done NOTHING, except bitch, that is, but he's done plenty in the highest offices of govt to denounce the Bush administration's lies, their real reasons for the GWoT, or the war on Iraq anyway, ..., and started the process for impeachment, a process that he alone cannot possibly take any further. Yet he does not bitch about you asses for being the stuck-up sh*ts that you are.

NONE of the RP have come this far.

For an alternative to "politics as usual" --including an alternative to Dennis "I'm-Voting-For-Kerry" Kucinich -- readers may want to check out this site.

www.wsws.org

I won't bust Kucinich's balls over his decision. My God, when he attempted this noble effort, he was dicked by his own party every step of the way. That's more of a sad commentary on the Democratic Party than it is on Kucinich. I give Kucinich an "A" for effort.

Coleen,

I must say, I disagree with your last post. Compared to much of the western world, the US has often been, and still is, a laggard in human rights. These include abolition of slavery, enfranchisement of women, abolition of capital punishment, the rights of it's indingenous people (Austrtalia, NZ and Canada being ahead of the US on thse issues). The US continues to NOT recognize numerous UN human rights conventions on the worker, children, the International Corimnal Court (afraid it's own leaders and general will end up there). and so forth.

Then, aside from these issues, is the US's breathking hypocracy - preaching democracy and human rights while while covertly or militarily crushing genuine democratic aspirations of peoples around the world - and imposing in their place, incredibly bloodthirsty dictators to support it's business interests. Vietnam. Indonesia, Phillipiunes, Iran, Iraq the Congo (former Zaire) virtually all of Latin America - the death toll is at least 10 million since 1950.

Coleen, you may want to study some 20th century history. A good place to begin is William Blums "Hilling Hope - A history of CIA and US Military interventions since World War II.

And, consider reading any Wikipedia article on a political subject with skepiticism. It's neurtal "NPOV" policy sounds nice - but how is this possible? As Howard Zinn says "you can't be neutral on a moving train" being "NPOV" by necessity, means supporting the status quo.

Republicans are the Problem!!!
Democrats(No matter who they are)are not the SOLUTION!!

Revolution is the SOLUTION!!

RNC and DNC are a cabal run by
Corporations and the Ruling elite.
This is no longer a DEMOCRACY NOR A REPUBLIC!
It is a Corporate Empire!

It is very disappointing that you, Dennis Kucinich, have seemingly also collapsed under pressure (possibly) from the Demcratic Party leadership. It is a Constitutional mandate to hold the president and vice-president accountable for their actions.

I will always support Dennis.

It is truly a sad day for America's prospects.

Thanks, Dennis, for showing uncommon bravery in the face of adversity and ridicule. You alone were right.

I'm sorry that the bastards got to you.

Hey, I'm cursing the good candidates with my support! First Dennis K, then John E. Now what's my fall back position and which sticker to put on my vehicle? However, I'm glad for DK and will mail him some dough for his congressional re-election, though I'm several states removed from Ohio. DK like Nader keeps the issues and truth that count in public discussion (until censored by MSM). But I did attend his rally withy my toddler daughter and met some real nice decent folks and thus reassured my faith in the public, that there are plenty of good standing Americans out there that are the conscience of this nation. The issue of 2008, end the 10 billion a month Occupation of Iraq and bring out troops home.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_Perceptions_Index

The US has far to go, but its better than most. It should be a leader and has in the recent past been in the forefront of human rights.
( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_and_the_United_States )

Dennis Kucinich has done some good in bringing important issues to the American people.

Imo this is all about convincing people to support human rights...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Declaration_of_Human_Rights

Each person will have to decide for him/herself which course to take...but imo insults and abusive bullying will set back any movement towards changing the minds of Americans or changing anyone else's opinions.

Diversity of opinion is always good and one person will never have all the answers.

Ken, that makes so much sense. National politics is sinkhole. Following this national presidential campaign can drain you of so much energy that you could actually use in your own home town. Maybe I should resurrect my idea about running for school committee.

Boy, do I appreciate Common Dreams. It is so nice to know that there are so many others out there who can see that things are really badly messed up, in national politics,in both of our old, decrepit, corrupt parties.

I would like to honor Dennis Kucinich for his noble effort against all odds. At a minimum, he elevated the level of discourse even if it was only amongst a small minority. One thing that keeps me coming back to Common Dreams is the passion. There is energy in the passion and I think most of us share an underlying sense of vast indignation with the current state of affairs. I share the views of many here (both those expressing support for DK and frustration with the status quo). I agree that education is key for a better future. This takes committment and for many there may come a time when it is necessary to forgo comfort and convenience (I'm sure many here already have). This takes courage.

I think "Mother Nature" is soon going to become the dominant consideration, and this will only expedite the diminishment of DC due to its mindless inability to prepare for what is coming and its stubborn refusal to demand ethical behavior and accountability.

For myself, I look forward to thinking and acting "locally" because I have concluded that "DC" is so ill that its present form is incurable. In the absence of a "miracle" (don't bet on it or hope for it), DC will dissolve upon itself into the pool of vast corruption on which it lies. It will do this on its own accord and in fact I think it is already well underway, but of course, time will tell. Regardless, I'm done wasting my energies worrying about DC and I'm going to concern myself with my family, my neighbors, and my surrounding local community.

Peace,
Ken

Shame on all of you regulars that tease with the knowledge you have that therest of us don't. You're doing the same as the administration does and that's playing on people's lack of knowledge of the real goings on. Do you have nothing better to do? There are actions being taken to get both Bush and Cheney impeached and if we do nothing else, it will be to send the message to the next prez, we're watching and ready to impeach if you even try to give us more of the same.

I'm very disappointed in Dennis. It's sad.

By the way, just as an aside, Edwards could not introduce articles of impeachment--they start in the House. Edwards is not even in Congress any more. He left the Senate in 2004.

The Democratic Socialists are pretty good on the issues -- with the problem of a few doctrinaire Marxists who are holier than thou. But it's not as bad as the Democratic Party, for sure. www.dsausa.org

And .I was an AmeriCorps*VISTA, in 200-2002. We were working with the Search Institute, to provide the 40 Developmental Assets every child needs, to grow into a healthy mature adult.
Their well researched, ( since 1957) assessment of the time needed to re-educate an entire community to support these developmental assets
is 75 years! Seventy Five Years......
Not exactly "instant gratification!"

http://www.search-institute.org/

What hubris makes some of you think that another country WANTS YOU?
Why would anyone want a cognitively disfunctioning American? Selfish Deserters!
Kucinich didn't give YOU what YOU wanted? AHH Poor baby!
Last election Kucinich was ALLOWED to run his campaign to the end. ( It didn't matter because Bush was scheduled to "win" anyway!)
This time there is a possiblity of an upset. ( see election 2006) So the MSM disppeared him early in the game! And YOU, have been sitting at your keyboards, saying "Well I like his ideas , BUT he's unelectable! He's too short & ugly!
SO, .........LINCOLN was tall & ugly!
In 1775/76............ a hand full ( 1/3 of the population) RISKED THEIR LIVES, to make this country FREE from King George! A hand full of Mainers in Machias, fought the British Captain of the Margaretta, killed hom captured the ship and that was the beginning of the "Merchant Marine" in this fledgling country!
WHAT HAVE YOU DONE THIS PAST YEAR? They didn't sit there and wait for someone to save them they did it themselves! Of course the British were trying to starve them at that point. Well just wait a few months and you'll see how that feels!.............Maybe then you'll get off your fat keyboards.
It took us 4 months but we got one of our legislators, ( a blue dog at that, ) to join Kucinich's Impeachment bill.

BTW JFK was assassinated because he was planning to take the Federal Reserve out of the hands of the wealthy elite and nationalize it!
And re: Caroline Kennedy's endorsement of Obama. I too felt that Obama was words/hope. backed up by what? HER perspective: she was moved to do it by her children. The Young: You know those people we keep blathering about "They're our future". If hope and faith will galvanize them into action.........lift them up out of the critical judgmental postition, the current adult crop is displaying......How bad could it be? Is that where Dennis was coming from when he endorsed him? He could see that, he himself was being muzzled and tied up!

A friend of mine said "Oh but do we want to deal with the Kennedy Family curse?"
My response....."The Bush Crime family is the Kennedy curse and now we are all cursed." Changed her mind real fast!
To the minority who made thoughtful, intelligent posts here thank you!

Thank you, Mr. Kucinich for all you have done. Take a breather and come back in swinging.

4 years ago this list was full of clamour to elect a democratic house. We did that. It did us no good what so ever. Period. Here we are 4 years later and the noise remains the same. The results will be the same as well. I like DK. I admire the man and I believe he has tried to work from within to steer his party in another direction. It hasn't worked. It hasn't worked because the US is too big, too greedy and too corrupt.
This nation feeds its children on junk food and violence and then decries the results. All the while the folks behind the curtain are making money hand over fist selling drugs for depression, ADD/ADHD, bipolar disorder etc to our children. Ritilin is good....pot is bad. We jail our citizens at a rate that is so far beyond ridiculous its unbelievable...and we vow to spread these ideals around the globe. Granny has to chooses between food, heat and medicine, Laura Bush chooses between steak and shrimp.
I've had enough. No longer will I support candidates in a corrupt system. No longer will I expend my energies trying to make this a better country. From now on my support will go to Second Republic Vermont. I am going to support the seccesionist movement here in Vermont. In other words, I'm taking my state and I'm getting out of the 'hood.
Neither nations nor governments should ever be allowed to get so big and so powerful. Governing is best done at the town level. At town meeting you present your arguement/statement/suggestion face to face with your fellow citizens. And believe me, they remember what you say. No MSM to twist it/wash it/analyze it and then tell me what to think. Nope, at town meeting you're expected to think for yourself. I suggest that other states try it. Get back to governing with your neighbors. Learn how to participate in a democracy and then create one right there at home. This country is to large and to diverse to have a central government. Think Roman empire. I'm not against government, I want a government of appropriate size. The governor lives in the same town as me (Vermont has no "governors mansion"). I see him in the grocery store. I can go right up to him and tell him what I think of his leadership and have done just that. That is appropriate size. There are "legislative breakfasts" all over the state. You can go get some pancakes and tell your representative what you think. Appropriate size. My vote counts here.
I read this somewhere, I don't remeber where, but it is definately worth thinking about....
A fresh air kid comes to vermont for the summer. He finds a toad. He begins to prod the toad with a stick to get it to jump. A little vermonter watches him for a bit and then says "Leave that toad alone." "The other kid says "Why, it's my toad isn't it?" and the little vermonter says "Nope, in vermont he's his own toad"
I'm out of here. The US, in it's present state, cannot be fixed folks. Time to read the writing on the wall. No amount of "politicking" is going to set it to rights. It's time to try a different way. I feel that a coalition of independent nations is better than states full of sheeple.
So home to the republic of vermont i go. I hope you all consider working toward independence. The federal government is obsolete.

It's such a mess, really. What if Kucinich did go the greens, and by a narrow margin a Repub wins. Would he then be maligned as Nadir consistently is? Called a traitor?

It's clear that the entire system is FU, electoral votes? what the f is that all about. DNC? who are these people? who gives them the power to make the decisions they do? It amazes me that there are still people hopefully anticipating a Democrat to come and make things right (they'll make things RIGHT for sure). Now it's down to Obama or Clinton vs McCain or Romney. Yuck. Pick any of the four and it's off to war.

It's all very well to berate DK for putting an end (temporarily?) to the impeachment campaign, but how many of the people who were lauding his efforts, were really prepared to put themselves on the line like him? He was alone and isolated in your current political farce. He needed help from other politicians, but nobody stepped up tp the plate. There is no-one else in US politics (Ron Paul maybe), with the guts to do what DK did recently. We have been getting the comments from Americans after the latest Caucus results, and the majority are shallow, and as Collen rightly says, very right wing. There are women supporting HC, just because all women stick together. There are McCain supporters, who believe that he will stop Islamo fascism invading the US - give me a break please. Despite all of our fears on CD, there still seems to be a majority of people in the US (and an unhealthy minority in the UK) who support the current far right ideology.
I feel sorry for DK, because his was a lone voice in a wilderness of 360 million.

Comarc:What makes you think all the Kucinich supporters are Democrats. Although my initials are DR, I'm neither one. He just so happened to be on the same side of all of my most important issues. And one needn't worry about where my endorsement will go outside of DK because I'll handle that well informed decision in the voting booth. ThinkFree: nice post. Your correct that both sides have their blindspots and how dare you offer me some vision. It's a homo sapien problem. Evolution, which is extremely intelligent design by the way, may have taken a wrong turn when it gave the homo sapien self recognition. The human egoic mind is behind our incessant destructive nature, as evidenced by some of the Kucinich blasting posts here today. They remind me of the Far Point Station kangaroo court with the Q.

anne faith, Thanks for the Wellstone link. I just took a peek. Very good!

i have written my representatives to inform them that i will not vote for them in '08. they have betrayed this country by trading our constitution for their political gain. i will sway as many voters as i can to impose 'term limits' on their representatives in the next election. let them play together somewhere else other than washington. a third party is what we need to get our representation and constitution back! republicans and this administration rule by fear and the democrats have no vision. they couldn't work their way out of a paper bag. this nation is being governed by 'homegrown terrorists'! waterboard the lot of them! the democrats say that impeachment would take up too much time and effort and detract from doing the business at hand. to me, it seems the business at hand is ruining this country. doesn't it follow then that holding impeachment hearings would at least pause the freefall that this country is in? peace,

leobixby, jan steinman, think free, annefaith, pets4ever, colleen, marjorie ann, aquitman, douglos, gail, ticonderoga, and starofthesea; (pardon me if I left anyone out)

You all have my respect and I sincerely mean that. We progressives have supported Dennis Kucinich all along, based on his voting record as a Congressman and his platform as a presidential candidate. None of us know what went on behind closed doors, but the speculators posting on Common Dreams have all the right answers as they denounce the candidate most of them once admired. If I remember correctly, and feel free to criticise me, prior to the Iowa Caucus, about 80% of the CD bloggers were Kucinich supporters, but afterwards, he started falling out of favor, and by the time he dropped out of the race,most CD'ers turned towards the new hero of the moment, John Edwards. Edwards was gonna do this, Edwards is gonna do that, so on and so forth. We now can see how John Boy has been marginalized by our 'mortal enemy', MSM, and the holy trio will be down to the deadly duo after Feb. 5th. (I'll win the $100.00 bet I made eight months ago. ( unfortunately) As Edwards gets less and less media coverage (out of sight, out of mind), the dumbed-down public will be tricked again, thinking they have a real choice between a D and an R in November. (I'm sick of mentioning the two nouns anymore)

When I think about Kucinich, I think about a saying concerning Christ. I'm not religious, but maybe one of you can reply with the right quote. Something like, 'A man has no honor among his own people, but is honored by strangers in a foreign land." I feel the same for Dennis, and presumably you do as well.

The progressives will badmouth Edwards if he drops out of the race as they've done with Kucinich, while the Republicans sit back and have a good laugh. There IS strenght in numbers, and can you IMAGINE the working class finally sticking together and voting as a block? What could be achieved?

Get a good laugh. I can take it. I'm one of those anarchist fools who believes Emma Goldman had the most progressive and egalitarian philosophy for society. But for all you contrarians, nothing works and nobody's right and you continue in theoretical explanations without accomplishing much, if anything.

Peace and Harmony all over the planet.

Please, Stop the Kucinich-Bashing Bull$hit. Yes, I supported Edwards over Kucinich, and still do, in the Democratic primary for president in 2008. I don't do it because I think Edwards is a better person, or is more progressive than Kucinich, I support Edwards because he is the most progressive candidate who could actually win this thing.

You all know that Dennis and Elizabeth are good people, and it doesn't matter which party he belongs to, he is just one voice and one vote in a congress full of right-wing corporate-owned stooges. His actions would be no more heroic if done under any other party name.

We need good people like him in congress, and I could personally care less what label he allies himself with, as long as he keeps putting up the good fight against these corporate bastards that have stolen our government.

Dennis would be just as effective as a Republican if he continued to vote and speak out the way he does. COMarc, the Green party is not viable, and if it ever does become viable, the corporatists will just buy into it as they have the other parties, because that is how they insure the survival of the policies that benefit them.

We can only solve our problems by putting enough good people, like Dennis, into every level of our government, from local to national levels. We need to keep Dennis there, and send him a lot of help in November. Please, help him with his campaign to remain in office, I will.

Dennis, if you're listening, please do the right thing, and endorse Edwards for president NOW, before Super Tuesday. If Edwards doesn't win, maybe we can at least force the Democrats into a brokered convention.

Justice delayed is justice denied, someone once said.

We live in a strange world. On TV, cops hogtie harmless drunks for disorderly conduct. Change the channel to the State of the Union address, and the nation's lawmakers raptly applaud a war criminal - GW Bush.

Anne faith, thank you for the link.

Webwalk, didn't Lincoln create a third party to run in for his second term as President as a symbolic gesture of national unity after he had been previously elected for his first term as President, as Republican? If I'm right, this is a very good indication how unlikely and difficult it's going to be to elect a Green Party candidate President (and I love the Green Party). If I'm wrong, it's still going to be very, very difficult because, as you said, Lincoln was the only one.

Camp Wellstone. www.wellstone.org

Good points, webwalk. Lot of good points. Thanks for making them. Guess what we need is a popular movement to both hurt the enemy and support those who help us, all at the same time.

Gonna be hard to do, though, especially since for most Americans it's not real unless it's on TV, and we all know who's in charge of that.

Ticonderoga wrote "no third-party candidate has ever been elected for President in the history of this country".

Abraham Lincoln was a third-party candidate. But he is the only one.

Hi Doom.

1. Out of an eight-paragraph post you quote one paragraph and attempt to make a five-word rebuttal of the whole post out of it.

2. Europeans would have had a MUCH harder time of conquering the Native Americans had the Native Americans known what the Europeans were going to eventually do and put aside their differences (and they did have differences, and they did fight each other over them) and organized and got together to prevent them from doing it.

3. Thanks for proving my point, which is that Liberals spend more time fighting each other than they do fighting the so-called Conservatives.

All the attention paid to politicians is not going to change this country. The idea that, oh, if only we had one pure champion! Then we (he) would turn this country around (for us)!

What we need is to be a movement. We need to be organizing, not a political campaign, not a political party, but a social movement, to take power into our own lives and our own communities and give the parties and politicians (and their owners) some "facts on the ground" to deal with.

i love Dennis. i gave a little money to his campaign. i was going to caucus for him until he dropped out. But i also do a lot of other things that have nothing to do with parties or politicians, to try to get people together to make lives and communities that resist war and fascism.

All the people here who trash Kucinich, and all the people here who defend Kucinich, are not interfering in the least with the continued operation of war and fascism. What does my job contribute to? What does my economic activity contribute to? What educational and agitaional activities am i involved in? Am i talking with my neighbors, organizing with my friends, creating interventions in our society?

Social movements create change. Social movements create resistance. But social movements take hard work, and real risk, and social turmoil. Who wants any of that dirty business? Better to dream of a hero who will avoid all that danger for us and lead us directly to freedom. No need really for me to get my hands dirty in real struggle against nasty players. No need for any hard work building communities of shared commitments for a long struggle.

Let's blog about how our heros keep letting us down. That'll show those evil doers! Let's not wast time on foolish dreams of actual popular movements that challenge established power. Anyway, if someone wanted to work in their communities to build resistance, how would that happen?

If someone wanted to work in their communities to build resistance, how would that happen?

Are you people misreading the headline? It did not say he was postponing the CHENEY impeachment effort; he was postponing introducing the BUSH impeachment effort--and the word is "introducing" since he had not done so before.

Better send him some money or he won't be around next year because the corporations have some stooges challenging him in the primary.

"We're sort of like the American Indians, who were too busy fighting each other when the Europeans spread across the North American continent to realize who their real enemy was."

Huh? Not! Good try though.

You're right, starofthesea, Kucinich is by far the bravest and most honest politician any of us has ever come across, and his attackers do seem to glory in ridiculing him, which is easy to do. After all, Kucinich failed in his quest, and it's sure enough easy to trash someone who failed, even if he or she tried harder than anyone else did, by far.

And, funeocons, I have to agree with you, too: Kucinich will get more accomplished by staying in Congress than he will in committing political suicide. But, again, it looks like there's a certain group of progressives who won't be happy until he does just that.

What he did was to simply try to tell America the way things could and should be, in an upfront and outspoken way, and that's no small potatoes. And he should be honored for this, instead of ridiculed by the very people he tried so hard to help.

Personally, I have no problem with someone advocating supporting the Green Party, even though no third-party candidate has ever been elected for President in the history of this country, as long as they can do it without trashing a good man's reputation as a way to do so. But ridiculing Dennis and his supporters (Kucinich-niks et al) is no way to push your preferred party's ideas, at least not in my opinion. And just to make myself clear on this, IMO the Green Party's ideas are pretty much right on the money (and are very similar to Kucinich's). But none of their candidates have taken the risks that Kucinich has to tell us the truth, not by a long shot. That's not their fault, however, because the Green Party itself is even less visible to the average American than Kucinich is himself.

I guess the bottom line for me is that we're never going to make a significant change in the American political system until we make it very clear to the American people how bad it really is. And Kucinich tried very hard to do that and he, at least in part, succeeded, even if he didn't manage to get elected President. And it's a darned good thing we've still got him in Congress, although we may not have him their for much longer if progressives keep on bashing him like some on this board have done.

And COmarc, I can't think of a single bad thing to say about the Green Party. And I wish we had a Proportional Representation and/or Instant Run-off voting system so we'd have a chance to get a good chunk of their candidates into office. And I'd love to have a Green Party candidate elected President. But, please, don't try to tell me that it's the fault of Kucinich and his supporters that that hasn't happened yet.

You know, this is exactly why the Republicans managed to stay in power for so long. Liberals spend more time fighting each other than they do fighting the so-called Conservatives (who lately haven't been conserving anything).

We're sort of like the American Indians, who were too busy fighting each other when the Europeans spread across the North American continent to realize who their real enemy was.

Truth Teller and Think Free my hat is off to you both. I appreciate your clarity.

It's difficult to sort through these comments. So much misdirected anger and despair. The seeds that the Right has sown have found fertile soil in some of your minds and spirits. I suspect that they sow even now, among us here.

Mr. Kucinich is not anyone's personal saviour. He has been bearing the message for many years now that only you can save yourself. He cannot move the entire country, he can only lead and provide the information we need to help us move the country. It's up to you, not him, to force your representative in Congress to support impeachment. He cannot place your ballot in the box, only you can do that. He cannot keep you from spending your money at Walmart, giving it to Exxon, giving it to Chrysler, giving it to McDonald's, giving it to G.E., Disney, Budweiser, Pepsi, Humana, Kaiser-Permanente and all the other corporate powers that you say hold you down with their boot. You must stop giving them your power.

Mr. Kucinich has spoken these truths for decades, and many more truths as well. How many of those who berate him now have bothered to act at all to change how they enable the current power structure?

I hope you can find the strength to send Mr. Kucinich some monetary support to help him keep a platform from which to speak until his strength runs out.

But even if you don't, or can't, do yourself and the rest of us a favor and at least don't give it to our oppressors, the corporations that hold the strings of lesser men than Mr. Kucinich.

Peace

What DK is doing is standing in a little corner of the Dem party holding a sign.

He's enough of a public figure that he could start to be a useful force for change if he left that party. As long as he's stays in the party, he can't do anything and he can't change anything. All he's doing is standing on a corner holding a sign. And what aggravates me is that so many people seem to mistake that as working for change. So there's a lot of people who aren't doing anything real for change because they are wasting their time supporting a guy who's just standing on a corner in the Dem party holding a sign. Instead of the bunch of them coming out and working for change in a real way.

If we don't get outside the Democrats and build an alternative, we'll never have an alternative. My only complaint with DK is that his useless campaign and his useless talk (but no action) about impeachment seems to prevent people from seeing that and really working in a way that could create change.

I keep saying I like DK. Its just a shame that all that time, energy and effort went into a campaign that was doomed to fail and which hasn't done anything to help build an alternative political movement in this country.

People who are griping about Kucinich giving in.... please read his statement:

http://www.commondreams.org/news2008/0128-21.htm

He says he will give them an opportunity to do it BEFORE HE PROCEEDS. He is not dropping his pledge to bring articles of impeachment....

Thank you, starofthesea. My feelings exactly.

COMarc, for what it's worth, I'm a Kucinich-nick but not a Dem. I was registered as a Dem so I could vote for Dennis, and now I'll re-register with the Green Party. I have no illusions about the Democratic Party.

I hope you aren't referring to me as trashing DK and being intolerant. I'm just pointing out what seems incredibly obvious to me that you aren't going to create any real change in this country from within the Dem party. And that as long as DK stays in the Dem party, then all his nice talk will stay just that. Because while he's talked a nice game about impeaching Bush for a very long time now, to put that to action would put him in direct conflict with the leadership of the Dem party. He simply cannot put those words into action as long as he's a Democrat. And in general he can not create the change that I think he genuinely believes in unless he is willing to leave that party.

As far back as when Clinton signed the Republican wetdream of Welfare Reform before the 96 elections, I've been hearing that the way to change things was to work within the Dem party. And to me the Kucinich effort was a direct response to the Nader campaign. The whole point of the Kucinich effort was to try to say to Nader's supporters that they could work within the Dem party to create the change they wanted.

Isn't it obvious that this attempt to create change from within the party has failed? So, do the DK supporters really want change? If the answer is yes, then surely its clear by now that the way to do this is not to work within a Dem party that is beholden to corporate money, that has its rules rigged to block any efforts to separate the party from corporate power, and that is undemocratic and does not listen to efforts from the party's grassroots.

Its blazingly obvious by now that you can not create real change from within the Dem party. I keep saying that I like DK. I'm just also saying that he'll never be more than nice talk while he stays in that party because its impossible to create the change he says he wants from within that party.

Its time for DK's supporters to leave the Dem party. Its time for DK to leave the party. But I've given up on the latter. He once again said today that staying a Dem is more important than the impeachment he rightly says should happen and that is very important to this democracy. But if DK won't leave the party, why are his supporters staying in the party?

If you really want change. If you really like what DK says in his nice talk, then its clear that you have to leave the Dem party if you want to make it happen. If you like Quixotic gestures that look nice and sound nice but that really don't change anything, then you can stay a Dem. But if you really want to work to try to create change and put into effect the nice talk that DK puts out, leave that party and come join us.

It is one thing to stand up for your beliefs and principles and another to completely risk your career over an action that will go absolutely nowhere while completely obliterating your potential to have any impact in the future. 99% of politics is timing. DK has bravely (and not without consequence) put it out there. Now he is concentrating on what he needs to do to preserve his ability to continue the fight. You have to play the game to some degree or you won't get to play at all. Get a clue folks. He is worth a million times more in Congress than he is on the corner holding a little hand-made sign with the rest of us.

What are the Kucinich-nicks going to do now? It was clear that this campaign would fail and that he'd fold his hand in the end just like he's done. So what's next?

Are they going to do like one comment above and waste a vote writing in DK in the general election? Will they continue to stay in the Dem party and work for the pro-war, pro-corporate candidate that will get the nomination of that pro-war, pro-corporate party?

Or will they finally see there's nothing for them left in that party and leave and come join the rest of us tying to build an alternative?

Maybe I see things before other people, but to me it was obvious all along this campaign was going to fail. And this is for someone who volunteered and caucused for DK in 2004. Like I keep saying, I do like the guy. But to me it was very obvious that his 2008 campaign was going nowhere and would change nothing.

So now that he's withdrawn from the race and absolutely can't get the Dem nomination, what do the Kucinich-nicks do next? Please don't sit out the general election. And please don't support a Dem candidate that doesn't believe or support anything that DK says he stands for. Its time to get out of that party and join the rest of us.

I am disgusted with so many of the posts on this thread and am begining to think that way too many of you Common Dreamers have only one favorite activity and that is trashing anyone who doesn't live up to your absolute, utmost pure standards---never mind that you haven't lifted a damned finger to do anything but post here.
For some of you, I swear, DK could be assasinated just like Paul Wellstone and you'd complain because he died before he joined the Greens or before he introduced articles of impeachment. My GOD! I don't think some of you will ever find anything good about anything or anyone, because you are just so damned self righteous. Dennis Kucinich has more integrity and courage in his little finger than most of you have in your entire body and yet you take pot shots. What amazes me is that the cruelest and most mean spirited remarks are coming from those who have trashed his motives and integrity all along. So now I guess you feel totally justified in your spiteful and mean spirited criticism.

I just wonder what the person would have to be like so as to never eventually incur your wrath. I am ashamed to be a part of a forum of such intolerant people. Many of you make progressives seem just as mean as the "wing nuts" you SO love to malign. Well join em, folks----you are in company you should feel quite comfortable keeping!

I'm not 'mad' at Kucinich. I keep saying I like the guy.

I'm just saying that backing him as a force for change in this country is a waste because he's proven time and time again that being a Dem is more important to him and he'll fold his hand and go home everytime you want to count on him doing something important like pushing impeachment.

Its very clear that we have to go outside the Dem party if we want change. Since DK refuses to do that, its clear that while he's a nice guy and says nice things on lots of issues, if you really want change then backing DK is not the way to get there.

And its a crying shame that the die-hard Kucinich-nicks can't see this. Because we need them being a part of building a movement for real change, and they are wasting their time and effort backing DK inside the Dem party. If they could just see this and come join those of us that are working to build an alternative, that would help unify us and make us stronger and make us more powerful in creating a real force for real change.

In a 435 member body like the House, you'd have to find cases where the margin was going to be one vote and the leadership needed DK's vote and couldn't get that one vote anywhere else. That's when push would come to shove. That's when if the Dems said DK, vote with us or you are through in this party, then you'd see where he really stands.

That almost never happens. And usually DK isn't in the margins of such a vote. Given the combination of Rethugs and pro-corporate Dems in the House, the leadership usually has the votes they need. And if its close, there are usually much more conservative Dems they can lean on to get that one vote they need.

All of this is why the voting record doesn't refute my argument. The key is once DK decided to play on the national stage and contend for the nomination, or to try to push an issue like impeachment, then you see push really come to shove.

Today we saw push really come to shove. The Dem leadership did not want their friend Bush to be embarrassed on the day of the state of the union. And the Dem leadership clearly does not want an impeachment motion to be filed. So today we saw push really come to shove, and we saw which way DK went. When push comes to shove, he'll fold up all of his nice talk and do what the Dem leadership wants.

Can't see getting mad at Kucinich he is ahead of 434 other representatives on the issue of impeachment. I think a lot of ducks need to be lined up before he can go ahead. He has to choose whether to make a noble gesture and certainly lose or try to win the day.

He may yet have to do the noble gesture, because of the wimps in both parties who would rather watch their own power diminished, the Constitution shredded, human rights violated, and the entire nation humiliated throughout the world than oppose the worst president in US history.

Like I said, not every action is a vote. There's lots of things he hasn't done because the Dem leadership said no. Those are actions too. My very point is that while his words sound good, he won't follow through on them if the Dem leadership is adamantly opposed.

Today's action in not pushing impeachment is a very strong example that you seem to want to ignore. DK has been talking in favor of impeachment for ages. But he refuses to actually take an action because the Dem leadership is strongly committed to protecting Bush from impeachment and has openly promised not to impeach Bush. Thus the Dem leadership has obviously been leaning hard on Kucinich and Conyers who both have talked in favor of impeachment, but who back down from actually doing it because the Dem leadership says no.

So, my answer is to look no further than the headline of this article. There's your answer.

When there are bills before Congress, once the leadership has the votes for passage, others can vote the other way without pissing off the leadership. So yes, DK has a nice voting record. But that doesn't mean he won't always fold his hand and follow Dem leadership orders when they really insist. And the key point is that when the Dem leadership insists, DK's fine words go out the window. It happened in 2004 when they insisted he endorse Kerry and not try any fights at the convention, and it happened today again on impeachment.

It is just pure coincidence that Dennis heartfelt change on the question of choice just happened to occur in the year he first decided to run for the Dem nomination for POTUS. The fact that he knew that a progressive campaign for the nomination would be dead in the water from day one for an anti-choice candidate had absolutely nothing to do with it I'm sure.

Kem, how many articles of impeachment did Edwards introduce?

Comarc: Can you point to a thread in his voting record that is reprehensible?

One of the philosophies behind Common Dreams is that many of us -- anarchistic (we laugh at you fools), Green, Libertarian, Populist, Democratic, Socialist, even Republican are about pushing the body politic of this country forward, modernizing our antiquated systems, honest-izing, returning respect for reason and science, bringing the debate back down to substance, etc. We disagree on particulars, but all seem to agree that our country has endemic, perhaps terminal, issues.

It would matter not one whit whether Kucinich was a Dim, Rethug, Green, or a sold-out European style Green. There is simply lack of numbers to do any sort of impeaching, let alone indicting. This country is run by Bush and his enablers (75-90%+ of Congress), plain and simple. I see no indication, based on voting record, that Kucinich is one of them.

My complaint with Kucinich is precisely the lack of courage to match his actions with his words. Talk is cheap. Magicians always fool the audience with talk and the waving of their hands. You have to watch actions. Today was an action. And a very telling one and one that fits Kucinich's pattern for a long time now.

One reason for the lack of numbers is because people keep wasting time and effort trying to work within a corrupt and undemocratic Democratic Party. And my biggest complaint with Kucinich is that for 6 years he's failed to build anything bigger than a campaign that goes nowhere. Its all been a giant waste of time, energy and resources that's left nothing useful after its collapase. If Kucinich had been doing this as a Green, if all the Kucinich-nicks who can't tolerate any criticism of the man had put all this effort into building an alternative party, then we'd have something.

I don't expect a Green campaign to magically win the next election. But the key is that if we put this time and energy into building an alternative, we can build and grow an alternative. I'm sick of only having the choice between pure evil and a slightly lessor evil. And as long as all this effort goes into the black hole that's the Democrats, that's the only choices we'll have in every election. We have to build an alternative it we want an alternative.

I keep saying I like Kucinich's words and what he says on issues. Its just a crying shame that all this effort and all this support for him has been poured into a useless effort that as doomed to fail and which built nothing in its wake.

I'm old enough to remember the McGovern and Carter campaigns that were grassroots efforts that defeated establishment Dems for the nomination. And I've paid enough attention to see that the Dems changed their internal rules after that to make sure it never happens again. Trying this from within the Dem party was about as useful as running headfirst into a brick wall. The very rules and structures of today's Dem party guarantied it would never work.

If this was still the Dem party of the 70's, I'd support an effort within it to create this change. But it was obvious that its useless in today's Dem party. While I like Dennis personally, its clear that as long as he stays a Dem he'll always have to fold his hand. What he says will never matter because the Dem party will always make him back down the way it did today on impeachment. And any effort poured into his campaigns is just a giant waste.

Shada, to answer your question: Yes, Dennis used to be anti-choice, although he had a change of heart about that issue a few years ago. He was raised as a Catholic and I suspect that it's difficult to change your mind about that particular issue with that history. But he managed to do so. He has stated that his wife, who is just as much of a peace advocate as he is, helped him change his mind. Of course there are probably people out there who will be happy to bash Kucinich because he pays attention to what his wife says, instead of treating her like a mindless but pretty nonentity.

He's been bashed by progressives about his past history of being anti-choice, but isn't changing your mind about something when you get new information a sensible thing to do? After all, that's the way science works.

People should perhaps remember when they start bashing Kucinich about changing his mind about this particular issue that George Bush, Mr. Anti-science, has absolutely refused to change his mind about anything at all. And we all know where that's taken us.

Maybe Kucinich couldn't have one his first election without being an Evilcrat. But he's certainly so established in that seat that he could have left the party at anytime and stayed in Congress.

Today Dennis certainly took an action that undermined the welfare of the citizens of this country by not following through on impeachment. And he's basically been doing the same thing for the last 5 years by being a loyal Democrat and not pushing impeachment. It may not be a 'vote'. But failing to act is also an action.

I like Kucinich's words. But you have to look at actions. When push comes to shove, Dennis' actions do not match his words. And they can't as long as he stays a loyal Democrat. He talks a nice game, but he always has to put the talk on the shelf as long as being a Democrat is more important to him . Because of this, I've stopped paying much attention to his talk because I know its BS that he won't follow through on because staying a Democrat is more important to him.

Unity behind what? I pro-corporate Dem party that doesn't represent anything I believe in.

Sorry, I'm old enough to have been through this loop once. Back in 92 I heard the same claims from the Clintons. That the Reagan\Bush years were awful and the answer was just to elect Dems. I fell for it, voted for Clinton in 92, and celebrated his victory that night. And what did I get. 8 years of Clinton and the Dems advancing the coporate Republican agenda.

Examples?

-- Nafta and Wto ... both pushed by the corps and for the corps and which helped corporate profits at the expense of millions of good American jobs. Both overturn democratic local sovereignty for corporate rule

-- Welfare reform ... The Clintons helped to dismantle the last remnants of FDR's new deal. Life's harder for a lot of people today because of this.

-- Federal death penalty and the first steps of 'anti-terror' laws taking away our rights. More federal police powers.

-- An illegal war in Yugoslavia and cruise-missile diplomacy in Iraq. Notice carefully that back in 2002 Bush kept quoting Clinton policy and statements towards Iraq as a prelude to his war. Clinton enthusiastically supported a bill calling for regime change in Iraq. The Clintons also funneled hundreds of millions of dollars to right-wing terrorists in Colombia.

-- Telecom bill of 96. This is what created the law that allowed today's media conglomorates. If you don't like Clear Channel controlling radio, and AT&T controlling your internet access, thank the Cintons.

-- Banking 'reform'. After the banking crash of the depression, the FDR reforms included something called Glass-Steagal that put good limits on the crazy things banks could do. The Clintons helped repeal this. And today's sub-prime lending crisis, credit crunch and recession are the result. Short term profits for banks and big bonuses for bank bosses. They took the money and ran with the Clintons blessing, leaving the rest of us heading for a crash. Thanks Bill and Hillary.

-- The first 'jobless recovery'. Just like Bush's recovery early in his term didn't help average Americans, neither did Clintons. Inequality grew and ordinary Americans saw their incomes stay flat or fall. If you had the bribe money to pay for a night in the Lincoln Bedroom, you could get rich under the Clintons. All of this at the price being paid by ordinary Americans who can't bribe people like that.

-- Militarism instead of a Peace dividend. When the Clintons took power, the talk was of a peace dividend at the end of the cold war. We'd been spending fortunes on the military for ages during the cold war. People were talking about what we could do with that money now that the US had no enemies in the world. Instead, the Clinton years were a time of continuing of spending the money on defense (against no one) while the military searched for a new mission. The world would be a very different place if the Clintons had not been militarists.

-- Osama Bin Laden. The Clintons kept our troops in the Muslim holy land of Saudi Arabia after the end of the first Gulf War. This is a part of what pissed off the fundamentalists like OBL.

-- Dead Iraqis. Both the Clintons and Bush have killed a million or so Iraqis during their terms. Actually, its a bit more uncertain whether Bush killed this many, while it is very certain and documented that the Clintons did. Two UN directors of the oil for food program resigned during the Clinton years calling the Clinton policy genocide. 500,000 children under 5 died per a UNICEF report, and many more older than 5 died also. This is the second of the three reasons that OBL gave for attacking America on 9-11. When you think of 9-11, remember that 2 of the 3 reasons for the attack were things the Clintons could have changed with any decency and common sense.

I could go on and on and on. But I ask, is this the record we should unify behind. Because its certainly the record of the Dem party and its a record supported by both Obama and Hillary. So we unify behind this. The above is evil. Its why I call the Dems the Evilcrats.

Yeah, lets 'unify', but lets unify behind a policy and a movement we can believe in. Not this record of evil in support of corporate profits that is the record of the Clintons and the Evilcrat party.

By the way, COmarc, if Kucinich wasn't a Democrat, he almost certainly wouldn't be a Congressman, and if he wasn't a Congressman he wouldn't have been in a position to introduce articles of impeachment in the first place.

Comarc,

Blaming lack of numbers on Kucinich serves no purpose. Ultimately, this has absolutely nothing to do with Dems, Kucinich, Greens. It's sheer lack of numbers.

Looks like there's another "bash Kucinich" party going on here. Easy mark, isn't he? Anyone who has the courage to wear their heart on their sleeve usually is.

First he tried to help people by telling them the truth, then he was made invisible by the enemies of the people he was trying to help, and then the people he was trying to help attack him. Way it goes.

Kucinich has never voted on ANY legislation that could be viewed as undermining the welfare of the citizens of this country.

Those who insist on sticking pins in a lone public servant who has consistently defended the rights of U.S. citizens while other politicians have tried to destroy them, have chosen the wrong person to use as their voo-doo doll.

Wasting his time on a futile attempt to impeach Cheney or Bush while actors in his own party are trying to replace him with mirror images of themselves would not serve our best interest; he needs to focus on maintaining his position in Congress for the sake of the people and the future of this country.

We don't need any more lap-dogs occupying seats in the House or Sentate!

Those of you knocking Kucinich I'd be willing to bet are ALL still in the pubescent stage of life. If you ever get mature enough for your voices to change, go try speaking up in front of 434 congress members who don't have the guts to speak out for what's right. Oh wait, you'd fit right in.

Dennis is the Integrity I want America to be about. If he backed off of Bushwhack, I trust his reason for doing it. It's alright to make a new decision based on new information or to change your strategy as the situation progresses.
It sure does seem like a lot of back door deals are getting turned with the same key however. Somebody needs to plant a listening device on bush, rove, & cheney to show the rest of America what a bunch of thieving, freegin malaria carriers they are. Hey, it's a way to get evidence that they can't destroy. And mcconnell, lindsay graham, john boehner, orin hatch.... Would somebody vote these parasites out of office please>
Every fifth republican male senator is named john. With so many johns in the senate, why did larry craig have to go to the airport?

Why waste a vote writing in Kucinich? Vote Green instead.

For one thing, if the Greens were to get even 5% of the vote, they'd cross a threshold where they could get federal matching funds for the next election. If all the progressives who can't support a pro-war, pro-corporate Dem would do that, then the Greens would get much more than 5% of the vote and that would be a big step forward.

If you like Kucinich and what he says, go to the Green Party.

You'll find the same beliefs there, without the other BS you get from Kucinich. And you can help build a useful movement instead of wasting time and effort in a corrupt and useless Dem party. Building something bigger than one useless campaign is very important. If we never build an alternative, we'll never have an alternative.

With all Democrats, including Dennis, watch their actions and discount their words. Today was yet another 'action'. He says he believes in impeachment. But, when the Dem leadership leans on him, the action he takes is to back off. Watch the actions, they reveal the truth. Today yet again revealed some more truth about Dennis.

Well, call me stubborn, but, if it's Hillary as candidate, I'm writing in Kucinich anyway.

If you go to the above link for the D4pres website, remember this. Anything he says that sounds good, he'll sell out to stay a loyal Democrat. Take it all with lots of grains of salt, because its all less important to him than staying a Democrat.

To me, the whole exercise was just more BS to try to keep progressives in a Democratic Party that believes and constantly acts in the opposite of a progressive party. Like the rest of the Dem party, its all a big lie.

Someday Kucinich has to decide who he is and where he stands. I like most of his beliefs. But he submerges those beneath his loyalty to the Democrats. This is yet another example. I like him, and if he'd ever cut his ties to the Democrats, I could support him enthusiastically. But, for this whole election season I couldn't support him because I know no matter how good he sounds on many issues, he'll always back away at the last moment from his beliefs and decide that being a Democrat is more important to him.

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I believe Kucinich is Catholic, or from a Catholic background. He was anti-choice for a long time because of that. But back in 2004 when he started running for POTUS, he backed away from that and became more pro-choice.

Actually, I'm just the opposite. I can't imagine not supporting a candidate like Kucinich just because he's not pro-choice.

To me, you'll never find a candidate that's perfect on every single issue. The only way to do that is to run yourself, but then if the rest of the world thinks the same way, you'll only get one vote ... yours.

Maybe these two comments are contradictory. But I don't really think so. I could say I support Dennis on everything except his support of the Democrats. But to me that goes beyond one issue. Its more a question of do you submerge a lot of good beliefs in favor of staying in a party that's dedicated to corporate power and against almost everything I think is good about America as it was once conceived. And the fact that when Dennis refuses to break with the Democrats, that really means he's back pedalling away from all the things he says that I like ... its just that I know as long as he stays committed to the Democrats, he doesn't really believe the other things he says because they are the opposite of today's Democratic party and he always puts today's Democratic party above these other believes.

To be totally honest, I'd have more respect for him if he'd stuck with his anti-choice beliefs when running for President ... even though I don't agree. I won't reject someone on one issue like that, and I'd appreciate the strength of character it would show. And heck, if you are going to get the support of 1% of the party, he might as well have done it sticking to his beliefs.

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In short, I don't think anyone can give you a straight answer about Dennis because he is self-contradictory in all of the ways I've described. Which is why I didn't waste any effort on this latest campaign after supporting him in 2004.

Have ya sold out Dennis ? ? ? ? If anyone EVER deserved political impeachment, it is "Shrub"; aka Little Bush, aka the Corporation desguised as a human, aks the president.

I am in a state of shock that he would postpone an event that so despartely(sp)needs to happen ! ! !

Sorry, eshu, I have just as much right as you to express myself on this site. Perhaps you and others are right that Dennis will ultimately fall in line with the Democratic Party sellouts and support Hillary Clinton in November. I don't think he will. But if he does, then I'll know that you were right and I was naive and got sucked in.

But I've still got some idealism left in me, and I still believe in Dennis. And I will defend him when I believe he's being unfairly maligned.

Can someone give me a straight answer about Dennis? I know his anti-war position. But hasn't he also always been anti-choice? I heard somewhere he recently decided to become pro-choice. Living in neighboring PA I'm used to Dems being pro-worker, pro-environment, pro-diversity, but anti-choice. I'm sick of being told to put reproductive rights on the list of issues that should be overlooked because these guys are "good on other issues"

For those who doubt DK's ongoing integrity on all the major issues, try this page: http://www.dennis4president.com/go/resources/issues-library/

DK also attacked the US use of military spy satellites a while back. Maybe it was his 'interest in UFOs' which helped the latest US spy satellite to malfunction and which, -( like BushCo ) is now due to drop like a very dead duck from a great height?! ;)

[extract] … "Dennis Kucinich delivered a blistering attack on the Bush Administration today, charging that the White House is setting the stage for a war in Iran and, at the same time, using the "same mantra of terrorism to justify using military spy satellites and other high-tech military assets to put every citizen in our country under surveillance." "

In his book 'The Courage to Survive' DK depicts well just how much he had to seriously struggle to get through his early years. He's really NOT a quitter. Elizabeth Cook's great feminist anthem, 'Sometimes It Takes Balls To Be A Woman' could just as well be adapted for the very few really NOBLE politicians like DK. He's a far braver man than most of the corrupt devils in power, and sets the standard that most politicians don't even *aspire* to, ~ let alone achieve.

Speaking personally, I like the majority of politicians about as much as I love cockroaches, but DK is about the only one I would trust, on almost any issue at all. I therefore feel that if he's taken a decision, it will likely be the one that most of *us* would have had taken, -had we been in his place!

Conspiracy theories abound, (hereabouts on C-D) --why all this 'glass half-empty' acerbic, sadly very cynical, and bad spirit, when the real fight is *never* over?

And yes, Dennis's brother Perry has recently died, -probably of natural causes. Perry was an artist, and had a few mental problems, and Dennis loved him dearly, so DK has had to handle *that* personal tragedy, as well as all the other muck that gets thrown his way.
And now, here at C-D, we see even more muck being thrown at him, by erstwhile 'friends'.
~Hmmm, who needs enemies… ! :(

For those interested in DU issues, read: http://www.kucinichonline.com/pdfs/Kucinich_Depleted_Uranium.pdf

Ps: A BRILLIANT post from ThinkFree above, --well worth re-reading methinks!
[thanks pal!]

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Finally, maybe a useful tip: The dark-hearted right-wing-nuts crawled into power because they managed to put aside their lesser disputes in the cause of stealing power and obtaining their bigger goal: to hurt humanity with their nasty, selfish and wholly abominable plans.

We could maybe learn something from them?
~It's called UNITY! Divisiveness only plays into the hands of those who now again pretend to be one thing, but are out to deceive.
IMHO, DK *isn't* one of these, but the rest of the bunch? - well, I have my doubts as to their morality and integrity!

I'm a school teacher, Anne Faith. In fact, I'm a school teacher who believes profoundly in the democratic classroom, and is constantly under the gun risking my reputation, my lifelihood, my sanity, my family, my friends, and my very life, to repeat your litany. And there are a lot of teachers like me, and we work just as hard at community organization as Dennis Kucinich does, and we're god damn tired of political campaign committees absorbing all the energies of people we organize with a bunch of fucking bullshit like the idea that the "democratic" party can be taken over in a period when the party no longer tolerates dissenting views on its own campaign platforms, or gives encouragement to same.

I'm sorry if you're new to all this- you certainly talk as though you are. Your analogy of the "circular firing squad", or the tired dogma of unity come what may, is what drives the democratic party today, and that's exactly why it's as fucked up as it is. But what you see here is the exhausting process of a political movement- a real political movement- struggling to find voice, with the enormous distraction of a spectaclized presidential campaign to add to the confusion. If you can't stand that, that's a problem. But it's not a problem with the critics of Kucinich, it's a problem you have with the noisiness of the democratic process. Stifle yourself if you want to, but leave the rest of us the hell alone.

ThinkFree, I LOVE what you said. You could be a leader with the eloquence of your words. I too think that Dennis must be feeling exhausted, demoralized. Once again, he is alone and disparaged, never being given the benefit of the doubt.

To those here trashing him, I understand your frustration, anger and despair. But he is and will always be my hero. A true patriot. Even Gandhi wasn't perfect. Neither was Martin Luther King, Jr.

Like ThinkFree said, Dennis is only one person and he is human, God help him. He recently lost his brother, he was shut down by the media, the courts, the Democratic Party that he has tried so valiantly to reform, and now they are trying to run him out of Congress. How much can one person take?

The circular firing squad is alive and well on CD - no surprise to me. I've seen it my whole life. When I represented death row inmates, many years ago, I was naive enough to think we were all in it together, trying to save our clients from being railroaded because they were too poor to afford decent representation. Boy was I naive. I'd never seen such animosity as I did among people who supposedly were all fighting for the same cause. That's when I learned how vicious the left can be to their own. And this thread is a perfect example of that. Same as when Dennis dared to tell his supporters to caucus for Obama if he didn't reach 15% viability in Iowa. Turned on him in a heartbeat.

You give the man no credit at all, yet I don't see any of you out there, risking your your reputation, your livelihood, your sanity, your family, your friends, your very life.... It's so easy to sit back and criticize.

It's not a matter of jumping all over Kucinich. It's a matter of recognizing the fact that it was a waste of time to put all this energy into thinking you can change the character of the "democratic party" to begin with. The "democratic party" is not a democratic party, it is owned, lock, stock and barrel, by a very wealthy faction of the U. S. ruling elite. Deny it all you want, but don't get righteous when some of us speak out against the right of true believers in Dennis Kucinich, or Mike Gravel, or whoever, to make their campaigns an end in themselves. I am unsurprised by Dennis' decision, he will now put his energies into getting the Democratic nominee elected, and then it's all business as usual. That's for those of you who fall asleep whenever a so-called "democrat" is in the White House. Then, shit breaks loose, and you all come before us with the claim that "we're all responsible for u.S. policy".

Well, no, some of us support the milder version of imperialist aggression and intrusion of corporate hegemony called the "democratic" party, and some of us don't, because we got our fingers burned by those cocksuckers often enough to know they aren't about shit. It's too bad you all have yet to figure it out. But don't think I say so because I think I'm superior to you. I made the same mistakes you're making, and people tried to warn me away from them also, and I listened about as well as you "practical" people do, and thinks actually continued to go backwards and got worse.

Maybe one day you'll see that, and move beyond rhetoric to reality.

>>death of yet another dream

Time to stop dreaming, people.

Dennis makes promises or gets hopes up and then steps aside and lets the adults take over. He has shown tremendous courage to SPEAK up, but no real action is happening and he stays within the criminally complicit party.

Time for a new plan.

Since Dennis got in Koppel's face in 2004 about the corporate media being an issue, he has been stonewalled. How convenient that he was barely mentioned in the press during the early caucuses, kept out of debates, and now being harangued by more corporate media. Could it be a concerted effort to distract him from these articles?00

Still can't believe what I'm hearing and seeing of Kucinich. There must be a dark basement somewhere where they take the candidates for real power in this country and show them the American family skeletons, and somehow the power of these things seems to make the boldest minds and tongues go still. I have yet, that is, to hear any explanation for Kucinich's quitting his positions more or less silently as he has, and now this fob-off of impeachment, the only remedy we have from The Constitution for what has happened to us and continues to get worse....

I'm sorry. I really am. I know many people on this blog had, and still have, their hearts and hopes, attached to Dennis Kucinich. In my occasional attempts, sometimes nasty, of deconstructing the idols of the left - I always left Dennis alone.

And I shall continue to do so, I only wish, to extend my heartfelt condolences on the death of yet another dream. The last time I got excited by a politician was Jesse Jackson in '88. That was a long time ago.

Progressives have no heroes. Maybe Ms. Turner is right "We don't need another hero!" I don't know - but again I'm sorry.

Ramsay

Are there any "IMPEACH PELOSI" bumper stickers available?

Cripes! Those of you who are ripping on Dennis make me sick.... He didn't say he wouldn't bring the articles of impeachment, he said he'd give them a chance to move. But he knows, as do we, that a serious movement toward it will not occur with Pelosi in the way...

In other words, he is being a realist. Stop maligning a good and decent man..

Spoken like a true mindful intellectual, tg new berlin.

Perhaps, "your just like the rest of them, mindless" yet it's not so simple. You're obviously not "mindless" and so, your level of discourse is deeply troubling. On the level of worth, what is such a comment worth?