Is Dennis Kucinich Being McKinney'd?

[IndianaGreen]

Weekend Edition
February 8 / 10, 2008
Is Dennis Kucinich Being McKinney'd?
Get Kucinich

By KEVIN ZEESE

http://www.counterpunch.org/zeese02082008.html

On the Hill some call it being McKinney'd--the treatment Green Party presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney received when she was in Congress. Twice, rather than protecting the incumbent, the Democrats put up well funded challengers against her. Now, it looks like Dennis Kucinich may be facing the same treatment in Cleveland.

There is a report circulating the web that before the Nevada primary Kucinich was visited by representatives of Nancy Pelosi and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the right wing Israeli lobby. They told him that if he would drop his campaigns to impeach Cheney and Bush, they would guarantee his re-election to the House of Representatives. Kucinich threw them out of his office.

Kucinich has aggressively challenged the Democratic Party leadership in Congress and on the presidential campaign trail on the issues of war, civil liberties, impeachment and big business control of government. He's even refused to pledge to endorse the party's presidential nominee.

The Democratic leadership has insisted that impeachment was off the table since taking control of the House in 2006. Congressman Conyers, Chair of the Judiciary Committee, has even refused to investigate whether President Bush and Vice President Cheney have violated the law. But Kucinich pushed the issue. He introduced articles of impeachment against Cheney, then against Bush and he brought the issue up on the House floor. He pushed and pushed to try to make sure the president and vice president were not above the law.

On the campaign trail he didn't let Senator Clinton or Obama get away with campaign peace rhetoric in the Democratic primary while they voted war funding with no strings attached in the senate. He pointed out that their rhetoric was not consistent with their actions. He pushed the issue of all troops being removed; while Obama and Clinton parse their words carefully making it clear they will withdraw only some of the troops and neither promising a complete troop withdrawal even by 2012.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. Kick

this is important news. And I wouldn't be surprised if this happened. I'm proud of Dennis standing up for us, and will continue to send money to his Congressional campaign at http://www.kucinich.us

[pberq]

2. Dennis deserves our support

[cobalt1999]

3. There are some things that don't ring true in that editorial.

Especially, "There is a report circulating the web that before the Nevada primary Kucinich was visited by representatives of Nancy Pelosi and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the right wing Israeli lobby. They told him that if he would drop his campaigns to impeach Cheney and Bush, they would guarantee his re-election to the House of Representatives. Kucinich threw them out of his office."

1) Why would anyone even CARE about Kucinich sort of halfway efforts at impeachment?
2) He has no other support in congress, so what if he pursues it?
3) He has never proven he can work deals in congress to even get the support.

Sounds more like a half-ass'ed conspiracy theory.

[ursi]

9. this attitude on their part reflecting in this piece fits the hateful crap Reid spewed at Kucinich

you can listen to what he said here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x333606

It was disgusting, especially since his son was running the Hillary Clinton campaign in Nevada.

[John Q. Citizen]

11. I have no idea if the story is true or not, but I would like to refute some premises of your post.

and that would be points #2

Dennis has surprisingly a lot of support in congress if co-sponsorship of his bill is any indictation, and Wexlers recent and profound conversion to the issue of impeachment.

Dennis has worked many a deal in congress, he's pretty sharp.

But like I said, I don't know if the story is true in the OP. Something to file away unless Dennis himself raised it, which I doubt he would even if it's true and why would he if it isn't true. Even if it is true, so what? This is politics, after all.

i do know Dennis is saying it's the local developers trying to topple his seat. The elites in Cleveland don't have much use for Dennis.

Personally, I think both Hill and Obama should show up to campaign and Dennis can welcome them to his district. Dennis could pledge his super delegate vote to whowever wins his district.

I'm an Obama supporter, and I have no idea how that might or might not effect Dennis' race, or Hill or Obama, but it sure would make for some interesting political theater. And it would be good for the local party.

[RuleOfNah]

13. It looked like bait to me too.

I'm sure Kucinich encountered resistance on impeachment. Who hasn't?

I do question the directions of the finger pointing.

[eridani]

27. No other support? There are 24 cosponsors so far

Which, BTW, is 23 more than Henry Hyde had for his impeachment resolution against Clinton.

[petgoat]

31. Kucinich's "half-assed efforts at impeachment" have Rep. Conyers ready to be pushed over the edge

on holding impeachment hearings for Cheney.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x2833226

Call Rep. Conyers's office today February 11 202-225-5126 to tell him we want hearings,
because only impeachment hearings will strip Bush and Cheney of their executive privilege.

Join 226,000 patriots and sign Rep. Wexler's impeachment petition

http://www.wexlerwantshearings.com/

[Dr.Phool]

36. It's NOT true. Dennis said the incident NEVER happened.

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/30931

I'll take Dennis' word over counterpunch's any day.

[fenriswolf]

4. except its not the democrates

its the corporations. Help keep kucinich in office.

www.kucinich.us/contribute.html

[Donnachaidh]

6. you're sure about that?

Dennis made quite a few look bad in the press.

[fenriswolf]

7. well he could be fighting both I suppose

[Donnachaidh]

5. oh you betcha!

I was thinking the same thing awhile ago. And he embarrassed both the final two AND many of the *players* who were trying to outwardly display one face, while behind closed doors being entirely different.

And the MSM will conveniently NOT report any of this. He's way up on their *shun* list as well.

[bemildred]

22. Yep, bet on it.

The disobedient must be punished.

[MADem]

8. There is a REPORT CIRCULATING eh? The WEB? Representatives OF, eh?

Why doesn't someone pick up the phone and flat out ask DK if this visit took place, and who, precisely, showed up in his office.

DK has quite a few opponents--there are two that stand out, but if all save one don't step aside, he'll probably be "the Democrat" on the ballot as they will split the vote.

I don't keep up on All Things Kucinich, but this article is a poorly sourced "some say" piece of shit. Any article that asks a question and doesn't even bother to go to the person who can answer it is just fucking bloviating.

[cyclezealot]

12. Counter Punch is a damn good investigative site.

You might note this piece was not originated from Kucinich forces. but, Counter Punch/ The site the investigative team of Alexander Cockburn. Cockburn often writes in the Nation. Kucinich fights interests often enmeshed with way too many Democrats. We all know Kucinich went against Pelosi with the impeachment of Cheney. I stand with Kucinich on that. Should the Cockburn piece turn out to be true; I hope Kucinich will leave the Democratic party. And I certainly will follow. I think many of us will. / Proof Kucinich puts people first. nafta. read todays, Jim Hightower. no one has the chutpuh of Kucinich. / As to AIPAC. They are a scurrilous organization. I believe it more than likely possible. / No one has fought for labor like Kucinich.
$$$$$$$$$$

Immigrants Come Here Because Globalization Took Their Jobs Back There
By Jim Hightower
The Hightower Lowdown

Thursday 07 February 2008

Seal-the-border hysteria is everywhere. Instead of blaming immigrants for America's problems, let's look at executives on both sides of the border

The 1994 imposition of NAFTA was particularly devastating. Just as Bill Clinton and the corporate elites did here, Mexico's ruling elites touted NAFTA as a magic elixir that would generate growth, create jobs, raise wages and eliminate the surge of Mexican migrants into the United States. They were horribly wrong:

Economic growth in Mexico has been anemic since '94, and the benefits of any growth have gone overwhelmingly to the wealthiest families.

Since NAFTA, Mexico has created less than a third of the millions of decent jobs it needs.

Average factory wages in Mexico have dropped by more than 5 percent under NAFTA.

Unemployment has jumped, and unskilled workers are paid only $5 a day.

U.S. agribusiness corporations have more than doubled their shipment of subsidized crops into Mexico, busting the price that indigenous farmers got for their production and displacing some 2 million peasant farmers from their land.

Huge agribusiness operations, many owned by U.S. investors, now control Mexican agricultural production and pay farmworkers under $2 an hour.

Since NAFTA passed, there has been a flood of business bankruptcies and takeovers in Mexico as predatory U.S. chains have moved in. U.S. corporations now control 40 percent of the country's formal jobs, with Wal-Mart reigning as the No. 1 employer.

Nineteen million more Mexicans live in poverty today than when NAFTA was passed.
So, here's the deal: Thanks to Mexico's newly corporatized economy, wage earners there get poverty pay of $5 a day (about $1,600 a year), while a few hundred miles north, they might draw that much in an hour. What would you do?

In the United States, the middle class feels imperiled because ... well, because it is imperiled. Politicians, economists and the richly paid pundits keep telling us that the American economy is robust and that people's financial pessimism and anxieties are irrational. At the kitchen table level, however, folks know the difference between chicken salad and chicken manure. Yes, these are boom times for the luxury class, but the middle class is imploding. In a recent letter to the editor, a working stiff in California put it this way:

"We've replaced steaks with corn flakes; we can't afford to get sick; our kids can't afford health insurance; we hope that our 10-year-old van keeps running because we can't afford a new one; our kids can't buy a home because housing prices are exorbitant; our purchasing power continually regresses; and worst of all, the poverty and near-poverty classes are growing."

It's this economic fragility that anti-immigrant forces play on. But even if there were no illegal workers in our country - none - the fragility would remain, for poor Mexican laborers are not the ones who:

Downsized and offshored our middle-class jobs.

Perverted our bankruptcy laws to let corporations abrogate their union contracts.

Stopped enforcement of America's wage and hour laws.

Perverted the National Labor Relations Board into an anti-worker tool for corporations.

Illegally reclassified millions of employees as "independent contractors," leaving them with no benefits or labor rights.

Subverted the right of workers to organize.

Turned a blind eye to the re-emergence in America of sweatshops and child labor in everything from the clothing industry to Wal-Mart.

Made good healthcare a luxury item.

Let rich campaign donors take over both political parties.

Passed by hook and crook a continuing series of global-trade scams to enrich the few and knock down the many.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/020708G.shtml

[MADem]

14. That article is a PIECE OF SHIT. It's a "some sources say" line of CRAP.

Why don't you try to READ FOR COMPREHENSION? It really would assist your credibility and make people want to engage you in discourse.

My post wasn't "against" Kucinich.

It stated that the article SUCKED. And it did.

It's not "investigative" that article. It's rumor, innuendo, and pure speculation.

Facts alleged in the article could have been ascertained with a single phone call. Yet no call was apparently made.

We aren't talking about what happened back in the time of Jesus. We're talking about a recent meeting alleged to have occurred in DK's office. How tough is it to find out WHO, precisely, was there, and WHEN?

Basic rule of journalism, that WHO-WHAT-WHEN-WHERE-WHY business.

And you respond with an appropos-of-nothing diatribe about NAFTA...

Whatever. :eyes:

[cyclezealot]

17. Sir. Did not say you said it was against Kucinich

Nor was the comment really meant to counter anything you said. It was not about you. It was about my opinion of Alexander Cockburn. Not you. I say, Cockburn sometimes has some pretty good contacts.He can be credible. Why not link to Counterpunch and find out what he has to say and how he says it. Cockburn. Not always right, but hardly tabloid stuff.

[MADem]

18. Er....the article was written by a guy named KEVIN ZEESE....

And you responded to my post, not the OP.
....

....

....

Whatever.

:shrug:

[cyclezealot]

20. Zeese writes for Cockburn.

Zeese would not get into Counter Punch without Cockburn's permission and overview. Jeffery St. Clair also writes for CounterPUnch. Another columnist worth reading.

[MADem]

21. And he's a fucking idiot. That's my point. Plainly, your pal Cockburn has a screw loose if he

lets this kind of shit pass as journalism. NT

[cyclezealot]

24. He's had columns in the Wall Street Journal

Los Angeles Times. I have been reading his Beat the Devil ever since he went after Christopher Hitchens. The story may turn out incorrec but it is not gossip either. Portland Indi Media originally broke the story. His bi monthly Beat the Devil is hardly screwy.

[Tom Joad]

29. his toenails are smarter than the warmongers in the Dem Party who oppose Kucinich.

[ursi]

19. people forget about AIPAC and the Zionists and their hatred of Iraq/Iran, etc.

and their want to control oil and which Dems get their money. Google Reid's campaign contributors, for example.

[cyclezealot]

25. they are a vindictive and intolerant organization.

Aipac threatening someone with cash in order to shut some one up. Entirely believable. Why should this be a surprise .

[AlertLurker]

10. Why post this kind of BS?

All you have to read is:

"There is a report circulating the web ..."

What kind of fucking reporting is THIS???


Honestly - I hope Dennis Kucinich is re-elected to Congress with a RESOUNDING MAJORITY (as he is so BADLY NEEDED there), but AIPAC and Pelosi smears (even though I really dislike BOTH) are not going to get the job done...

Send $$$. Clinton and Obama do not need it - Dennis DOES.

[Arctic Dave]

15. Wow

I'm glad I don't have some of you watching my back. It would seem that regardless of who is writing the article or how it is worded is that DK is on our side and has proven it by his actions. This guy is willing to fight for the good of the people. If this guy needs a hand we should lend it. Period!:banghead:

[Hydra]

16. I figured Kucinich would pay a price for not keeping quiet as asked

Shame he's one of the few who will stand up for our gov't as it was. Too bad we've gone to far to salvage it.

[stimbox]

23. K&R for Dennis!

He is totally being McKinney'ed.

[L. Coyote]

26. Ooohh! OOhh! "a report circulating the web" about Pelosi and Kucinich

is not REAL news, but rumor.

However, I had considered that Dennis is getting "Frank Churched" this year. However, this analogy may be better, as the opponent is in one's own party. At the same time, there are always going to be opportunists eying the seats of progressives as vulnerable. That is neither rumor nor news!

[Tom Joad]

28. we need to support the person who represented the antiwar views in the primary

besides Gravel, he was the only one who supported a full end to this occupation and war in Iraq.
Dennis is also supports fairness for Palestinians.

[Pooka Fey]

30. K&R

[Beam Me Up]

32. Dennis says the reported incident didn't happen. Cf:

This thread:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x2846880

[va4wilderness]

33. Scary n/t

[rhett o rick]

34. Kucinich will be on the Green Party ticket with Ralph (he's back again) Nader.

This is a report circulating on the web (started here and now). And if Sen Clinton wins the nomination, the Greens mite get a lot of disenfranchised Obama/Edwards/Kucinich supporters. Im just sayin.

[JPZenger]

35. McKinney victim of open primaries in Georgia

McKinney was a victim of an open primary system in Georgia. The Repubs in her district knew they could not get a Republican elected. Therefore, in two elections, they voted in large numbers for a competing Democrat. In both elections, she was defeated by another African American woman.

However, it was McKinney who said and did things that got people irritated enough at her that it motivated the Republicans to participate.

[From The Left]

37. Kucinich Rocks!

The Kossacks are ballistic over this story. They're claiming Dennis himself denied it ever happened but there is no mention of a denial on his website. Also, emails to his office to confirm or deny it have gone unanswered. Apparently, there are still a lot of people out there who support Nancy Pelosi. Go figure?

[Universitario]

38. These accusations are unsubstantiated n/t