Freedom
Rider: "These People Frighten Me"
by BAR editor and senior columnist Margaret Kimberley
"Kucinich would have been correct if he had called Obama a
liar."
During the first Democratic presidential debate a little
known candidate, former Alaska Senator Mike Gravel, ended up
with one of the most memorable lines of the evening:
"And I got to tell you, after
standing up with them, some of these people frighten me - they frighten me.
When you have mainline candidates that turn around and say that there's nothing
off the table with respect to Iran, that's code for using nukes, nuclear
devices.
"I got to tell you, I'm president
of the United States, there will be no preemptive wars with nuclear devices. To
my mind, it's immoral, and it's been immoral for the last 50 years as part of
American foreign policy."
Of the eight candidates on that stage in South Carolina,
only Gravel and Congressman Dennis Kucinich will say that there is no reason
for the American people to incinerate the Iranian people with nuclear weapons.
When Senator Barack Obama repeated the lie that
Iran is on the verge of attaining nuclear capability only Kucinich would call
him out. He politely said that Obama's assertions were in dispute.
Obama: I think
it would be a profound mistake for us to initiate a war with Iran.
But, have no doubt, Iran possessing nuclear weapons will be
a major threat to us and to the region.
Kucinich: (OFF-MIKE)
Obama: I understand that, but they're in
the process of developing it. And I don't think that's disputed by any expert. They are the largest state sponsor of terrorism...
Kucinich: It is disputed by...
Obama: ... Hezbollah and Hamas.
Kucinich: It is disputed.
Obama: And there is no contradiction,
Dennis, between...
Kucinich: It is disputed.
Obama: Let me finish.
Kucinich would have been correct if he had called Obama a
liar. Gravel is right, most of the Democrats are very frightening indeed.
This debate was a very sad foreshadowing of what is to come
before Election Day in November 2008. The corporate media will play a dominant
role in choosing the nominee, by sponsoring debates, and by framing the way
candidates are seen by the public. The sponsor of this debate, MSNBC, is a
subsidiary of General Electric, a defense contractor. Gravel said it best when he
answered a ridiculous question about America's need to label other countries as
enemies. "The military industrial complex not only controls our government,
lock, stock and barrel, but they control our culture." They also control
presidential debates.
"Impeachment is the only way to prevent further wars of
aggression and it is the only way to expose the lies and manipulations of the
Bush administration."
The candidates are not just scary, they are gutless.
Moderator Brian Williams asked for comments on Rudy Giuliani's statement that
only Republicans will keep the country safe. No one gave the most obvious
answer. The terror attacks on 9/11 happened on the Republican's watch.
George W. Bush presided over the killing of 3,000 Americans
and never demanded resignations from his cabinet and prevented any meaningful
investigation from taking place. Now his approval rating is a dismal 28% but
you wouldn't know it from the frightening and frightened Democrats.
None of the other candidates support Kucinich's effort to
impeach Vice President Cheney. Impeachment is the only way to prevent further
wars of aggression and it is the only way to expose the lies and manipulations
of the Bush administration. Impeachment is the only way to stop further
erosions of civil liberties. It is the only way to discredit Republicans enough
to insure a Democratic victory in 2008.
Kucinich has a hard row to hoe. There is ample evidence that
there are grounds to impeach Cheney on the charges Kucinich has outlined in his
articles of impeachment, namely that he manipulated the intelligence to make
the case for invading Iraq.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said that impeachment is "off
the table." Her explanations for eschewing impeachment are nonsensical.
"And frankly, for impeachment, George W. Bush is just not worth it. We have
great work to do for the American people." Pelosi was not on the debate stage,
but she represents everything that makes the rest of them so scary.
"The candidates who are flush with campaign cash and press
attention are the most likely to bring little or no change to American
politics."
Democratic fund raising success is a sign that the high and
mighty have concluded that the party's time has come. Yet skepticism is always
in order. If anyone can snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, it is the
Democratic party.
If the Democrats do win, what will they do with victory?
Unless Dennis Kucinich becomes president we have no reason to believe that much
change is in the offing. We may have universal health care, but it will
subsidize health insurance companies. American troops will still be in Iraq and
the Patriot Act will still be on the books. Bush will be gone but Bushism will still
be with us.
That is the truly frightening thing about the Democrats. The
candidates who are flush with campaign cash and press attention are the most
likely to bring little or no change to American politics. In November 2008, it
seems that Democrats will lose, no matter what.
Margaret Kimberley's
Freedom Rider column appears weekly in BAR. Ms. Kimberley lives in New York
City, and can be reached via e-Mail at
Margaret.Kimberley(at)BlackAgandaReport.Com. Ms. Kimberley' maintains an
edifying and frequently updated blog at freedomrider.blogspot.com.
More of her work is also available at her Black Agenda Report archive page.
In this feature, we interview Syrian-born journalist Richard Medhurst about state propaganda, the mainstream media, and U.S. imperialism.
In this time when Israel and Zionism have become the representation of Judaism, Jewish people, especially Black Jews, should reflect on what it means to observe Passover during an ongoing…
On campuses across the country, students and faculty are finding various ways to take action against the unfolding genocide in Gaza. In response, colleges and universities operate in collusion with…
Thousands gathered in Niamey to call for the departure of United States drone stations and soldiers.
The Palestinian fight against colonialism is recognized by nations in the global south as one that mirrors their own. Solidarity and cooperation among the colonized must continue to grow on the…
