So far only two candidates out of the eight running in the Democratic primary for president have convinced me that their ideas are the best for this country. The Village Green made an early endorsement for Mike Gravel, due to his spectacular penchant for pointing out the obvious in the face of polite pretense.The Village Green has also endorsed Dennis Kucinich, John Edwards and the rest of them as well!
Those were early days and I for one was happy to see such a sizable and diverse field of interesting and intelligent candidates. I've followed the debates and the public events where candidates give speeches on cable TV and so far, the candidate who speaks best to the issues is Dennis Kucinich. I've taken the time to read his issue position papers on his web site and I find myself in agreement with just about everything I've read there.
I'm especially excited by the idea of a Department of Peace. Instead of saying No to Drugs, we need to say No to War. I can hear the voices raised in protest that we must have a strong military in order to defend our glorious nation from attacks on our soil. Funny how "our soil" tends to become Viet Nam, Cambodia, Panama, Grenada, Iraq, and other assorted hot spots containing something our leaders want.
The pursuit of war as a social tactic is no longer valid, if it ever was. There really are weapons of mass destruction, just not in Iraq before the war began. Billions of human beings inhabit this planet now -- we're fast approaching 8 billion -- all reaching for the same diminishing resources of land, air, water and food. If ever this country needed a department of Peace it is now. George W Bush has no talent for cooperation, no respect for law, and is totally lacking in social conscience. The government and its people are in need of an infusion of tactics based upon peace and collaboration to solve the huge problems facing the planet. Instead we are having 8 years of greedy grabbing for oil, money and power by the few to the great detriment of us all. Those who laugh at Dennis about this idea are not willing to face reality, which is ironic because they often accuse Kucinich of waging a fantasy campaign.
In the news tonight, we find some evidence that John Edwards and perhaps Hilary Clinton were involved in finding ways to exclude certain candidates from the ongoing debates. This on top of the exclusion of Mike Gravel from the debate on gay issues shows us that in elections, we still allow money to make all the decisions.
The primary campaign is the time to hear everybody's ideas and to see how those ideas compare and contrast with others. I'd like to see the end of all paid television commercials in all campaigns. Public access television channels can provide more than enough coverage of campaign speeches, debates and presentations. The campaign ads are a waste of time and money and only show us who hired the best advertising people. Most reasonable people agree, and yet nothing ever changes.
Good to see more comments in support of Dennis at Pho's blog. Check 'em out here.
If you live in Akron and you are interested in peace initiatives and art, be sure to visit the Yoko Ono art exhibit at the University of Akron's Meyers School of Art. You can get a handy peace stamp, button and Onochord device -- all for free. And you can contemplate the work of Yoko and John Lennon -- and if you don't get choked up at some point during the exhibit then there is no hope for you -- go join the Republican party!
1 comment:
I have just re entered the world after 2 weeks of being away from all media except what I could glean from French radio at night. Very interesting to just speak with Moroccans and occasionally some english with some dutch guys I worked with.
One man I worked with was an ex NATO Colonel in the Dutch Army. Actually the most politically aware persaon in the bunch and he had been an aide to Wesley Clarke.
He asked me a lot about the upcoming presidential race and my take on the candidates.
Then he made a rather bizarre prediction. He said he had heard that Colin Powell was going to officially leave the Republican Party and was talking to Clintons team as a possible Vice Presidential Candidate.
It was strange to hear this and as I thought about it, it became more logical and sound strategically.
I don't support this at all, of course, but it is a real possibility.
By the way, Madame Village Green, I have the dubious honor of informing you that you have been blog tagged.
I found out that History Mike had tagged me when I arrived back here yesterday, so I was compelled to comply with the rules of the game.
To find out more, please read my post BLOG TAG at thebrainpolice.
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