Kerry-Kucinich Debate Scheduled for Democratic Convention

Don’t We Wish

Anyone concerned about the direction America is headed, should be concerned by the proposed schedule of the Democratic Convention. In the old days, conventions were a place for delegates from across the country to gather and debate the issues and create a platform for the party. Nowadays, the Democratic Leaderhship Council (the corporate controllers of the party) have decided that debating the issues is not really necessary- we already know all we need to know thanks to the TV, right? Nice try, but no.

The schedule they’ve put forth is identical to our state convention, with the same goal in mind I’m sure- to eliminate any discussion of the issues by putting forth a lineup of speakers from morning til night. Speech after speech leaves no time to debate, and they are counting on the fact that most of the delegates are newbies, so they don’t know how a real convention is supposed to be about the issues. Isn’t it odd that Kucinich, the heart and soul of the Democratic Party still doesn’t have a slot to speak at the convention.... is the leadership afraid that he might bring up real issues?

Delegates will go on sightseeing tours of Boston- woohoo. Who needs to think about stuff, the DLC has taken care of that for you. Sure... our country is falling apart, gov’t spying gone wild with the ’Patriot’ Acts I and II, yet we’re not supposed to debate it at the convention... they want us to just rubber stamp the millionaires that voted for the Patriot Act, without even reading it! And the one guy that did read it, and led the fight against it... he’s ’unelectable’ because ’he looks funny’ - sure... have you seen seen Kerry without the makeup and the botox? Talk about skull and bones....

Has anyone noticed that there has been no discussion in the mass media about prisons for profit, health care for profit, the ’drug war’ or even the necessity of the ’war on terror’. It’s like all of these things must be accepted, that’s how it is folks, and that’s how it has to be- there is no other way to deal with any of these issues.

When did we vote for Health Care for Profit? Is that really the only way to provide health care in America? When people mention taking the profit motive out of the equation, the argument against it is either- that’s communist- or that’ll never pass congress, don’t even try it. There will be no debate- just accept it.

NO!

Why should I accept a system where pharamaceutical companies bribe doctors to prescribe their brand of medicine over the competitors- a system that enriches the few by creating masses of unhealthy people. Obesity, heart disease, clogged arteries, adult onset diabetes, all of these ailments are prevntable by eating healthy. Yet prevention would not be as profitable... is it possible that greedy CEOs would care more about profit than about the good of the people? (Iraq)

The drug war has created an international mafia. This a bigger problem than people smoking marijuana, it’s so obvious- that’s why this discussion must be pre-empted- because once the facts are on the table, it’s a no-brainer: the drug war is wrong.

Think about prohibition in the ’30s- the illegality made the price of alcohol skyrocket, and thus created the mafia. The current international drug running mafia makes Al Capone pale by comparison. Funny how that story by Gary Webb was suppressed- you know the one, Dark Alliance, about the CIA importing cocaine to the streets of LA, creating the crack epidemic overnight- ie our own gov’t is profiting from the illegal drug war, and using the profits for CIA black-ops. Of course the drug war is also the root of the gang problem, which is also good (for profits)- ie more cannon fodder- kids are desensitized to killing at a young age, then ’harvested’ off the streets - join the army and get paid or go to prison? Good choice, now go and die for oil sucker.

If the plant marijuana were legalized, the price would drop dramtically and pull the rug out from under the current mafia. With a few hundred thousand marijuana users set free from jail, the prisons for profit industry would also lose money. I wonder if the tobacco companies, alcohol companies and even the pharmaceutical companies would stand to lose money if people could grow their own herb in the back yard. amazing the herb mellows like tobacco, makes you feel better like alcohol (without a hangover too!) and was even the most prescribed medicine before it was made illegal. Yes, this natural plant used to be a main ingredient in almost all medicines... that’s how medicine started originally, remember? Healing herbs- not synthetic pills. No, they tell us, that’s not an option- marijuana users are bad people that must be imprisoned so they do not further harm themselves. LOL- yet the leaders that lie and kill thousands... they’re our most brave and noble citizens.... besides, setting all those non-violent ’criminals’ free would not be good for the prison industry. The US is now the world’s leading jailer, with more prisoners per capita than any other industrialized nation, 2 million total, 500,000 for ’harming themselves’.

What about the ’War on Terror’? So here’s the situation, Bush gets a memo "Bin Laden Determined to Attack Inside the United States"- he chooses to continue his vacation. Then when the first plane hit, Bush (and Condi and Gen Myers) all thought it was a terrible accident. Then Bush uses this ’terrorist attack’ to launch two wars... amazingly he installs a former Unocal executive as the new leader of Afghanistan, and a CIA agent as the new leader of Iraq, Karzai and Allawi respectively.

Now the DLC is telling us we are not allowed to debate this issue- we will continue with bush’s occupation and his ’war on terror’- there is no other way- end of story. Do they really believe that Iraqi people desire our 14 ’enduring bases’ complete with Israel style concrete walls surrounding them? Or could they just another wing of the military-industrial complex? Imo, yes- this is all a setup... anybody but bush was all cointel-pro from the beginning.

Here’s another approach to the problem of terrorism, which is really rooted in people hating America. First, ask why do they hate us? Is it just like bush says: we are good, they are evil. What if instead of spending $200 billion invading and occupying Iraq, killing thousands while contaminating the land with DU dust, what if we had spent $5 billion to provide clean water and sanitation to the entire world. Which action would create love of America, and which action would create more hatred? It looks to some that ’they’ might even want a global holy war, imagine the profits if we quadrupled our missle & bullet sales... all it requires is people willing to kill and die for them.

It seems pretty clear to me that all of these undebate-able issues all have one thing in common, they are the part of the status quo that is enriching a few at the expense of the many. Will the delegates fall for the stupid sideshows and tourist attractions, or will they demand a real debate on the issues? The fate of the world rests in their hands.