michelle
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Post by michelle on Jan 7, 2008 0:02:40 GMT 4
See recent past posts for more on the following...MichelleSubject: New Hampshire, Iowa and Edwards Date: 1/6/2008 1:34:49 PM Eastern Standard Time From: denniskucinichmessages@kucinich.us New Hampshire, Iowa and Edwards Dear Supporter, For the record: New Hampshire is the first state where we are aggressively campaigning. Due to the Party lockout in Iowa, we chose to focus on New Hampshire. I am the only person running for President who voted against the war, against funding the war 100% of the time, against the Patriot Act, and who stands for a universal single-payer not-for-profit healthcare system. Nevertheless I was excluded from Saturday night's ABC Presidential debate, or four tone monologue as it was. In answer to your questions about why I didn't support former Senator John Edwards on the second ballot in Iowa: I have serious concerns about his connections to a Wall Street hedge fund, Fortress Investment Group. While attacking others for accepting campaign money from Washington lobbyists, he is up to his ears in money from Wall Street special interests. He made half a million dollars in a single year for attending a few meetings for Fortress and has invested a substantial part of his own personal wealth in the hedge fund whose portfolios are responsible for sub-prime predatory lending practices, Medicare privatization, and an entire range of corporate sharp dealings that are driving the middle class into poverty. While I indicated Senator Obama as a preferred second choice in Iowa, Progressives have fundamental disagreements with him and all of the other Presidential candidates on most of their major positions on the issues. We must have the courage of our convictions to fully support and vote for what it is we really want. For once, we must realize our power, stop playing tactical games, and vote as a bloc - which, as you know, is what the religious right does and why they often win. We Progressives are in the majority in this election. We will win only when we refuse to compromise and vote with integrity. Dennis Kucinich------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Subject: A real Democrat keeps fightingDate: 1/5/2008 5:01:36 PM Eastern Standard Time From: denniskucinichmessages@kucinich.us A real Democrat keeps fighting Dear Kucinich Supporter, We want to keep you updated with everything that is happening with the ABC situation. As you know, they have excluded Dennis from tonight's debate. Yesterday, the Kucinich for President Campaign filed an emergency complaint with the Federal Communications Commission claiming that the ABC television network is violating its obligation to operate in the public interest by excluding Ohio Democratic Congressman Dennis Kucinich from tonight's scheduled debate in Manchester, NH. The filing points out that Kucinich is the only Democratic presidential candidate who has qualified for Federal matching funds who is being excluded by ABC. Further, the complaint charges, the televised event is not a true presidential primary debate without including all credible candidates, but instead is effectively an endorsement of the candidates selected by ABC. Besides fighting this in court, we are fighting on the airwaves by purchasing TV and radio time. Supporters will also be gathering outside the location of the debate in Manchester, New Hampshire tonight to hear Dennis speak. But he should be inside at the debate. Mainstream America needs to hear about the one real Democrat - Dennis Kucinich. We need your support to get the word out that Dennis has the platform that America needs and wants. The mainstream media won't tell you. Did you know Dennis just won another straw poll? It was held by the Washington State Democratic Party but you will have to look hard to find it! Please contribute $25, $50, $100, or any amount you can so we can get our message to more Americans: tinyurl.com/37u6lxTogether we can overcome the media blockade. Strength through Peace The Kucinich Campaign
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michelle
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I have broken any attachments I had to the Ascended Masters and their teachings; drains your chi!
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Post by michelle on Jan 7, 2008 12:55:17 GMT 4
Bravo to the Philadelphia Inquirer for their article on Dennis and Chris Hedges' statement: "And so - to be sure that this year my vote goes to someone who does more than pay lip service to the moral and physical deterioration of the nation - I will pull the lever for Dennis Kucinich." What if we all committed to that?...Michelle One true voice on the trail The value(s) of Dennis Kucinich.Posted on Sun, Jan. 6, 2008 Chris Hedges is a senior fellow at the Nation Institute and author of "American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America."I am tired of living in a country where 16-year-old girls die because insurance company profits are more important than human life. I am tired of a government that runs offshore penal colonies where the detained are tortured and denied the basic protections of the Geneva Convention. I am tired of living in a state that makes war against countries that do not threaten us. I am tired of watching basic constitutional rights, such as the right to privacy, taken away from citizens. Most of all, I am tired of being told every four years that I must vote for candidates who do nothing to stop the brutal and callous assault by corporations on the American working class, sending their jobs overseas and stripping workers of benefits and human dignity.
And so - to be sure that this year my vote goes to someone who does more than pay lip service to the moral and physical deterioration of the nation - I will pull the lever for Dennis Kucinich.I can hear the collective groan. He won't win. He has no real following. It is a wasted vote. But this is the groan of the comfortable, those who have health insurance and a decent job. This is the groan of those who can send their kids to expensive colleges and probably went to one. The groans of the poor in this country, including the increasingly impoverished working class, are no longer audible to most of us. Their lives have been rendered invisible, of little interest to the advertisers who sell us products on television or take out full-page color ads in the newspapers and glossy magazines. And when the corporations write you off in America, everyone else does, too.Any vote is wasted that does not address the terrible injustices being done to tens of millions of people who have lost the opportunity to earn a living wage. Any vote is wasted that does not, even if it ends up being a protest vote, attempt to halt our transformation into an oligarchic state where a tiny, privileged elite controls our money and our politics. The irony and tragedy of the Kucinich candidacy is that, in many ways, he is proclaiming the failure of his own party. Again and again, he says what his party should be, but no longer is. He has championed democratic freedoms and defended the interests of the working class, from which he comes, for decades. He was alone among the major candidates to vote against the Patriot Act, against authorizing the war in Iraq, and he wants to repeal the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and withdraw from the World Trade Organization (WTO). He has called for the impeachment of the vice president and public financing for elections. If you compare his voting record with that of any of the other major candidates, he is the only one who has steadfastly remained free from corporate control. I went to see Kucinich in Washington. I asked him during a two-hour interview why the Democratic Party has failed so badly. Why did the party, despite the midterm elections, refuse to cut funding for a war that is probably the worst foreign-policy blunder in U.S. history? "Lack of commitment to democratic principles," he said after a long pause. He then began to list the reasons: "No understanding of the period of history we are in . . . unwillingness to assert congressional authority in key areas which makes the people's house paramount to protecting democracy; the institutionalized influence of corporate America through the Democratic Leadership Council.
"Oil runs our politics, corrupt Wall Street interests run our politics, insurance companies run our politics, arms manufacturers run our politics, and the public's interests are being strangled," he added.He stands as a maverick within the party, denouncing the series of trade agreements, many put in place by Bill Clinton, which have devastated U.S. workers. "What I see is that the Democratic Party abandoned working people and paradoxically they are the ones who hoist the flag of workers every two and four years, only to engender excitement and then turn around and abandon the same constituency. This is now on a level of a practiced ritual."Kucinich advocates a full-employment economy, calling for a new version of the 1930s Works Progress Administration (WPA), which employed millions of Americans. He wants to put people to work to rebuild the country's crumbling infrastructure, from its roads and bridges to its dams, levies, sewer systems, libraries and mass transit. He has introduced, along with Republican Rep. Steven LaTourette of Ohio, a bill, H.R. 3400, that would provide federal funds for this jobs program. He has called for the government to invest in wind and solar technologies to be retrofitted into tens of millions of U.S. homes and businesses. Kucinich is the only candidate in the race who advocates a single, not-for-profit health-care system for all citizens, in essence a national Medicare. He coauthored H.R. 676, which would provide universal health coverage. This coverage would, he said, not only assure that people will not suffer or die from lack of medical care, but would also stem the epidemic of personal bankruptcies, half of which are attributed to people who cannot pay their medical bills.He rails against his party's refusal to end the war, blaming the Democrats' decision to continue funding the war on "an implicit understanding of the power of those interests that profit from war and the power of war as an idea."I asked him if he was ever frustrated, given his lonely status as an outsider. He was excluded from a Dec. 13 Democratic debate in Iowa sponsored by the Des Moines Register. His lack of corporate money has seen his campaign subsist on $2 million while Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama each raised $100 million in 2007 for their presidential bids. "What you do in life is you stand up and fight for those things you believe in," he said, "and you do it without question or pause, to take a phrase in one of my favorite songs. I don't have any complaints."Source: www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/20080106_One_true_voice_on_the_trail.htmlurl for this post: tinyurl.com/3byj6r
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DT1
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You know, it's not like I wanted to be right about all of this...
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Post by DT1 on Jan 9, 2008 7:37:15 GMT 4
Thanks,New Hampshire. I,as a supporter of Dennis Kucinch,just got my ass handed to me. Those treasonous bastards in the Matrix Media must be so proud of themselves. My candidate was muzzled and shut out,and got 1% of the vote. Whether he can pick himself up off the canvass and continue to fight for us in this rigged $electon remains to be seen. To add insult to injury,it appears the overall winner was that aging bush lapdog,John "bomb Iran" McCain. Live free or die,my ass... I am disgusted and admit a deep sense of foreboding. This scribe says what I feel far better than I can at the moment... Dt1US Election Circus Awash in ClichésBy Daniel Patrick Welch 08/01/08 "ICH" -- - In the runup to this year's political circus, the buzzwords of hope and change are being bandied about like the cheap currency they are. Divested of any real meaning by their repetition and cynical misapplication, they quickly become the empty slogans that make "election" season all the more depressing. Newspeak, long the vernacular of a self-perpetuating media coroporatocracy, has rendered the worst year in Iraq into proof that "the surge is working." By continually culling the arguments, adjusting the lens, and narrowing the field of discussion and inquiry, the media run by a shrinking oligarchy has assured the US electorate that up is down: while creative if misleading permutations of 'hope' and 'change' clog the airwaves, there is virtually no chance at all that we will see anything but more regurgitations of the status quo. The most recent and depressing, if predictable, variation on this insanity comes with the decisions to exclude Reps. Dennis Kucinich and Ron Paul from various debates in the New Hampshire primary: Paul from a Fox-sponsored debate, and Kucinich from one hosted by ABC and Facebook. But you can see the point: for years the major parties and their allies in the media have worked hard to exclude "fringe" candidates from third parties or other wackos from foisting their dangerous opinions on unsuspecting voters. Consequently, voters have been well protected over the years from loony proposals such as the eight-hour day, abolition of slavery, and an end to whatever imperialist adventure we may have been involved in at the time. Not only have malcontents like Paul and Kucinich managed to get elected under the tent of the major respective parties and hold these elective offices for years; they have the audacity to try to move up the chain and hold the parties to their core values. For shame! While one may argue that, having poked their noses under the fumigation tent of their respective wings of the War Party, these men get what they deserve. Why shouldn’t they choke on the same poison used to sanitize the field of public debate to which all other politicians are subjected? I can’t mount a defense that rises above simple logic, a kryptonite to which the system has obviously proved itself increasingly impervious. But why candidates who are obviously competing in the arena set out by the gatekeepers should be excluded in the very first contested primary is simply beyond the pale. Who the hell are they to restrict access to our airwaves in this way? It is wise to remember that: they are controlling our airwaves with the people’s permission. Yet emboldened by their successes in squelching debate in recent years, the media kingmakers have determined that they can go the extra mile. And the parties, co-conspirators in every crime against humanity wrought by this criminal administration despite their weak protests, are quick to tighten the noose. Liberals have had no real voice in the Democratic Party in a generation, so protests will be feeble. At least the New Hampshire Republicans had the integrity to withdraw their co-sponsorship of the Fox debate in protest. So US voters have no need to hear the only candidate who embraces single-payer health care, a solution adopted to some degree by almost every developed nation on earth, and an answer to a crisis of enormous proportions. Likewise, we have no use for the only candidate who steadfastly opposes the expansion of US empire. All the other candidates will keep us in Iraq for a very long time. None will speak up for the Palestinians in any meaningful way, or challenge the unspoken ban on open discussion of issues in the Middle East. None will face up to the dragon in the room, which is the disastrous and resource-devouring war machine that is quickly sucking the life and spirit out of our democracy and society. Leftists—or what passes for such in the US today—wrinkle their noses at Paul; I, for one, take him at his word that he has a lot in common with someone like Kucinich. And really, who is to say what society might be formed over the rotten carcass of the War Party? Paul himself has said that there is a lot of common work to be done before he gets to the parts of his program where left and right diverge—and that is a hell of a long way from where we are today. Who is to say what taxes we would want or need, what government programs we could afford, once the trillions in The Skim are redirected away from the bloated military and arms manufacturers. We in the US face an anomaly faced by no other polity on earth, spending as much on war as all other nations combined. There is simply no discussion either possible or necessary before this monster is tamed, and true distinctions of left and right seem almost impossible. And as for the welfare state, Libertarian Paul agrees with the left argument that much of it is consumed by the corporate welfare state: handouts to corporations dwarf any money spent on humans, and always have. In addition, this cozy relationship between business and government is quickly leading to a proto-fascist restriction of civil liberties that all conscientious revolutionaries predict and abhor. And the next president had better be prepared to lead a post-imperial America, whether advocates of dismantling that empire are excluded from debate or not. The whole world already knows what US politicians can't seem to grasp. Reality around the world will catch up to us while candy-coated sound bites about This Great Nation, Our Destiny, and all the other triumphalist crap is still ringing in our ears. I don't endorse Ron Paul, or Dennis Kucinich, or anyone else involved in this farce. Neither will have much effect on a system so rotten and rigged as to make real change anathema to the system, and therefore out of bounds for polite discussion. And before the cynics call me cynical, I believe firmly that hope springs eternal, and that true and lasting change is the only real hope for our country and our world. It is the peddling of false hope that constitutes a war crime. Both the Japanese and Nazi empires peddled such hope to the end, and had their people firmly convinced that victory was around the corner. So perhaps I’m still a bit naïve after all. Still, and contrary to experience, I continue to be shocked at how brazen the agents of the system will be in their attempt to drive citizens toward the cattle chute of ideological pablum. And until Americans shake off their political rufinol and realize that the excluded candidates speak for them more often than the approved ones, we can forget any improvements to a system driving us into bankruptcy and financial slavery: the only real change we can count on is the dwindling few coins that jingle in our pockets. Writer, singer, linguist and activist Daniel Patrick Welch lives and writes in Salem, Massachusetts, with his wife, Julia Nambalirwa-Lugudde. Together they run The Greenhouse School ( www.greenhouseschool.org ). Translations of articles are available in over two dozen languages.
© 2008 Daniel Patrick Welch. Reprint permission granted with credit and link to danielpwelch.com
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Post by evelyn on Jan 9, 2008 9:07:01 GMT 4
DT1, We're all getting handed "our ass(es)". And though possibly we may never know definitively why, certainly massive fraud cannot be excluded. Just for starters, check out the use of computers in New Hampshire: www.libertybroadcastnetwork.org/locations_nh.htm Only the brain dead would have faith in the humans operating these machines.
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Post by evelyn on Jan 9, 2008 21:58:45 GMT 4
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michelle
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I have broken any attachments I had to the Ascended Masters and their teachings; drains your chi!
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Post by michelle on Jan 10, 2008 14:46:46 GMT 4
Evelyn: Thanks so much for your recent posts. I'm asking that we move the topic of vote fraud to its proper place. Below is the link to where I've picked up your comments. In Gratitude, MichelleRe: PROTECT YOUR VOTE!« Reply #12 on Today at 2:28pm » NH: "First in the nation" (with corporate controlled secret vote counting)I'm moving the topic of recent conversation on voter fraud, by evelyn, at Kucinich for President!, here; where it belongs. I have more on this below and what recently went down in New Hampshire.
Two presidential terms later, we have not fixed [pardon the pun] what should be our number one concern in this country: FRAUD AT THE VOTING BOOTHS! Continue:tinyurl.com/2yx39k
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michelle
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I have broken any attachments I had to the Ascended Masters and their teachings; drains your chi!
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Post by michelle on Jan 11, 2008 14:58:12 GMT 4
Political Science professor and journalist, David Michael Green took two buses of his students to view the NH primaries and to meet the candidates. He's not at all pleased with the candidates and goes into an extensive review of his personal observations. However, in his opening paragraphs, he has this to say about Dennis Kucinich:Dispatch from the North Country: Of Hamsters New, Hope In Blue, and 'Change' Out the Wazoo1/10/2008 Anybody up for some change? That’s the operative word in American politics this week. Of course, change can mean a whole lot of different things. Loose change. Chump change. Change of heart. Quick change artist. Change of underwear. And, really, it’s not at all clear what it means in this context – or more importantly, if it really means anything at all. It’s more than a little probable that a whole bunch of grossly over-priced Bob Shrum types looked at what happened in Iowa and arrived at the same brilliant conclusion that any alert eighth-grader could have provided for the price of a skateboard rather than a McLean McMansion. Namely, that the American public is unhappy, and is looking for something different. You don’t need a graduate education or a consulting license to figure that one out. So, “change” it is. By one count, the word was spoken no less than 140 times during the back-to-back debates the elephants and donkeys did in New Hampshire Saturday night. And Dennis Kucinich wasn’t even participating! Which, of course, really begs the question of what could possibly be meant by America’s new mantra du jour, especially since Kucinich is one of the few candidates really threatening the sclerotic American political system with anything actually approaching real variation from the corporate program. Therefore, of course, he had to be shown to the door by the same people who were talking about ‘change’ the entire way as they escorted him to the exit, stage left.CLIP Entire article:www.regressiveantidote.net/Articles/Dispatch_from_the_North_Country.htmlBy the way, Dennis is calling for a recount in the NH primaries. This article is posted at Protect Your Vote!...I'll be back with the link, after I post it...Michelle
Go here to read news of DK's call for a recount: tinyurl.com/3xk7u7
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michelle
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Post by michelle on Jan 12, 2008 14:03:10 GMT 4
First ABC censors Dennis; now NBC does the same....Ya gotta ask yourself; why won't they let him speak, what are they afraid of? Or, who's telling who what to do?...MichelleNBC un-plugs Kucinich from Presidential debate Re-writes criteria to exclude candidate with ’dissenting’ positionsLess than 44 hours after NBC sent a congratulatory note and an invitation to Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich to participate in the Jan. 15 Democratic Presidential debate in Las Vegas, the network notified the campaign this morning it was changing it announced criteria, rescinding its invitation, and excluding Kucinich from the debate. NBC Political Director Chuck Todd notified the Kucinich campaign this morning that, although Kucinich had met the qualification criteria publicly announced on December 28, the network was “re-doing” the criteria, excluding Kucinich, and planning to invite only Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama and former senator John Edwards. The criteria announced last month included a fourth-place or better showing in a national poll. The USA/Gallup poll earlier this month showed Kucinich in fourth place among the Democratic contenders. In an email to the Kucinich campaign at 2:35 p.m. on Wednesday, January 9, Democratic Party debates consultant Jenny Backus wrote: “Congratulations on another hard-fought contest. Now that New Hampshire is over, we are on to Nevada and our Presidential Debate on Tuesday January 15. This letter serves as an official invitation for your candidate to participate in the Nevada Presidential Debate at Cashman Theatre in downtown Las Vegas. You have met the criteria set by NBC and the Debate.” Todd notified the Kucinich campaign this morning that the network had decided to change the criteria and limit participation in the debate to only three candidates. Kucinich is the only remaining Democratic Presidential candidate who: voted against the original Iraq War authorization in 2002 and every war-funding measure since; voted against the so-called Patriot Act; advocates a national, not-for-profit health system that covers all Americans; has called for the repeal of NAFTA and withdrawal from the WTO; and proposes a national back-to-work program (Works Green Administration) patterned after the Depression-era Works Progress Administration (WPA). The Kucinich campaign, which filed an emergency complaint with the Federal Communications Commission last week because of ABC’s decision to exclude the candidate from a nationally televised debate, is considering legal action to address “the blatant disregard of the public interest in silencing public debate that dissents with the views of NBC, its parent company, GE, and all of the military contractors and their candidate-funding corporate interests. Corporate control of the media is one issue. Corporate media control of the information that is allowed to reach American citizens is much more dangerous, much more sinister, and much more un-American.”“When ‘big media’ exert their unbridled control over what Americans can see, hear, and read, then the Constitutional power and right of the citizens to vote is being vetoed by multi-billion corporations that want the votes to go their way,” the Kucinich campaign said. Source: tinyurl.com/3xrjsm------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Subject: URGENT: Help defend the rights of American voters Date: 1/11/2008 7:31:31 PM Eastern Standard Time From: denniskucinichmessages@kucinich.us URGENT: Help defend the rights of American voters Friends,Once again, America is faced with questions about the integrity of machine-counted ballots and about the rights of Americans to decide for themselves who they should be allowed to vote for in this crucial Presidential election. In New Hampshire, it's a question of whether votes were counted or manipulated. In Nevada, it's a question of whether the GE-owned NBC television network should have the power to decide who your choices should be for President. The vote counts in New Hampshire are suspicious. And, today's decision by NBC to exclude Dennis from next week's Presidential debate - even though he met the criteria - is outrageous. And, we need your help to deal with both of these matters. Because of the unexplained disparities between hand-counted and machine-counted ballots in New Hampshire, Dennis has asked for a recount. "I am not making this request in the expectation that a recount will significantly affect the number of votes that were cast on my behalf," Dennis said in his letter to the Secretary of State of New Hampshire. But, he cited “serious and credible reports, allegations and rumors" that question the integrity of the machine-controlled process. If New Hampshire agrees to a recount, this campaign will have to pay for it. And we can't investigate what happened in New Hampshire - or protect every other state in the Union - without your help: tinyurl.com/2vmz6k [Dennis' non-corporate funded campain has been running on 2 million dollars compared to the 100 million corporate funded campains of the big contenders....if people don't give Dennis a monetary hand, they'll get a candidate who's bought and paid for...M]Likewise, NBC and MSNBC have made a corporate decision to exclude the one and only voice who represents you and those things that the Democratic Party should stand for. If you are as outraged as we are, feel free to call: NBC/MSNBC at 212 664-4444 and ask for the Comment Line or email NBC/MSNBC at letters@msnbc.comPLEASE share this message with everyone you know so that the voice of the people will be heard and their votes WILL be counted.Strength through Peace, The Kucinich Campaign
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michelle
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I have broken any attachments I had to the Ascended Masters and their teachings; drains your chi!
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Post by michelle on Jan 14, 2008 7:50:26 GMT 4
The case for Kucinich If you don't vote in February for what you believe in, you won't get to vote for it in NovemberRegarding Tom Gallagher's article below, I found the most wonderful supportive paragraph in an article by Emily Spence. It is not on Kucinich, but on rejecting the system....something you would most definitely do by voting for Dennis in your state's primary.
I plan to post Ms. Spence's article elsewhere here at the FH Forum and will give the link after I do. Anyway, here it is, I couldn't have made a better pitch for Dennis...MichelleUpdate: 1/18/08..Here's the link where I posted this article:tinyurl.com/34c56lNonetheless, I realize that I. F. Stone’s comment (located below) is probably dead-on correct for a wide array of goals that many people would want to support towards creating a constructive future. Yet, in the end, it all boils down to a matter of conscience. As such, one has to do whatever one does simply because it does seem right and because there is no better alternative even when the outcomes AREN’T likely to be the sorts that one would ideally wish to have transpire. Then again, getting overly concerned about results in endeavors can take one’s attention away from any hard struggle towards betterment, itself. So, one deliberately has to maintain focus on the beneficial action, whatever it comprises, regardless of any other factors.......Emily Spence------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The case for Kucinich
If you don't vote in February for what you believe in, you won't get to vote for it in NovemberBy Tom GallagherOPINION At a recent Potrero Hill Democratic Club presidential forum, when the representatives of Hilary Clinton, John Edwards, and Barack Obama spoke more about how the candidates made them feel than about their positions on the issues, it first struck me as strange. Eventually, though, their approach made sense — I realized these people weren't necessarily all that hot about their candidates' actual policies. In defending their health care programs, for instance, the Clinton and Obama reps tacitly acknowledged that a single-payer plan was superior to their candidates' offerings, while the Edwards spokesperson cautioned the audience against seeking a candidate who believed everything they believed. Maybe it's the lack of distinct seasons in San Francisco or something, but these people seemed confused about the difference between voting in a primary and in a final election. November is the month when you vote for what you have to vote for; in February you can vote for what you believe in. In November the halfhearted health plan of one of these candidates, which would continue siphoning scarce public funds away from health services and into the coffers of the private health insurance industry, will likely be superior to whatever scheme the Republican nominee offers up. But in the February primary you can actually vote for Dennis Kucinich's single-payer plan.Logically, we might ask why any of these front-running candidates who won't pledge to have all American troops out of Iraq by the end of their first term should expect much support in San Francisco, arguably the nation's most antiwar city. Why would anyone who opposes this war not back a candidate like Kucinich, who calls for complete troop withdrawal within three months? Or why, for that matter, would voters who support gay marriage not also back Kucinich, a gay-marriage supporter himself? Well, when I appear as a Kucinich representative at election forums, people answer those questions for me all the time in postmeeting conversations. They and their friends believe in what Kucinich says, they often tell me, but "he can't win," so they'll vote for someone who they think can. Now let's be honest here and admit that those of us who get worked up about peace and justice issues are prone to complain a lot. We are ever bemoaning the influence of money in politics and the poor job the news media do in covering the real issues. But when we get to the point where a candidate is raising the important issues and we know we agree with him and we still won't vote for him, then the next time we start complaining, it may just be time to look in the mirror.Casting a vote against the war in Iraq is a lot easier than marching against it or even writing a letter. But if antiwar voters won't vote for antiwar candidates, you have to ask why those candidates should go to the trouble of running and why the big-money candidates should pay any attention to the supposed antiwar vote.Whatever else happens in this election, one thing is certain: if you don't vote in February for what you believe in, you won't get to vote for it in November. And then there will be no one else to blame. *Tom Gallagher, a former Massachusetts state representative, is a San Francisco activist.Source:www.sfbg.com/printable_entry.php?entry_id=5231
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michelle
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I have broken any attachments I had to the Ascended Masters and their teachings; drains your chi!
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Post by michelle on Jan 15, 2008 16:58:18 GMT 4
Subject: Breaking News: MSNBC debate must include Kucinich Date: 1/14/2008 10:34:48 PM Eastern Standard Time From: denniskucinichmessages@kucinich.us Breaking News: Judge says MSNBC debate must include Kucinich -from the Los Angeles Times:A judge in Nevada has just ordered MSNBC to include Rep. Dennis Kucinich in Tuesday's Democratic Party presidential debate in Las Vegas or he will cancel the forum.
Senior Clark County District Court Judge Charles Thompson vowed to issue an injunction halting the nationally televised debate if MSNBC failed to comply. Kucinich had filed a lawsuit seeking to be included just this morning.
The judge ruled it was a matter of fairness and Nevada voters would benefit from hearing from more than just Hillary Clinton, John Edwards and Barack Obama. Kucinich had been invited to participate in the 6 p.m. Pacific debate Tuesday, but that invitation was rescinded last week ... So set up a fourth podium.Andrew Malcolm, correspondent - The Los Angeles TimesDear Kucinich Supporters,FINALLY, the principle that we are a nation of laws and not of corporate media control has prevailed. And without your support, your phone calls and emails and letters, this issue might never have attracted the national attention it has. BUT, while Dennis is preparing to go to Nevada - court order in hand - to represent your interests, expect that MSNBC, NBC, its parent company GE, and dozens of other alphabet-soup corporations in the nation will start filing appeals on top of appeals to keep Dennis out of the debate and try to deplete our limited financial resources. Multi-billion corporations don't want Dennis on that stage Tuesday night. And they will do everything; spend anything they need to make sure that his voice - your voice - is not heard. The law is on our side, but the dollars are on theirs. NOW, more than ever, we need your continued financial support to stop megalomania-media from robbing you of your Constitutional rights, taking control of the American electoral process, and hand-picking the candidates they want you to choose from. Defend your rights today. Make a contribution today to the only candidate who is willing to challenge the powerful interests that want to control you: tinyurl.com/37u6lxThey will try to outspend us, but, with your help, they won't be able to out-fight us. Please, contribute whatever you can to defend your rights, and ask everyone you know to do the same. We won today, but tomorrow is another battle. Strength through Peace Kucinich Campaign
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michelle
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I have broken any attachments I had to the Ascended Masters and their teachings; drains your chi!
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Post by michelle on Jan 16, 2008 18:38:33 GMT 4
NBC Wins Battle Over DebateA comment by one reader from the source; I agree...where are voices of concern?:So essentially, corporations are telling Americans — in Iowa, New Hampshire, and now Nevada — who is and is not a viable candidate for president before a single vote has been cast. Is this democracy? Why aren’t we more upset? — Posted by Ev Boyle January 15, 2008, 8:10 pm NBC Wins Battle Over DebateBy Brian Stelter The Nevada Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that MSNBC is not required to include candidate Dennis Kucinich in its scheduled Democratic presidential debate. The seven-member court overturned Monday’s ruling by a Nevada district court judge. The decision, which came one hour before the debate was scheduled to begin in Las Vegas, meant that Mr. Kucinich would not share the stage with the party’s three leading contenders, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards. The debate is expected to begin at 9 p.m. Eastern on MSNBC. MSNBC had no immediate comment on the ruling. It will likely be described as a First Amendment victory by the news organization, as lawyers for NBC had argued that it had a right, as a privately owned network, to determine whom to invite to the debate. The network changed the criteria for participation in the debate after other candidates dropped out of the Democratic race for president last week. On Monday senior district court judge Charles Thompson had ruled that Mr. Kucinich should be allowed to participate in the debate, citing a breach of contract by NBC Universal. Two days after a consultant for NBC invited Mr. Kucinich to the Las Vegas debate, NBC changed the criteria to only include candidates who had placed first, second or third in either the Iowa caucuses or New Hampshire primaries. The revised criteria excluded Mr. Kucinich, who has averaged 3 to 4 percent support in recent Nevada polls, prompting him to file a complaint on Monday. The district court judge sided with Mr. Kucinich and said he would issue an injunction halting the debate if the candidate was excluded. NBC Universal responded by requesting an emergency hearing to review the decision. The state Supreme Court sided with NBC, determining that the lower court had exceeded its jurisdiction in making the ruling. Additionally, the court ruled that Mr. Kucinich did not have an enforceable contract with the network. While awaiting the court’s ruling on Tuesday, the NBC News correspondent Kevin Corke explained the network’s position in a conversation with Tucker Carlson on MSNBC. “We were expecting to have the three major candidates. Why? Well quite frankly, because those are the probable candidates. That pool is the most viable pool. And truthfully, most people want to hear what Hillary Clinton and John Edwards and Barack Obama have to say,” Mr. Corke said. “After all, those are probably the three they’re going to be picking from.” Mr. Corke said he doubted that Mr. Kucinich would attend the debate. “I’m not so sure it serves the voters that well,” he said, “but certainty there’s a feeling here that every voice needs to be heard.’ Mr. Carlson responded: “Well as long as judges are deciding who’s on television, frankly I want a better time slot, and I plan to petition the court.” At the state Supreme Court hearing on Tuesday, an attorney for NBC invoked the news organization’s First Amendment rights. “Simply because you allege breach of contract doesn’t lessen the burden of the First Amendment,” Donald Campbell said, according to the Las Vegas Sun. An attorney for Mr. Kucinich said the candidate’s absence on the debate stage “would be detrimental to voters.” Mr. Kucinich had previously framed his dis-invitation as an attempt by NBC to muzzle dissenting voices. In a statement last week he labeled corporate media control of information sinister and un-American. Several recent quarrels between presidential candidates and television networks have prompted conversations about the rights of those media organizations to formulate criteria for participation at debates. ABC News did not invite Mr. Kucinich, Democratic candidate Mike Gravel or Republican candidate Duncan Hunter to its New Hampshire debates on Jan. 5. Fox News Channel did not invite Ron Paul to its Republican forum in New Hampshire on Jan. 6, prompting the state’s Republican party to pull its sponsorship of the event. Brian Williams, the anchor of “NBC Nightly News,” is scheduled to moderate the debate. The format includes a twist: for the first time in this presidential debate cycle, “the candidates will have the ability to question each other during one particular segment,” Mr. Williams noted in a blog post. Source: thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/15/nbc-wins-battle-over-debate/index.html------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ January 15, 2008, 4:13 pm NBC Fights to Keep Kucinich Out of DebateBy Brian Stelter Updated | 6:11 p.m. One hour after the Supreme Court hearing was scheduled to conclude and three hours before the debate was expected to begin, the court had yet to announce a decision, leaving it unclear whether Mr. Kucinich would participate in the debate. 4:13 p.m. MSNBC continues to promote tonight’s Democratic presidential candidate debate, while the cable news network’s parent company awaits a ruling from the Nevada Supreme Court that will determine whether the forum may proceed without Dennis Kucinich. On Monday, prompted by Mr. Kucinich’s request for a temporary restraining order against NBC Universal, Nevada district court judge Charles Thompson issued an injunction stating that MSNBC could not proceed with the debate unless Mr. Kucinich was included. In a petition to the state’s supreme court on Tuesday morning, NBC Universal requested an emergency hearing to review and vacate the judge’s injunction. Oral arguments were scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Eastern in Las Vegas. The hearing will last for 30 minutes. The debate is scheduled to be shown on MSNBC at 9 p.m. Eastern. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards are expected to attend. In his ruling, Mr. Thompson found NBC to be in breach of contract because Mr. Kucinich was invited to the debate on Jan. 9, only to be disinvited shortly thereafter. What changed? On Jan. 10, after two other Democratic candidates dropped out of the race, NBC revised its qualifying criteria for debate participants, requiring that invited candidates must have finished in the top three in either the Iowa caucus or the New Hampshire primary. The revisions were “in no way designed to exclude any particular candidate based on his or her views,” wrote Chuck Todd, the political director for NBC News, in an affidavit to the Nevada Supreme Court. Instead, it represented “a good faith editorial choice of a privately-owned cable network to limit debate participants based on the status of their campaigns.” Mr. Kucinich’s complaint argued that, without the inclusion of all “credible candidates,” the telecast would be “effectively an endorsement of the candidates selected by NBC” instead of an actual debate. He cited the public interest provisions of the Federal Communications Act of 1934. Responding on Tuesday morning, attorneys for NBC Universal argued that state district courts lack the jurisdiction to decide complaints brought under the act “because exclusive jurisdiction resides with the Federal Communications Commission.” The attorneys also argued that because MSNBC is privately owned by General Electric the news network should be allowed to “proceed with tonight’s debate under the format chosen as part of its journalistic discretion.” On MSNBC’s newscasts Tuesday, Mr. Kucinich’s complaints were referenced in passing. “It won’t stop the debate. They’ll let Kucinich go on if they have to,” the host Joe Scarborough stated, before positioning the debate as a “fight night” in Las Vegas. David Damore, an associate professor of political science at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, noted that the state’s previous Democratic debate, hosted by CNN on Nov. 15, included every candidate except for Mike Gravel. “These situations create a real catch 22 for the candidates,” Mr. Damore said. “They don’t have much support, and they say they can’t get the support because the media won’t cover them. It creates a nasty circle for them.” Mr. Kucinich has received 3 to 4 percent support in recent polls of likely Nevada caucus voters. The flap was also the subject of discussion on the ABC daytime talk show “The View” Tuesday morning. “What’s more surprising to me is that no one is screaming about the fact that people are trying to keep candidates out of these television debates,” the co-host Whoopi Goldberg said. “I thought it wasn’t until you had the nominee did everybody not have a shot.” Co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck agreed, saying: “We deserve as the citizens here to hear everyone. If someone thinks he’s going to stir the pot and cause problems, we should see how these candidates deal with that. I want to see them dealing with Kucinich and his questions and ideas. I think that’s fair.” Mr. Kucinich, widely considered a long-shot candidate, was also excluded from an ABC debate in New Hampshire earlier in the month. Source: thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/15/nbc-appeals-ruling-on-adding-kucinich-to-debate/
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michelle
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I have broken any attachments I had to the Ascended Masters and their teachings; drains your chi!
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Post by michelle on Jan 17, 2008 16:56:17 GMT 4
Evelyn: I'm confused. Can you please tell me who was using pay pal and who set up funds to go directly to NH; because Dennis Kucinich was asking for funds directly to him; he said he would have to pay for the recount....as far as I can see this story has nothing to do with sending money to Dennis, but because it's placed here at his thread, it gives that impression and may deter people from supporting Dennis: tinyurl.com/37u6lx DENNIS' SITE DOES NOT USE PAY PAL. Michelle
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Post by evelyn on Jan 17, 2008 20:09:32 GMT 4
Michelle, Apologies. I've deleted the post. While there is a PayPal issue, it more directly relates to a New Hampshire recount funded by Ron Paul supporters. Regards, Evelyn
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michelle
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I have broken any attachments I had to the Ascended Masters and their teachings; drains your chi!
Posts: 2,100
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Post by michelle on Jan 21, 2008 4:53:16 GMT 4
EVERYTHING POINTS TOWARD KUCINICH Friday, January 18, 2008 Someone recently threw out the suggestion that perhaps being blocked out of the debate in Nevada was actually good for Kucinich in that it revealed that his accusations of media cencorship are correct. He had been blocked from other debates and is being blocked from future debates as I write this, but there was a dramatic twist in Nevada. A lower court judge decided that Kucinich was entitled to debate and the State Supreme Court overruled that verdict about an hour before the debate was to begin. This dramatic twist is a perfect illustration of something much bigger and more consequential to the Kucinich phenomena than just the fact that the media censors the only candidate with real integrity. What it proves beyond a shadow of a doubt in my mind, or should I say what it disproves once and for all, is the media myth that everyone has swallowed whole for the last four years that Dennis Kucinich is somehow "unelectable".This is the only reason why the highest court in Nevada would risk it's entire reputation, not to mention NBC, just to keep one brave candidate out of the room, a man that supposedly doesn't even rank high enough to matter. So if he is so insignificant, the question looms, why not just let him debate. Sure that may not have been your first choice for perfectly warped reasons but once a judge tells you to let him debate and the public sees that, why then go to such lengths to make sure he doesn't win this little victory. I'm sure there are some executives who took Kucinich's legal challenge a bit personally but generally major corporations are extremely savvy about when to concede to public or legal pressure when is to it's own benefit. For NBC and the Nevada Supreme Court to expose themselves as being pretty much on par with the right wing news hacks on Fox, flagrantly flexing their muscle in the name of their own best interests then they really must be pretty desperate about something. What interests are at stake here, we have to ask ourselves. If Kucinich is so "unelectable" why not just concede graciously and make yourself look good in the process. I think we all know why. Because they know what nobody else knows. They know what even Kucinich's supporters often doubt. They know that the democratic leadership along with all other media organs of this country (and when I say all I mean pretty damn close) are conspiring desperately to keep Kucinich out of the public eye because they know, unequivocally that Kucinch would catch on like wildfire if they were not in such united opposition against him. They know this just as sure as they know that without the billions of dollars in soft money that the major networks lavish upon the so called "main stream" candidates they would eventually fizzle out just like any other product that the people stop believing in. The only time people keep buying a product they've stopped believing in is when there are no other alternatives on the shelf. The hypocrisy of it all shines right through this grandiose national charade due to the fact that Kucinch polls better than any of the other candidates on the issues showing that he is in fact MORE main stream than the big three.The big three are in actuality out of step with the majority of people evidenced by their policy positions which closely match the policies advocated by corporate power brokers and the neo-cons who serve them. So NBC's little legal scuffle with Kucinich is the front line of a very high powered, high stakes propaganda war between the entire establishment and very large group of people who are dedicated to somehow, someway, change the course of our country away from war and predatory corporate practices. Who is winning this war between the elites of the world and the people of the world, all of whom seem to be embodied by and/or invested in the United States of America?
My view is that the people are winning. I think much of the violence and turmoil that we have seen over the last several years has been an indication of that. Why would the media tighten its grip on a population arbitrarily? Because some impatient old men are desperate to get a better taste of ultimate power before they die? I don't think so - at least not exclusively. It is because people are actually catching on in large numbers, in the first time in human history to the true extent of the utter corruption and clandestine manipulation of opinion that has always been underlying every system, institution, government, or established culture ever known to human history with the exception of certain isolated aboriginal communities.This knowledge is a heavy burden to bear and many people just don't want to look at it. But deep down they know the books and articles and photographs and films that they have spent a life time avoiding are telling some part of the truth. The problem with knowing the truth deep down but never letting it come to the surface is that you get scared and cynical which is really the same thing. We fear the fact that we cannot improve upon the world or ourselves therefore we never do. On the other hand, despite what people may imagine facing the truth about the harm we and the elite are doing to our culture and our democracy brings about a renewed sense of bravery and hope. Sure you might get depressed for a while but it is only fitting that every American be a bit depressed right about now - and we shouldn't use pills and/or alcohol to try and solve the problem either. If we started to read blogs coming straight from Iraq, and found out for ourselves the kind of devastation and carnage we are leaving behind we would be more impelled to mourn personally for the dead, raped, maimed and traumatized. We don't really deserve to be very happy right now but the world is waiting for us to find enough bravery and hope to actually change our course, enough to elect someone like Kucinich to high office and thousands of others just like him to public service on the national, state and local level. We have hard work to do - that is what will make us deservedly happy.Our leaders are all around us and this is what the major corporations are trying to keep you from realizing. Have you ever noticed how much of what you see on television is designed to make you feel inferior. It's all there - psychological warfare 101. The dreadful truth, when you open your eyes to it is that the entire media not only routinely plays upon and stokes our fears they also systematically works on our self esteem. NBC knew that only a relatively small percentage of the population would even notice that Kucinich had been blocked from the debate.They know that only a small percentage of people even know that he has brought forward impeachment proceedings on the floor of the house even though the vast majority is pro-impeachment. Again their dramatic daily manipulation of our awareness level is at an all time high. Twenty four members of congress have voted to impeach, over two hundred thousand people have written in to encourage impeachment, the majority of the country favors it in polls, one or two states and dozens of towns have voted for it, but somehow, it is not newsworthy in the slightest way and all of the major candidates avoid the subject like the plague. Is it impeachment that they are afraid of or is it Kucinich's popularity. He has wisely locked himself to this issue so that any move to impeach automatically shows who the first one to push for it really was. If you look closely there is a perfect storm brewing that will place Kucinich in the white house, if not now, then at some point in the future. He has after all beaten all the other democratic candidates by wide margins in internet polls which hundreds of thousands participated in as opposed to the few thousands involved in most corporate polls. We know that high powered corporations are tied in with high powered PR firms who employ high powered focus group experts and there are thousands of people whose job it is to scientifically try to predict the future while simultaneously creating bogus statistics with leading questions and polls where certain candidates are simply left out but later conspicuously added with 0% to make them look weak. We know they rig elections and those are regulated - so what of these polls. Isn't it a safe conclusion that since in news and opinion these days the internet is actually the safest bet, regardless of all the garbage that floats around, that in polls the internet might have a bit more integrity as well. Especially since the groups hosting the polls are grass roots non-profits who are not tied into major corporations who sponsor candidates like Disney. Sure not everybody has the internet or bothers to take part in these things but a lot of people also hang up on phone surveys with smarmy dubious approaches, including yours truly. From what I can tell, among the wise and sensible people in this country Kucinich is wildly popular. People may not feel he has a chance because the establishment machinery won't let him have a chance but they still love him and how often does that even happen with a candidate? Not often. That's why we have to just check off the list. People love him, check. Next item on the list, get him elected. WHAT NOT TO DO: abandon him for yet another corporate controlled candidate who has finally come around to stealing a few pages from Kucinich's hand book.In fact the "qualification" barrier in the debates is the perfect symbol for what the corporations are trying to do to Kucinich. They are saying he simply doesn't "qualify" to be president. Sure he may be the best one but when there are powerful people trying to take over the world, integrity is an automatic disqualifier for high office. Deep down we all seem to know that is where our deep, depressing cynicism is coming from. In order to pull ourselves out of the naive hope that someone like Obama is going to magically make it all better without actually committing himself to anything, we must look the truth straight in the eye. We could do much worse than to face that we need to remove the pillar of money from underneath the bloated corporate monopoly that has become our culture. By rearranging where we spend, store, earn and invest our money we have the power to change the world practically overnight. We just have to act in unison. We can shift our economy to be based upon peace, integrity and fair play and in doing so we would also create the perfect climate for a Kucinich presidency. Without such fertile political soil he would have a hard time beating back the wolves of the past who in their extinction feel the need to lash out. Changing our lives individually and dedicating ourselves to being informed and active in both local and national politics and spending and earning our money wisely, these are the ways that we will ensure that Kucinich can effortlessly sift to the top. If we all did it today it would happen tomorrow. If it takes us four years then he will have enough momentum to challenge the incumbent, if it takes us eight years he will still be there, waiting patiently for the moment that his life has led up to - the moment when we all realize that he is not only electable, he is inevitable.Source: stormglass.blog.com/2543266/------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Kucinich Weekly Update 01 14 08 "David v. Goliath"www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnwwqiDzcjUEpisode 15 - Please join us for the latest developments! It's a wild ride for the Dennis Kucinich Presidential Campaign. This week, we'll find out about ABC (Disney) and NBC's (General Electric) combined efforts to quash the voice of Political dissent. Melissa Etheridge sits in for an in depth interview on the efforts to silence the progressive viewpoint in American Politics. Voter frustration is at a boil in reaction to Corporate media's attack on free speech with their concerted effort to exclude the choice of Congressman Kucinich from the 2008 presidential election. We'll share with you extensive footage from the campaign trail as we follow the Candidate from New Hampshire to communities all over Michigan. Comedian Rick Overton makes a special appearance to help us re-learn how to vote with paper ballots, using a voting booth used in the Broward county, Florida election of 2000. (If you want your own machine to train on or just for the nostalgia of a Democracy gone by, log on to www.Dennis4President.com ) Find out more about this amazing and courageous Presidential Candidate by logging on to Dennis4President.com/home ) This episode also features a new song by Alex Arndt, "Strength Through Peace"! ABC decision "put me over the top"www.dennis4president.com/go/alerts-%11-lower-right/abc-decision-%22put-me-over-the-top%22/Melissa Etheridge tells the New York Times that ABC's refusal to let Dennis into the Democratic Presidential debate makes it “nothing but an infomercial now.” And, “corporate interests that have infiltrated the Democratic Party” have marginalized Mr. Kucinich because his stances on issues like the environment, health care and the war go against their interests.
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michelle
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I have broken any attachments I had to the Ascended Masters and their teachings; drains your chi!
Posts: 2,100
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Post by michelle on Jan 22, 2008 3:05:45 GMT 4
Subject: The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. the legacy remembered, the message that should not be forgotten Date: 1/21/2008 5:06:55 PM Eastern Standard Time From: denniskucinichmessages@kucinich.us
The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. the legacy remembered, the message that should not be forgotten
The homage that Americans pay today to the inspiring life and lasting legacy of Dr. King is a fitting tribute to this leader who spoke so eloquently of peace, of social justice, and of equal rights under the law and under the moral covenant that established and guides this great nation. But, as we survey the grim realities of today, across this country and around the world, that rightful homage also has the somber ring of a faint and distant eulogy for a man and a message from another time.
That other time that we remember and honor was then. But, more than ever, it is also now.
In his speech at Riverside Church in New York City, on April 4, 1967, Dr. King spoke of one war that was destroying the aspirations of the people of two nations - the people of the United States and the people of Vietnam.
The Vietnam War resulted in the deaths of 4 million Vietnamese civilians in a nation of about 40 million - 10% of the total population of Vietnam. Americans lost 58,202 soldiers in that war. And in hard, cold numbers, the Vietnam War cost the United States the equivalent of $662 billion in today's dollars.
So far, today, this no-end-in-sight war against Iraq has resulted in the deaths of more than 1 million innocent Iraqis in a nation of 25 million. Four thousand of our best and bravest have died, and nearly 29,000 have been wounded. In hard, cold numbers, the Iraq War will cost the United States more than $2 trillion.
What would Dr. King say today? What would his message be to the President, to the U.S. Congress, and to the American people? It would be, I deeply believe, the same as it was more than 30 years ago: Iraq is a war that is destroying the aspirations of the people of two nations - the people of the United States and the people of Iraq.
And, it was only two years ago that the leadership of the Democratic Party, without invoking Dr. King but aligning itself with the powerful principles that he espoused, promised an end to the abuse of political power and an end to the war that was devastating the people of two nations. And Americans, believing that promise that we would “be free at last” from the policies that morally and economically enslaved this nation and unrepentantly took control of another, elected a new Democratic leadership in the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate.
Tragically, in the two years since, nothing has changed. The policies of this President persist and prevail. The Congress yields and subjugates itself time and time again. And the powerful, righteous, and universal message of Dr. King has been forgotten.
Dr. King's concluding remarks in his Riverside Church speech called for an end to the disintegration of humanity brought about by war: "Somehow this madness must end," he implored.
It is not in our power to bring Dr. King back, but it is within our power to resurrect his spirit in our daily lives and in the policies of the government that we elect to represent and lead us. He demonstrated throughout his entire life that social and economic justice are achieved not through compromising what we believe, but rather, committing to what we believe – whatever the odds.
In this crucial year for the future of our nation and the future of our world, today is the day to remember Dr. King's words, embrace his spirit, and fortify ourselves with the message that he left for us.
It is time, once again, to ask what we can do to forge ahead – in our votes, in our support, and in everything we do -- to reach that place where his words, his strength, and his optimism become more than a legacy. They become the policy and mission of this nation: "Free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty, I'm free at last."
Dennis Kucinich
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