It is interesting that many callers to C-Span talk-in shows preface their remarks with, "Thank you for C-Span." As a latecomer to the joys of C-Span, I have only recently learned why that is. It is on C-Span alone that one can access a range of opinion rarely encountered on what the left calls the "corporate media." Sadly, that characterization more and more fits the programming on PBS which, since the Gingrich revolution, shifted its political spectrum severely to the right. Even the Nightly News Hour and the now occasional work of Bill Moyers can no longer be depended upon to represent the true diversity of the political spectrum in this country. And thus we are down to Amy Goodman's Democracy Now and the overall broadcasting efforts of Pacifica radio stations such as WBAI here in New York. It is only on C-Span that one could hear the full remarks made by Representative Dennis Kucinich as he announced his candidacy for President on an anti-war platform.
Rep. Kucinich can be seen as a voice in the wilderness. He has already been caricatured as a quixotic figure. And, indeed, while citizens of the U.S. can take pride in the fact that a Dennis Kucinich is still possible, it is alarming that his is one of the very few voices among the Democrats who has called for an immediate withdrawal of troops from Iraq. Kucinich alludes to the estimated 650,000 Iraqis who have died as a result of the U.S.'s illegal invasion and occupation of their nation. Millions more have been injured or forced to flee their homeland. Six hundred and fifty thousand people. Imagine over 200 World Trade Center attacks on our own land. The argument that we must avoid leaving in defeat, that such a departure would not only be a humiliating defeat for this country but disruptive to conditions in the area, an argument which like all big lies, is repeated endlessly, brings political disingenuity to new depths.
The facts is that we have already been humiliated, that the longer we stay, the deeper our humiliation will become, that our only hope for restoring the world's confidence in the people of the U.S. is to demonstrate that we can acknowledge a grave political mistake and begin to make reparations. As for disrupting the area, it is the presence of U.S. troops that is disrupting the area. There is every likelihood that their complete withdrawal--"temporary" bases and all--will bring greater calm to the area.
If the Democrats waffle, temporize, stall on this one, they will be inviting their demise as a U.S. political institution. As of now, it appears that they do not get it. They have a very brief window in which to save themselves.
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2 comments:
Informed debate is never quixotic when transparent in the public discourse such as your left of center blogshpere that I find excellent in the political rational in the American body politic. However, I suggest that the milieu of the American electorate is dynamic and has the media hype of influence peddling personalities and latter day ‘saviors’ that is systemic to the jargon of the Western Christian culture.
It is always the money of ‘power’ that coalesce into the votes and America is not a single-issue driven performer in its voting cycles. I would suggest that the medium is still the message and inclusive of the Oprah Winfrey / Jerry Springer culture that moves the voters to the election booths – and that are not always guaranteed to have accurate counts due to its legal / political officials that enjoy controls of the complexities of the “American political machinery.- oh Chicago ‘Chicago.’”
I would urge that we have a quixotic aspirations mixed with the known history of how we vote, why we vote, and how we count, and who really votes and what ‘they’ in the land want to hear and ‘believe.’ So can we get out of the wilderness well do we want to and then could be stand the influx of 500,000 Iraqis in Brooklyn NY?
Joe
PS: C-span callers are mostly voices of duplicity that can’t be trusted as to political affiliations. In most cases they are unknown on public record an so one must cynically and unfortunately assume they may live an inch from the dirt of the muck of wilderness crawlers in the electronic media bugs of the era of talk shows..
And what makes you think that you can trust Amy Goodman? The Ford Foundation gives her serious money. She was given $75,000 in 2002 to do stories on 9/11. She didn't do one!
Where was Kucinich when Murtha and McKinney were being savaged by the Republicrats?
Dennis is a sweet guy, but he's still playing the political game by being a lightning rod for the Left.
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