What's your favorite Kucinich quote...

In an effort to form my own mini department of peace here at DU...

My favorite DK quote of all time is...drumroll please.

"Poverty is a weapon of mass destruction!"

Man I love that quote!

OK, I'm really off to snooze.

My apology's if this belonk's in the lounge...

...which sort of renders the "see, there ARE no WMD" issue moot.

Which one do you like?

Novermber 1, 2002, 8:30 a.m.
Pro-Life Progressive No More
The strange journey of Dennis Kucinich.

By Timothy P. Carney

Upon arriving in our nation's capital, the Cleveland Catholic lived up to his billing. In the 105th Congress, Kucinich — no conservative — earned a 90 percent rating from the National Right to Life Committee. His only heresies in the eyes of these abortion foes being his support of the Shays-Meehan campaign-finance bill.

That's correct: This left-wing congressmen voted with the National Right to Life Committee on every single abortion vote in his first two years. That was more pro-life than three Ohio Republicans that year. The votes included sticking up for a ban on partial-birth abortion and voting to thwart President Clinton's plan to give foreign aid to overseas agencies that perform and counsel abortion.

For the next two years, the story was the same. Kucinich voted again to ban partial-birth abortion, block aid to International Planned Parenthood, and prevent taxpayer dollars from funding abortions in federal prisons. His score in the 106th Congress with the National Right to Life Committee was 95 percent — again, only voting against them on Shays-Meehan.

The 10th district Democrat even towed the pro-life line during the first year of the Bush administration. In April, Kucinich supported the "Unborn Victims of Violence Act," which criminalized harming a fetus in a crime, and he opposed the Democratic substitute that would have defused the fetus-is-a-life parts of the bill.

http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/comment-carney110102.asp

now lets everyone dance to Indiana Greens obsessiveness........Kucinich has, despite his personal belief system, stated plainly that he will do nothing to alter the laws of the land vis-a-vis a womans right to choose.He has faced this divisive issue with forthright honesty and courage and it is one reason that I, a confirmed ally of choice, support the man.

While Indie has chosen to use this forum to advance her own choice, apparently, I will choose to state that I find Dennis' position to be far, far more honest than that of her candidate who, after a career in a certain state house as a conservative, sees a chance to grab the liberal vote and rather dishonestly represents himself as a moderate.....no names necesary, as I am not trying to hijack a thread....shame on you for doing so......

which I did promptly posted! That's not hijacking a thread, just because some people don't like to be reminded of their candidate's less savory stand on the issues, particularly one as complex and difficult as abortion and abortion rights (there are two people involved in that issue, don't ya know?).

Does Dennis actually say anything here? It looks like you've posted an editorial; someone else's opinion rather than a Kucinich quote.

I'll help you out and give you Dennis' words on the subject:

"I support Roe v. Wade and a woman’s right to choose, and will select Supreme Court justices who affirm this Constitutional right."

"The decision to terminate a pregnancy is one of the most serious decisions a woman might make. It is deeply personal. In our society, all women and all men have a right to make difficult moral decisions and make personal choices. But women will not be equal to men if this constitutionally protected right is denied."

"And because I know that the right to choose is under attack -- as President, I will only support someone for the Supreme Court if he or she agrees to uphold Roe v. Wade."

You are merely referring to Kucinich's recent Epiphany on the issue. I am among those that question the candidate's sincerity on an issue of such moral and ethical magnitude.

Kucinich's conversion on abortion is the equivalent of having Joe Lieberman announce that he has embraced Karl Marx as a prophet! One cannot avoid asking the candidate as to the process by which he reached such 180 degree turn in his principles.

I have yet to hear Kucinich discuss that process! Changing slogans does not cut it.

Although it doesn't appear anywhere in your link.

Dennis does not deny that his stance on choice has evolved. He discusses it freely and comfortably.

This "epiphany" occurred before his candidacy.

The quotes I gave you are not slogans, but pieces snipped from a discussion on the process. I agree with you on needing to know the process. One good way to make a personal decision on his sincerity is to study the whole Dennis; you will find that when he takes a position, he unfailing supports it with his actions and votes. If you look at his positions on a wide range of human rights issues, you'll find that his "evolved" stance aligns quite naturally with who he is and what he stands for.

In the end, nothing can convince a doubter of sincerity better than an actual voting record. The article you posted, if I remember correctly, reported that his voting record did change with his position change. If you like Dennis, and are thinking about supporting him, hold this issue up to the rest of his words and record, and look at the women involved with women's rights issues who do support him. Listen to their reasons. Then make your choice.

If you've already made your decision, I hope you'll look at all of the above and reconsider. Either way, I'll wish you the best.

The reason for looking at the process that led to Kucinich's Epiphany on abortion is to determine motivation. A candidate that changes position on a major moral and ethical issue such as abortion, or war for that matter, better be able to convince the voters that his conversion is genuine and not based on crass political motives. People that change their views on such type of issues, can easily change their views again if their conversion is not deeply rooted on their core values, assuming they have core values to begin with.

This applies to all candidates for higher office. One would be very suspicious of John Kerry were he suddenly to turn against the war in Iraq by attacking the Iraq war vote. While I would welcome such Epiphany on Kerry's part, I would be remiss if I were to take him at face value. My concern would be if Kerry would change his mind again after winning the nomination, or worse yet, after being elected President.

In regards to the Kucinich quote about life beginning at conception, which apparently he doesn't deny making on more than one occasion, here are some sources:


Posted May 9, 2002

SUBJECT TO DEBATE by Katha Pollitt
Regressive Progressive?

One thing you won't find on Kucinich's website, though, is any mention of his opposition to abortion rights. In his two terms in Congress, he has quietly amassed an anti-choice voting record of Henry Hyde-like proportions. He supported Bush's reinstatement of the gag rule for recipients of US family planning funds abroad. He supported the Child Custody Protection Act, which prohibits anyone but a parent from taking a teenage girl across state lines for an abortion. He voted for the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, which makes it a crime, distinct from assault on a pregnant woman, to cause the injury or death of a fetus. He voted against funding research on RU-486. He voted for a ban on dilation and extraction (so-called partial-birth) abortions without a maternal health exception. He even voted against contraception coverage in health insurance plans for federal workers--a huge work force of some 2.6 million people (and yes, for many of them, Viagra is covered). Where reasonable constitutional objections could be raised--the lack of a health exception in partial-birth bans clearly violates Roe v. Wade, as the Supreme Court ruled in Stenberg v. Carhart--Kucinich did not raise them; where competing principles could be invoked--freedom of speech for foreign health organizations--he did not bring them up. He was a co-sponsor of the House bill outlawing all forms of human cloning, even for research purposes, and he opposes embryonic stem cell research. His anti-choice dedication has earned him a 95 percent position rating from the National Right to Life Committee, versus 10 percent from Planned Parenthood and 0 percent from NARAL.

When I spoke with Kucinich by phone, he seemed to be looking for a way to put some space between himself and his record. "I believe life begins at conception"--Kucinich was raised as a Catholic--"and that it doesn't end at birth." He said he favored neither a Human Life Amendment that would constitutionally protect "life" from the moment of conception, nor the overturning of Roe v. Wade (when asked by Planned Parenthood in 1996 whether he supported the substance of Roe, however, he told them he did not). He spoke of his wish to see abortion made rare by providing women with more social supports and better healthcare, by requiring more responsibility from men and so on. He presented his votes as votes not against abortion per se but against federal funding of the procedure. Unfortunately, his record does not easily lend itself to this reading: He voted specifically against allowing Washington, DC, to fund abortions for poor women with nonfederal dollars and against permitting female soldiers and military dependents to have an abortion in overseas military facilities even if they paid for it themselves. Similarly, although Kucinich told me he was not in favor of "criminalizing" abortion, he voted for a partial-birth-abortion ban that included fines and up to two years in jail for doctors who performed them, except to save the woman's life. What's that, if not criminalization?

"I haven't been a leader on this," Kucinich said. "These are issues I would not have chosen to bring up." But if he plans to run for President, Kucinich will have to change his stance, and prove it, or kiss the votes of pro-choice women and men goodbye. It won't be enough to present himself as low profile or, worse, focused elsewhere (he voted to take away abortion rights inadvertently? in a fog? thinking about something more "important" than whether women should be forced to give birth against their will?). "I can't tell you I don't have anything to learn," Kucinich told me. OK, but shouldn't he have started his education before he cast a vote barring funds for abortions for women in prison? (When I told him the inhumanity of this particular vote made me feel like throwing up--you're not only in jail, you have to have a baby too?--he interjected, "but there's a rape exception!") Kucinich says he wants to "create a dialogue" and "build bridges" between pro-choicers and anti-choicers, but how can he "heal divisions" when he's so far on one side? The funding issue must also be squarely faced: As a progressive, Kucinich has to understand that denying abortion funding to poor women is as much a class issue as denying them any other kind of healthcare.


http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml%3Fi=20020527&s=pollitt


In the Ohio state Senate, Kucinich voted to ban partial-birth abortions. In 1996, while running for U.S. House, the former "boy-mayor" of Cleveland said, "I believe that life begins at conception." When Kucinich was coming to Washington, the Center for Reproductive Law and Policy counted the former mayor as one of a handful of "anti-choice" Democratic newcomers.

http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/comment-carney110102.asp

From the Pro Life Office of the Diocese of Cleveland:

LETTER TO THE EDITOR OF THE PLAIN DEALER: (submitted 2/26/03)

With a voting history that reflects a belief that life begins at conception, Congressman Dennis Kucinich has publicly declared —while campaigning for president—his support for a woman’s right to abort her unborn child. “The decision to terminate a pregnancy… is deeply personal,” states the Congressman. On the contrary, Mr. Kucinich: the decision to terminate a pregnancy is deeply social, and its implications go far beyond the individual.

Medical science has confirmed without a shadow of a doubt that human life not only begins at conception but that this new life is a separate, developing human being with its own genetic constitution. Socially, this indicates that we have two distinct lives involved in the scenario. Whose rights trump the other? Following Kucinich’s logic, the mother has more power over the situation so she gets to terminate the life of the vulnerable child in the womb—hardly a democratic strategy!

http://www.stbarnabasparishfamily.org/FOR%20LIFE.htm

basing their opinion of a candidate purely on their stance on abortion- it's really irksome.

I understand Dennis' position and I actually agree with it. Some people are against abortion for spiritual reasons. Believing life begins at conception does not disqualify one from being progressive.

Believing life begins at conception does not disqualify one from being progressive.

But voting to deny poor women access to abortion services does disqualify one from being considered a progressive.

More here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=213157#224955

will go something like this:

"I am hereby withdrawing from the Democratic Presidential race, due to lack of funds and any broad interest in my candidacy."

I'll wake you when it's over.

:D

It's something of a shame. Kucinich is basically
a good guy but there is nothing in the world that
would ever make him a viable candidate.

Haha, Northwind, I love you.

I haven't seen any Kucinich supporters on DU wish Dean ill fortune in the race or slam him personally. The majority of us are determined to stick to the issues and the platforms of the candidates rather than take cheap shots.

We all want to see our candidate win but there seems to be a lot of derision from certain people for someone that wants to make a real difference in the state of our nation and challenges the usual field of possibles that is usually dished up luke warm.

:thumbsdown:

Hypocrite yourself.

"The world is interconnected not only on the material level of economics, trade, communication, and transportation, but innerconnected through human consciousness, through the human heart, through the heart of the world, through the simply expressed impulse and yearning to be and to breathe free."

"If all Americans could remember where we came from, a people of courage and daring, we could easily pass through the momentary challenge to our national nerve and recapture the heartfelt rhythms of the land of the free and the home of the brave celebrated in our national anthem."

"The soul of the worker is not for sale. It will not be sacrificed upon the corporate altar, nor annihilated by a hostile or indifferent government."

"My friends. This is still your government. You have a right to have a say in how its destiny is being charted."

"Peace and prosperity shall be as two pillars in a newly rebuilt America which provides for the economic and social security of its own people as a cause of nationhood and for the economic and social progress of peoples of other lands as a cause of brotherhood."

"America! Stay the hand that would drop the bomb and extend the hand that grants mercy to innocent people abroad and to your own people here at home."

"If all that government does is address symptoms, we will always be dissatisfied with the government. "

"None of us will go forward unless we all go forward together, united as Americans we the people, continuing the work of forming a more perfect union, under the watchful eye of the Spirit of America."

"By the way, it's called the Department of Defense, not The Department of Offense."

"Imagine if we could regain the capacity of spirit which animated freedom of speech, the right to assemble, the right to vote, freedom from fear, freedom from want.

I tell you there is another America out there. It is ready to be called forward. "

:)
I love that one too.
This isnt a quote really
"Workers' rights embody spiritual principles which sustain families, nourish the soul and create peace. Worker's rights are human rights"
From the soul of the worker, oh man I think he would love my workers memorial idea. It would be neat to hear him sing that one U2 song you know the one at the end of gangs of new york, the name of the song is these are the hands that built america. So many really. Now on interesting news, I was at DK's website and looking at his schedule for events near me, I went to one in June, well theres another one in Baltimore, here's the catch though, I have school that night well you know my dad may take me but I doubt it, *thinking about stuff* man have I changed, thats something a few years ago I would do for a baseball game, and on second thought I need to go to an orioles game. Sorry for the rant.

...our unelected president and his undisclosed vice president.

I actually like everything he has to say and more than that the actual sincerity with which he says it. He actually believes in a better America and that we can make it happen. :)

:) he knows it too :)

i think it was more of how he said it rather than what he said. but netanyahu had been speaking to congress for some reason on terrorism. and i guess he was talking about attacking a bunch of nations. and kucinich just asked him something like "are there any OTHER nations you want us to attack". it wasn't exactly that, but similar, and it was more the way he said it that mattered. did any of you see it or remember that ?

it brings a smile to my face; it sounds like vintage DK.

"Let us pray that we have the courage to replace the images of death which haunt us, the layers of images of September the Eleventh, faded into images of patriotism, spliced into images of military mobilization, jump cut into
images of our secular celebrations of the World Series, New Year's Eve, the Superbowl, the Olympics, the strobic flashes which touch our deepest fears, let us replace those images with the work of human relations, reaching out to people, helping our own citizens here at home, lifting the plight of the poor everywhere. That is the America which has the ability to rally the support of the world. That is the America which stands not in pursuit of an axis of evil, but which is itself at the axis of hope and faith and peace and freedom."


Re: his change on abortion, etc here is a quote from someone who knows him:

"For a very long time many of us tried to convince Dennis Kucinich to run for President. He made his decision in his own way, thoughfully, after much soul searching and meticulous analysis of the issues. I love the way his mind works. I have known Dennis for many years, during all of which he has stood for peace and patience. I watched him evolve on his position on Choice, for example, the way he listened to women -- really listened. The way he opposes the Bush administration's attempt to criminalize abortion. Dennis not only adamantly opposes the criminalization of abortion, he has come to support Choice not just with lip service, but with concrete programs to move it forward. He would fund abortions for poor women through Medicaid. He would make Roe v. Wade a litmus test for judicial appointments. Once he embraces a program, he doesn't just let it happen. He makes it happen." -- April, 2003

I'm glad we all have the option to change our minds about how we think about life period. Honestly, it isn't about changing or not changing...it is about the walking the walk after the change in the talk and I think his walk backs up his change in talk.

I'm thinking about the person you quoted. You know, none of us are ideal. We are all always evolving. There isn't ever going to be a candidate for political office who is "perfect." A candidate who actually listens, thinks, learns, evolves, and incorporates that learning and evolving into his life is a candidate I can work with. A candidate I can support and trust with my vote.

who is evolving and is HONEST about it! It is when you try to hide your flaws and lie about them that makes me wanna :puke:

It is when you think you are ABOVE or SEPARATE from everyone else that a problem begins. The key is re-membering and allowing yourself to evolve on any given day and any given moment.

I guess with * that is one of the things that irks most of us the most. He's always trying to hide is ignorance behind polished, scheduled speeches which makes his horrible oratory skills stand out even worse! Add to that the fact that EVERYTHING is done behind closed doors and kept under lock and key. Maybe their mantra is, "We have no flaws. We have no flaws. We have no flaws. We have no flaws."

Say what you mean, mean what you say! Walk the talk or move out of the way and let a REAL person take over the helm!

Or change coarse as a result. Which is incredibly dangerous and destructive.

:nuke:

"Why does America have money to blow up bridges over the Euphrates River in Iraq, but no money to build up bridges over the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland?"

Favorite Future Quite:

"I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully........."

And his "Open Letter to Greens."

Very powerful stuff.

listen to Imagine America! Incredible!!

Thanks in advance, I'd love to hear it.

Read down the list of speeches until you find it, and enjoy!


http://www.kucinich.us/speeches.htm

http://fluxrostrum.com/MindFlux/DennisKucinich/kucinich.htm

Lots of audio and video files.

Enjoy! :)

Yes, a lot of people forget - but Kucinich announced after an internet-based draft too!
http://www.draftkucinich.com/final.html
Scroll down and the video is under the multimedia section. Lot's of goodies!

But my favorite quote to date comes from the recent appearance on The Daily Show-
"I have to say Donald Rumsfeld is a robot."