`Congressman Kucinich, why are you here?'

[question everything]

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/399596.html


(snip)

Last Thursday, Kucinich participated in a public debate between the candidates, in California. The first question put to him by Larry King, who moderated, was: "Congressman Kucinich, why are you here?" Kucinich, a Democratic congressman from Ohio, and the most liberal and left-wing of the candidates, is used to being treated with that type of disdain. Speaking to Haaretz a day later, he said that the media had already made one mistake in the Democratic race when they eulogized Kerry. "It's hard being a reporter covering the Democratic race because you need a sense of prophecy that most human beings don't have. I have a lot of compassion for them," he said.

Both Kucinich's positions and his style are unconventional. He is the most vociferous opponent of the war in Iraq, and the most vociferous critic of the Bush administration's preemptive strike; and he has very atypical positions also about internal and economic affairs. While the other candidates have called warily for some kind of general health insurance for every citizen, Kucinich believes that the federal government should take charge of such insurance, an idea which Americans, who believe in a non-interventive administration, can hardly comprehend.

Moreover, at a time when Kerry and Edwards have barely touched on the subject of American trade agreements and their effect on the economy, Kucinich has a clear picture of what should be done: to pull immediately out of the North American Free Trade Agreement, the World Trade Organization and all other economic treaties to which Washington is a signatory.

The 56-year-old Kucinich does not look like a future president. He is short, dresses in unconventional clothes (some say sloppily), and is a vegan. Unlike the other candidates, he does not have a supportive wife at his side. Instead, he goes on highly publicized dates during the race, in the hope of winning not only the presidency but also true love.

(snip)


The Iraq war is also Kucinich's main card against the other candidates. "They are trying to be for the war and against it at the same time," he says about Kerry and Edwards, who voted in favor in Congress. In any event, the two leading candidates do not consider Kucinich a threat and do not relate to his claims.

Kucinich has a very unconventional point of view in the field of foreign policy. He believes that the Americans, who have a large Defense Department with huge budgets, should set up an equally large Peace Department. "It might seem naive," he admits, but says there is no region in the world that needs more urgent help understanding that people cannot go on killing each other forever than the Middle East.

(snip)

[Desertrose]

1. decent article!

<snip>


Pop star status
Nevertheless, he does have supporters. In every town he visits, Kucinich succeeds in setting up the most vibrant campaign headquarters where dozens of young people, many of them students, treat him like a pop star. There are quite a few Jews among his active supporters and the assistant campaign manager is a former Israeli, Charles Lenchner. Kucinich makes frequent use of the Hebrew term, tikkun olam (repairing the world), when talking about his plan for world peace.

<snip>

DK would provide a balanced position between Israel & Palestine.

Peace
DR

[JasonDeter]

2. Dennis doesn't want to be the speaker at 4 am eastern.

If Sharpton doesn't get a better time slot than Dennis I'm gonna think somethings horribly wrong though.

[cyclezealot]

3. Ultra liberal labeling = slander.

He has hard solutions. The one with the only workable solutions.
Who writes the crap about sloppy,unconventional.First amendment rights allows us to be vegans. He does not slander carnivore. At his house parties meat eaters abound.. The Texas Beef council has nothing to fear. Dennis Kucinich appreciates our Constitutional rights more than anyone running.Dennis is not ultra liberal but the most pragmatic of the lot.He just does not let the monied interests rule his life. Now, That is pretty unconventional...
Dennis is there in part , because he will not let us( his supporters down).And further more the American people. Someone has to stand up for the laid off workers in the automobile, rubber, steel industries. All the rest are just copy cats with no real solutions.

[Mairead]

4. This article shows the difficulty of writing without good understanding

If I judge the writer as I would a native speaker (whoever wrote the English version of his article certainly isn't one!) then I'd call him biased, because he gets in a number of subtle and not-so-subtle digs.

But then again Haaretz is no longer the left-liberal 'Manchester Guardian' paper it once was, so I'm not really surprised. And who knows, maybe they're not meant to be digs as such, but are only a reflection of ignorant ignorance.

[diamondsoul]

5. They also gave him the wrong age.

He's 57, not 56. Don't these people have fact-checkers anymore??!!

[GabysPoppy]

6. Go after the messenger when you don't agree with the message

Why not cite some examples of his "subtle or not so subtle digs"?

The article actually portrayed DK far better than most "native language" writers have in the US. Your assessment of Haaretz is completely wrong and without basis.

One might think for a newspaper to be a "real leftist" organization it must agree with you. Sorry, it doesn't work that way. DK has the % of support he deserves and represents in the Democrat party. That sir is how democracy works.

Thankfully most "progressives" don't judge other writers based on where they might have been born or what the "native" tongue might be or not be.

[Mairead]

7. Sure, sure, whatever you say

If you imagine Haaretz hasn't changed markedly for the worse since Yitzhak Rabin's time, alav hashalom, then you haven't been reading.

[GabysPoppy]

8. I read it every day. I might suggest you do it too.

Were your "subtle digs" omitted for any particular reason?

[Mairead]

9. Okay, here are 2. You find the rest.

'In the same way he used his failure in Cleveland'

He didn't fail in Cleveland. He kept his promise to the people and saved Muny Light.


'Comparing himself to the mythological horse who won the race despite all odds, Kucinich says: I am like Seabiscuit.'

The horse was not mythological, and its against-all-odds win was real.

[GabysPoppy]

10. Response

I do not know enough about Muny Light to comment, so I will take your word for the events in Cleveland.

Here now some paragraphs from the article:

"Both Kucinich's positions and his style are unconventional. He is the most vociferous opponent of the war in Iraq, and the most vociferous critic of the Bush administration's preemptive strike; and he has very atypical positions also about internal and economic affairs. While the other candidates have called warily for some kind of general health insurance for every citizen, Kucinich believes that the federal government should take charge of such insurance, an idea which Americans, who believe in a non-interventive administration, can hardly comprehend."

Would you call that a fair representation of DK?

"Moreover, at a time when Kerry and Edwards have barely touched on the subject of American trade agreements and their effect on the economy, Kucinich has a clear picture of what should be done: to pull immediately out of the North American Free Trade Agreement, the World Trade Organization and all other economic treaties to which Washington is a signatory."

Would you call that a fair representation of DK?

"The first thing Kucinich would do if he were elected president would be to pull the American troops out of Iraq and put UN forces there instead. In general, he believes the lesson to be learned from the Iraq war is that the U.S. has to give up the right it sees for itself to invade any country in the world."

Would you call that a fair representation of DK?

"Kucinich's idea for solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is based on the establishment of a Palestinian state as soon as possible. "If there is a Palestinian state, you will not have to occupy the territories," he says, but hastens to add that details must first be worked out."

Would you call that a fair representation of DK?

Yet you take this paragraph with the writer's lack of horse racing knowledge to dismiss an entire newspaper.

"I am in the race up to the convention. The nomination is not done until someone gives his acceptance speech and that moment has not arrived yet," he says. Comparing himself to the mythological horse who won the race despite all odds, Kucinich says: I am like Seabiscuit. I am in back now, but I have a strong finish."

DK made the comparison with Sea Biscuit, not the writer.

As for this paragraph: Which I gather you are referring to.

"The 56-year-old Kucinich does not look like a future president. He is short, dresses in unconventional clothes (some say sloppily), and is a vegan. Unlike the other candidates, he does not have a supportive wife at his side. Instead, he goes on highly publicized dates during the race, in the hope of winning not only the presidency but also true love."

Let me remind you that John Kennedy probably became President because he looked "more" Presidential during the debates of 1960 than did Richard Nixon. You may recall that people who "listened" to the debate actually thought Nixon did far better than Kennedy. Let me also remind you of that ride Michael Dukakis took in that tank with that goofy helmet on his head. That was not the highlight of his campaign. Like it or not appearance does count. It's a sick concept for sure, but it is reality. Let me also remind you that DK could have nixed the whole "Dating Game Show" foolishness any time he wanted to, yet he went happily along with it. As for what he eats. I don't give a rat's ass what his diet is like and unless I am wrong, it is his supporters that are making a big deal over it.

When and if you re-read the article, you will find that DK was treated a lot better than he has by writers in the US.

Knee jerk reactions usually come back to bite.

[Mairead]

11. No, it's not a response. It's an attempt at deflection.