Thursday, December 14, 2006

The Great Deflector (with apologies to The Platters)

Oh yes, I'm the great deflector
Pretending that I will stand true
The need is such I deflect so much
To ensure that most states remain blue.

Oh yes, I'm the great deflector
World peace is the name of my game
I'll stand so tall until near the Fall
and then my resolve becomes lame...
I'm showing my age here. Of course, this is a parody of The Platter's 1956 #1 hit, "The Great Pretender". In my version, the song is sung by none other than Rep. Dennis Kucinich.

As most of you have probably heard by now, Kucinich has decided to launch another bid for the Democratic nomination for the presidency. Supposedly, his move is being made to give greater voice to anti-war supporters, but, after watching Dennis fold up his tent in 2004 by parroting the party line afterwards, I think there is a far different motivation at work.

Instead of being a champion for peace, I think Kucinich's true motivation is to attempt to deflect the possibility of a third party anti-war candidate garnering as much support as they might. His campaign will attract most of the support and money because people will say that Dennis has the most viable shot at winning. My response is that Kucinich has as much chance of securing the Democratic nomination as I do of spewing gold doubloons from me arse!

No, it's far more likely that we'll see a repeat of his 2004 performance. In the earliest days of the campaign, he'll come out swinging by speaking the tough talk. As the campaign gets into full swing, he'll tone down his rhetoric a tad. Once the primary season is ushered in and he finds himself coming in near the bottom in each state, he'll promise to push ahead all the way to the convention and to ensure that anti-war voices aren't ignored in the party platform. At the convention, he'll be a virtual no show and next to none of us campaign planks will appear in the party platform. In the end, being a good party man, he'll urge his supporters to back the pro-war Democratic candidate -- just like Washington state's own Mark Wilson!

The anti-war movement doesn't need a part-time candidate! We need to support someone who will carry the banner of peace and justice from Day 1 all the way to Election Day -- just like our own Aaron Dixon. And we need someone who will champion the environment, solar energy, labor rights, universal healthcare, gay marriage, progressive taxation and host of other issues.

Dennis Kucinich has already proven he is not the right person for this important job.

2 comments:

  1. Kucinich is passionate guy and I like some of what he says. However, the candidate that I like right now is Barack Obama. He was against the war from day 1 as well and seems to have a better shot at winning. He is charismatic, balanced, full of faith and down to Earth.

    Great blog by the way.

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  2. Kucinich was our favorite of the 2004 batch, but only because he was the most alternative mainstream candidate. What we really need is a true alternative candidate, like your Aaron Dixon. Unfortunately, no matter how righteous his platform, Dixon is up against a system and a voting public that rewards compliance and conformity and punishes difference and integrity. Which is no reason not to run - quite the contrary. The more people of true integrity we have running for office, the more visible the invisible will become, and the more people will start really THINKING about who they're voting for, rather than just voting for the person with the most money, the most airplay, or the most competitive campaign.

    It's a scenario worth hoping for.

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