Mother Jones: Dennis Kucinich's Syria Problem

[Freddie Stubbs]

Here's a good rule-of-thumb for any congressman: When someone accuses you of supporting a brutal, fascist-influenced regime that is openly slaughtering its own people, it's generally a good idea to respond with an unambiguous "No, I do not support, and I strongly denounce, the actions of ."

That advice seems to have been lost on Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), who has drawn some attention for his most recent "fact-finding" mission to Syria.

Things got sticky for Kucinich on Tuesday, when the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), an arm of the Ministry of Information, reported that the congressman had commended Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad for his willingness to "negotiate":

There are some who want to give a wrong picture about what is going on in Syria... Assad cares so much about what is taking place in Syria, which is evident in his effort towards a new Syria and everybody who meets him can be certain of this... is highly loved and appreciated by the Syrians... What I saw in Syria in terms of the open discussion for change... and the desire for national dialogue is a very positive thing.

more: http://motherjones.com/mojo/2011/06/dennis-kucinich-syria-problem?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Motherjones%2Fmojoblog+%28MotherJones.com+|+MoJoBlog%29

[Davis_X_Machina]

1. He's a hero...

...I only wish he would move on to Tripoli and stand side-by-side in solidarity with Col. Qadaffi and the Libyan people in their heroic, lonely stand against NATO/EU-petro-capitalist agggression.

[UnseenUndergrad]

5. Oy Gevalt

I'm going to ignore for a minute that this story has nothing to do with the presidency for the sole reason that lately, articles that should be in GD are being run off by the sheer amount of fringe crazy in that forum. It seems to happen on a yearly basis.

However, to hear support for a murderous, pseudo-Stalinist, repressive regime (and one that is LOSING, I might add) on this forum is not only so ludicrous as to be almost unbelievable, flying in the face of the internationalism that I have come to respect, but it is also so archaic that I must ask you what year you think this is. The Cold War is over, the Iron Curtain no longer exists, the Kremlin has (practically) chosen to embrace a new strategic partner in Libya in the form of the NTC and I don't know about you, but from what I've heard, Tripoli residents are treating the bombs as signs of joy than as portents of doom.

This isn't Iraq, This isn't Vietnam (well, maybe if we had armed Ho Chi Minh) and while Oil is certainly a factor among many, the deals aren't going to change after the war is over.

At the very least, we should be happy that one of Bush's pet dictators is being kicked out after far too long.

[Kingofalldems]

2. Unrec for using a using a site for Democrats

to incessantly attack Democrats.

[Freddie Stubbs]

6. Mother Jones incessantly attacks Democrats?

:shrug:

[RoryK]

3. Is Mr Kucinich running for president again?

If not, why should this matter?

[CakeGrrl]

4. It matters if he's undermining a Dem president and/or his administration's position

regarding strategy in dealing with that nation or its leader.

[Name removed]

8. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Freddie Stubbs]

7. Right before the 2006 election he said that he would not run in 2008

He then went on to run in 2008. So the fact that he has said that he is not running this time is suspect at best.

[iandhr]

9. Assad

It a brutish thug murdering his own people. I proudly call my self a liberal. Kucinich is a extremist who gives liberalism a bad name.