Who is anti-war?

[genius]

Subj: Who is Anti-War?
Date: 10/20/2003 12:47:10 Pacific Daylight Time
From: [e-mail]

Sent from the Internet (Details)

Lots of good news and fun activities. Here’s the news first:

DENNIS CONSISTENTLY OPPOSES WAR ON IRAQ

Congressman Kucinich is the only candidate who voted against the war on Iraq, and on Friday night he voted against funding the occupation with another $87 billion. Two other candidates joined Kucinich in this vote, but it was too little too late. They, as well as some candidates not in Congress, have yet to take a strong position against the occupation or to join Dennis in his proposal to bring U.S. troops home and turn control of the transition over to the U.N. http://kucinich.us/pressreleases/pr_101703.htm

TOUR CONCLUDES IN DC

After having toured 11 states from Monday to Wednesday, Dennis wrapped up his formal campaign announcement tour with an event in D.C. Thursday night. Congressman John Conyers of Michigan, a longtime friend and colleague, was there to support the campaign, and a live band entertained the crowd with a rendition of John Lennon’s “Imagine,” the campaign theme song.

DENNIS SUPPORTS STRIKING WORKERS

Dennis walked the picket line Saturday morning with striking workers in California, giving a boost to their campaign. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20031018/ap_on_re_us/california_strikes_2

DENNIS IS FIRST TO HAWAII

By popular demand, Dennis made the trip to campaign in Hawaii this past weekend, making him the first major-party presidential candidate to do so, and the first to campaign on Maui in 43 years.
http://www.mauinews.com/news/story/1018202003_new02maui1018.asp

This campaign is on the move in more ways than one. Check out all the great press coverage at http://kucinich.us/news.htm

Now, here are four things you can do to help keep things moving.

1--MEETUP!

November 6 at 7 p.m. is your next chance to welcome new supporters into the campaign through MeetUp.com. We are putting a special emphasis this month on inviting members of third parties. There are also Democratic Party MeetUps on November 19 at which you can probably recruit Kucinich supporters. http://kucinich.us/meetup.htm

2--TRICK OR TREAT!

Have a Kucinich Halloween Party! Decorate with signs like: DON'T BE TRICKED – VOTE KUCINICH. Or IT'S TOO SCARY NOT TO VOTE FOR DENNIS! Ask all your guests to come dressed as Dennis Kucinich. You can print out masks and order free house party kits at http://kucinich.us/houseparties/ . Why not wear your Kucinich mask while you take your kids out trick-o-treating? Have fun, be creative. Warn your neighbors about frightening HMOs, terrifying NAFTA, and spooky war profiteers.

3--TALK BACK TO THE MEDIA!

While the media has begun to do a much more professional job of covering this campaign, there are still some glaring cases of bias. To help respond to the media, sign up for the Media Response Team at http://www.kucinich.us/responses_media.htm And here are two things to do right away.

First, the New York Times printed an editorial today about opposition to the war from Democrats in Congress, but made no mention of Congressman Kucinich. Read it at
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/20/opinion/20MON1.html and send a short polite letter for publication to [e-mail] or a note to the editorial writers to [e-mail] informing them of Kucinich’s leadership and his plan to put the UN in and pull the US out of Iraq.

Second, NPR’s Cokie Roberts today reported on the presidential race without mention of Dennis Kucinich, and NPR’s Larry Abramson reported on Congressional opposition to the “PATRIOT Act” without any mention of Dennis Kucinich or the bill he has introduced to repeal major sections of it, or the fact that he is the only candidate who voted against it. This is part of a longstanding pattern with NPR. Write to Jeffrey Dvorkin, Ombudsman at [e-mail] and call 1-800-989-TALK (8255).

4--MAKE A RECURRING MONTHLY CONTRIBUTION!

If you have not yet contributed to the Kucinich campaign, now is the time. We can’t do it without your money. If you have given in the past, you can now give the same amount each month without any action needed on your part. Go to http://kucinich.us and check out the light bulbs that are being lit as the money comes in. Click on the link to contribute and sign up to give on a monthly basis. You’ll be giving the campaign the biggest possible boost and helping in future months without having to click another button!

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FYI: The two candidates who joined Dennis in opposing the $87 billion were Kerry and Edwards. Gephardt and Lieberman voted for it. Dean said he supported giving Bush the $87 billion.

[genius]

1. The AP has noticed him. Now all we need is for the newspapers

and TV stations to cut out their media blackout.

[hippywife]

2. In response

I sent this email to the NYT:

It seems that there is one factor missing that answers all the concerns of the author in this opionion piece: Congressman Dennis Kucinich.

"Prayer for America", Congressman Kucinich's February 2002 speech was much more than a sound bite and his plan for withdrawal from Iraq illustrates a presidential candidate with a clear vision for what can and needs to be done. ( http://www.kucinich.us/statements.htm#100903 )

The President must go to the UN and announce the US intention to hand over all administrative and security responsibilities to the UN. The UN would help Iraqis move quickly toward self-determination.

The UN, not the US, will administer Iraq’s oil revenues. It will be necessary to renounce clearly and unequivocally any interest in controlling Iraq’s oil resources.

The UN will administer contracts to repair Iraq. War profiteering will no longer be practiced by the White House. It will be necessary to suspend all reconstruction contracts and close the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority, because of the suspicion caused by the sweetheart deals that the Administration has given to large American corporations. In its place, the UN would help Iraqis administer funds to employ Iraqis to repair the damage from the invasion.

Congressman Kucinich spoke out against the war in Iraq long before any of the current candidates, he did not vote for the Iraqi War Resolution, and he has been an unrelenting voice in Washington, demanding the Bush administration account for their fraudulent case for the war. In opposition to the recent request for an additional $87 million, Kucinich brought the issue home for the Democrats, as well as all members of Congress:

"Those who voted for this war must come to terms with their mistake and work to correct it, rather than seeking a middle ground that does not exist. We must heighten our opposition to this occupation and advance a plan to bring our troops home rather than leaving them to be used for target practice. My fellow Congress Members largely evaded this life-and-death issue in favor of a debate over the source of funding for rebuilding Iraq."

For all who have heard the consistent voice of Congressman Kucinich on this issue, and those of restoring this country, both economically and internationally, the only "wait" has been to see when the media will finally allow the American people to hear his voice as clearly as we do.

[w4rma]

3. Kucinich and Sharpton are anti-war candidates.

Dean and Moseley-Braun are anti-Iraq-war.
Clark and Kerry are … ??
Edwards, Gephardt and Lieberman are pro-Iraq-war.

I'm not absolutely sure that Moseley-Braun isn't anti-war and I'm not absolutely sure that Sharpton isn't anti-Iraq-war, instead.

[genius]

4. Dean and Gepthardt are pro-occupation

Also Dean was pro-war but he wanted the war delayed. Otherwise they wouldn't have supported giving the 487 billion to Bush. Moseley-Braun spoke in the last debate as if she was currently pro-occupation. Sharpton and Clark I'm not clear about. Kerry and Edwards seem to be following Dennis's lead.

[w4rma]

5. How did you get so deluded about Dean, genius? Is this somehow personal

for you?

Clark, Dean, Kerry, Lieberman and Edwards are all pro-occupation, by your standards.

I promise you that NONE of these 5 are following Dennis's lead that we need to get out immediately with or without UN troops to police the place until a government has formed and can police themselves.

Honest disagreements of opinion are great, but it seems to me that you've allowed your utter hatred of Dean to control your mind, genius.

[genius]

6. Dean admitted in the last debate he'd give Bush the $87 billion

Perhaps you should listen to the words of your own candidate.

[w4rma]

7. Even if that were unqualifiedly true, it's irrelevant to anything I posted

…
DEAN: The last poll I saw showed that there are five of us up here that are going to beat George Bush. So the question is not whether we're going to beat George Bush, but what kind of a president do you want.

Here are the differences between me and the other folks, from Washington.

First, our campaign is changing the political system in this country. Last time, last quarter we raised more money than any other candidate by three times, 200,000 donors, average gift $72.

Secondly, I have a record. Everybody is going to talk about health insurance. Every kid under 18 in my state has health insurance. A third of all the seniors have prescription benefits. Working poor people have health insurance.

And the third area is the war. General Clark, a year ago today, advised Katrina Swett to support the resolution. Senator Kerry, Senator Lieberman, Representative Gephardt, Senator Edwards, all gave the president a blank check to go to war in Iraq, putting people today in the position of having to decide whether we're going to spend $87 billion on health care or spend it in Iraq.

If you want real change in this country, then I'd like your support.
…
KUCINICH: I would like to say that it would have been good if Senator Kerry and Congressman Gephardt, both have been articulate in criticizing the president, had actually voted against the resolution that took us to war.

It'll be a year anniversary on October 10th that the bill came to the House.

Now, we had a chance to tell the president no. We had a chance to cancel unilateralism and preemption by saying no. And while it's very well and good to stand here and say we should have done that, I submit that the reason, going back to Jeff Greenfield's question, the reason why people don't trust the Democrats is because our Democratic leadership stood with the president in the Rose Garden and now stands on this stage and attacks him for the war.

I'm saying that war was wrong from the beginning. We should get out of Iraq now, because we're standing there on a lie, we should bring our troops home, that's the bottom line.

Mr. Dean has said that he believes -- he says what he believes. I want to ask him, do you believe in spending $87 billion to keep our troops in Iraq? Because I don't. Do you?

DEAN: I get to answer the question?

WOODRUFF: Yes.

DEAN: I believe if the president is serious about supporting our troops in Iraq that he has to say where he's going to get the money from, and that means he's got to get rid of $87 billion worth of the tax cuts that went to Ken Lay and his friends at Enron.

KUCINICH: Would you fund keep the troops in Iraq?

DEAN: Yes.

KUCINICH: You would?

DEAN: If the president was willing to pay for it.
…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A5841-2003Oct9.html

Please be accurate in your facts. Disagree only on opinions. Don't set up strawmen arguments that muddy the facts for everyone.

[hippywife]

10. Tut tut!!!

I promise you that NONE of these 5 are following Dennis's lead that we need to get out immediately with or without UN troops to police the place until a government has formed and can police themselves.

Dennis is NOT advocating leaving Iraq without the UN to intervene. His plans for withdrawal of US troops hinge on the UN coming in. He has never said bring them home with or without UN support.

[genius]

11. Right. Dennis's plan will bring the U.N. in.

The reason the U.N. doesn't want to send troops in is because of the profiteering. Dennis is the only one who wants to stop the profiteering. That will make way for the U.N. troops to replace the U.S. troops.

[DrFunkenstein]

8. Dean Is Anti-Resolution, Not Anti-Iraq-War

Dean and Kerry's positions on disarmament were identical, except for Dean's knuckleheaded plan to give Iraq a 30-60 day deadline.

On Feb. 20, Dean told Salon.com that "if the U.N. in the end chooses not to enforce its own resolutions, then the U.S. should give Saddam 30 to 60 days to disarm, and if he doesn't, unilateral action is a regrettable, but unavoidable, choice."

Zoinks! Surely, we could try to exhaust the remedies beyond two months, doctor! I'd hate to see what you tip your waiters!

[killbotfactory]

9. IN THE END

We never got there. The UN was enforcing it's own goddamn resolutions, much to the dismay of Bush, who cut short inspections and invaded despite never proving any threat to the US. Dean was very clear we had not reached the end and that invading Iraq was unjustified.