Did Dennis Kucinich Just Make Sense?

As Democrats get their knickers in a twist over a Nevada debate in which Fox News is a participant, Dennis Kucinich actually says something eminently sensible:

If you want to be the President of the United States, you can’t be afraid to deal with people with whom you disagree politically,” Kucinich said. “No one is further removed from Fox’s political philosophy than I am, but fear should not dictate decisions that affect hundreds of millions of Americans and billions of others around the world who are starving for real leadership.”Kucinich said “the public deserves honest, open, and fair public debate, and the media have a responsibility to demand that candidates come forward now, before the next war vote in Congress, to explain themselves.”“I’m prepared to discuss the war, health care, trade, or any other issue anytime, anywhere, with any audience, answering any question from any media. And any candidate who won’t shouldn’t be President of the United States.

Indeed, he’s right. Fox News is no less biased than the New York Times (although more prone to sensationalism), but that doesn’t mean that Republicans should dodge debates sponsored by the Times — in fact, if Republicans had the policy of not debating in front of any news agency with a pro-Democratic bias, they’d probably never be able to participate in a televised debate.

The whole silly little controversy about the Nevada debates is pure political pandering, and nothing but. No doubt that a candidate in a general election would not give up the free airtime, but since the Democrats are currently in a race to try to suck up to the “netroots” and the radical left, there’s no political price to be paid by skipping this debate.

When even Dennis Kucinich starts making more sense than most of the Democratic field on an issue, one knows that there’s something off…

11 thoughts on “Did Dennis Kucinich Just Make Sense?

  1. I agree wholeheartedly, except for the last phrase in your last sentence. When even dyed-in-the-wool conservatives start thinking that Dennis Kucinich makes more sense than most of the Democratic field on an issue, it’s time to wake up and recognize that Kucinich speaks for us all.

    Iraq was a mistake, and Dennis Kucinich knew it from the beginning. National health care, Medicare for all, is the best way to go, and Congressman Kucinich has a bill in Congress (HR 676), the Conyers-Kucinich Health Care Bill, that would do just that. Kucinich wants us out of NAFTA, CAFTA, and all the other un-fair trade agreements that have cost this country so many good-paying jobs.

    Mainstream ideas, every one, yet none of the Democrats running for President dare to follow his lead. It is time to rethink Kucinich. http://www.kucinich.us

  2. Sorry Jean, but Kucinich certainly doesn’t speak for me. Nationalized health care would be a disaster that would make our health care system infinitely worse than it is now. Ending free trade would be another huge disaster that would cause millions of Americans to lose their jobs and wreck the economy.

    And don’t get me started on a “Department of Peace” either…

    Kucinich is a legitimately nice guy, but he’s not exactly the most realistic thinker out there. I don’t doubt the honesty of his convictions, just that those convictions don’t translate into very smart policy.

  3. National Health Care would give us hospitals with the efficiency of the US Postal Service, the thriftiness of the Pentagon and the compassion of the IRS. Our wound soldiers go to Walter Reed—and live with mold growing on the walls and mice running in the hallway. Ask anyone who has worked at a Veteran’s Hospital if we want expand that system of (non) care.

  4. Dennis Kucinich, like Paul Wellstone, has the courage of his convictions. They just happen to be wrong.

  5. …so if fox news isn’t more biased than the NYT, how do you explain its response to the libby verdict?

    It was true.

    Libby was only convicted of four of the five charges. Fox listed the each count in the crawl. Libby was found not guilty of lying to the FBI.

    In other words, the supposed “lie” is itself a lie.

  6. Eracus, if Kucinich and Wellstone were wrong and you were right, show us where Hussein had the capacity to produce a mushroom cloud.

    Jay:

    “No doubt that a candidate in a general election would not give up the free airtime, but since the Democrats are currently in a race to try to suck up to the “netroots” and the radical left, there’s no political price to be paid by skipping this debate.”

    Except that in the current deranged climate of full-time Presidential campaign coverage 21 months before the election, the candidates get plenty of free airtime as is, except of course for marginal candidates like Kucinich. And the more the party can keep him off camera, the better for them (or so they think at least). I see absolutely no reason why its in the Dems’ interest to play footsie with a news organization that is the propaganda arm of their opposition.

  7. “I see absolutely no reason why its in the Dems’ interest to play footsie with a news organization that is the propaganda arm of their opposition.”

    Right. Being defeatists, it’s always in the Democrats’ interest to run away from what they cannot overcome, even if it’s only Dennis Kucinich.

    And we should let these chickens run the country?

  8. Saying we should make Osama bin Laden Chief Justice of the Supreme Court would also be “new and different” — but also an incredibly dumb idea.

    Just because Kucinch has ideas which are “new and different” doesn’t mean that his ideas are logical, rational, or wise.

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