ojai news at The Ojai Post :: blog, newspaper, events in Ojai, California

There are many people who would disagree with the point made in your last paragraph.

If 538 people in Florida who voted for Nader had voted for Gore, he would have won the presidency in 2000.

While I am sure Dennis Kucinich and his wife are wonderful people and Ojai should enjoy their infatuation with them, let us not forget "Realpolitik".

Actually, Anon., Gore won Florida in 2000. The election was rigged just like in 2004 when Kerry won Ohio. Thus, the votes for Nader did not mean a thing. Vote with you dollar.

Suza, I envy you and the others for the opportunity to attend this event. Dennis and Elizabeth seem like a truly extraordinary couple.

thank you Suza for posting David's synopsis...per the notes i took, he wrote precisely what i was going to!

overheard at the event, after Dennis had spoken:
"This convinced me...I'm voting for him, we HAVE to!"

overhead at the movie theater later that evening:
"The thing about Hillary and Dennis is, he's an idealist..."

so? SO???

Anonymous, I had the same initial response when Kucinich made the comment about voting for the person you want. But then the next second I remembered what Spaz Zapper pointed out! Plus, there is much more to this which I plan to discuss in a future article on Kucininch.

Evan, that's very funny--"Hilary and Dennis!"

Gotta go teach...to be continuid...

Whoops! ... better learn to spell "Kucinich" and I think Hillary has 2 l's...

LTOR, wish you could have been there! There seemed to be several people video taping the event so hopefully it will be on local TV. And I forgot to say, Kucinich will be on JAY LENNO tonight (Monday night)! At least that's what I think I heard him say as he was zipping off to his next gig.

Just checked Jay LeNo web site. Here is the Monday, September 24 guest list, listed, I assume, in order of appearance:

Dwayne "The Rock " Johnson "The Game Plan" - Dennis Kucinich
Diana Krall

Thanks Suza,

What a great line-up. I'll be sure not to miss it.

you will notice that this transparent politician and his wife said nothing at all. the promoter Suza said nothing and his lying media say nothing either. they have never said a truth about true Washington politics. they support the status quo of citizen rule by the press and the banks. they would make the ideal sinister replacements for the current evil mouthpieces in Washington.

Conned again,

Since you seem to have such strong feelings against a man who seems to have (according to Suza) touched on quite a bit of important and inspirational themes in his brief visit to the Ojai Retreat, why don't you articulate a bit more clearly what type of alernative for "citizen rule" that you would advocate. Unfortunately, despite your obvious anger and disenchantment with the "status quo", your rant says "nothing at all".

. they would make the ideal sinister replacements for the current evil mouthpieces in Washington.

You're so full of it!

The real truth is that Dennis Kucinich is a member of the pre-occupation shock troops of a silicon-based life form from a planet in the Andromeda galaxy! His purpose is to start a world-wide thermonuclear conflagration that will boil the seas dry and burn off all of the oxygen in the atmosphere, thus making Earth suitable for silicon-based life! You see, only I know the truthiest truth of all about all of the wicked, evil Liberal monsters who would destroy all carbon-based life on Earth! Listen to me, not Conned Again! Me! This blog is all about me and what I think! MEmemememememememeME!

(Does anyone know how to get Cheetos stains out of flannel pajamas?)

Simple Green?

Dear "Conned Again." I about fell off my chair when I read your post but I've recovered. I gather you did not attend yesterday's event. Try to get a copy of the video tape and listen for yourself. Kucinich has alot to say about Washington politics and he is not afraid to say it!

Thanks for the post, Suza and David. It was an amazing day. I went back for the evening event. It was very powerful as well. I'll write more later as I have time to collect my thoughts...

Hi Sally, I look forward to reading your thoughts about both events, especially the second one that I missed at Glen Muse.

why this thread promoting more money and politics Suza? is this elite society you covet so desirous that you denigrate those who ask for substance? [we know the answer already, from your earlier political charades.]

we, your Ojai audience, is still waiting for one sentence of honesty and integrity -- one sentence of truth and sincerity from your politician Kucinovich. you haven't spoken one word of meaning from the fundraising speeches yet, and no one else who attended has either.

that certainly IS american politics as we know it!

are you going to laugh yourself silly now?

Dear OldOjaiGal,

When you say "Kucinovich" instead of "Kucinich", is that just ignorance, or some kind of obscure ethnic slur?

As for one sentence of substance, how about this? Kucinich says that as President, instead of pursuing peace through strength, he will promote strength through peace.

In my book, there is more truth and integrity in that one idea than in all the speeches of all the other candidates.

OldOjaiGal (aka "Conned Again"). Let us both take some long deep breaths and remember that we are two transient human beings, breathing the same air. Soon enough we will both leave the planet on an exhalation. I believe we both want the same things and somewhere along the way there has been a misunderstanding. I sincerely appologize if I "denigrate those who ask for substance." I do the best I can in the time that I have. I have two magazine deadlines and need to do some fact-checking before I write a more-in-depth article on yesterday's experience.

Wow...

I guess there are sock puppets on both sides of the political spectrum. Who knew?

We look forward to more of your thoughts and "review" of the event, Suza!

Do all of the right-wing sock puppets have the same puppet master, perhaps? Could it be someone with the initials LH?

Just wondering.

(I'm a sock puppet, too, BTW. Usually, I'm a small semi-aquatic bird who swims in circles:)

Here's a link to an article in today's Ventura County Star on the Kucinich in Ojai event.

http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2007/sep/24/kucinich-says-hes-seeking/

oldojaigirl: we, your Ojai audience, is still waiting for one sentence of honesty and integrity -- one sentence of truth and sincerity from your politician Kucinovich. you haven't spoken one word of meaning from the fundraising speeches yet, and no one else who attended has either.

You immediately demonstrated your own lack of honesty and intergrity when you began your criticism with the word: we. You only speak for your self. You certainly do not speak for me.

we, your Ojai audience, is still waiting for one sentence.....

The grammar.....it hurts.....

In view of the National POW / MIA Recognition Memorials, that many seem to have forgotten about, I wish to urge Congressman Kucinich to remember and work to free our POW and MIAs and remember also their massive betrayal into a living hell on earth by our own government leaders leaving a massive stain on Americas honor that cannot be erased at this point in history. We can however wake up to the treason that is enveloping our country in Washington D.C. and elect members of Congress that will reestablish American honor in the tradition of General Douglas MacArthur when he observed 'There is no substitute for victory!' The horrible fate of our prisoners of war and MIAs left behind by our own government in enemy hands in WW-II, Korea, Vietnam, etc., must never be repeated. But it will be if we fail to wake up and create a new era of extreme vigilance. For there has never been a shortage of highly placed traitors in our government as the POW/MIA issue shows. We should read the book titled 'AN ENORMOUS CRIME' (on internet) by former Congressman William Hendon and Elizabeth Stewart(her father is missing in Vietnam) that exposes secrets of the Vietnam War and documents that American POWs were left behind and also see: www.JBS.org (search: POW/MIA) for more shocking information. We should continue to demand through the full weight of our government through Congress the release of our POW/MIAs left behind as some may still be alive. We cannot totally resolve this terrible stain on Americas honor but we must rescue the survivors. Ed Nemechek 760 -246- 8059.

I watched Jay Leno last night.

I thought they were setting up a political debate when, just before Dennis was to come out, "The Rock" gave a shoutout to his cousin and all our soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.

But no- Dennis was mostly asked his new book and his youth- growing up in poverty, etc.

Diana Krall offerred a sweet, deep close to the evening.

Thanks, Anonymous, for the Jay Leno review. A friend taped it so I can watch it later. (Periodically I get rid of my TV so I can get some work done. Otherwise I end up on the couch with a bag of organic chocolate chip cookies and lose my edge.)

Suza, what happens when you eat non-organic chocolate chips???

Dear "Ojai Prog"

I'm glad you asked!

Actually, nothing happens to me when I eat non-organic chocolate chips. As you probably know, chocolate is made from cacao beans, which are harvested from the cacao tree. Organic is better for the bugs, birds and people who pick the cacao (cocoa)beans. (I just now realized it's spelled both ways.)

Generally speaking, organic chocolate is considered to be 'environmental' because the cacao beans are produced without (or with fewer) pesticides or synthetic fertilizers. This reduces the quantity of chemicals that a particular cacao bean farm will be releasing into the surrounding environment.

So, from an environmental point of view, organic chocolate is helping to preserve the eco-systems in those countries where chocolate is grown by reducing the amounts of toxic chemicals that get put into those environments (i.e. into the earth, air, water and organisms).

Cacao farms may also employee sustainable farming principles, which involve farming in a way that maintains the fertility of the soil, preserves animal habitats and improves the long term viability of the farming operation.

If you read the labels of cookies and chocolate bars many are also labelled 'fair trade chocolate', which means that the cacao farmers are payed a fair and stable price for their cacao beans.

This is probably more than you wanted to know but it's also possible for a particular type of chocolate to be fair trade but not organic, or organic and not fair trade. But I think "organic" is more likely to be fair trade. So for all these reasons (and many more, too numerous to list here) I prefer to watch TV munching organic chocolate chips.

Source:
http://www.jensplanet.com/realgreenliving/xvsy.html

For those of you who may have missed it, Kucinich's appearance on Jay Leno was wonderful. Leno didn't even mention Kucinich's name until about three quarters of the way through the program, and even then he only mumbled it as the audience was giving its applause to Chris Rock's praise for servicemen. But Dennis was undaunted. The occasion for his appearance was his soon-to-be-published autobiography The Courage to Survive, about growing up very poor in a family with seven children. He told a story about buying a pair of pants at the Salvation Army for twenty-five cents and wearing them every day for a year. Leno showed a photo of Dennis on his high school varsity football team -- he was third-string quarterback. There were three rows of players and Dennis was in the middle of the front row. You could pick him out immediately because he was four feet nine inches -- the top of his head was at shoulder level of all of his teammates!

Elizabeth was in the audience and Dennis mentioned that they got engaged before they went out on any kind of date -- they met at someone's home and it was mutual love at first sight.

Leno asked if he has any chance of winning the Presidency. Dennis flashed his sparkling warm smile and said he is now above the margin of error in the polls -- he does exist. He said he does have a chance because he is the only candidate who not only voted against the war in Iraq but voted absolutely consistently against every funding bill for it..... and because he is the only candidate who espouses universal single-payer health care for every American.

Wow! Thank you, David, for the great review. I apologize for briefly losing the focus of this thread. May Dennis be blessed with an abundance of organic vegan chocolate chip cookies.

some words of meaning (to me) from Dennis' Ojai Retreat speech:

• our connection the the natural world and harmony with the natural world is something we know as Peace.

• all over this nation and our world there are people disconnected from harmony, and we are people who know our responsibility for healing.

• the compassion that radiates from any one of us is an affirmation of our interconnectedness and interdependence.

• we are living in a time when "Peace through Strength" is the kind of thinking that has defined our leadership and the direction of our nation. we need to reject war as an instrument of policy...we need a new vision, a new doctrine: STRENGTH THROUGH PEACE.

• we (the United States) cannot push aside international law and act like a nation above nations...we are a nation AMONG nations.

• we are not victims of the world we see so much as victims of the way we see the world. if we believe that war is inevitable, then war is a self-fulfilling prophecy.

• responding to the citation of a survey which indicated that 53% of Europeans think that the U.S. is the greatest threat to world peace, Dennis said that if a nation is the greatest threat, it is also the world's greatest hope.

• Dennis' administration will "Work Green"...imagine a Department of Agriculture which actually promotes sustainable, organic agriculture?

• in regard to technologies, Dennis envisions development by the government at the "alpha" stage, where the best minds are at work, and then including the private sector and stimulating the economy by licensing at the "beta" stage.

• the cold hard metallic nuances of military equipment and operations steal us away from our vibrancy and what it means to be human.

• in order to re-strengthen our Democracy, we need to reawaken civic responsibility and activism...register HUGE numbers of voters, and VOTE in huge numbers. also, we need to observe and monitor our OWN elections like we do the elections of other nations.

• healthcare is a basic right in a democratic society, not a privilege.

• public financing = public ownership of the electoral process. private financing = private ownership of the electoral process.

• "I was one of the few people who challenged the Patriot Act. Why? Because I read it."

• from the back of the campaign tshirt i bought:
- Single Payer Health Care
- End the Iraq War (HR 1234)
- Impeach Cheney (H Res. 333)
- New Jobs and Safe Infrastructure
- Fair Trade - End NAFTA & WTO
- World Peace - No NUKES!
- Green Energy - No Nuclear Waste
- Free College and Pre-School
- Cut Pentagon Budget 15-25%

This is great, Evan. Thanks for the summary. You're a faster note-taker than I am - I couldn't keep up with him!

Thank you, Evan, for posting your clear notes. I'm taking care of a sick cat, so more thoughts tomorrow...
Happy Full Moon!

hey phalarope! in case you were wondering if you put one over on us, there's at least one old coot out here who saw through your charade. probably only you know what i'm even talking about. nice try. it was fun while it lasted. and heck if i'm going to sign my real name to this like i usually do. this is way more fun! don't worry. i'll keep your secret. as you know, coots are pretty quiet.

Old Ojai Coot:

Tell or don't tell, as you wish. Online privacy is a mostly a myth, anyway. If you really know who I am, I'll be expecting an email from you. If I don't get one, I'll know that the old coot is just fishing.

By the way, exactly what was it you think I was trying to "put over" on you?

Check out today's Ojai Valley News for a great front page story on Dennis and Elizabeth Kucinich at the Ojai Retreat and Glen Muse!

Since I've heard that Congressman Kucinich is a supporter of the Supertanker fire fighting aircraft (DC-10 & 747) and wants the U.S. Forest Service to use them I would like to ask him to verify this if possible.- Ed Nemechek-760-246-8059.

Here you go, Ed; ask away:

http://kucinich.house.gov/

phalarope: The reason I'm asking here is that I can't get an answer from his office. They don't know. Ed Nemechek-760-246-8059.

Ed, where did you hear that he was a supertanker supporter in the first place?

Are Ed and Suza actually the same people??

Are Ed and Suza actually the same people??

No. Any more questions?

(Still waiting for that email, sport.)

Ed:

Apparently Dennis Kucinich is interested in large fire fighting aircraft, specifically the Ilyushin IL-76:

http://www.flymig.com/forum/posts/1080130220.htm?fr=3

This info is anecdotal and unverified.

Try Googling Kucinich + other relevant search terms like Boeing, 747, 757, supertanker, firefighter, firefighting. That's what I did.

phalarope: I just remembered where I heard that Congressman Kucinich supports the Supertanker firefighting aircraft. It was in a conversation I had awhile back with the representative of the Russian Supertanker fleet Tom Robinson at 1-804-240-4065 (they fly six IL-76 Supertankers worldwide comparable to the DC-10 in capacity). He said Congressman Kucinich sent a letter to President Bush advocating that we call in the Russian fleet to put out the massive fires in the western states but got no reply from the president and NO action. I think Congressman Kucinich should be commended for this and encouraged to DEMAND that Congress have the U.S. Forest Service use these Supertankers and the DC-10 and 747 on federal land in the BEGINNING of the fires and this would preclude any further major fires. As Congressman Dana Rohrabacher is supporting the DC-10 Supertanker I feel these Congressman should form a coalition to force the Forest Service to put fires out for a change with Supertankers and our massive fire problem would be over in this country. -Ed Nemechek-760-246-8059.

Elect a Republican, vote for Kucinich.

Last night there was another debate among the democratic candidates.
I have been checking out some of the blogs commenting on this latest debate.

Below are some comments that I think would interest those of us who heard Kucinich speak in Ojai and other readers of the Ojai Post. The article mentioned in the first sentence refers to the coverage of the debate in the Washington Post. Balz and Kornblut are the authors of the Washington Post article the blogger quoted here, refers to.

cann4ing wrote:
This article typifies the efforts corporate media non-coverage of any "issues" that might have actually been touched upon during the debate.

Why does this so-called "coverage" ignore the fact that under a Clinton administration, combat troops will still be in Iraq until 2013?

Why do Balz & Kornblut ignore the astutely accurate statement by Dennis Kucinich that all Democratic presidential candidates serving in the U.S. Senate support as a supposed "benchmark" a new oil law that would essential give the multi-national oil cartel unfettered access to Iraq's oil at bargain basement prices, and that peace will never be achievable until we return Iraq's economy, political system and its oil to its rightful owners--the Iraqi people?

Why does the corporate media remain silent when candidates say they lack the votes to end this war now when all it takes to block further funding is either a simple majority in the House or 41 votes in the Senate?

Why, when the subject of healthcare arose, did the moderaters allowed Clinton/Obama/Edwards a chance to discuss their sham "universal plans" that amount to variable subsidy schemes for the health care insurance but adroitly changed the subject so that Mr. Kucinich, the only candidate who advocates a single payer system that would eliminate the role played by for-profit healthcare insurance that makes up 31% of our health care costs, was not given the opportunity to respond?

Why was Hillary Clinton allowed to state she is against special interests on this issue when, in truth, she is now the second largest recipient of healthcare insurance industry lobbyist dollars--second only to George W. Bush?

The fact is that our corporate-owned media acts as a propaganda network, creating what Noam Chomsky refers to as a "democracy deficit" by failing to link candidates to the issues that truly matter.

An intriguing blind poll was conducted in which the issues of various candidates were set forth but their names were not mentioned. The result was shocking. One candidate received 58% of the Democratic vote--Dennis Kucinich.

If that doesn't impress you, consider that Clinton's current polling is in the mid thirties, and she is being hailed by the corporate media as a run-away winner.

ABC ran two polls about who won a preceding debate. When Kucinich led both handily, with Obama a distant second, it pulled its polls from its web site and declined to mention the results in any of its programming.

There is a very good reason why the corporate media have consistently sought to marginalize and ignore Mr. Kucinich. If elected he would restore the Fairness Doctrine and roll back the consolidation of the corporate media monopoly of what we see and hear over the public airwaves that was facilitated by the Telecommunications Act of 1996, under the Clinton administration and expanded by the FCC under the Bush regime.

Kucinich is the only candidate who is directly challenging NAFTA & the WTO, devices by which our corporate elite have betrayed this nation by outsourcing our manufacturing base in an incessant search for cheap foreign labor as what is left of American labor has been increasingly Wal Mart-ized.

Meaningful change will never occur until a vast majority of Americans turn to alternative media, like Democracy Now; until they stop being passive consumers of the spoon fed pablum from the corporatocracy and assume the role of active citizens, searching out the truth about where candidates stand on issues that truly matter. Until then, we will go to the polls voting for candidates who will talk about such things as ending the occupation of Iraq while they come up with undending excuses as to why we remain.

If I had not heard Kucinich speak in Ojai on Sunday, it is doubtful that I would have heard where he stands on all these issues in the mainstream media.

In my opinion, the reason why the major media sources do not report the demo agenda is the same as the repugnant agenda is because the demos, rethuglicans and big media are all owned by the war/drug/oil machine. This is not a democracy and we are free to obey. Clearly, the elections have been rigged since 2000, at least. Vote with your dollar.

Was 2006 rigged?

phalarope,
sorry to alarm you into thinking you're being stalked by a birdwatcher. i was just responding to a previous pseudonymous post that appeared to contain a clue to the writer's identity that implicated you. apparently it wasn't you after all or you wouldn't have asked what i thought you put over on us. that's my roundabout way of saying, "never mind." we coots may be quiet but, as you know from our diving habits, we are long-winded.

Was 2006 rigged?

Would it have made a difference if it had been?

In a sense it was rigged. The Demos have proven once again that they play the 'good cop' while the Rethugs are the 'bad cop'. And all the while the war machine marches on. What will stop it? When there are not enough patsies to kill for a dollar bill.

Thanks for the latest info, Suza. Really interesting - especially the polls...

Just found a link to a bunch of photos from Sunday: http://www.swt.org/act/kucinich-2007-0923/

Thanks Suza,

Wow! What a truly beautiful couple - both inside and out!

How shallow are you people? Who cares what they look like? Oh, I forgot, you do. More appearance over substance.

where the hell is dennis leary??

are suza and dennis, in truth, one and the same??

are suza and dennis, in truth, one and the same??

Welcome to the Friday night edition of Sock Puppet Theater.
Yawn.

I wish to urge Congressman Kucinich to do what he can to free former Congressman Randy Cunningham (now in jail convicted on corruption charges). He is a top fighter pilot war hero who shot down the top fighter pilot in North Vietnam who was knocking our planes out of the sky like tin ducks in a shooting gallery. He also shot down other enemy aircraft saving many lives and was shot down over the ocean himself and almost wound up in the brutal Hanoi Hilton Communist prison where he would have been treated to daily beatings and recordings of speeches by Jane Fonda and probably never released as has been the terrible fate of our POW and MIAs who were betrayed by our own government and left behind . We all make mistakes in life but he also risked everything including his life to defend our country as other veterans have done. His political mistakes were wrong but those actions with private contractors never compromised or harmed our country and he should be given a break and set free. See:www. JBS. org (search: randy cunningham) or google randy cunningham on internet for more info., and call other representatives to correct this injustice! - Ed Nemechek - 760- 246- 8059

When Dennis Kucinich spoke in Ojai a few weeks ago, someone in the audience asked him about animal agriculture and global warming.

Below is a copy of a statement written by Kucinich on animal rights. His insights on this subject are a powerful and timely contribution to the national debate about animals.

ANIMAL RIGHTS

"As a necessary component of the living world, we must extend compassion to one another and to every living thing. Our mission as human beings can truly be to elevate this world from a condition of suffering and cruelty to the planet's creatures, and towards a condition of compassion and inherent respect.

Through elevating the cause of every creature, we elevate our own humanity.

We lift up the cause of humanity by reaching out and connecting with all things living.

It is our sense of interconnection with all living things that brings us to respect the rights of animals; to understand that animals are not to be "lower than"; that animals should not have less of a claim to existence, less of a claim to the possibility of survival, less of a claim to dignity.

Every one of us knows a story of animal cruelty; every one of us knows how in one way or another official policies have sanctioned cruelty to animals. I am working to put compassion into action in our policies with respect to animals in this country and to have America set a higher standard, not only for this country, but for the world; to make sure that all of God's creatures, that all animals are given a chance to have dignity in our society and are given a chance to experience the appreciation they should have as living beings."

I would include advocacy of animal rights in the Department of Peace, which I have already proposed to Congress. This cabinet-level department would work with, and offer an alternative to, the Defense Department.

There have been numerous studies that have suggested a link between animal cruelty and domestic violence. The Department of Peace would not only seek to resolve international conflicts with nonviolent means, but also seek to instill a peaceful paradigm into the hearts of all the people of the world, so that one day war will be an archaic relic of a time that has passed.

My farm policy favors independent and family-owned farms. I support a national ban on packer ownership of livestock, and numerous new incentives for farmers to convert to sustainable and organic farming and ranching techniques. The vision of the meat that we consume coming from happy and healthy free-range animals can become more of a reality, as opposed to the inhumane conditions that the often mutated chickens and cows and pigs are forced to sustain in our current system.

As a member of Congress, I have cosponsored every piece of major animal protection legislation. In addition, I hold the distinction of being the only vegan in Congress. I made this lifestyle change many years ago, because I consider all life on our Earth to be sacred. As a vegan, I choose not to eat any animals or animal products. I strive to live my life in accordance with my convictions, and any other choice of diet would defy my ideals and, in my judgment, be hypocritical."

(Thank you, Ingrid Boulting, for sending me this.)

I pray for a miracle so I am posting this!

Dennis Kucinich: Standing Tall in the House as Cheney Impeachment Bill Advances

By Dave Lindorff

Rep. Dennis Kucinich, the candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination that the mainstream media like to ignore or belittle, stands head and shoulders above the moral midgets and shriveled sophists in that contest, especially today, after he successfully forced the full House to vote to send his bill to impeach Vice President Dick Cheney to a hearing in the House Judiciary Committee.

Kucinich, whose Cheney impeachment bill, despite having 22 co-sponsors, has been stalled for over six months thanks to the unconscionable machinations of the Democratic Congressional leadership and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, should now get at least a genuine debate in the House Judiciary Committee. With enough pressure from constituents, his bill might even go into hearings.

At first, it appeared that the Democratic leadership in the House was going to simply slap down Kucinich's attempt to move the bill-technically a member's privilege motion for a full vote of the House. Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD), House majority leader and thus the number two member of the House leadership (and an insufferable hack), offered a motion to table H Res. 799, the impeachment bill. But Republicans, sensing an opportunity to embarrass the Democrats, began voting as a block against the tabling motion. In the end, caught completely off guard, even Democrats who had dutifully backed the shameless leadership in voting for the tabling motion, began switching their votes and opposing it. The final vote was 242 (164 Republicans and 78 Democrats) against tabling, and 170 (28 Republicans and 142 Democrats) for tabling.

A subsequent vote to send the Kucinich Cheney impeachment bill to the Judiciary Committee passed 218-194, with three Republicans voting with 215 Democrats in favor of the measure.

Republicans clearly don't want impeachment hearings, but have recognized something that the Democratic leadership, lame and tactically deficient as it is, does not, namely that particularly among Democratic voters and Democratic-leaning voters, impeachment is enormously popular. According to polls, some three in four Democrats, and a majority of all Americans, favor impeaching the vice president (a majority of Americans also favor impeaching President Bush). As long as the Democratic Party leaders keep blocking impeachment, they lose support and anger voters among this group. Clearly Republicans saw a chance today to further alienate those voters by forcing the Congressional Democratic leadership, which has stalled Kucinich's bill for over six months since it was filed last April 24, to more actively and visibly block it.

But Democratic leaders have an alternative. They can recognize the growing disaster of Pelosi's "impeachment is off the table" position-which has contributed significantly to Congress' record-low poll ratings (now well below Bush's)--and can turn around and get those impeachment hearings going.

If they were to do this, with just a year to go until the presidential election, they would electrify progressive voters and independent-minded voters, who are frightened and disgusted by what this administration has been doing to the country and to the Constitution.

I was just at a polling station today in my Republican-leaning area (Montgomery County, PA), and when a Republican activist standing outside the polling center saw my "Impeach Bush and Cheney" T-shirt, he said, "It would be great for Republicans too, if they could dump both those guys."

Clearly, the public, even including many Republicans, wants Congress to act.

Rep. Kucinich, who has been a consistent and bold opponent of the Iraq War from the start, and who was quick to expose and condemn administration moves towards a new war with Iran, deserves enormous credit for his lonely drive in the House to impeach the vice president. Maybe this bold move in Congress to push past the obstacles that the Democratic leadership has thrown up in his path will wake up primary voters to the fact that you cannot judge a candidate by his height.

If voters in the Democratic primaries make their decisions based upon actions, principles and courage, instead of on what the corporate media tell them, and if the impeachment movement will rally to back him, Kucinich should win by a landslide.

________________

DAVE LINDORFF is a Philadelphia-based journalist and columnist. His latest book, co-authored by Barbara Olshansky, is "The Case for Impeachment" (St. Martin's Press, 2006 and now available in paperback edition). His work is available at www.thiscantbehappening.net

I posted something about this on the most recent open thread. Tyler will probably get a real article up any minute. Innundate John Conyers office and get him to push this thing. Dawn might finally be coming. Here' his number. (202) 225-5126.

Hi spk, soon as I saw your comment on "open thread" I posted there too!

Hi!

I had the pleasure of providing chiropractic treatment to Dennis and Elizabeth when they were in Ojai. There bodies were tired and tight from 30,000 miles of travel in the previous 2 weeks, and from working to create peace and justice for all.

That night I told the Kucinichs that I would ask the people of the Ojai Valley if they would make tiny ($1-5) contributions to purchase a massager that the Kucinichs could take with them on their long journeys on our behalf.

They were grateful for the idea. They will be grateful for the comfort.

If you are moved, send $1-5 to Kris Young, 407 Del Norte Road, Ojai, 93023. We will be sending them a Thumper Mini Pro II - cost approx $200. Any funds above the cost will be given to the Ojai Peace Coalition.

The Kuchinics deserve our caring actions.

In peace,
Kris