Peace
Candidate Dennis Kucinich Vows to Stay in Race
Interview by Amy Goodman
Winds
of Change in Spain
William Rivers Pitt
"House
of Bush, House of Saud"
Interview with Craig Unger by Amy Goodman
"Seeds
of Deception"
Jeffrey Smith
Genetically
Engineered DNA Found in Traditional Seeds
New
Findings Show Health Hazards of Genetically Modified Crops
An
Evolutionary Conversatoin with Barbara Marx Hubbard
Alan Sasha Lithman
Making
A New Declaration of Independence
Michael J. Tamura
Empathic
Listening
Holley Humphrey
Intimacy
With Self and Others, Earth and Spirit
Loba
Deborah
Mokma, Editor
Many of us who heard Dennis Kucinich speak on his recent visit to Oregon received confirmation of what we have long suspected to be true—this is a man who truly cares. Authentic, and deeply concerned with the greater good, Kucinich’s awareness of the needs of the country surpasses that of the majority of politicians and officials in office today. He is a compassionate and tireless public servant with a sincere concern for people and the planet, the nation and the world. To say, as Ted Koppel did during one of the presidential debates, that Dennis Kucinich is running a “vanity campaign,” could not be further from the truth.
Why has he not given up campaigning for an office that is seemingly beyond his grasp? It is because the depth of his convictions and a sincere desire to serve leave him no other choice. Dot Fisher-Smith, an Ashland, Oregon activist, says he embodies the true meaning of the word “bodhisattva,” both by his understanding of the principles of the interconnectedness of all things, and his acknowledgment of his role in assisting people in learning this essential truth.
Kucinich is also politically astute. When I asked him why Oregonians should choose to vote for him in the May primary he explained:
“The future of the Democratic party will be forged at the convention, and our presence will speak to the future of the party. When Oregon rallies behind a message of peace, health care for all, fair trade and civil rights, it will have a dramatic impact on the entire Democratic debate. Dramatic. Just as Iowa and New Hampshire had a dramatic impact on a nomination at the beginning. By being at the end of the process, Oregon can have something to say about what the party stands for. My candidacy creates the opportunity for a discussion that otherwise would never have occurred. That’s the power that Oregonians have, and it is considerable.”
Health care is indeed a critical issue. This country has over 40 million uninsured citizens, and many people who have insurance are not adequately covered. When health care costs in the US are compared to countries like Canada, France, Japan and Germany we see a serious discrepancy. Economist Paul Krugman made this clear in the New York Times last February:
“… the US spends far more on health care than any other country, but this wouldn’t be a bad thing if the spending got results. The real question is why, despite all that spending, many Americans aren’t assured of the health care they need. Where is the money going? A recent study found that private insurance companies spend 11.7 cents of every health care dollar on administrative costs, mainly advertising and underwriting, compared with 3.6 cents for Medicare and 1.3 cents for Canada’s government-run system … our system is very generous to drug companies and other medical suppliers, because unlike other countries’ systems it doesn’t bargain for lower prices. What would an answer to the growing health care crisis look like? It would surely involve extending coverage to those now uninsured. To keep costs down, it would crack down both on drug prices and on administrative costs. And it might well cut private insurance companies out of the loop for some, if not all, coverage.”
Aside from the tragic human cost, how can we reconcile spending billions of dollars on the occupation of Iraq when so many US citizens suffer from a lack of adequate health care? When education in the US is underfunded?
Dennis
Kucinich’s continuing candidacy is further understood when he explains:
“The Democratic Party is on the verge of obliterating the Iraq issue
in the name of trying to appear tough, and I think therefore stupid on
National Security. The Democrats are ceding the debate to Bush about 9-11.
We should be challenging him for taking us into an illegal war. The administration
should be driven from office principally for leading us into the war in
Iraq. So many of the Democratic leaders are just ready to look the other
way. It’s imperative that we make this a centerpiece of this campaign—that
they lied to get us into a war.
While it may seem that the nomination process is a foregone conclusion, what the Democratic party stands for is not. And so we’re continuing our efforts to press for a new approach in Iraq, where we can bring in UN peacekeepers and bring our troops home. To press for a universal, single-payer, not-for-profit health care system, and to finally get the Democratic party to take a strong position for fair trade.
This campaign is moving forward—with all due respect for Senator Kerry—because we realize the hopes and dreams of so many Americans for a new direction rest on a continuing debate, and we’re going to provide that debate. The Democratic Party needs to represent the broad-based concerns of the American people to win the White House.”
Please cast your vote for another world which is possible. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. To paraphrase a statement once made by former Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber—politicians don’t lead, they just try to stay ahead of the people. So let’s get moving!
