dennis has a rod, man

WASHINGTON - February 27 - Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), who led the effort in the House of Representatives against the war in Iraq as far back as 2002, today made the following statement after President Obama announced that the combat mission in Iraq will end by August 31, 2010. The President also indicated that between 35-50,000 troops will remain in Iraq to advise and train Iraqi security forces and protect American civilian and military personal.

"I support President Obama for taking a step in the right direction in Iraq, but I do not think that his plan goes far enough. You cannot leave combat troops in a foreign country to conduct combat operations and call it the end of the war. You can't be in and out at the same time.

"America must determine at some point to end the occupation, close the bases and bring the troops home. We must bring a conclusion to this sorry chapter in American history where war was waged under false pretense against an innocent people. Taking troops out of Iraq should not mean more troops available for deployment in other operations.

"In February of 2007 I presented H.R. 1234, legislation that would end the war in Iraq, and the process I outlined is still necessary. We should immediately bring home American service members and contractors, convene a regional conference to prepare an international peace-keeping force and accelerate Iraq-driven reconstruction."

Congressman Kucinich led opposition to the Joint Resolution on Iraq, known as the Iraq war resolution, beginning in 2002, and has consistently opposed funding the ongoing war.


this is good stuff from kucinich, but there is a line in here that interested in me. he said "you can't be in and out at the same time." yes, that's true, but it's something that describes kucinich as well. kucinich is in the democratic party, a party of war and capitalism, and yet, he is an also an anti-war and pro-worker voice. hence, he is both in and out at the same time. this is, essentially, a contradiction that kucinich has been living with for years. cynthia mckinney was once a democrat, and has since gone out on her own as an independent political voice. kucinich remains in the fold. it is a curious posture. in any case, he says a lot of good things, and should be recognized for doing so. still, it seems that he should try, along with others of a similar politics, to leave the democratic party and to try to build an independent political party. radical thinkers, progressive media, commnunity activists, and politicians could all come together to make this happen. it will take a ton of work, but at least a spark may ignite that future generations can build on. as it is, kucinich makes a living. that's about it. he's got a little forum where he releases press statements and gets to pretend that he's making a difference. he isn't. this is so because the democratic party, as an institution, is working against the very things that kucinich stands for. good people in bad institutions can't do much good. therefore, the thing to do is to create better institutions.

and it is up to the good people to do that.

kucinich in 2012?

sure.

as long as he's a third party candidate.

that would be fun, because i could go after lindork all over again.