Kucinich on O'Neill Revelations ... Statement Announced on January 11th

Dennis' campaign for the presidency developed out of the response to a speech he gave in February 2002 opposing the Bush Administration's build-up to a war on Iraq.

Dennis today released this statement in response to former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill's charges that President Bush entered office in January 2001 intent on invading Iraq and was in search of a way to go about it:

"These revelations are not just about the past. The Bush Administration is still with us. They manufactured justifications for the war, and they are now manufacturing justifications for continuing this occupation. The war is NOT over, and the invention of justifications for it is not over. Even Democratic presidential candidates are joining in. But the idea that we can stabilize Iraq and develop a legitimate democracy prior to turning control over to the United Nations is as impossible to believe as were the claims about an imminent threat from vast stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction."

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Some responses from folk when they hear I'm a volunteer on the Kucinich campaign. "I love Kucinich, but he can't win." What to tell folk like that ... you and I tell them that "He CAN win if you vote for him!" Also mention that "The primary is NOT the time to be worrying about electability. This is the vote that will tell the party and the world which candidate YOU want. This is the moment that you MUST vote your values, not someone elses. Plus, worry about the electability [anyone buy Bushie] stuff later. I've told a few folk that it "never was about hanging chads or Ralph Nader". It pretty much had to do with Jeb Bush and Katherine Harris in Florida who ILLEGALLY purged thousands of voters from the voting rolls just a few weeks before election. So these voters would not get notice or be able to appeal. Journalist Greg Palast talks about it at length ... his website is:

http://www.gregpalast.com

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Fascinating post from the Kucinich National Volunteer Discussion Forum, which was posted last week. Check it out, if you wish:

America, Can You Hear Me Now?

Midway on our peace walk from New York City to San Francisco my fourteen year old son and I have noticed a rather interesting phenomenon. The newspapers and television networks would have us believe that the country’s democrats support Howard Dean – and by a long shot. The newspapers and television networks would also have us believe that Howard Dean has things locked up in Iowa.

Hmm. This is simply not what we see from the ground, and not what we hear either.

From what we see here in Des Moines, 80% of the currently placed front yard political posters support Dennis Kucinich. I drove the neighborhoods yesterday. Thought I would be inundated with Dean posters. I saw exactly one. Kucinich posters were all over town. In neighborhoods wealthy and poor, in poster sizes large and small. Even the political billboards were 100% Kucinich.

Yesterday evening and this afternoon I randomly telephoned people who usually caucus every four years here in Des Moines. Guess what? Of the 20 people I reached and talked to, nine solidly supported Dennis Kucinich. A few were solid Dean supporters. Most of the others were leaning for either Kerry or Edwards, but not solidly.

Dennis’s supporters came in all shapes and sizes. Students and professionals. Young and old. Blue collar, white collar, and retired.

So what is it with the polls? Here’s what I think. Dennis’s grass roots campaign is working. And if I were a Kucinich supporter out there in television land, feeling rather lonely and neglected, fasten your seat belt. This campaign is taking off like a rocket.

Dennis has name recognition here in Iowa and his level of acceptance here in Des Moines in nothing less than stunning. What a cool thing to watch happen. What a cool thing to be a part of. And here’s something else most of us have already come to understand. The polls will probably never indicate this. And the networks will never report it.

Think about it. If you were running for mayor of Des Moines and you vocally opposed the hiring, firing, union, and editorial policies of The Des Moines Register, exactly how much coverage from said newspaper could you expect? So I have one simple question for the people of this country who would like to assert the possession of brains unwashed by insidious network propaganda: Can you hear me now? If so, here’s the urgent message from a father and his teenage son walking across America for peace -- let it be known: Dennis Kucinich is on the rise.

Tom Schmitz
Des Moines, Iowa
Wednesday, January 7, 2004