UPDATE: See this short documentary by Current TV, Syria 101, for an invaluable introduction to the country, its politics and its people.

That’s an interview Kucinich did on Syrian TV last week while visiting the region as part of a peace initiative and fact-finding tour - and, as Bluegal points out, to check up on the over 1 million Iraqi refugees living in Syria. It’s causing quite a stir in the right-wing blogosphere (and on Tucker Carlson), with sites like Right Wing News and HotAir calling the interview “borderline treasonous.”

As evidence, they claim Kucinich’s criticism of the United States, combined with his diplomatic rhetoric regarding Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, amounts to giving “aid and comfort” to our enemies. They cite the influx of foreign fighters into Iraq from Syria as proof that the latter is, indeed, our enemy.

Before addressing these claims, let’s take a brief glimpse at American public opinion on the issue of speaking with America’s supposed enemies.

Yes, you’re reading that right. The vast majority of Americans – Democrats, Republicans, and everyone else – believe that the U.S. should speak with Syria and Iran. But that one was too easy. What about the more controversial elements of the visit?

For many of us, an emotional response comes naturally when we see a fellow American speak out against the policies of our government on foreign soil. But is this response rational? Does presenting a monolithic face to foreign countries increase our security? Or might we make more diplomatic progress and improve feelings toward the U.S. abroad by being honest about the differences of opinion within our diverse nation? It is my opinion that speaking the truth – in America or Syria or anywhere else – is both the right thing to do and, in this case at least, patriotic. I do sympathize with those who say this was not a wise political move for Kucinich. But considering how far back he is in the polls, I think cutting through the suffocating norms of political discourse at every opportunity is the only chance he has to surge ahead.

Most importantly, the accusations of treason are flawed on a few levels.

Level #1: Dennis’s statements regarding the U.S. and President Assad amount to giving aid and comfort to the enemy, which the Constitution defines as treason.

First of all, Syria is not our technically our “enemy” in the Constitutional sense – the U.S. hasn’t declared war on them. While Syria may be George Bush’s enemy, they surely aren’t the enemy of most Americans. And most Syrians do not think of Americans as their enemy either.

Secondly, treason is defined by our Constitution as follows: “Treason against the United States shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort.” The “aid and comfort” argument is often used to slander those who communicate openly and honestly with foreign powers, but in plain English it “requires overt acts such as giving sensitive government security secrets to other countries…[and] can include spying on behalf of a foreign power or divulging military secrets” (source). Clearly, Kucinich did no such thing, and was attempting only to repair the U.S. image in Syria and be frank with the Syrian people about our mistakes.

(Here’s a great explanation of the somewhat vague Constitutional definition.)

Level #2: Syria is our enemy because they are supplying foreign fighters in Iraq.

Syria is guilty of bordering Iraq and has trouble controlling their borders (unlike America…?), but a very small percentage of insurgents in Iraq are foreign born – as few as 4% according to reports in 2005. And among the foreign fighters in Iraq, nearly 50% come from Saudi Arabia. You know, our ally. The same ally that produced 15 of the 19 hijackers on 9/11. The same ally that we’re giving a $20 billion arms deal in order to “stabilize” the region.

So if talking with Syria is treasonous because they supply foreign fighters to Iraq, what is giving billions of dollars worth of human-killing machines to a country supplying five times the number of Syrian fighters in Iraq? Sound foreign policy?

Level #3: Syrian’s president is a bad guy, and therefore acknowledging America’s mistakes to Syrians must also be bad.

You won’t get any argument from me on the first part. Syria’s government violates human rights, stifles democracy, and has a ways to go before it will be held up as a model of success in the Middle East. But this doesn’t mean that our officials cannot be honest with the Syrian government about our own mistakes and try to find common ground in order to expand the prospects for peace in the region.

In conclusion, if Kucinich isn’t elected president he’ll make a hell of a Secretary of State.

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Filed under: Politics, Kucinich, News, Video on September 13th, 2007 | 1 Comment »

It was quite clear from Tuesday’s episode of his show, that Tucker was intent on painting Dennis as an anti-American traitor once he got back from his trip to Syria. However, Dennis held his own as loaded question after load question was fired his way. Kucinich drew attention to the fact that our destructive occupation of Iraq is not simply isolated to that nation, but has had disastrous effects throughout the region.

Kucinich states that 1.5 million refugees are in Syria with nothing but the clothes on their back and Tucker simply replies by stating that Syria is a terrorist state? This is a fairly big issue which Dennis is trying to draw attention to, yet Tucker simply passes it over. Isn’t the job of a journalist to report such a refugee crisis, not attack politicians from the opposite party who do their job for them? Tucker obviously didn’t listen to a word Dennis said the entire interview, and just waited for his turn to spout his pre-written insinuations about the congressman.

What’s just as disturbing as Carlson’s attempt to smear a Democratic Presidential candidate as anti-American is his misunderstanding of history. As is typical of any supporter of authoritarianism, Tucker believes that positive change comes from the top down. The idea that democracy can be achieved through undemocratic coercion is misguided to say the least. We managed to make it out of the Cold War alive in spite of the Peace Through Strength Strategy, not because of it. Dinosaurs like Hillary Clinton still strongly support this doctrine as the cornerstone of our foreign policy, and Tucker’s argument about Dennis’ visit being used “for propaganda purposes” seems to have been taken directly from one of her YouTube/CNN debate answers. This seemingly benevolent doctrine of global military and economic domination has brought with it the same security problems which faced previous imperialist nations, only with the added bonus of nuclear weapons being globally available as its byproduct.

What’s truly sad is that this kind of attack coverage is the only airtime Dennis Kucinich gets from the mainstream media. In that regard, perhaps we should thank Tucker for at least allowing Dennis to talk, something most talking heads still haven’t done. Bad publicity is perhaps better than no publicity.

One major hat tip to C-SpanJunkie for recording the interview and Bluegal for informing me of it.
Read about Dennis’ trip to the Middle East

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Filed under: Politics, Kucinich, Video on September 8th, 2007 | 2 Comments »

The screencap of the poll was taken at 4am PST. Click on the picture for a larger image. You can participate in the poll here. Scroll past the video.

Are people finally realizing that John Edwards is not the progressive alternative to Hillary and Obama they once thought he was? A blog on Edwards’ site recently posted a poll so visitors could vote for the Democratic candidate they support most for president. The fact that Dennis Kucinich beat Edwards in this poll suggests that the tide is indeed turning. Much like the ABC polls, which were taken down when Kucinich won, people will explain it away by saying that Kucinich supporters rallied to vote for their candidate. With the total amount of voters being so low I doubt it’s true, but the fact is that the opportunity was available for every supporter of every candidate to participate. One would expect that since it was on their candidate’s site, Edwards’ supporters would have been more aware of this poll’s existence and easily outnumbered the presence of all other supporters. It’s a rather sad day when you’re only able to muster up a little over 120 votes for yourself on your own site.

Kucinich seems to be the candidate that Americans attracted to Edwards actually want. Edwards is merely a watered-down imitation of the congressman, with stances that fall just short of progress. For example, Edwards presents himself as a peace candidate even though he voted for the Iraq War. Dennis Kucinich did not vote to authorize nor fund the war. Edwards presents himself as a pro-labor candidate whose only memories are of his father working in a mill, but refuses to cancel NAFTA. Dennis Kucinich said outright at the AFL-CIO debate that he will cancel both NAFTA and the WTO. Edwards also says he’s got the most progressive plan for universal healthcare, but we know that simply isn’t true because Kucinich is the only candidate with a plan for universal single-payer not-for-profit healthcare. In short, Kucinich is who Edwards wants to be when he grows up.

In light of the recent childish bickering between Obama and Clinton regarding diplomacy, post-YouTube/CNN debate, it’s worth noting that Dennis Kucinich met with President Assad of Syria on Sunday to diffuse tensions and talk about the role his country will play in securing the Middle East. Kucinich said he felt obligated to visit certain sites in Syria affected by Israeli occupation and the destruction of war. Does it bother anyone else that the top-tier candidates don’t feel this same sense of obligation? Much like his push to end the occupation of Iraq now and get Cheney out of the White House by means of impeachment, Kucinich is not waiting until 2008 to start forging diplomatic ties with foreign leaders. THAT is why he’s winning poll after poll.

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Filed under: Politics, Kucinich on September 5th, 2007 | 7 Comments »

It’s a safe bet that Mike Gravel will never be president of the United States. He’s too old, too poor, and too…grumpy. But that doesn’t mean we should ignore him. As anyone who thinks seriously about what’s going on in the world knows, he has a very, very good reason to be grumpy. While the media has focused on Gravel only to poke fun at his disturbing and “cantankerous” demeanor, it’s the major candidates — nonchalant and unaffected as they are when discussing war and the role the U.S. military machine plays in the world — who are truly disturbing.

Thousands of innocent Iraqis and young coalition troops are maimed or killed each month, millions of Iraqis have been forced to flee their homes (producing the fastest growing refugee crisis in the world), and every single presidential candidate except Dennis Kucinich, Mike Gravel, and Ron Paul refuses to even consider whether offensive war should continue to be an instrument of U.S. policy. Whether we like it or not, we are responsible for this madness. We bear some responsibility for each and every life that is extinguished before its time in Iraq. Just thinking about it makes me grumpy too.

If the media and more Americans took Gravel seriously — not necessarily as a candidate, but as a moral leader — our country and our democracy would transform in ways we never thought possible. Instead, even “far left” sites like DailyKos, and their moral leader Markos Moulitsas, write articles which proclaim with the authority of the internet’s most popular political blog, “Mike Gravel is a Waste of Our Time.” Like I said at the beginning, Gravel probably isn’t going to be president. But to say he is a waste of our time — without even considering the courage it took for him to read the Pentagon Papers into the public record during Vietnam, or the courage it takes for him to speak the truth today as best as he can, or how central his warnings are to the future of our democracy — is, well, sad.

This isn’t about voting for Gravel. It’s not about voting for Kucinich or Paul either. It’s about rising above the corporate-sponsored and prepackaged political discourse to make our own decisions about what is right, and what is wrong. Bravo to Gravel for doing just that in his latest, and greatest, message to Americans. (h/t Truthdig):

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Filed under: Gravel, Politics, News, Video on August 30th, 2007 | 5 Comments »

Props to our fellow 35 Percenter, Davis Fleetwood, for putting everything into perspective with his latest video. With Snow, Rove, and Gonzales jumping ship, the Hermit reminds us not to get all excited and blow our load just yet. Our goal is to support Kucinich’s HR 333 to impeach Dick Cheney. We won’t be content with him just retiring like the other rats. We want these war criminals to be held accountable.

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Filed under: Politics, Kucinich, Video on August 28th, 2007 | No Comments »

Update: Head over to The Largest Minority for a slightly updated poll and analysis.

I’m not sure if Dennis Kucinich is the new Ron Paul (in terms of internet popularity) — or that we even want him to be — but he’s building an impressive streak of online poll victories. The latest survey, running on MSNBC.com since yesterday’s Livestrong Presidential Cancer Forum, shows Kucinich with a strong lead over the other Democrats.

Remember that none of these online polls are scientific (MSNBC has a great explanation of why here). But they do indicate what appears to be mounting enthusiasm for the Kucinich candidacy. And on healthcare, scientific polls like this one CBS ran a few months ago show that 90% of Americans believe that our healthcare system needs at least “fundamental changes,” and 36% want a “complete overhaul.” Poll after poll reveals that Americans are deeply skeptical of the health insurance industry and prefer a government-run, taxpayer-financed system of healthcare for all. Watch Kucinich at yesterday’s Livestrong Forum to see why he’s the only candidate that would give America the healthcare system it deserves and so desperately needs.

Kucinich’s approach is simple. Every single American gets the medical care they need, when they need it — period. He is the only candidate proposing a single-payer, not-for-profit system (Medicare for all). Obama, Clinton, and even Edwards (who has, to his credit, pledged to make important and fundamental changes) leave too much control in the hands of private health insurance companies, even though these for-profit entities will always prioritize their own profits over the quality and equality of care Americans receive.

You can read more about Dennis’s healthcare legislation (HR-676) here, and about all of the presidential candidates proposals at the website for the American Academy of Family Physicians.

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Filed under: Politics, Kucinich, News, Video on August 28th, 2007 | 17 Comments »

A couple weeks ago, Dennis sent “A Call Out to Producers” on YouTube that encouraged supporters to make ads for him and upload them to that site. This is a great idea — a political version of Current TV’s “Viewer-Created Ad Message” campaign — and it’s only a matter of time before the more prominent campaigns take up the strategy. But it won’t be the same when Hillary starts asking supporters to make ads for her juggernaut candidacy. Dennis needs our help and support, and he genuinely engages with and represents his supporters. He isn’t raising $30 million every few months and he can’t afford top-notch political advertising. Then again, “professional” political ads generally suck. We can do better. Some Kucinich fans already have.

About 10 ads have been made as a result of the challenge, and so far two of them stand out. The first is from “Raul4Kucinich” — a 21 year old self-described “regular dude with a dangerous combination: passion and creativity.” Raul had the good sense to make his ad exactly 30 seconds, meaning you may actually see it on TV sometime soon. The ad is very well-produced and the ending is particularly effective. If I were Kucinich’s communications director I’d hire this guy immediately to make a series of ads for the campaign.

The second ad is a bit too long for TV, but it’s just as effective and has viral potential. It highlights the pronunciation of Dennis’s surname — playing on the fact that only 35% of likely Democratic voters have ever heard of Kucinich. And it addresses common assumptions about the other candidates while distinguishing Dennis’s positions from the rest of the Democratic field.

There are tens of thousands of active Kucinich supporters across the country. Local activism and voting is, of course, vital — but I would encourage anyone with video experience (even a little) to focus some of that positive energy on producing media with a message and a broad appeal. It is the single most effective way to communicate and encourage others to engage with our view of America and the world.

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Filed under: Kucinich, Video on August 24th, 2007 | 2 Comments »

Update: Head over to the Huff Post to read an article by Senator Bernie Sanders (doesn’t that sound nice?) about this video and his critically important bill to require congressional approval before any kind of military action against Iran. (h/t IamGadfly)

An important, just-released video from Brave New Films shows how Fox News is again acting as a mouthpiece for an administration determined to go to war — this time with Iran. Kucinich has been warning about this scenario since 2002, and among presidential candidates and members of Congress he has taken the most forceful and consistent stand against the administration’s secretive push to war.

Fearless reporters like Seymour Hersh at The New Yorker have been writing about this issue for years, but in recent weeks even mainstream publications like TIME Magazine have joined in exposing the administration’s plans for war. Robert Baer, a former CIA field officer and Middle East expert, virtually echoed Kucinich’s warnings from the previous week when he reported this past Saturday in TIME that:

“Reports that the Bush Administration will put Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on the terrorism list can be read in one of two ways: it’s either more bluster or, ominously, a wind-up for a strike on Iran. Officials I talk to in Washington vote for a hit on the IRGC, maybe within the next six months…

Strengthening the Administration’s case for a strike on Iran, there’s a belief among neo-cons that the IRGC is the one obstacle to democratic and a friendly Iran. They believe that if we were to get rid of the IRGC, the clerics would fall, and our thirty-years war with Iran over. It’s another neo-con delusion, but still it informs White House thinking.

And what do we do if just the opposite happens — a strike on Iran unifies Iranians behind the regime? An Administration official told me it’s not even a consideration. “IRGC IED’s are a casus belli for this administration. There will be an attack on Iran.”"

Everyone in their right mind knows that military action against Iran would be a disaster — for the U.S., for the people of Iran (who are as pro-American as any population in the Middle East), and for the international community. Yet Kucinich and Gravel and Ron Paul, the candidates most often referred to as “crazy,” are the only presidential hopefuls taking a forceful stand. Will the American people stand with them?

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Filed under: Politics, Kucinich, News, Video on August 22nd, 2007 | 4 Comments »

The recent debate in Iowa was the 27th Democratic forum this year. Yes, the twenty-seventh. It’s hard to blame Americans for losing interest, especially when hardly any debating occurs at these promotional events for the front-runners. Jon Stewart put the most recent debate in proper context — and his show last night is the feature of our third part (in a three part series) on Iowa Debate ‘07.

A couple comments (head over to The Largest Minority for a more complete analysis):

#1: How ridiculous is the way Stephanopoulus introduces the candidates by their polling support in percentage points? What is this, a weigh-in at Democratic Wrestlemania XXVII. Wasn’t this guy a key strategic adviser and communications director in the Clinton White House? What’s he doing moderating the debate? There’s American journalism for you.

#2: Look out for a hilarious bit on the repeated random cutaways to Elizabeth Kucinich (even when Dennis wasn’t talking!) towards the end of the clip.

Anyway, Happy 27th!

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Filed under: Politics, News, Video on August 21st, 2007 | 1 Comment »

Thanks to one of YouTube’s true heroes, CSPANJUNKIEdotORG, here is Sunday’s Democratic debate in full. Now we can all make up our own minds about who were the best performers. Dennis wasn’t asked a question until 26 minutes into the debate (see the very beginning of Part 4 for his first answer), but still managed to “win” the people’s vote in online. While the poll showing Dennis winning by a large margin was clearly unscientific, it only registered one vote per computer — so the support is out there.

Personally, I think it’s pretty hard to “win” a debate where you only have 5 minutes to speak (less than half of what the front-runners got). That being said, Kucinich’s message on healthcare, strength through peace, education, and more was - as always - clear and powerful. For those of you with the stomach to make it all the way through, enjoy!

Part 1:

Hit the jump for the rest of the videos…

Read more »

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Filed under: Politics, Kucinich, News, Video on August 21st, 2007 | 2 Comments »