A Christmas story - #1

David Seaton's News Links

I couldn't risk your missing it. More than a tip of the hat, this is reprint ripped off directly from megablogger, "Lawrence of Cyberia's" post, complete with a fantastic drawing by "Mr Fish" of Harpers Magazine and this wonderful quote by my favorite American politician, Dennis Kucinich, who, because he speaks nothing but good sense and has lousy hair, is considered a hopeless nut. DS

While it is natural and appropriate for Americans to first focus upon the deaths of American service members in Iraq, it's astounding to consider that for every service member killed, 200 Iraq civilians have been killed....

What are the short-term and long-term implications of this massive number of deaths to Iraqi civil society? Will the millions of Iraqi children who have lost a parent ever forgive our country for igniting this violence? How do we make peace with the generations of Iraqis severely harmed by this unnecessary war of choice?

-- Rep. Dennis Kucinich, Congressional Hearing on Civilian Casualties in Iraq, 11 Dec 2006. (via Informed Comment).

Kucinich to run for president: go for it!

David Seaton's News Links

Full disclosure: I confess I really like Dennis Kucinich. He and Howard Dean got it right on the war in Iraq... so of course they are a pair of nuts, right? The Democrats chose a "winner", John Kerry, who triangulated himself into knots over Iraq and lost. If they were going to lose anyway, wouldn't it have been better to run with people who had the most important world issue after the fall of the Berlin wall correctly diagnosed? At least the Democratic Party would have had some moral capital left. Howard Dean is rebuilding the grassroots of the party, which is a very subversive thing to do. A broad activist base and micro-financing might save the party and, who knows? the republic itself. Dennis Kucinich is hanging in there, fighting the good fight. Miracles happen... I wish him all success. DS
Abstract: Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich, who unsuccessfully ran for president in 2004, said Monday he is planning another bid because his party isn't pushing hard enough to end the Iraq war.In a statement, Kucinich said he plans to formally announce his candidacy on Tuesday at Cleveland's City Hall, where he served as mayor of his hometown in the 1970s. The liberal, anti-war Ohio congressman said he was inspired to run because he disagrees with the way some of his fellow Democrats are handling the war, including approval of a proposal to spend $160 billion more on the conflict. "Democrats were swept into power on Nov. 7 because of widespread voter discontent with the war in Iraq," said Kucinich, 60. "Instead of heeding those concerns and responding with a strong and immediate change in policies and direction, the Democratic congressional leadership seems inclined to continue funding the perpetuation of the war."(...) He won re-election to his House seat in 2006 with 66 percent of the vote. He based his campaign on job creation and criticizing rising gas prices. He also was an outspoken critic of his own party, saying Democrats have lost their soul by moving away from liberal ideals. READ IT ALL