> A Kucinich delegate in Boston and the totalitarian democratic party
1 August 2004, 21:14
Reflections on Dennis’s speech
Wow! - Dennis was incredibly dynamic! That has got to be the best speech I’ve ever seen him do! Yet It was bittersweet.
When he was announced and came on the stage - the whole place cheered! All those people who wanted to vote their hearts but cowered under to the ABB lie spoke up. The atmosphere was electric!
Many Kucinich supporters displayed Kucinich signs - illegally smuggled in. Ironic, a day after one of our kind was dragged off the floor in handcuffs for unfurling a banner saying US out of Iraq.
He spoke of what we wanted. What the country wants. Displeasure over the illegal war in Iraq, realistic solutions to health care, ending outsourcing, NAFTA, and the exploitation of workers overseas which would have been GREAT!, were it not for the segways to party unity and support for John Kerry - as if Kerry stood for any of what people were cheering for. To pretend that Kerry didn’t stand for continuing the occupation for at least 4 more years and committing to having our kids come home in body bags for that period. A military draft and committing more US troops overseas. More “free trade” agreements with the resulting continued undermining of our economy and the loss of whole industries. The continued erosion of our civil liberties with more “patriot act” type laws - all things Dennis spoke against, but Kerry is for. You could see the disillusion on the faces of many of our delegates as the camera’s panned the crowd.
I was disappointed that he laid these issues on Bush’s lap, but brushed under the carpet that Kerry wants to continue and expand the worst of the Bush agenda. Acting as if Kerry would fix what we cared most about when Kerry will do the opposite.
I understand why he did it. Political survival and his belief that he can do the most good by working within Congress to further our agenda. And to an extent, he is correct. But is still seems dishonest.
During the speech I couldn’t help but reflect on another Kucinich supporters post - a woman who identified herself as the mother of draft age children and trying to find an excuse to support Kerry. She said that Kerry’s spouse seemed “nice” and she liked his record on voting for environmental issues. I couldn’t help but wondering if those environmental issues would be better served in the long run by having her kids around to fight for them, rather than fertilizing a 6 by 2 ½ plot of ground…
Shortly after, Al Sharpton spoke and said: “the only freedom we have is to elect John Kerry as president of the United States”. It reminded me of a Modern World cartoon that bashed homeland security “… freedom to, uh, uh…” the woman next to him says: “ free to display the flag!” and he says - “yeah that’s it!”. Such hypocrisy!
The two parties are in fact only one - the corporate party and the system is rigged. This election was also stolen, as it was in 2000. Only the public is being duped into thinking we are electing an improvement over Bush, when in fact Kerry is worse than Bush.
In a couple of hours, Kucinich delegates and probably a few others will lodge a protest vote by voting for Dennis - but it won’t make a difference. It will make news for a few days, but it will be forgotten - having no long term effect. In November, many Kucinich supporters will “hold their noses and vote”, while others will stay away and swear off politics forever - like 50% of the American public. Our country is on a fast track to what happened in Russia when it fell, corporate America having corrupted our political system and like a bacterial culture that is about to overgrow it’s culture medium, or a cancer, it is about to dump us for more fertile media. We are truly doomed.
Reflections on Dennis’s speech
Wow! - Dennis was incredibly dynamic! That has got to be the best speech I’ve ever seen him do! Yet It was bittersweet.
When he was announced and came on the stage - the whole place cheered! All those people who wanted to vote their hearts but cowered under to the ABB lie spoke up. The atmosphere was electric!
Many Kucinich supporters displayed Kucinich signs - illegally smuggled in. Ironic, a day after one of our kind was dragged off the floor in handcuffs for unfurling a banner saying US out of Iraq.
He spoke of what we wanted. What the country wants. Displeasure over the illegal war in Iraq, realistic solutions to health care, ending outsourcing, NAFTA, and the exploitation of workers overseas which would have been GREAT!, were it not for the segways to party unity and support for John Kerry - as if Kerry stood for any of what people were cheering for. To pretend that Kerry didn’t stand for continuing the occupation for at least 4 more years and committing to having our kids come home in body bags for that period. A military draft and committing more US troops overseas. More “free trade” agreements with the resulting continued undermining of our economy and the loss of whole industries. The continued erosion of our civil liberties with more “patriot act” type laws - all things Dennis spoke against, but Kerry is for. You could see the disillusion on the faces of many of our delegates as the camera’s panned the crowd.
I was disappointed that he laid these issues on Bush’s lap, but brushed under the carpet that Kerry wants to continue and expand the worst of the Bush agenda. Acting as if Kerry would fix what we cared most about when Kerry will do the opposite.
I understand why he did it. Political survival and his belief that he can do the most good by working within Congress to further our agenda. And to an extent, he is correct. But is still seems dishonest.
During the speech I couldn’t help but reflect on another Kucinich supporters post - a woman who identified herself as the mother of draft age children and trying to find an excuse to support Kerry. She said that Kerry’s spouse seemed “nice” and she liked his record on voting for environmental issues. I couldn’t help but wondering if those environmental issues would be better served in the long run by having her kids around to fight for them, rather than fertilizing a 6 by 2 ½ plot of ground…
Shortly after, Al Sharpton spoke and said: “the only freedom we have is to elect John Kerry as president of the United States”. It reminded me of a Modern World cartoon that bashed homeland security “… freedom to, uh, uh…” the woman next to him says: “ free to display the flag!” and he says - “yeah that’s it!”. Such hypocrisy!
The two parties are in fact only one - the corporate party and the system is rigged. This election was also stolen, as it was in 2000. Only the public is being duped into thinking we are electing an improvement over Bush, when in fact Kerry is worse than Bush.
In a couple of hours, Kucinich delegates and probably a few others will lodge a protest vote by voting for Dennis - but it won’t make a difference. It will make news for a few days, but it will be forgotten - having no long term effect. In November, many Kucinich supporters will “hold their noses and vote”, while others will stay away and swear off politics forever - like 50% of the American public. Our country is on a fast track to what happened in Russia when it fell, corporate America having corrupted our political system and like a bacterial culture that is about to overgrow it’s culture medium, or a cancer, it is about to dump us for more fertile media. We are truly doomed.