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Edited on Fri Aug-17-07 06:59 PM by puebloknot
(I posted this last night in another thread, and was urged to post it as an OP. So here it is. This was in response to the continuing "Kucinich can't win" drumbeat I keep hearing. It branches out into much more than the Kucinich candidacy, and is a kind of "musing at midnight" piece.)
It's a sad commentary on the "values" of this country, and even the values of "Progressives" that the way Dennis looks, the misperceptions about his personal life, are more important than his very "spot on" message.
I support him. I've worked for him. Perhaps we should all be required to vote with blinders on, and listen to all media presentations for all the candidates with the voices disguised, and just pick a candidate on what he or she proposes to do for the country. I'm dreaming, of course.
In spite of the mistake he made about the war (at least he has apologized), I like Edwards, and can envision an Edwards/Kucinich team in some configuration.
My concern about Edwards is his stance on healthcare. He says, "Do you want the same people that handled New Orleans handling your healthcare?" I haven't thoroughly dissected his plan, but as I understand it, he still allows the insurance companies to have major sway.
As an army brat as a child, I recall going to military clinics and hositals, and it wasn't fancy. But there was some level of medical care without the worry of paying. Kucinich says we are already spending the money to institute a major single-payer healthcare-for-all program, by redirecting the funds and cutting out graft. I do wish Kucinich would stop referring to his plan as "Medicare for all" because I'm *very* concerned about the fate of Medicare in this country. I think that terminology may scare some people off.
I've met Dennis Kucinich and I find him very charming and intelligent. And he's a straight arrow, too. There is *no* feeling that he's on a 30-second delay so he can spin his responses. Neither Winston Churchill nor FDR (their pictures and movie appearances) do a lot for me. I wouldn't pick them out of a catalog based on personal appearance. But they got us through World War II.
I am giving heavy thought to leaving the country over just the issue of healthcare. I do have health insurance at the moment, but I live in constant stress over the month when I can't make the premiun payment, they cancel me (with glee), and then I can't get another insurance plan, or go back to the old one, because I have established PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS on my record. America, America, this is the shell game of all time. Why are we not in the streets over this very issue? We're conditioned to feel that our medical problems are a drag on the upstanding inurance companies that make this country what it is (well....), rather than understanding that it is our right as human beings and citizens of the United States to get help when we are ill, or in an accident. We have to be the most gullible collection of citizens ever cobbled together that we've let this go on for this long. None of our Congressional representatives have to worry like this. (Of course, they aren't exactly stepping up to the plate to take care of their own children and grandchildren!)
Of course, there are other major issues, and they'll all roll together to give us a country we don't want to leave, but fear to live in. A part of me says I should not leave, but stay and fight. I don't want to leave. But I have certain personal issues which compel me to think about how my staying here will affect not only me, but my daughter, as well.
And then, there is the matter of the North American Union. I agree with an article about that which says that those fleeing the U.S. might be like the German Jews who "escaped" to Amsterdam, only to have Hitler follow in hot pursuit.
Pardon the stream-of-consciousness musing I've veered into here. The healtcare issue is the one that is causing the most immediate trauma to all of us, but it's the foot in the door to other tyrannies.
In short, :) Dennis Kucinich is the man with a plan to cover all the bases. For those who say they would hold their noses and vote for the Dem, no matter how displeasing, I'd like to suggest putting aside potshots at how Dennis Kucinich looks (and wondering *how* he managed to attract that red-headed babe he's married to), and vote for his platform -- not his personal attributes. We've put up with seven years of having to look at George Bush. Dennis Kucinich is a lot "taller" than George Bush by a mile.
Let me also say that my support in this message for Kucinich and/or Edwards is not a "bashing" of Hillary or Obama. I listen, and I give them both credit on certain issues. I just feel that there are serious deficiencies in both their messages. Anyone who takes on a campaign for the presidency is giving a lot of energy to the country, and contributing to the dialog.
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