Talk:Dennis Kucinich

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Dennis John Kucinich (Representative D-OH, 10th district), was a candidate for the Democratic Party nomination to run against incumbent President George W. Bush (R-TX) in the U.S. presidential election, 2004. He has repeatedly defeated entrenched incumbents. He beat a Republican incumbent for mayor in 1977, for state senator in 1994 (overcoming the national right-wing tide) and for Congress in 1996. He is currently chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

Of particular interest to disinformation students is the Kucinich plan for media reform. [1] See also the report at FAIR

"... there is great concern about the proper role of the media in a democratic society. The American people clearly do not want the media to be in a position where they're determining which candidates ought to be considered for the presidency and which ought not to be considered for the presidency. Such practice by the media represents a tampering with the political process itself. The role of the media in this process has now become a national issue central to the question of who's running our country, and I intend to keep this issue before the American people, and I look forward to engaging America's news organizations as to what they might be able to do to be more responsive to the public concerns that are reflected in the powerful response to the issues I raised in the exchange with Ted Koppel."

On government reform, specifically the use of conference committee, Ariana Huffington writes about the mystery of who inserted Eli Lilly protection into the Homeland Security bill, [2]

It's vital that we solve the mystery -- even if you believe that the custom-made legislation is justified. We need to find out because this kind of behind-closed-doors monkey business is an affront to our democracy -- the very democracy this bill was theoretically designed to protect. Perhaps it should have been called "The Homeland and Lilly Protection Act."

"The ability," Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, told me "of a special interest group to secretly insert provisions into law for its own narrow benefit and to the detriment of the public interest raises fundamental questions about the integrity of our government."

Kucinich has vowed to lead a challenge to congressional rules that permit our representatives to do the bidding of their deep-pocket donors away from the prying eyes of the public. At the most crucial part of the bill-drafting process -- when the language of the law is being finalized -- Washington's corporate alchemists work their black magic to turn legislative gold into self-preserving lead.

"It's a defect in the system," explains Kucinich. "When a bill goes into a conference committee, it gets yanked out of the sunlight and into the shadows. The conference process is a closed one, so you can go into a conference committee and basically add anything or take out anything you want and no one really knows. It transforms the legislature into a secret cabal."

References

• Official "Kucinich For President" web site.
• Kucinich Campaign Organization.
• Calling the Media to its Proper Role.
• Dennis Kucinich Blog and News site.
• Dennis Kucinich National Forum.
• Kucinich v. Dean, issue by issue.
• http://www.kucinichdeancompare.com/
• Kucinich.com: attack site devoted to defaming Kucinich.
• Kucinich's House of Representatives web site.

SourceWatch Resources

• Operation Iraqi Freedom: Military and Political Dissent
• U.S. presidential election, 2004
• U.S. presidential election, 2004: Campaign Issues

External Links

• Dennis Kucinich, "The Bloodstained Path," The Progressive, November 2002.