Wake Up, America! by Dennis Kucinich (DNC speech)

Big Thanks to Lo

by Dennis Kucinich
Aug 26, 2008

2008 Democratic National Convention Committee

It’s Election Day 2008. We Democrats are giving America a wake-up call. Wake up, America. In 2001, the oil companies, the war contractors and the neo-con artists seized the economy and have added 4 trillion dollars of unproductive spending to the national debt. We now pay four times more for defense, three times more for gasoline and home heating oil and twice what we paid for health care.

Millions of Americans have lost their jobs, their homes, their health care, their pensions. Trillions of dollars for an unnecessary war paid with borrowed money. Tens of billions of dollars in cash and weapons disappeared into thin air, at the cost of the lives of our troops and innocent Iraqis, while all the president’s oilmen are maneuvering to grab Iraq’s oil.

Borrowed money to bomb bridges in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. No money to rebuild bridges in America. Money to start a hot war with Iran. Now we have another cold war with Russia, while the American economy has become a game of Russian roulette.

If there was an Olympics for misleading, mismanaging and misappropriating, this administration would take the gold. World records for violations of national and international laws. They want another four-year term to continue to alienate our allies, spend our children’s inheritance and hollow out our economy.

We can’t afford another Republican administration. Wake up, America. The insurance companies took over health care. Wake up, America. The pharmaceutical companies took over drug pricing.

Wake up, America. The speculators took over Wall Street. Wake up, America. They want to take your Social Security. Wake up, America. Multinational corporations took over our trade policies, factories are closing, good paying jobs lost.

Wake up, America. We went into Iraq for oil. The oil companies want more. War against Iran will mean $10-a-gallon gasoline. The oil administration wants to drill more, into your wallet. Wake up, America. Weapons contractors want more. An Iran war will cost 5 to 10 trillion dollars.

This administration can tap our phones. They can’t tap our creative spirit. They can open our mail. They can’t open economic opportunities. They can track our every move. They lost track of the economy while the cost of food, gasoline and electricity skyrockets. They skillfully played our post-9/11 fears and allowed the few to profit at the expense of the many. Every day we get the color orange, while the oil companies, the insurance companies, the speculators, the war contractors get the color green.

Wake up, America. This is not a call for you to take a new direction from right to left. This is call for you to go from down to up. Up with the rights of workers. Up with wages. Up with fair trade. Up with creating millions of good paying jobs, rebuilding our bridges, ports and water systems. Up with creating millions of sustainable energy jobs to lower the cost of energy, lower carbon emissions and protect the environment.

Up with health care for all. Up with education for all. Up with home ownership. Up with guaranteed retirement benefits. Up with peace. Up with prosperity. Up with the Democratic Party. Up with Obama-Biden.

Wake up, America. Wake up, America. Wake up, America.

This is why you need to support Dennis Kucinich

Let's get this party started

One of the strangest quirks of political theater is when two traditional enemies overlap. The unlikliest of bedfellows can be made when one ideology finds common footing with its adversary. For instance, I've noticed an echo of "Paul/Kucinich" ricocheting through the congested tubes of the internets, but these two men couldn't be more different. Ron "Dr. No" Paul, a libertarian almost to the point of religious devotion, and Dennis "Sea Biscuit" Kucinich, a Euro-style socialist, appear to have nothing in common except the mutual hatred of their respective parties.

What unites them in our minds?

There's something that scares members of their parties, causing these men to be openly mocked by the bought-and-paid-for tier of the campaign. It is exactly this division which concerns me, and millions of other voters who feel voiceless in an ocean of disinformation. Let's try and discover what characteristics make "Paul/Kucinich" a perfect political marriage then call for their secession and the creation of a third, viable party, one a socialist and libertarian can inhabit without contradiction. How would such a party behave? Is there a way to construct a "big tent" of this size and thrive?

Although integrity and honesty are two obvious points of contact, there's something deeper underscoring their candidacies. Ron Paul has been principled in beating back the oppressive forces of big government and Dennis Kucinich has made it his mission to slay the dragons of corporate domination. But to what end? The answer is, simply put, equality. Not equality for the wealthy but for the other 99% of the population, you know, the majority! Funny thing about democracies, typically leaders are compelled to listen to majorities, but I guess we're more sophisticated than that. It would be the primary goal of this new party to promote equality, the yardstick by which all legislation will be measured.

The biggest way this new party would differ from the two others would be in the wallet. If you want to "summer" in Fiji on BP's dollar this party is not for you. All funds will come from public donations (not lobbyists) who care about the party. This way the only group holding sway would be the public. For the duration of this country's existence our leaders have been selected from a rather shallow pool of candidates namely the cultured class. As much fun as these adventures in meritocracy have been one of the aims of our new party would be to demolish this restriction, opening up the political arena to anybody of merit. Man or woman. Jew or gentile. Black or white. Gay or straight. Town hall meetings would be held all across the nation, even during non-election years, and would be open to everybody who cares to join and inject their perspective. Everyone has equal chance of getting the party's nomination, regardless of economic status, and after demonstrating their exceptionalness would receive full monetary support.

Because of the party's inclusiveness plenty of internal debates could be expected. This would strengthen, not weaken, its potency. As compared to the artificial, often arbitrary, boundaries drawn between the established parties, our platform wouldn't need to conform to any one ideology - just what's best for the equality of Americans. This is how a Ron Paul and a Dennis Kucinich would move in concert.

Underrepresented Americans would no longer be pressured into choosing between a false dichotomy. With each issue we could form our own conclusions and make them known to our representatives who would be empathetic to our concerns as our elected officials would surface from our ranks. The media would be expected to give our new party equal opportunity to tell its story and ample chance to elucidate the dishonesty of the two corporate blocs. It is time to enact a tricameral party structure composed of Republicans, Democrats and Equalitarians, and to finally realize the promise of equality made by our founding fathers two hundred thirty-one years ago.

If you're mad as hell and refuse to take it anymore turn your back on the Republicans and Democrats and proclaim yourself an Equalitarian.

Ron Paul or Dennis Kucinich in '08?

It seemed 2008 election talk began right after Dubya's "victory" in '04. Will it be Hillary or Obama? Guiliani or McCain? I say forget them all and focus on the underdogs. Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich has accomplished something radical in this time of perpetual media distortion, they've been able to communicate the truth. The truth about why we were attacked, the truth about our civil liberties and the truth about the nature of government. And, predictably, they've made enemies out of the right-wing and center-left Democrats. So, let's say these two, by some act of divine intervention, squared off in 2008...who would I choose? I sat in my thinker pose for a few hours and this is how it breaks down for me if the impossible should happen next year.

Impeachment:

And by impeachment I mean anybody in this administration who deserves it - King George, Cheney, the checkout clerk in the Whitehouse's gift shop. I just want to see some action, anything which breaks from Pelosi's "hands off" approach that's been so unsuccessful this far. With Kucinich it's clear. He has famously introduced articles of impeachment against Dick Cheney, H.R. 333. What about Ron? He doesn't agree with the bill, in fact, he doesn't think there's enough evidence for impeahment at this point. I disagree, we need to winnow down the mountain of evidence. On this one Ron Paul has it wrong.





Iraq War/"War on Terror":

This one's a toughy. Dennis Kucinich never voted to support Bush's actions during the lead up to the war or any funding bill thereafter. Pretty impressive. The same can be said of Ron Paul. Both voted against the PATRIOT Act and both have been outspoken critics of this illegal war from the beginning. I do believe this one's a tie. Bravo!

Dennis Kucinich - When Others Were Silent


Ron Paul on Now With Bill Moyers - October 4, 2002




Healthcare:

Kucinich supports universal healthcare, he wants a single-payer system that would ensure every American's medical costs would be covered. On the other hand, Paul, being a libertarian, would support tax credits which would reduce the cost of prescription drugs and hospital expenses. I realize this is supposed to grant relief from "big government" to the middle class but I know people from countries with national healthcare systems and they are proud of the type of care they receive. You show up to a hospital, they patch you up, you leave...that's how simple it could, and should, be here in the states. This round goes to Denny.



Taxes:

Ron Paul wants to eliminate the IRS, income tax and inflation tax lifting a significant burden on the middle class. I like it!

Ron Paul : Stop Dreaming


And what of Kucinich? He's got some pretty good ideas, not great. He believes we should bring tax rates back to that of the Clinton Administration:

"The Clinton period tax rates for the most affluent should be returned, while the tax cuts for those earning less than $405,000 a year should be maintained, for now, until we see how the economy fares."
--Dennis Kucinich, Source

That's a bit too safe for my liking. Who likes paying taxes? Ron Paul's got the right idea.




Old fashioned Feather-ruffling:

To my knowledge Dennis Kucinich never had the same kind of smack down with members of his own party like Ron Paul did with Rudy. Anyone who can stick to their guns like Ron even after the rabidly conservative audience attending that Republican Presidential Debate turned on him is bona fide Presidential material in my book.





It seems as though we've reached a stalemate, so I've got to look at the tie-breaker: Elizabeth Kucinich. I'd take four years of her over any of our last four first ladies.

And she's not just a pretty face, she's smart too. She got her bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Kent and has done charity work with the British Red Cross and the House of Lords. Here's Liz in action:



Overall, either one of these men would make a superb President. Ron Paul is admirably principled and intolerant toward deceit and corruption, but for my money Kucinich, who possesses the same qualities, can contribute something extra to the Oval Office, therefore Kucinich pulls ahead of Ron Paul by a nose.