The Ineffectiveness of Dennis Kucinich

Truth2Tell

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Sun Mar-14-10 05:49 AM
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The Ineffectiveness of Dennis Kucinich

Whenever Congressman Dennis Kucinich makes any widely reported critical remarks about the work of President Obama or the Democratic "leadership," the predictable frenzy of hate kicks in on DU and elsewhere.

The cornerstone of the hate frenzy is always the same: Kucinich is ineffective!!!1! Ineffective, ineffective, ineffective! It's like howling at the moon. A broken record. And predictable as the sunrise.

So let's take a look at this.

Let's set aside the fact that Kucinich has a record of passing bills roughly average for non-committee chairs in the House, and slightly better than that of Nancy Pelosi prior to her ascension to Speaker.

Let's instead grant that he has unfortunately not succeeded in passing any major reforms centered around the main points of his political agenda. If only that he had, but alas, it's generally true that he has not.

Why is this?

Is he a poor strategist? Does he not work well with others? Is he impractical? Is he delusional? Unintelligent? Incapable?

Of course not.

What he is - like many true reformers before him - is a minority. His views are simply not shared by very many of his fellow Congress members. It's as simple as that.

Here's the reality:

The vast majority of members of the US Congress - of both parties - support the perpetual maintenance of our massive military Empire and a policy of endless warfare.

Kucinich does not.

The vast majority of Congress members - of both parties - support the wholesale movement of capital and jobs to locations outside the US where the large corporations that own our government can make larger profits.

Kucinich does not.

A large majority of Congress members - of both parties - support drastically rolling back civil liberties and Constitutional rights in the face of the contrived menace of scary terror.

Kucinich does not.

The vast majority of Congress members believe that supporting Wall Street means supporting America and tax Dollars deserve to go to banks before they go to people.

Kucinich does not.

You see, he is in the minority.

Dennis Kucinich isn't the first member of Congress to find themselves in the minority and thus unable to carry out their agenda. In the early 19th century, a series of abolitionist Congress members found themselves in the minority. Sure, they used Congress as platform to speak against the evils of slavery, but most never passed any legislation. Damn were they ineffective!

In the early 20th century a vocal minority of Congress members supported the right of women to participate in the American political process. They made a lot of noise but were never able to pass a single thing. Ineffective losers that lot.

War, corporate rule, and the erosion of the Constitution. These are the uphill battles of our day. Those of us who support winding down the war machine, or reigning in the oligarchy, or restoring the Constitution are sadly a small minority. We are a minority among the American people, the media elites, and particularly among the governing class. It is wholly unrealistic, in our present environment, to expect significant legislative victories in these areas. We have a long way to go and a lot of groundwork to lay before that day comes.

In the meantime we have Dennis Kucinich and a few others. They speak for millions of Americans who have no other political voice. And they keep the ball moving forward, bit by bit, inch by inch.

You know when the haters howl at the moon that you're getting under their skin - making them squirm. And I assure you that when they howl that we, or Dennis Kucinich, are "ineffective!!!11," that they are missing the forest for the trees.

And it may be just as well to let them think that - like they have of so many before. It just means that when the tide turns, and the minority grows into a majority, we'll be taking them by surprise. And eventually, though maybe not soon, the tide WILL turn.

And then someone new will be ineffective.