Rep. Dennis Kucinich addresses escalation in Afghanistan

[IndianaGreen]

Posted on Dec 1, 2009

Flickr / SEIU International

Rep. Dennis Kucinich in an e-mail to supporters:

Tonight the President will announce an escalation of the war in Afghanistan. An additional 30,000 troops will bring the United States’ total in Afghanistan to 100,000. Tomorrow I will offer an analysis of the President’s plan.

The community I represent in Cleveland, Ohio, is suffering from massive unemployment, record home foreclosures, and small business failures. People are losing their jobs, their health care, their homes, their savings, their investments, and their retirement security. The middle class is gravely threatened. What is happening in Cleveland is occurring nationwide. Yet, Wall Street received over $13 trillion in bailouts, with untold millions for high salaries and bonuses, while Main Street loses its power through unemployment, reduced wages and benefits and little or no access to credit or investment capital. There is something fundamentally wrong with our economy which borrowing more money to spend on war cannot and will not cure. Perhaps nation building should begin at home.

An escalation of the war in Afghanistan at a time of such economic dislocation and hardship raises questions about America’s priorities and whether or not we are losing our way as we attempt to stride aside the globe as some Colossus. Tomorrow we will begin anew the discussion.

Thank you.
Dennis

http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/rep_dennis_kucinich_addresses_escalation_in_afghanistan_20091201/

[debbierlus]

1. Kick & Recommend

I am going to write him in 2012

[man4allcats]

14. Yes, I agree.

He will get my write-in vote as well. He was my choice in 2008, but I voted for candidate Obama because I thought it was the right thing to do at the time. Now I think it's time to simply do the right thing.

[bigjohn16]

2. K&R nt

[Armstead]

3. Hope you have your flack jacket on....

Quoting Dennis K....The source of all evil

It's irrelevant to many on here that he was totally correct about Iraq.

[trueblue2007]

5. Dennis K is RIGHT ON

[LakeSamish706]

4. Do many get this here on DU? Why the hell does Dennis get it, and his supporters....

get it, but others don't seem to.... This country cannot afford an escalation in any wars period. We need to get out of Iraq, get out of Afghanistan, and get out of any place that is costing us money to maintain.

[quiet.american]

7. Have you looked at the Greatest Page. Everyone seems to 'get it'.

Everyone's shocked and disappointed with the president's speech.

Everyone can just barely support him or is advocating for the formation of a third party.

Rejoice! Kooch has won!

[spiritual_gunfighter]

42. +1

The war supporters on DU are a minority, although they are very loud.

[Bluenorthwest]

44. They are loud but they use ineffective tactics

such as lumping all who have any disagreement with Obama on anything into one group and equating it to wanting a personal toy. They show the door far too willingly for any group that hopes to build a lasting consensus, so they are easy to dismiss. What they are standing for is wrong, they opposed it under the last guy, and they will be dragged down by the unpredictable, as will Obama. It is very sad, as wise people know war is not a thing we control, but a thing that will control us.
Loud, but petty and intolerant and more than anything, wrong.

[liquid diamond]

52. I think it's the other way around.

Oh yeah, unrec.

[phleshdef]

6. I'm glad Kucinich chose to ignore that Obama is carrying out a plan to end the war responsibly...

...instead of doing what Kucinich would do and thats attempt to end it all in a foolish, knee jerk fashion that would be disasterous and further show what a naive fool Kucinich is behind all his idealism.

[Baltoman991]

8. That's the truth!!!

Dennis would round them all up into one place and make them sitting ducks. Some just don't understand that you can't just pack up all the troops and all the equipment in one day and safely move them out. But then some would rather just slam Obama daily instead of using their brains.

[IndianaGreen]

11. Obama's plan equals 18 months of slaughter and suffering

and by the time summer 2011 gets here, he will move the goal posts again.

[phleshdef]

12. What a bunch of overdramatic nonsense. You can't even be taken seriously.

[LakeSamish706]

15. Oh yes he can, and she/he is absolutely correct... The goal posts will move once we reach...

the perceived time frame... We have seen this over and over again....

[phleshdef]

22. Except we haven't seen it really, EVER, nice strawman though.

[LakeSamish706]

28. Just wait, you will no doubt see it. n/t

[phleshdef]

39. You are just saying stuff to be saying stuff because you lack any real argument

[emilyg]

31. IndianaGreen is correct.

[tekisui]

40. lol. Bookmarking to go back to later.

It is going to be a bloody year. Then, conditions change. Watch and see.

[brentspeak]

48. Well, you can volunteer to have your own head blown off in Afghanistan

Report back to us if you think the loss of your life was wrongly labeled "overdramatization".

[PurityOfEssence]

35. Level-headed stupidity is still stupidity

It won't work. Such things haven't historically worked.

This pious rectitude and rational puffery mixed with heartfelt heartstring-tugging doesn't mask the obvious fact that this is filtered through favor-currying politicking of the most seedy kind.

Yes, Kucinich has a streak of narcissism and sanctimoniousness, but even at his worst, his vanity pales in comparison. There is a latent demand from far too many that Obama is, by definition, smarter, more spiritual and wiser than all the rest of us put together. To question him is some kind of heresy. This is as creepy as it is unfounded.

This is the ultimate ultra-moderate plan: be manly and fight the big meanies, suck up to dissenters by only having a "modest" escalation, and still feed the lie that Al Queda will be stronger if only they have a country to "train" in.

It's funny: "naive" is one of the classic reactionary dismissals of liberals...

[midnight armadillo]

50. "end the war"...with 30,000 extra troops?

And $90 billion in borrowed money? What planet does this equation make sense on?

[jefferson_dem]

9. Poor Saint Dennis...

Is he strong enough to carry that cross?

[Rosa Luxemburg]

10. If the neocons didn't exist, if the right didn't exist........

then there would be no warmongering

[dred654321]

13. Oh that Evil Liberal Dennis

just like that Maxine crazy kook Waters. How DARE they question Obama's policies. Why Maxine must be a racist, and Dennis, well he's just an evil liberal. Pro-war! USA! USA! 29 dimentional chess and all that.

[LakeSamish706]

18. You saw that as well huh? Maxine Waters cannot sanction this Obama move....

Now that works just fine for me. Lets hope that Finegold and others can stop the money flow on this escalation.

[dred654321]

20. here here

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

If he wants nation building to begin at home...

why stand against health care reform?

[Cha]

26. "Nation building"? Did not dennis listen to the speech?

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

30. Apparently not.

Or maybe he's just making a fool of himself again.

[Cha]

33. Apparently not, indeed.

Opportunity knocking?

[jeanpalmer]

16. Thank you, Dennis

At least one person has his eye focused on what's important. You can't say it any better than that.

[FrenchieCat]

17. This is before the speech from a man who voted to give Bush authorization

to go where we still are.

Fuck that shit.

[LakeSamish706]

21. Sorry Frenchie... I am usually on your side, but not on this one I am afraid....

This escalation is just wrong period.... This conflict/war should never have been waged, and cannot be won IMO... How the hell does one win this? Afghanistan has a corrupt President, they have corrupt war lords, and they have Taliban (which are home grown) This is a pit of no win...

[FrenchieCat]

24. You don't have to be on my side.

That's not the point.

[LakeSamish706]

25. Your correct, I don't have to be, but usually agree with most of your posts....

That's all I'm saying....

[FrenchieCat]

29. Cool!

Well anyways, it's gonna be a tough go,
and Obama has enough people who won't support him
for one thing or another.

I'm just glad that we have gone to a never ending War on Terror to 18 months timeline to withdraw in Afghanistan. For me, that's change, and it is priceless, even if it ain't Utopian peace party time....it not where we were.

I trust his motives.
He doesn't want to stay there,
but he does want AQ neutralized.

[Cha]

23. He's such a little

opportunist.

[LakeSamish706]

27. How the hell do you figure that anyway? Dennis is one guy who tells it like he sees it.

"Such an opportunist" Get stuffed... Geez.

[Cha]

32. Oh, I hit a nerve..all you can do is tell me to get stuffed.

My opinion is that dennis is a fucking little opportunist.

http://www.jessekb.com/2007/04/26/dennis-kucinich-is-a-swarmy-pro-life-opportunist/

http://2politicaljunkies.blogspot.com/2007/11/dennis-kucinich-hearts-ron-paul.html

And, just to be clear..I don't care what he looks like.

http://crooksandliars.com/2007/11/27/bipartisan-bedfellows#comment-262863

[HamdenRice]

43. On DN! this morning, he said he would be allied with far right congressional reps!

I'm beginning to think he's some sort of republican plant -- just as the republicans bankrolled Sharpton's Democratic primary to make the Democrats look marginal and kooky.

I can't wait to get the Democracy Now! rush transcript. It was quite bizarre. First Amy mentioned that he was on Fox News yesterday criticizing the Democratic administration, then Amy asked him whether he felt he was in alliance with right wing republicans, and he said it was. He said party affiliation and left/right distinctions don't mean anything.

I was like WTF?

It's one thing to be the left wing conscience of the party/caucus (Sanders, Feingold), but there's something way to convenient to the republicans in the Kooch's antics.

Solid republican voting record on Obama administration's initiatives - check
Goes on Fox news more than mainstream news channels - check
Bashes other Democrats - check
Thinks of Ron Paul as a choice of running mate - check
Announces alliance with right wing republicans - check

[LittleBlue]

19. K&R. President is dead wrong on this issue. He fiddles while Main Street burns

Wars, bailouts, etc. The average American is overlooked.

[quiet.american]

34. Recovery.gov nt

[Divine Discontent]

36. thank you, good man Dennis!

[Vidar]

37. K&R

[LWolf]

38. K & R nt

[Myrina]

41. WTF was up with Gergen on CNN last night?

DK gave a sort of 'progressives rebuttal' to Obama's speech and after his comments to Wolf, Wolf asked the panel for their thoughts and Gergen said "Lets just not address Mr Kucinich, let's move on" ... AND THEY DID.

WTF??? Because your CORPORATE WAR PARTY has no response for the 100% practical and factual statements that Congressman Kucinich offered, Dave?

:mad: :mad:

[IndianaGreen]

46. I saw that! Gergen didn't want to talk about the points raised by Kucinich

It was a versions of "move along, nothing to see here!"

[Bluenorthwest]

45. Dennis supports equal rights for me and my family and for all

Americans. Obama does not. This makes it easy to stand with Dennis, for Peace and equality, as opposed to Obama, for war and prejudice.
It is simple politics. Obama stands against my family's good. He speaks against our equality, he even fires our people from the military, even as we need their courage and skill more than ever due to Obama's own escalation of war.
Dennis stands with me, Obama stands with the religious right wing against me. I ask honestly, why on earth would anyone vote against their own family, or support the war of a man who thinks your family is deserving of inequality and public scorn?
I say this war can be fought by those who support it. By those who agree with him that gay people should be second class semi citizens. Donnie McClurkin needs to volunteer for his good friend's war, seeing as he is no longer gay. Rich Warren needs to call his church to service.
Let me know when Donnie or Josh DuBois volunteer for service. Just after hell freezes over.

[ncteechur]

47. It's easy for old Dennis to make noise--he's got nothing to lose.

[IndianaGreen]

51. Our troops have nothing to lose but their lives and limbs in this misguided war!

Not to mention the inevitable number of civilian casualties.

Let's not lose sight of what is really important here!

[DesertRat]

49. k&r