President Obama should make Dennis Kucinich Secretary of the Department of Peace

[shadowknows69]

Dennis supporters RepreZent!!!!

[rucky]

1. May I be the first to recommend!

Department of Peace is an idea whose time has come.

[shadowknows69]

3. If he's serious about using people like Richardson, Edwards, Biden and GASP Clinton even

Then Dennis should have some input or a place in his administration.

[NightWatcher]

2. I'd rather have Dennis introducing good legislation for the Dem majority to pass, and Obama sign

I cant wait to have the Filibuster Proof Majority

[shadowknows69]

5. Word, but I really want a Dept. of Peace.

I'll do it Barack if you need me to.B-)

[Orrex]

58. We already have one

It's called the State Department.

[shadowknows69]

6. House leader Dennis Kucinich?

The Bush/Cheney clan would instantly flee to Paraguay

[izquierdista]

4. Yes!

Since it doesn't exist (yet), he should first be appointed Secretary of Defense. Then he can go about remaking it according to his wishes.

Take a book from the Republican playbook of appointing someone whose personal philosophy is diametrically opposed to the department they are put in charge of.

[OzarkDem]

7. Has Dennis endorsed Obama?

[shadowknows69]

9. I think he may be in the large group supposedly coming out tomorrow

I don't think he's endorsed yet.

[theboss]

8. Oh...Christ

Let's not and say we did.

[shadowknows69]

11. Because peace is a bad idea?

[theboss]

13. No, because Kucinich is a ridiculous politician

I wouldn't nominate him as a valet.

[NorthCarolina]

18. You can't make an assertion like that without giving "specifics"

so, how about a list of those things that lead you to your belief that Kucinich is a "ridiculous politician". I of course do not share your view, but I am interested in knowing exactly what makes you feel this way.....in the spirit of discussion.

[theboss]

33. He is not interested in passing anything....

He is interested in grandstanding.

He is impossible to work with. (See his time as Mayor).

He is a Bob Dornan type on the left.

[pnorman]

38. 'Boy Mayor' Kucinich Took Charge in Utility Debt Crisis.

Cleveland went bust and ousted him, but his tough stand ultimately reignited his career.

Dennis J. Kucinich's political career was extinguished like a burned-out light bulb on a cold winter night 25 years ago. Journalists came from as far away as England and Japan to record his demise.

As the clock ticked toward midnight — the moment Cleveland would go bankrupt if its mayor didn't surrender to the banks — a local TV station started a countdown, as though it were New Year's Eve.

The date was Dec. 15, 1978, and Kucinich — precocious, pugnacious and ambitious — was, at 31, the nation's youngest big-city mayor. He had won office on a promise to cancel the sale of Cleveland's municipal power company, Muny Light, to a competing private utility. But six banks threatened not to renew the city's credit on $15 million in loans unless Kucinich agreed to sell by midnight.

Downstairs in the Italian-marbled City Hall, Cleveland's treasurer and the president of one of the banks watched the minutes tick by, waiting to see if Kucinich would back down. Upstairs, the mayor and council bickered. Kucinich stood firm. The clock struck midnight, and Cleveland became the first American city to default on its debts since the Great Depression.

The boyish-looking 5-foot-7, 140-pound mayor, nicknamed Dennis the Menace by the business community he had alienated, held to his belief that the private utility, Cleveland Electric Illuminating Co., and its banking friends, most of whom were CEI shareholders, were out to gouge the city.

If Muny Light had been swallowed by CEI, he believed, it would have cost Cleveland millions of dollars in higher rates and especially burdened working-class homeowners.
*
*
*


http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0123-04.htm

Thanks for reminding me of that!

pnorman

[NorthCarolina]

42. Kucinich's record on sponsoring legislation is actually in line with other House members

From FactCheck.org

"Kucinich has cosponsored many bills that became law: We counted 22 in the 109th congressional session (2005-2006) alone. He also has sponsored and cosponsored scores of others that have died along the way in committee or on the House floor. In fact, the nonpartisan legislative tracking site Govtrack calculated Kucinich's legislative output in sponsored bills to be "average" relative to his peers. The site also determined that he cosponsored "very many" bills relative to his peers – 3,138 of them while in office to be exact".

http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/dump_dennis.html

Basing your statements in fact is preferable to simply shooting from the hip based on your "gut" feelings about someone or something.

[JI7]

10. isn't that the job of the President, Sec of State

and many others?

[shadowknows69]

12. I guess, shit I forgot we even had a Sec, of State.

The position has been empty for so long now.

[uberllama42]

14. Is that a dig at Rice? n/t

[shadowknows69]

21. Rice requires no digs, her existence is insult enough.

[uberllama42]

22. I wasn't sure if you were just pointing out that Rice doesn't deserve it

or if you were saying the post was actually empty.

[shadowknows69]

25. Although a human (jury out on that) inhabits the post

It has long been empty. Powell was void as well.

[Mira]

15. Heartily recommended ! Dennis, Marianne Williamson, Kronkite, and many others

have been working long and hard to establish the Department for Peace.
Picture is from the Sept March in 2002 in Washington, where we are wearing our Dept. for Peace T-shirts.

[goodhue]

16. absolutely

:applause:

[olkaz]

17. The idea of a "Department of Peace" is ridiculous.

Seriously. Put the right people into the department of defense, but don't make a new department just to make a freaking point.

Waste of time.

[NorthCarolina]

19. Whats your opinion of the Department of Homeland Security then?

eom

[shadowknows69]

24. Not much, speaking of useless departments.

We had a department of homeland security, it's called our police, fire, rescue forces and they've done a much better job before and since 9/11 than any of the neocons pet projects.

[NorthCarolina]

34. I say scrap Homeland Security and implement a Dept. of Peace in it's stead

eom

[olkaz]

40. Waste of time, plus bizarre nazi imagery.

I, personally, would appreciate if they would remove the word "homeland" from any further government offices/programs.

[shadowknows69]

23. Ah but Washington loves useless departments

Drug Czar? WTF is that? I'll take the useless Dept. of Peace any day. Perhaps it should be the office in charge of our "peacekeeping" forces. Allocated to the Dept of Defense only in the event of an actual attack.

[olkaz]

41. Get rid of the drug czar too.

Preserving peace is in the best interests of the department of defense, so there is no need.

And honestly, I'm more interested in defense than peace. If there is a lack of peace somewhere in the world, I'm not necessarily ready to intervene, but if it involves our defense, then abso-freaking-lutely.

[Barack_America]

20. I don't know, I think I saw the current Secretary's office last time I was in DC...

I'm not sure it's up to Kucinich's standards. ;)

[shadowknows69]

28. Whoo hoo

If I don't get my stapler back I'm going to burn down the building

[flvegan]

26. Dump Pelosi. Kucinich, Speaker of the House.

Now that sounds nice.

[chascarrillo]

30. You want an anti-choice guy as Democratic Speaker of the House??

I'll pass, thanks,

[LWolf]

36. Dennis Kucinich:

Rated 100% by NARAL, indicating a pro-choice voting record.

http://www.ontheissues.org/2004/Dennis_Kucinich_Abortion.htm

[cascadiance]

53. He's as anti-choice NOW as Robert Byrd NOW is a member of the KKK.

Let's stay in the present!

[cascadiance]

54. self delete

html error induced dupe...

[cascadiance]

56. How about Wexler as Speaker!

Wexler certainly has been a good "speaker" for Obama for the last few days!

[LWolf]

27. I don't see that happening.

Obama is miles away from DK on most critical issues, and Obama is a hawk, not a seeker of peace.

I would prefer to see DK replace Pelosi as Speaker. From my perspective, that's the best use of his strengths.

[MonkeyFunk]

which strengths?

He seems singularly unsuited for house leadership. He's an uncompromising idealogue - they don't make good leaders of diverse groups.

[LWolf]

35. The first, most obvious strength:

He's willing and able to leave protecting and defending the Constitution of the U.S. on the table.

Plus,

He's willing to lead REAL opposition to the Republican and corporate factions.

He's not a neoliberal.

There are others, but these stand out.

[MonkeyFunk]

39. Having positions you like

doesn't make him suited to being speaker of the House. The Speaker has to lead the WHOLE House. It involves lots of wheeling and dealing, compromise, strong-arming.

Kucinich is an inflexible idealogue.

[Stevepol]

43. In matters of war and peace, I prefer inflexible ideologues.

Some ideologies I prefer over others, to wit:

Ideology 1

(A) Whatever you would have men do to you, do you also to them, for this is the law and the prophets.

(B) Get yours while the getting's good. OR: Gouge thy neighbor before he can gouge you.

I prefer A, and I'd prefer a person be inflexible as regards to it as well.

Ideology 2

(A) As you do toward the weakest among you, you are also doing to the Christ spirit that is within all people.

(B) Take from the poor through taxes and give to the rich, and always favor the most powerful among you.

I prefer A, and I'd also prefer a person be inflexible as regards it as well.

I like Kucinich. Peace needs to convince us mentally first through speeches, reminders, laws, practices, until people begin to realize that the ideas really do work. The way we behave toward others actually does come back to us. What goes around comes around. The more we think about this, teach it, and try to implement it, the closer we will approach to being a peaceful nation.

We have abundant evidence from the past political history of the US that it works in reverse: When you are belligerent toward others, they act that way toward you. When you attack and occupy a country that did not attack you, the results are not sat6isfactory and at a minimum don't bring peace. When you take money from the poor and the middle class and lift it upward to the rich, you create in the end less for everybody, and the whole economy suffers. When you glorify violence and mindless killing whether in movies or in subtle hints, you are paving the way for firms like Blackwater.

These are simple truths that DK repeats often and they are quite true.

I'd vote for DK for just about anything if he wanted the office. I think he'd be a blessing and a constructive influence wherever he worked.

[MonkeyFunk]

51. If you're not an effective leader

you get NONE of what you want. Kucinich is not an effective leader.

[LWolf]

47. Of course, I didn't say that I thought his

strengths for that position were "having positions I like."

Protecting and defending the Constitution of the U.S. should be a priority for every member of Congress, regardless of their positions on any other issues.

Wheeling and dealing, and compromising, does not mean "caving" on issues of importance to the Democratic Party in order to placate the opposition.

The ability to work with both sides, without giving away the bank, is crucial for the Speaker, and it's a strength for Kucinich.

[MonkeyFunk]

50. But Kucinich has never shown

that he's an effective legislator. His record of accomplishment is pretty slim.

I understand that you really like the things he stands for, but that's not enough to be an effective Speaker.

[LWolf]

52. I disagree. n/t

[cascadiance]

55. If Obama has any ideas of offering Hagel Sec. of Defense, then this is the PERFECT move!

I think having Dennis Kucinich as Secretary of Peace, and Chuck Hagel of Secretary of Defense, would be a perfect combination to signal the bipartisanship that Obama has been touting, and yet do it intelligently to make sure he gets all points of view on issues of conflict provided to him!

I think it would be hard for congress to not unanimously accept both such nominations grouped together.

[RiverStone]

29. Yes!

peace~:)

[mtnsnake]

31. If our Party was true to its own ideals, Dennis Kucinich would be the next PRESIDENT, period.

[LWolf]

48. That's a fact. n/t

[Fly by night]

32. I want Kucinich to be the next DEA director (so he can dismantle it)

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

37. NO! NO! We should just give the Pentagon all the money and all the power.

Which it pretty well already has.

[crankychatter]

44. kicked and recommended - nt

.

[TNOE]

45. Agreed!

[BlooInBloo]

46. No more faith-based institutions for me, plz. kkthxbai!

[mudesi]

49. PLEASE let that be

I would love to see that.

[Zomby Woof]

57. A fringe idea with NO chance in hell

Real change would entail making the Department of State fill that position.

But barring that unlikelihood, a 'Department of Peace', admirable as it may sound, is an impossibility.