Kucinich on Obama: “Where is he?”

[Karmadillo]

Video at link.

http://theuptake.org/2011/03/13/kucinich-on-obama-where-is-he/

Rep. Dennis Kucinich spoke with The UpTake after a forum for worker’s rights in Madison, Wisconsin.
Asked about President Obama’s absence in Madison, Kucinich said: “He should be here. Where is he? He made a statement that he’s standing behind the workers – he should be standing in front of them. He’s the President. Lead. Show people you’re dedicated to worker’s rights.”

Filmed at the Barrymore Theater in Madison, Wisconsin on 3/12/11.Interview by Jacob Wheeler for The UpTake.

[PeaceNikki]

Oh, look, I disagree with Kucinich.

And I agree with my Senators who prefer he stay out of it.

[NoTimeToulouse]

25. What is a democratic president worth to labor if not to stand up

for them in their time of need?

A good president leads. Lackluster ones feel your pain, but do little other than that.


On edit: What do you consider a realistic response from President Obama since he has been notably quoted for that "walking shoes" comment as candidate Obama? Does there actually have to be an actual picket line in order for him to dust off those comfortable walking shoes or is 70-100k protesters still not enough?

What is enough, and when the unions are bust will that be enough? At that point there will never be a need to wear those shoes for anybody. Then painful truth may be that he will never physically stand with labor unless he needs their vote.

[texshelters]

32. Some people want a leader as president

some want a commentator.

I would like a leader.

Peace,
Tex Shelters

[Joe the Revelator]

1. Crazy Kucinich just postioning himself to tilt at windmills during a primary...

[Zorra]

22. Yeah, I guess you'd have to be crazy to expect Obama to speak out

in support of workers and workers' rights, and give encouragement and support to an active group of union members and progressives fighting against corporate tyranny.

As a progressive Democrat, I would have hated to see that. All Democrats would have hated seeing the President they elected speak out on their behalf.

Given his track record, I certainly would never expect Obama to do such a thing. It would be totally out of character.

Yeah, DK must be crazy for asking a question like that, even if it was just a rhetorical question.

As for the Wisconsin Senators that said they were glad Obama was not there:

They were obviously just being gracious to the President in order to help him save face.

[golddigger]

23. Nice try, but some here just won't get it.

[PeaceNikki]

24. Oh bull. Our Senate Democrats are not in it to help Obama, ffs.

[Darth_Kitten]

36. +1000

:D

[54anickel]

50. I think most of us in WI are thankful Obama didn't get involved. The Republicans

have moved on to frame this battle as being all about unions. Why do you Fitzgerald was so open on FOX saying this was all about stripping the unions of their strength and making sure Obama won't have their backing to win WI? They are simply cutting the bait. Meanwhile if our battle gets reduced to simply being about unions we'll loose the currently favorable public opinion.

[roguevalley]

29. ah, thrown under the bus by the third post.

yeah, fuck labor and other real working non-zillionaire people for thinking dem presidents and other elected asshats should stick up for them. Ask a teacher how obama is sticking up for them.

[texshelters]

34. Calling Kucinich crazy doesn't

make him wrong.

He stands up for me, and that's what counts. I won't support a bunch of faux Democrats pandering to the corporations and treading so lightly that their pablum is meaningless.

Dennis Takes on Edwards and the China trade lobby:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEkHr-fvoN4

Peace,
Tex Shelters

[WinkyDink]

49. You have superb reflexes of the patella.

[mzteris]

2. Wisconsinites say he should NOT be here

including the 14 Senators.

With all due respect, Mr. K - this is OUR state and OUR call. It's about US, not Obama.

[PeaceNikki]

3. word

It's easy for outsiders to take this position. *I* took this position before I actually WENT there and felt the power. Now I agree with our Senators and want him to keep his distance.

[elocs]

10. Yes, and it is also easy for outsiders from other states to advise us on how we should do things

here in Wisconsin.

[Motown_Johnny]

4. State issues need to be dealt with on the state level.

Dennis should not be trying to make a federal case out of this.


Unless he can get some worker's right legislation through both houses of congress for the President to sign then the President can't do much other than speak his mind and draw every conservative into the country into the fight against the Unions.

[upi402]

5. This is more than 1 state. He should be praised for seeing it as a movement

I'm floored at the short-sightedness and provinciality here. Very discouraging.

It just shows how deeply ignorant we are, even here at DU, about labor history.
"there ain't but two kinds of people, thems that work, and thems that don't work" -Fewclothes, Matewan

[PeaceNikki]

8. So.... you think those of us in WI who don't want his involvement are ignorant?

That's fucking laughable considering the history of the labor movement in our state.

[Name removed]

9. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[PeaceNikki]

11. lolz.

That was one of the shittiest comments I've ever read on DU. And that's a tall order. No worries, I screencapped it.

[elocs]

15. As a Wisconsinite who has gone to the protests I am happy Obama did not come

and I am in no way discouraged. We are doing quite nicely here without his actual physical presence in our capitol.

[PeaceNikki]

41. You should have seen that deleted reply.

Disgusting.

[elocs]

43. I did see it and I thought it was pretty shitty. Why do all of these outsiders feel obligated

to tell us what we should do here in Wisconsin and if we should want Obama to come here at this time. They won't accept "we don't want him to come" as an answer and feel it necessary to set us straight. Yeah, what do we know?

[PeaceNikki]

47. People don't understand how unique WI really is. The shared sense of community crosses party lines.

The pride in our state, parks and education is not (R) or (D). They just don't get that the White House involvement would totally shift the focus and not in a good way.

I am third generation born and bred. My family landed straight here from Europe about 100 years ago and we've been raised to be involved in our community - socially and politically. We cheeseheads know our state. :)

[Davis_X_Machina]

6. Obama *was* in Madison.

There's no other possible explanation for crowds over 100,000 besides Obama being there.

There were crowds over 100,000. So Obama was there. It's called logic.

Because as we all know, without a charismatic leader, movements are powerless.

(If the followers lead, the leaders will follow. ;-)]

[elocs]

7. Dennis should have bothered to ask the people here in WI how they felt about it

and he would have discovered that most would have wanted him to stay away. Fortunately, in this case, Obama was a lot smarter about this than DK.

[texshelters]

37. What survey did you take that from

how do you know, where are the stats? Sure, many didn't want the president to show up, but I bet others did. It's not as clear as either side is making it.

I think it would have been great if Obama has shown up, and Democrats would have have balked at it, and I don't think it makes a difference.

And by the way people, it's not an Obama v Kucinich thing here. Obama is president, but Kucinich has done things to stand up for America that Obama won't dare because of his moderate nature and his role as president.

Peace,
Tex Shelters

[elocs]

39. Well, I am from Wisconsin and I've been paying attention.

I've heard very little support from right here in WI for having Obama come here, including from the 14 senators that fled the state.

I have however seen a lot of advice from people NOT from Wisconsin including Dennis Kucinich who try to tell us here that Obama should come. I'm glad he didn't come.

If you could point to any stats or polls which indicate that most protesters here want to see Obama come I'd love to see them because I've seen absolutely nothing to this point that supports that view.

I think that Obama has clearly read the situation here and knows that he is not wanted to come to Wisconsin at this time. I think that has been made very clear.

[texshelters]

51. I think you hit the crux of it, actually

People outside Wisconsin think it would be useful for labor as a whole if Obama showed more support for the protesters. And perhaps that is true. Thus, we would like to see him show up. (Frankly, I don't care one way or another, but it does show his indifference to a certain extent.)

People in Wisconsin see no such need and don't want the distraction.

I do think more support would be good, but showing up might not be the right idea. Where's the Labor Secretary? That could be Obama support without making it about Obama, perhaps. Secretary Solis has made some strong comments in the issue, much stronger than Obama. Perhaps she could have gone?

http://washingtonexaminer.com/politics/2011/02/labor-secretary-steps-out-wisconsin-union-fight

Peace,
Tex Shelters

[PeaceNikki]

42. It's called "being there".

You should try it.

[earthside]

12. It should be a rhetorical question.

Maybe it is better politics if Pres. Obama does not physically go to Wisconsin ... or maybe it is good politics for him not to discuss the specifics of the Wisconsin controversy.

But --- where is he when it comes to issuing some bold, forthright, identifiable words about the importance of collective bargaining and the labor movement to the prosperity of working Americans?

It is not literally 'Where is Obama" ... but figuratively where is he when the battle is now engaged over the future of unionism and middle and working class people's ability to make a decent living?

[PeaceNikki]

14. He did.

http://news.firedoglake.com/2011/02/16/obama-on-wisconsin-seems-like-more-of-an-assault-on-unions

“On the other hand, some of what I’ve heard coming out of Wisconsin, where you’re just making it harder for public employees to collectively bargain generally seems like more of an assault on unions…

“And I think it’s very important for us to understand that public employees, they’re our neighbors, they’re our friends. These are folks who are teachers and they’re firefighters and they’re social workers and they’re police officers.

They make a lot of sacrifices and make a big contribution. And I think it’s important not to vilify them or to suggest that somehow all these budget problems are due to public employees.”

[earthside]

17. Oh boy.

That was nearly a month ago ... and it was a fairly tepid statement.

[PeaceNikki]

18. lol, it's good enough for my fab 14 and good enough for me.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x632372

[earthside]

19. Well, what would you expect them to say?

But, maybe you're right ... who needs Obama?

[PeaceNikki]

20. Um, if they wanted him here, they would have said so. They aren't timid people.

[inna]

30. that's how I read it. nt

[shockra]

13. He was golfing.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2011/03/just-warm-enough-for-golf-obama-back-on-the-course.html

[Lorien]

27. isn't that special. "Now watch this drive!" nt

[ReggieVeggie]

16. Somebody should have told Dennis not to come

I'm sure they all booed him throughout his speech

[texshelters]

35. What the #@4

are you talking about? What an asinine comment. Were you there, did you hear the boos. You might not like him, but you don't need to hide behind the people of Wisconsin to say it.

Peace,
Tex Shelters

[ReggieVeggie]

46. sorry

didn't post my sarcasm tag... Dennis speaks truth to power, and has the courage to do so. I imagine the audience was cheering Mr. Kucinich, even might he have said Obama should have been there.

[texshelters]

52. Sorry back

I guess I just got fed up with the Kucinich haters.

Peace,
Tex Shelters

[fascisthunter]

21. he's looking in the Mirror for make-up

[Lorien]

26. I guess he didn't get the DLC talking points memo. nt

[golddigger]

28. I pretty sure Dennis that under the bus is is kind of crowded,

but being so thin they can squeeze you in somehow.

[texshelters]

31. It's clear to me and others

that Obama isn't 100% with the workers.

He is, however, 100% behind being reelected. Did Obama forget why people voted for him.

Peace,
Tex Shelters

[Vidar]

33. Trying on Cheney's secret bunker for size??

[lib2DaBone]

38. You can discredit Kucinich all you want.. But you must notice....

..who is standing up for the middle class and working people? Not Joe Lieberman..not Obama..Not Kent Conrad..not Max Baucus...Not the DLC..Not Hillary..Not Bill (Mr. Nafta) Clinton...

[Rex]

40. I know DK, but we got a lameduck POTUS.

[Scurrilous]

48. ROFL

:P

[bvar22]

44. Cut taxes on the RICH, subsidize RICH corporations,

and then call for "austerity and shared sacrifice" from the Working Class & Poor?
Yes.
Where IS our "Democratic" President?


Who will STAND and represent THIS American Majority?
Rhetoric, broken promises, and excuses mean NOTHING now.
"By their WORKS you will know them,"
and by their WORKS they will be judged.

[lib2DaBone]

45. Flog Dennis all you want....But ask: "Who is standing up for working people?:

OF COURSE they want Dennis out of the way... he represents the working people... can't have that. can we?