KUCINICH: "CHENEY GUILTY OF APPALLING ARROGANCE"

For Immediate Release: March 7, 2004
Contact: Matt Harris: (o) 216.889.2004, (c) 216.403.3980,
press@kucinich.us

In a blistering criticism of Vice President Dick Cheney – and by extension, President Bush – Democratic Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich said Cheney was guilty of "appalling arrogance, condescension, and disrespect for the American people and U.S. soldiers in Iraq" by making jokes about weapons of mass destruction at Washington’s annual Gridiron dinner. "Weapons of mass destruction are not a joke," declared Kucinich. "Americans have died and Iraqis have died because Cheney and Bush wrongly launched our country into a war based on claims of weapons of mass destruction. That is not funny. It's a tragedy and a shameful fraud of global proportions."

On Saturday night, at the annual dinner sponsored by Washington journalists, Cheney, the featured speaker, likened the chemical botox to a weapon of mass destruction. Although his comments were intended to be off the record, it has since been reported that Cheney said the following: "Botox, of course, is related to the botulism toxin, which can be processed into high-grade biological weapons. We have dispatched Dr. David Kay . . . to search for the bio-warfare agents we believe hidden in Senator Kerry's forehead. If Senator Kerry has used botox as part of a wrinkle enrichment program, he is in violation of U.N. Resolution 752. Upon receiving Dr. Kay's report, the weapons of mass destruction that Senator Kerry so adamantly insists do not exist . . . may well be above his very nose."

"How dare he make light of the death and destruction that the Bush Administration plunged us into with their phony and faulty intelligence? How dare he demean the memories of the American soldiers and civilians who died there? And how dare the elite, inside-the-Beltway Washington journalists abandon both professionalism and decency by laughing?" Kucinich said Cheney owes Sen. Kerry, the citizens of the United States, our allies, the people of Iraq, and the entire world an apology. "The only joke here is an Administration whose policies have produced massive grief and agony, put millions of Americans out of work, left millions without adequate health care, and tarnished the reputation of our beloved nation in every corner of the world," Kucinich said.

If you agree with the below statement, then by all means please sign the petition at:
http://www.petitiononline.com/DJK/petition.html

To: DNC (http://www.democrats.org/convention/), Dennis Kucinich
We are a group of people who do not want to vote for anything less than the platform that Dennis Kucinich has put forth. We want out of Iraq, we want universal health care, we want free college education, we want to bring jobs back and decency to workers by cancelling NAFTA and WTO, we want 20% environmentally friendly energy by 2010, and everything else Kucinich would work hard to bring to us!

We want the DNC to nominate Dennis Kucinich, and many of us (though not all) stand in solidarity to vote only for Dennis Kucinich in November, even if we have to write him in! In fact, we are upset at feeling pressured into thinking that "Anybody But Bush" means "You have to vote for Kerry". We don't think so! We think "Anybody But Bush" could mean Kucinich! We are worried that the DNC is ignoring the large numbers of people, both Democrat, Republican, and Independant, who do not like Kerry at all, and we feel that if you nominate Kerry and ignore this opposition, our party will lose the election in November!

We are also worried that the DNC is ignoring large numbers of people who would not trust Kerry enough to vote for him even *if* Kerry adopted the entire Kucinich platform and chose him as a running mate! We are worried that Nader voters, other independant voters, and our own left leaning democrats, who are currently being ignored, are the very ones that we should be catering to with our nomination of Kucinich, because their small percentage of votes may well be what tips the balance and ensures a democratic victory in November! We want the DNC to consider these things carefully, and see that it is of ultra importance that you choose Kucinich to be the Democratic Nominee!

Sincerely, We The Undersigned [This message has been forwarded by The People For Peace Project]

Opportunities To Shape Dean's Grassroots Movement
From "NYC Friends of Kucinich" Supporter/Volunteer R.Jereski, Is The Following:
Check out The New Democratic Majority
http://www.newdemocraticmajority.com
Organizational Meeting: Monday, March 8th @ 7:30pm

I think that Kucitizens can have a great impact on future organizing for progressive issues by attending this (or similar) meetings in their areas. Join a similar event in your area by checking out the website above. Dean will announce the purpose of his new organization on March 18th and we can have an impact by rallying other progressives (who voted for and organized for Dean) to support a demand to rid the party of the DLC, to call for publicly financed elections, universal healthcare, a renouncing of preemption, and a breakup of the media monopolies etc. Let's not look down our noses at this effort because it was initiated by Dean; let's impact it to make dennis and his and our causes stronger.

In Peace and Solidarity!