Gore Vidal on Dennis Kucinich

[tekisui]

The Nation


As I pass through the stage door of one auditorium after another, I now hear the ominous name of Darth Vader, as edgy audiences shudder at the horrible direction our political discourse has taken. Ever eager as I am to shed light, I sometimes drop the name of the least publicized applicant to the creaky throne of the West: Dennis Kucinich.

It takes a moment for the name to sink in.

Then genuine applause begins. He is very much a favorite out there in the amber fields of grain, and I work him into the text. A member of the House of Representatives for five terms since 1997, although many of his legislative measures have been too useful and original for our brain-dead media to comprehend. I note his well-wrought articles proposing the impeachment of Vice President Cheney, testing the patriotic nerves of his fellow Democrats, but then the fact of his useful existence often causes distress to those who genuinely hate that democracy he is so eager to extend. "Don't waste your vote," they whine in unison--as if our votes are not quadrennially wasted on those marvelous occasions when they are actually counted and recorded.

(snip)


Kucinich has also written a description of his Dickensian youth, growing up in Cleveland. He has firsthand knowledge of urban poverty in the world's richest nation. Born in 1946 into a Croatian Catholic family, by the time he was 17 he and his family had lived in twenty-one different places, much of which he describes in Dreiserian detail in a just-published memoir.

Kucinich is opposed to the death penalty as well as the USA Patriot Act. In 1998 and 2004 he was a US delegate to the United Nations convention on climate change. At home he has been active in Rust Belt affairs, working to preserve the ninety-
year-old Cleveland steel industry, a task of the sort that will confront the next President should he or she have sufficient interest in these details.

I asked a dedicated liberal his impression of Kucinich; he wondered if Kucinich was too slight to lead a nation of truly fat folk. I pointed out that he has the same physical stature as James Madison, as well as a Madisonian commitment to our 1789 Constitution; he is also farsighted, as demonstrated by his resolute opposition to Bush's cries for ever more funding for the illegal wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

More to the point, in October 2002 he opposed the notion of a war then being debated. For those of us at home and in harm's way from disease, he co-wrote HR 676, a bill that would insure all of us within Medicare, just as if we were citizens of a truly civilized nation.


more at link: http://www.thenation.com/doc/20071126/vidal

[pretzel4gore]

1. Gore Vidal is the upper class twittery's

salvation
:) :) :) :) :)
Go Dennis! James Madison indeed!

[flvegan]

2. K&R, and thanks for posting.

[tuckessee]

3. Kick & 4th rec.

Thanks for posting this.

[Individualist]

4. K&R

[ladjf]

5. I would be very pleased to see Kucinich as our next President.

[Baby Snooks]

17. It could happen...

He could be our next president if enough Democrats looked at him in terms of who would do the most good for our country and turned out at the polls and made their vote count where it counts most. In the primary. Who has DONE the most for this country? Dennis Kucinich. Who stood up to his own party "leadership" and at least gave the rest of us a voice by filing a resolution calling for impeachment? Who has always given us a voice? Even if some chose not to hear it?

Instead they most likely will go for "most likely to succeed" and indeed they may. They may succeed in destroying what's left of this country.

[Baby Snooks]

31. On second thought...

I posted this before someone posted about Elizabeth Kucinich stating that he would consider Ron Paul as his VP. Which is like the rest of the candidates stating that whoever won, they would consider Lieberman as their VP. Why would a Democrat consider a Republican as his VP?

First the UFOs. Now Ron Paul. Maybe he is considering a run as an Independent. But still. Ron Paul? I would rather have Lieberman.

[Alexander]

34. If you really have a problem with what Elizabeth Kucinich said...

Then don't vote for her in the election.

[WheelWalker]

38. I'd rather have a loathsome disease than have either

Lieberman or Paul sitting second chair, no matter who's in first.

[ljm2002]

6. It makes me love Gore Vidal more than ever...

...if that is possible.

"Then genuine applause begins."

I have noticed that too -- in the last debate, with his 5-1/2 minutes of time, Kucinich seemed to get applause more often than not.

People like what he has to say. That is why the debate formats are designed to absolutely minimize him and how much time he gets to speak.

[Faux pas]

7. Just goes to show you...

DK is the 'thinking' person's candidate. A hearty R, wish I could give it more than one!

[Seabiscuit]

8. "...just as if we were citizens of a truly civilized nation."

Stange how in Amerika a man like Kucinich who stands for being truly civilized is so marginalized and derided.

[Kurovski]

9. "Dreiserian detail". I love Mr. Vidal.

Go Dennis! K&R.

[JohnnyRingo]

10. Thanx for the link

When the name Kucinich comes up here in NE Ohio, my conservative friends chuckle that "he's the idiot who took Cleveland into bankruptcy".

After I brief over the historic relationship between big money and Muny Light, and how his resolve at the time saved the people of Cleveland millions of dollars in escalated electric bills, they look at me like I'm the idiot.

Such is the power of AM radio. It numbs the brain with simple sound bites and trains one to reject more complex explanations.

Ironically, these Ditto-Heads are the idiots who sit on barstools across the country pleading for:

War for profit
"Protection" from consumer lawsuits
Lower minimum wage
An end to welfare
Social Security "reform"
De-regulation of utility companies
and "closing the borders" to everything except trade

I'd rather be called a working class idiot, than a wealthy man's puppet.

Go DK

[snot]

43. Shows the value of media control. nt

[TahitiNut]

11. "'Don't waste your vote,' they whine in unison--as if our votes are not quadrennially wasted ..."

Word! :rofl:

But the whiney, 'pragmatic,' partisan DINO egoists think themselves sooo canny and smart. Obviously, Mr. Vidal is some deluded, mentally-deficient, "woo-woo" lefty whose perspectives are nowhere neary as well-formed as the butt-kissing organization types.

:eyes:

[libnnc]

13. See, until Skinner gets the new and improved DU up and running

I can't start recommending individual posts.

:shakefistinair: Curses!

[inthebrain]

15. We were able to defeat Lieberman in the primary election

with Lamont.

I think folks are terrified of their DINO candidates getting the same treatment via Kucinich. That's why they proclaim your wasting your vote on the guy or that he can't win.

I don't agree with all that is Kucinich. I'm to the left of him on a lot of issues. Looking at the long term effect of his candidacy it could serve as sort of a "Goldwater" candidacy. The Democratic party needs a HUGE shakeup and frauds like Edwards, Biden and Clinton need to be tossed. Or at least made REALLY uncomfortable.

[LWolf]

16. I will NOT waste my vote.

That's why DK will get my vote.

That's why dlc/centrist/3rd way/corporatists candidates will NEVER get my vote.

[magellan]

18. Word.

I wasted my vote on dlc/centrist/3rd way/corporatists candidates in the last two elections and regret it. This time it will NOT be wasted and I will NOT regret.

[scarletwoman]

12. Wish I could rec twice -- once for Kucinich and once for Gore Vidal!

In any case, here's my one rec and a kick...

sw

[proReality]

14. Intelligence runs in the Gore family. n/t

[Tuesday Afternoon]

28. wo0t

:applause:

;)

:rofl:

[lostnfound]

46. They are actually related, you know. nt

[wildbilln864]

19. Kucinich Rocks! n/t

[Kucinich4America]

20. Another kick for Dennis!

Thanks to Mr. Vidal for a great read as well.

Dennis is electable. All you gotta do is show up and vote. There is NO frontrunner in this campaign yet. Hillary doesn't have a single vote, nor does Obama, Edwards, or any of the Repiggies, for that matter.

[L0oniX]

21. K&R

[undeterred]

22. Strength Through Peace.

:kick:

[roxnev]

23. Gore vidal sounds like

sounds like hair spray. but he or she is right on DK

[burrowowl]

25. Welcome to DU!

I highly recommend that you read some of Gore Vidal's books and essays. He and Al are cousins.
Gore Vidal is intelligent, scholarly and witty as hell!

[peacetalksforall]

36. If you can't get around to reading a Vidal book - read on of his articles -

nearly anyone of them. You may recognize some old-fashioned American logic, not the living lies of pnacers neo-cons, and especially their fanatical religious devotees.

There may be some corporate and baron scholars as intelligent and articulate as Vidal, but they won't be coming from the same place.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

39. I've have a hardback copy of "Burr" I've tried to wade thru.

A fictionalized biography of Aaron Burr, the duellist.

[sarcasmo]

24. Dennis has my Vote.

[Swagman]

26. Gore The Great

:thumbsup:

[Greyhound]

27. K & R, for two of my favorite people on earth.

If only the average American were capable of comprehending Gore Vidal's writing, with its extensive vocabulary and complicated ideas, we might not be the laughing stock of the planet.

Alas...





click my banner and show Dennis that DU loves him...

[Oldenuff]

29. Terrific article...

But,let's not discuss Dennis OK?The the last thing we need is a free thinker for President.:sarcasm:

Now,who had the best looking hair at the last debate?Hillary sure looks good in a pantsuit huh?Maybe not as good as Guliani,but pretty darn good.(and she's electable...and a WOMAN!)WoooHooo!!

[pleah]

30. Vidal re: Kucinich

Against the war, for impeachment, against the death penalty, what are people waiting for? He (Kucinich) also READS! Wow, what a difference it would make if others in the House and Senate did their jobs!

[scarletwoman]

32. Welcome to DU! Great first post!

:hi:

sw

[Highway61]

51. Right on

Welcome to DU :hi:

[BigBearJohn]

33. The PURRRFECT reply to those who would say a vote for Kucinich is a wasted vote:

from the referenced article:

"as if our votes are not quadrennially wasted on those marvelous
occasions when they are actually counted and recorded."

I LOVE IT!

[Maat]

35. I love that quote, BBJ ..

and I'm going to use it in response to those who question the wisdom of voting for Dennis.

Strength through peace!

[Overseas]

37. Well said! Gorgeous verbiage! K&R... eom

[Desertrose]

40. Nice. Thanks.

K&R

[Prophet 451]

41. Dennis suffers for the superficiality of modern politics

If this was a presidential bid of, say, fifty years ago, Kooch would be a shoe-in. Thoughtful, intelligent, compassionate and usually right.

Sadly, modern politics is so superficial that I suspect Kooch is going to be sunk by the fact that he's short, vegan, not especially good-looking and not the world's best public speaker.

[GMFORD]

44. It's more than that.

Dennis has accomplished a lot but self-agrandizement does not come easily to him. He's more comfortable talking about his plans for the future.

[MonkeyFunk]

45. The notion that politics was better in the past

is just false nostalgia.

There was no time when giants debated, free of spin, free of media attacks.

In fact, it used to be much worse than it is today.

edit: fixed typo.

[Prophet 451]

55. I'm not so sure

Granted, there have been periods when it was much worse than today. For example, the rise of the penny press was marked by relentlessly partisan attacks. But, just within my own lifetime, it does seem to be getting cruder, more emotion driven, more sensationalist. Or perhaps I'm being mugged down nostalgia lane.

[burrowowl]

42. Kick for the night

I've already R'ed!

[NotGivingUp]

47. Gore Vidal and Dennis Kucinich...two voices of reason in a world of madness. n/t

[bonito]

48. K&R!

[Le Taz Hot]

49. Excellent article.

K & R.

[redqueen]

50. "as if we were citizens of a truly civilized nation"

Hah. :thumbsup:

[gauguin57]

52. I haven't forgiven Gore Vidal for supporting Nader over his OWN COUSIN in 2000.

(Vidal is a distant cousin of Al Gore).

[pberq]

53. kick - Gore Vidal is a national treasure

[snappyturtle]

54. Wish I could K&R this but too much time has elapsed. The more

I learn about Dennis Kucinich and the more I see him actually try, unlike so many others with big mouths and no action, the better I like him. Thanks for posting this!

[me b zola]

56. Pleased to kick this thread

...displeased that I saw the thread too late to recommend.


:kick: