Kucinich Shreds Democrats for 'Selling Out'

[rayofreason]

Source: The National Ledger

Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) is not happy with the direction of his own party and he is telling them to wake up. In an interview with Rawstory.com, Congressman Kucinich blasted away verbally and shredded his fellow Democrats with his words for failing to follow through on the change they promised in Washington.

Kucinich Shreds Democrats for 'Selling Out' (Image: WENN)

He went as far as to mention the Tea Party movement in a separate interview, warning fellow Dems on the Ed Schultz Show not to ignore financial issues.

"I met with people who were, you know, unfairly ridiculed as being just a bunch of teabaggers and frankly they had basic economic concerns just like everyone else, they felt that government wasn't listening to them, and this is where the Democratic Party better wake up," he told the radio audience.

Read more: http://www.nationalledger.com/ledgerdc/article_272630094.shtml

---

DK is on a roll. You can count on him for consistency.

[xchrom]

1. No one listen -- but -- recommend

[midnight]

2. K&R.

[flvegan]

3. Love him.

Beholden to no one. Like our Dems *could* be.

Now...*checks watch*

Enter Kucinich bashing DLC apologists!

[LoZoccolo]

13. I actually trash Dennis for not being liberal enough.

He never promised to wean us off of oil dependence when he ran for president; I promised that I would do it in definately eighteen, maybe twelve months when I ran in 2004.

[Forkboy]

16. "I promised that I would do it in definately eighteen, maybe twelve months when I ran in 2004."

Since you knew you could never win isn't that grandstanding?

[Name removed]

40. Deleted message

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[Name removed]

57. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[hay rick]

80. Shoulda promised oil independence in eighteen DAYS...

I woulda bit on that one- definately.

[dhpgetsit]

4. I don't disagree with DK.

But sometimes it seems liberals are a tiny minority, even here on DU.

[Skittles]

7. oh I hear you

I'm shocked at the amount of bullshit I've read from so-called Democrats on this board

[Krashkopf]

29. K&R

Sometimes I'm SURE its Rahm Emanuel himself typing some of the pro-DLC posts.

[Name removed]

42. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[RetroLounge]

70. I hear Rahm Emanuel is a big Oasis fan...

Just saying...

RL

[bvar22]

76. Tiny Minority?

It IS the "Centrists/Anti-LABOR DLCers" who are the minority on DU, but they are organized, have access to the administration Spin & Talking Points, and seem to have endless hours to jump in and disrupt every thread...

Just check the screen names....same small crowd over and over...


"There are forces within the Democratic Party who want us to sound like kinder, gentler Republicans. I want us to compete for that great mass of voters that want a party that will stand up for working Americans, family farmers, and people who haven't felt the benefits of the economic upturn."---Paul Wellstone

[MercutioATC]

5. I'm lucky enough to be able to vote for him.

Dennis is way out there...ALWAYS.

I vote for him for the same reason I support the ACLU. I don't always agree with what they say, but it's important to have that anchor way out there that stands on principle.

As long as Kucinich chooses to run, I'll vote for him.

[Enthusiast]

28. Me too. nt

[Ninga]

48. I live east of the Cuyahoga, I am not in his district, but have had to live with the

fact that his closest friend in the House is a Republican and my Congressman.

Dennis is crafty and not exactly what he wants people to believe.

[nimvg]

64. Steve?

You're kidding?

[Ninga]

73. Yep, Steve. When Lou Katz and then Judge Bill O'Neill asked Dennis for help and/or

an endorsement, all they got was a flat out no.

Stephannie Tubbs Jones was terrific and a real stand-up supporter of both when they ran against LaTourette.

[Smashcut]

6. Go DK. How long can one person tell the truth until his peers start to listen?

:evilfrown:

[FirstLight]

10. +100

Exactly...

[90-percent]

8. Dennis

He was my first choice for the 2008 Democratic Presidential nomination.

He may also be my first choice for 2012. We'll see.

-jim

[Loge23]

33. Mine too

I just think that our system is too far gone - particularly with the SCOTUS edict last week.
A guy like DK just can't compete on a level playing field.
Remember the primaries? They wouldn't even let him debate.
I will say that I should stay true to my convictions and get off of the "best we can hope for" bus.

[RaleighNCDUer]

41. Oh, he CAN compete on a level playing field.

It's just that for anything much more than his congressional seat (which he has won how many times?) he can't GET a level playing field.

"Remember the primaries? They wouldn't even let him debate."

THAT is the playing field he is trying to compete on.

[karynnj]

90. He was in the debates in both 2004 and 2008 (except in NH) until he had dropped out

In 2004, at one point it was him, Edwards and Kerry. The field was level - especially in Iowa both times. The fact is that face to face, he could not get enough people behind him.

[RaleighNCDUer]

94. He was in the debates - and was asked 50% fewer questions

than the pre-determined front runners. The only guy who got FEWER questions thrown at him in the 2008 debates was Gravel.

It was NOT a level playing field. He got a fraction of the air time that either Obama or Clinton got, and got far less than Edwards at a time when people were bitching about Edwards getting ignored by the press.

It was NOT a level playing field.

[barb162]

62. I think you're right

The system really is too far gone. SCOTUS , the five of them, are out of control. And yes, I remember how Kucinich wasn't allowed to debate.

[karynnj]

91. He was allowed to debate in 2004

In 2008, I think only the NH debate - one out of very many - was he not allowed to vote.

[karynnj]

92. I do remember the primaries and in 2004, he was allowed to debate in all of them

In 2008, he was in all of the debates, until he was excluded from the NH one after getting minute support in Iowa (and he had low poll numbers in NH).

[4dsc]

9. Most democrat's cannot stand the truth

Too bad the truth about our own party has to come from DK..

[winyanstaz]

11. D.K . ROCKS!!!!

I want him and Howard Dean and Grayson and Sanders to take over the party.... :P

[nxylas]

43. Four guys can't do it alone

We need hundreds of Kuciniches and Graysons and Deans and Sanderses, in every state and every congressional district. In other words, we need a movement, like the regressives have.

[MrSlayer]

12. The Kooch is one of the very few good ones.

Too bad 95% of Congress is bought out.

[suzie]

38. Dennis is more "bought out" than 95% of the rest of the Congress.

[timtom]

51. Bought out by whom?

[Toasterlad]

53. I Suspect You Won't Get An Answer.

[Ignis]

61. Nah, it's just a seagull post, apparently.

Merely swooping by to make a lot of squawking noise and leave a load of shit behind, never to return to the topic again.

Lovely, eh?

[reggie the dog]

58. bought out be we the people I guess

whereas the rest are bought out by big business....

[suzie]

74. Bought out by his own hubris, his own need to hear his voice on the public airwaves,

to be a backbencher congressman who's never passed any major legislation who's able to get on TV talk shows.

If you're actually trying to make things better, you may get a vote out of a Congressperson who is actually bought and paid for by some constituency sooner than you'd get it out of Dennis Kucinich.

Because Dennis Kucinich will be beholden to what he thinks will fly with his adoring constituency that applauds his faux presidential campaigns.

Dennis Kucinich would be fine as a talking head--because that's what he does--Talk. And level constant criticism at other Democrats--which of course gets him way more publicity than he deserves.

Alan Grayson criticizes the Supreme Court decision and immediately offers legislation that would interfere with it. Legislation that one can at least look at and consider.

Kucinich offers to go on TV and criticize other Democrats.

[bvar22]

77. Without Kucinich in the Democratic Party,

who would be telling the TRUTH that:

*Single Payer Universal HealthCare is not only possible, but cheaper.

*that "For Profit" HealthCare is obscene

*that Mandatory Health Insurance is NOT REALLY Universal HealthCare

*that the Democratic Party and American taxpayers should NOT be forced to subsidize some of the richest CEOs in history by subsidizing the HealthCare Insurance Corps and HMOs.

*that the USA SHOULD give the Imperial Palace (Green Zone) back to the Iraqis, close the permanent bases, expel all Corporate Consultants, withdraw ALL US Troops, and begin paying reparations NOW.

*that redeploying some troops at some future date is a PRO-WAR position.

*that the "Oil Law Benchmark" supported by the Democratic Party is a War Crime

*That we can have election accountability with "Paper Ballots publicly hand counted at the precinct".

*that we CAN cut $Billions$ from the Defense Budget

*that the RICHEST Corporations in history do NOT need $Billions$ in welfare subsidies

*that NAFTA (Free Trade) has not been a good thing for Americans who have to work for a living

*that prosecuting War Criminals and Torturers is NOT optional, our reps are SWORN to protect The Constitution

*that the USA should join the rest of the civilized World in banning Land Mines

*that the USA should join the rest of the civilized World in the International Criminal Court.

*that hiring the people who caused the problems (Geithner, Summers, et al) is NOT the way to solve the problems.


If Dennis Kucinich's voice is not welcome in the Democratic Party,
Then I am not welcome in the Democratic Party.
:hi:


"There are forces within the Democratic Party who want us to sound like kinder, gentler Republicans. I want us to compete for that great mass of voters that want a party that will stand up for working Americans, family farmers, and people who haven't felt the benefits of the economic upturn."---Paul Wellstone

[frylock]

81. fucking lame..

better luck next time.

[suzie]

84. Yeah right, criticizing every other Democrat, especially those who've spent a career

actually passing legislation that does something for "then people", is somehow fine with the Kucinich claque.

But anything about Kucinich, who's spent a career talking about it, and it's "lame".

[frylock]

87. you'll fit in just fine with the other 5 DLC lackeys around here

[suzie]

93. Actually, I fit in quite fine with the "base" of the Democratic Party,

who don't even know what DLC means, but who've spent their time as Democrats trying to vote for politicians that would make a change.

But, it's interesting to read the rants of those who believe that insulting everyone else--because their preferred candidate cannot be elected to any kind of higher office--is the way to go.

[marasinghe]

14. here's to you Mr. Kucinich, a voice in the wilderness.

:toast:


of course, as ever the case - they'll just laugh at you.
:banghead:

[OhioChick]

15. K&R n/t

[Faryn Balyncd]

17. K and R

[Iowa]

18. Dennis is right, as usual.

Unfortunately we have lightweights in the highest positions.

[No Elephants]

19. The full Raw Story article is really worth a look. Here's the link:

http://rawstory.com/2010/01/exclusive-kucinich-shreds-democrats/

Among other tidbits from Raw Story:

"There's nothing liberal about the bailouts. There's nothing liberal about standing by and watching banks use public money to get their executive bonuses. There's nothing liberal about giving insurance companies carte blanche to charge anything they want for health care... Since when did that become liberal?" "There's nothing liberal about letting coal and oil write climate change legislation," he added. "Are you kidding me?"

<snip>

"The minute the president appointed Tim Geithner and Larry Summers to key policy positions, and the minute that Bernanke was named to head the Fed again, we're looking at people who participated in the decline of the economy," he said. "This group has done us a disservice." "Every area of the economy is still about taking wealth from the great mass of people and putting it into the hands of a few. If you don't have a economic democracy, you don't have a political democracy."

<snip>

"Health care became too complex and too riddled with concessions to insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies," he said. "It's really time to take a new direction and that direction has to be back to the American people."






Kucinich, empathizing with the worries of the Tea Baggers. Politics really does make strange bedfellows, doesn't it?

[Edweird]

59. Hell Yeah. What he said. Which, coincidentally, is what I've been saying.

The insurance bailout is RW bullshit.

[Rhiannon12866]

20. K&R for Dennis...

:patriot:

[KonaKane]

21. Mr. Kucinich has been an abiding voice of intelligence

through many raucous years of political push and pull. They have derided him as looney, as "unelectable", as "outside of the mainstream". Yet with each passing year, the truth of his views comes into focus.

[Greyhound]

22. K&R. Yes.

[Desertrose]

23. K&R for DK!

[krabigirl]

24. go Dennis!

[Raine]

25. K & R nt

:kick: :thumbsup:

[bc3000]

26. Kucinich 2012

[democrank]

27. A voice of truth and reason.

Wish we had more like Dennis who fight for real people but unfortunately the party is overrun with leaders who fight for corporatism.

[LWolf]

30. Beautiful rant:

<snip>

Kucinich staunchly defended liberalism but alleged that Democrats are not behaving like liberals.

"There's nothing liberal about the bailouts. There's nothing liberal about standing by and watching banks use public money to get their executive bonuses. There's nothing liberal about giving insurance companies carte blanche to charge anything they want for health care... Since when did that become liberal?"

"There's nothing liberal about letting coal and oil write climate change legislation," he added. "Are you kidding me?"

The 13-year congressman lamented the lack of change in economic policies, tying it to the major problems Democrats are facing.

"The minute the president appointed Tim Geithner and Larry Summers to key policy positions, and the minute that Bernanke was named to head the Fed again, we're looking at people who participated in the decline of the economy," he said. "This group has done us a disservice."

"Every area of the economy is still about taking wealth from the great mass of people and putting it into the hands of a few. If you don't have a economic democracy, you don't have a political democracy."

And much more.

As usual, he nails it.

[HughMoran]

31. Going for a hat-trick? This has been posted twice before - but hey, the same

people keep giving it lots of recs, so why stop now, right?

Kucinich shreds Democrats for betraying the promise of change

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=103&topic_id=512008

Exclusive: Kucinich shreds Democrats for betraying promise of change

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=7532245


This is just the Jan 21st Raw Story article repackaged. Lame and predictable...

[Bluenorthwest]

32. Too bad Americans vote for the Jonas Bros of politics

instead of for intelligence, passion and honesty.

[suzie]

39. Americans seldom vote for disagreeable people who scold them.

And there's probably a good reason for that. Those who don't play well with others and think that they're the only ones with a handle on "the truth" are usually not very good at getting anything done.

Dennis Kucinich being a prime example of that.

[Toasterlad]

54. Translation: Dennis Refuses to Bow to Corporate Interests, So He Must Be Marginalized.

I see you're throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks. I haven't finished the thread yet: did you mention the UFO sighting yet?

[liberation]

55. And DLC apologist trying to desperately sabotage any liberal Dem is a prime example of what is wrong

with the modern day Dem party.

If only the DLC people spent more time neutralizing ultra conservatives as they seem to waste in attacking liberals, this country would be in a much better shape.

[suzie]

85. A politician who spent most of his career being anti-women is not someone

I'd label "liberal".

And one who magically changed his anti-woman stance overnight to make his strongly right-wing Republican views on women palatable to his new-found national constituency is someone I'd trust as a politician.

If Dennis Kucinich hadn't been more interested in hearing his own voice in 2004 than in slamming Democrats who had a chance of winning an election, this country might be in much better shape.

[timtom]

66. So, whom would you hold up

as one who "plays well with others"? And, in your mind, would those be bought out by others?

Are you willing to share your litmus test for viable politicians?

Just for openers, here's mine: anti faux war, for rebuilding America's infrastructure, against rewarding those who brought down our economy.

[timtom]

95. Hmmm....

A voice crying in the wilderness...

[politicasista]

71. Ouch

Good post. Ignore the DLC taunts.

[frylock]

82. play well with others = BOHICA

kissing more "centrist" ass isn't going to accomplish jack shit.

[L0oniX]

34. DK 2012

[OnyxCollie]

35. Go Dennis.

He's been right about everything and has been willing to say it, from the hydrocarbon law to Dems' selling out.

I fear the SCOTUS decision will threaten Dennis' political future.

[DisgustedInMN]

36. It's hard to imagine..

... how much better off our Party and Nation would be if only DK were in Obama's place.

Instead, we've got glowing rhetoric, mediocre action and constant capitulation.

[salib]

37. "This isn't about the Republicans, this is about the Democrats"

That is directly from the interview, and I think it is exactly what needs to be said right now.

Even Sen. Sanders keeps coming back to the point that the Republicans have been nothing but obstructionist. He is absolutely right, and it should be be said. Already, he is head and shoulders above most in D.C. for saying that so forcefully.

Kooch here is the taking the point to the next level. Let's get to work, he says. We can still do it. And, more fundamentally, we MUST do it if we are what we claim to be.


More from the interview:

"We have to be looking at ourselves," he claimed. "We have to be looking at what we need to do to govern... It's really simple: the people don't like what we're doing."

"Democrats have to look at our own responsibilities, not the Republicans' responsibilities," he said. "If we want to give the mantle of leadership to Republicans, they're the minority, they're willing to take it."

Kucinich said the Democratic strategy, as unveiled in a leaked internal memo obtained by Talking Points Memo's Brian Beutler, of urging Republicans to take more responsibility was "wrong."

"This isn't about the Republicans, this is about the Democrats."

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

44. So Kucinich is teaming up with the teabaggers...

Why am I not surprised?

[rudy23]

45. Nice try, but no. nt

[sabrina 1]

47. So you are teaming up with the anti-real-Democrats in Congress?

Why am I not surprised?

[kenfrequed]

49. Yeah right...

Those teabaggers really want universal healthcare and single payer don't they!

Seriously, try to inject actual intelligence into the discussion, not stupid smears.

[liberation]

56. Is this your new talking point, guys?

LOL

[barb162]

63. The teabaggers have valid points and Kucinich realizes that.

Good for him. Both the Democrats and Republicans couldn't run to Washington fast enough to bail out Wall Street if I remember correctly. Meanwhile US citizens are living in sewers in Vegas and tent cities in CA.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

88. No they don't have a valid point.

They're a bunch of ignorant morons who can barely spell their own names, let alone understand how government functions.

[Robb]

89. The teabaggers do NOT have valid points.

I can't believe I just read this on DU.

[Dinger]

46. Run Again Dennis

:patriot:

[neuvocat]

50. In the meantime Alan Grayson fights for us.

Kucinich is a lifelong politician who simply found a rhetorical niche that gets him elected. He doesn't help anyone and doesn't get out of the way of people who want to.

[t0dd]

52. K&R for Dennis. He has my support should he ever run again. nt

[Edweird]

60. Enthusiastic K&R.

[barb162]

65. K&R n/t

[Hell Hath No Fury]

67. I am proud ot have voted for him in two primaries --

Two of the best votes I have ever cast.

[RoccoR5955]

68. K & R... Kucinich/Sanders 2012! n/t

[ObamaKerryDem]

69. Well hey, Kucinich ought to know about 'selling out'..

:thumbsdown:

[Toasterlad]

72. Now That You've Explained Your Point, I Completely Agree With You!

:eyes:

Jackass DLCers.

[anonymous171]

75. I love this man. nt

[bvar22]

78. Why is Kucinich speaking out FOR "The People" and NOT Corporate Profits?

Because...

”Unlike the other candidates, I am not funded by those corporate interests.
I owe them no loyalty, and they have no influence over me or my policies.”

[caseycoon]

79. K&R for Dennis!

# 1 IMO
:applause:

[slipslidingaway]

83. knr nt

[LWolf]

86. kick

:kick: