ABC News: Kucinich's Secret Weapon

[Greeby]

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=3207398&page=1

There is no doubt about it, 2008 presidential candidate Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, stands out.

Kucinich is the only candidate who wants to impeach Vice President Dick Cheney over the Iraq War; as he did in the 2004 election, he's proposing a Department of Peace, and has introduced a House bill calling for a universal, single-payer, not-for-profit health care system.

And if that weren't enough, the self-proclaimed peace candidate has a secret weapon.

Kucinich is the only candidate married to a woman 30 years younger and more than 5 inches taller than him.

This 6-foot-tall red-headed beauty is making her husband stand out now more than ever, and Elizabeth Kucinich is taking center stage on the trail, at Democratic debates and on her husband's Web site.-snip-


:loveya:

[Annces]

1. Ya - he must be virile to have such a wife

score points in some people's camp. :crazy:

[Matsubara]

7. That's not how I look at it.

I see it more as a matter of "There must be a lot more to her than just beauty."

She didn't marry Dennis for his looks, and it sure as hell wasn't money. He has neither, and his political career is anything but a certainty. He is a David up against an army of Goliaths, in the GOP and in his own party.

She chose him because like him, she cares about this country and wants to do something to make things better.

That's how I see it.

Her looks are the icing on the cake, but I doubt that's the only reason he married her either.

Good for both of them.

[Annces]

16. I am not commenting on their relationship

I am saying how some people focus on how he has a knockout wife, as if this means anything about his leadership or ideas. I think it is great he is married to her, because I think it is true love. But I liked him the same amount before he got married. I think she is irrelevant to his credentials as a candidate.

[Bluerthanblue]

44. i like

the way you see.

May your cake always be iced.

;)

[Vidar]

50. Well put. I agree.

[DemBones DemBones]

13. I look at it as proof that he is very secure

to marry a woman that much taller than he is. A man that secure doesn't have to threaten other nations, an excellent quality for a president in this time.

She seems to be a wonderful person. After finishing high school, she went to India to work with the Sisters of Calcutta in aiding the poor. Then she went back to the UK and earned a degree in community planning. Next she spent time in Kenya working in developing communities. I've forgotten exactly why she visited the US and Dennis's office but it had to do with a project she was working on. She will be a wonderful First Lady.

[eppur_se_muova]

30. "... a project she was working on." International currency reform !

Always a real sweaty-palms topic. If you can't bag a date with this topic, you aren't trying. :evilgrin:

[DemBones DemBones]

71. . . .

:rofl: Currency reform is certainly not a sexy topic.

But it wasn't the project that caused the attraction. They just had chemistry from the moment they met and that along with their shared interests led to love. Not an uncommon story.

I should add that she's obviously a very secure person, too, to marry a man so much shorter than she is. Each of them had to know that they'd be stared at a lot whenever they go anywhere together.

[rucky]

2. At this point, whatever gets him some ink is a good thing. n/t

[Cha]

43. Precisely! Elizabeth Kucinich

tells part of a story about who Dennis is. They are fortunate to have found each other to have such a close supporter in life on issues that are so dear to them.

[lonestarnot]

3. Reminds me. I have to donate today.

[NightWatcher]

4. Is Elizabeth Kucinich his "haircut, house, or power bill"?

this shit is pitiful. Instead of challenging the dems' posiitons the MSM challenges their haircuts, houses, powerbills, and wives.

You must be on the right track when they attack your personal life. And yes, by "mentioning" his wife they are attacking him.

Go Dennis Go!

[frogcycle]

11. can't wait 'til studman fred thompson announces

http://bp3.blogger.com/_t-EfdceTs60/Rk4GgN8z0iI/AAAAAAAAAoo/iV3S4z-5hd0/s320/Thompson%27s+wife+wolfowitz.jpg

[eridani]

59. Dennis and Elizabeth look far closer to each other in age than these two

--although doing the math says Thompson and his wife are closer in age. I don't think she can legitimately be called a trophy wife (being a lawyer and all before she met Thompson), but that's what the visuals say.

[tabasco]

5. Right now I'm a Kucinich man.

If Clark or Gore gets in it all bets are off.

[eridani]

58. Sticking with Kucinich as long as possible--

--will promote the things he stands for. Hold off until Denver, then switch to Clark or Gore.

[RufusTFirefly]

6. What's so funny 'bout peace, love, and understanding?

Go Dennis Go!
DK supporters (and I'm leaning that way) need to embrace his underdog status. He is a David among Goliaths.
Politics is not the art of the possible. It's about dreaming big.
Remember Martin Luther King's dream? Remember JFK's goal?
We may not always get to the Promised Land, but the saddest thing we can do is to shy away from even starting the journey.


As I walk through
This wicked world
Searchin' for light in the darkness of insanity.

I ask myself
Is all hope lost?
Is there only pain and hatred, and misery?

And each time I feel like this inside,
There's one thing I wanna know:
What's so funny 'bout peace love & understanding? Ohhhh
What's so funny 'bout peace love & understanding?

[lonestarnot]

8. Teehee. The DU political contribution link make campaign contributions so easy!

I love it! :loveya: DU!

[Kolesar]

9. Chicks dig me because I'm a liberal

It's the only way to go if you wanna score!

[treestar]

10. I'm for Kucinich for every reason you give except for his wife

Sorry, but the most mature type of marital history is not that. Nothing against her, but just, for example, Gore, Edwards and the Clintons have done the wisest and most mature things in the marital department. It's where you are smart enough when young to pick the right person, and able to keep that going until death do us part.

Nothing against people with failed marriages or even men "lucky" enough to grab the trophy wife (not an option for women, well, maybe except Cher) - but why praise them for it, like it's better than just carrying on as say, the Edwards' have?

[DemBones DemBones]

14. I've been married to the same man for forty years but I'm smart enough to

know that not every married couple lives happily ever after. Marriages break up for a lot of reasons and I don't judge people who've been married more than once. Most people do their best to choose well and marry with the intention of making it work, but sometimes it doesn't.

No one said the new Kucinich marriage was "better" than "just carrying on" like the Edwardses, Gores, and Clintons have.

But you seem to suggest that "just carrying on," even if you're miserable, is the thing for anyone in politics to do, for the sake of appearances.

[RufusTFirefly]

15. Congratulations on your marriage, DemBones. And your wisdom. n/t

[DemBones DemBones]

69. Thank you, Mr. Firefly. I appreciate

your comments.

[stevedeshazer]

18. Wise words

I've been with my sweetie for 25 years, but I was married before and it didn't work out.

No one should carry on for appearance's sake.

Gore, Edwards, and Clinton have been married a long time, nothing wrong with that, but if you're unhappy you shouldn't be penalized for not making it.

I've been in both places.

[DemBones DemBones]

70. I often say that marriage is a crap shoot. We lucked out, but

not everyone does. I'm glad you lucked out the second time. :-)

Of course we love each other and of course we've had to work at the marriage but we were also lucky.

[Individualist]

12. DK may be short in stature, but he towers above all the other candidates.

[LWolf]

66. I agree. n/t

[camero]

17. Actually I think Americans will go for this

They will be thinking of having a first lady that's hot. :wow:

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

19. Am I The Only One Who Thinks The Whole Department Of Peace Thing Makes Him Sound Loony?

I really wish he'd drop that part. Every time I read it I can't help thinking how loony it sounds and how it just comes off as silly. It's kind of hard to take a lot of his other stuff seriously after you see that on his platform.

I can say for certain, without a doubt, that no candidate will ever get elected who runs on a platform of creating a 'department of peace'. Americans just won't take something like that seriously. It's to silly.

Am I the only one that feels that way when hearing that?

[Greeby]

21. I dunno, given how much Ron Paul was cheered on Bill Maher last night

If you can say the American Civil War shouldn't have been fought and still get cheered on a TV show, then you can get by with advocating a Department of Peace

[slowry]

23. It Probably Says More About You Than Kucinich n/t

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

25. No, Not At All. The Department Of Peace Concept Is Just Plain Silly. He Should Abandon It If

he truly wants to be taken seriously.

[slowry]

27. That's Your (Cynical) Perception.

If there was a department devoted to solving problems without war, maybe Iraq would have never been allowed to happen.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

28. Electing The Right President And Congress Itself Can Do That. There Needs Not Be Some Cheesy

'Department of Peace'. Trust me, it sounds completely silly and when it comes to the reality of how much national security plays a role right now, Americans aren't going to rush out to support someone running on creating a department of peace. It just sounds way to idealistic and detached from reality. It comes off as totally cheesy.

I'm not talking about the concept of solving problems diplomatically. I'm talking strictly about the meme itself and how it is perceived by the majority of Americans. Trust me when I say that the majority of Americans would find it to be all sorts of silly and loony sounding. If he wants to be taken seriously he should abandon it. That's not being cynical at all, it's being realistic. America ain't gonna go for it; period. I can't even take him seriously because of that. I just don't think he's ready. As good as what some of what he says is, I still see him as someone who just totally isn't all there.

[Raksha]

52. I don't think the Department of Peace concept is "silly,"

but I'm unclear as to what it would actually DO. How would it be different from the State Department, for example?

[Greyhound]

40. Yes.

Just another example of the defective Amerikan mindset that got us here.

[RufusTFirefly]

24. Why is the Department of Peace silly?

Put down the Kool-Aid for a moment and think about it. Shouldn't we have a cabinet level position that focuses on stopping wars throughout the world instead of starting them? The problem is that there isn't money in it for Halliburton, Bechtel, and Blackwater.

[Dystopian]

26. Please check it out....It's a good thing : )

http://www.thepeacealliance.org/

Peace as an American Doctrine: An Indispensable Civic Ideal
By Joel T. Helfrich
Published as From U.S. doctrine to political reality on Tuesday, April 20, 2004, by the Minnesota Daily
The "Department of Peace" bill (H.R.1673), authored by presidential candidate Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) and introduced to Congress in July 2001, will establish a cabinet-level department in the executive branch. The bill also calls for the creation of the Peace Academy for peace education and the designation of the first day of every year as Peace Day in the United States.
If our nation's elected leaders can craft a Department of Homeland Security in a few months, we can surely create a Department of Peace in the same amount of time. But to make peace a matter of urgency and an indispensable concept in contemporary American life, we need to draw critical wisdom from the founding fathers of Revolutionary America.
In 1792, the blueprint for the Department of Peace was suggested by two highly patriotic humanitarian reformers: Benjamin Banneker, a noted African American scientist, surveyor, and editor, and Benjamin Rush, a medical doctor and educator who signed the Declaration of Independence and trained Meriwether Lewis prior to the Lewis and Clark expedition.
A friend of Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, Rush published articles on, among other topics, anti-slavery and capital punishment, education for women, and patriotism. In fact, he supplied his friend Thomas Paine with the title to Common Sense. Rush served as physician general during the Revolutionary War, but in 1778 he resigned his military office in protest of the treatment of soldiers in hospitals.
Among other contributions, Banneker published Banneke's Almanac for which he made all astronomical calculations, tide predictions, and weather forecasts. In his 1793 almanac, he included his correspondence with Thomas Jefferson, as well as an unsigned document,later attributed to Rush, titled "A Plan of a Peace Office for the United States."
When Banneker and Rush came together in Philadelphia in 1792 they discussed the extreme drain that war has on a nation, its resources, and its people. They were understandably concerned that although the U.S. government had established a Department of War, it made no provisions for a Department of Peace. Their goal to create a new cabinet post was not some pie-in-the-sky idea. In the text of "A Plan," Rush wrote,
"In order more deeply to affect the minds of the citizens of the United States with the blessings of peace, by contrasting them with the evils of war, let the following inscriptions be painted upon the sign which is placed over the door of the War Office:
1. An office for butchering the human species.
2. A Widow and Orphan making office.
3. A broken bone making office.
4. A Wooden leg making office.
5. An office for the creating of public and private vices.
6. An office for creating a public debt.
7. An office for creating speculators, stock Jobbers, and Bankrupts.
8. An office for creating famine.
9. An office for creating pestilential diseases.
10. An office for creating poverty, and the destruction of liberty, and national happiness."

Rush continued, "In the lobby of this office let there be painted representations of all the common military instruments of death, also human skulls, broken bones, unburied and putrefying dead bodies, hospitals crowded with sick and wounded Soldiers, villages on fire, mothers in besieged towns eating the flesh of their children, ships sinking in the ocean, rivers dyed with blood, and extensive plains without a tree or fence, or any object, but the ruins of deserted farm houses." The final sentence of a Plan stated: „Above this group of woeful figures˜let the following words be inserted, in red characters to represent human blood, ŒNATIONAL GLORY.‚

We should be alarmed by the rate at which our military and defense-related budgets are expanding, just as Banneker and Rush were appalled by the conditions created by the warfare state of post-Revolutionary America. Although their "Plan" has been rendered invisible, it is time to transform this U.S. doctrine into concrete political reality and make it central to our everyday life.
http://www.thepeacealliance.org/content/view/61/156/

peace~

[rucky]

31. What's silly is having a department for war...

and calling it "Defense"

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

34. No, That's Pretty Much A No Brainer. You Think We Shouldn't Have A Dept Of Defense?

If so, then it is people like you that cause the left to be mocked as weak on security. Of course we need a Dept of Defense, and a strong one at that. That doesn't mean we should just march on into any country and start wars, but to say having a dept of defense is silly is a sure fire way to make sure repubs continue to win elections. Don't know about you, but that ain't what I want.

[slowry]

37. Why Do You Always Have To Misrepresent What People Say To Make Your Unrelated Points n/t

[rucky]

39. Which Defense Secretary has made you feel the safest? n/t

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

41. Now There's A Meaningless Question.

I see no relevance in it whatsoever. I don't feel 'safe' because of who is or isn't the defense secretary. Not sure I've ever known anybody my entire life who does.

[lumberjack_jeff]

51. What's the use of a department of defense...

... if it doesn't make you feel secure?

That's a rhetorical question, of course. The point of a department of defense is to create a market for advanced weapons systems.

The reason that a department of peace sounds silly is because, in a society in which everything is valued only to the extent that it generates profits for someone, it is silly.

[mmonk]

56. The problem is with calling it defense. We're in over 700 countries.

It should be called the Department of Offense.

[burythehatchet]

35. No, you're not the only one

there are waaay to many of you.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

36. That's True. 90+% Of Democrats Is Definitely A Ton Of People. You're Right On There.

Guess that's a sign he should change his message then, if he ever wants to be a bit more legitimate. Guess we'll see.

[donkeyotay]

45. Sanity just sounds loony in an insane world

Believe it or not, we used to have one:

In 1924 Dr. Jordan proposed the restoration in the State Department in Washington of the office of Assistant Secretary of Peace, as it had existed and functioned through the year 1909.

from "David Starr Jordan, Prophet of Freedom" by Edward McNall Burns in the chapter aptly entitled "War the Enemy of Freedom".

This book was written in 1953. This professor could probably not have guessed that "normal" would ever be open-ended, preemptive war run by "private" contractors funded by us. Now that's loony. That said, I understand what you're saying. It's a stretch for us.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

46. Sorry Pal, But If Having To Use 1909 Standards To Make Your Argument Is The Best You Got,

then ya probably shouldn't offer anything.

Things are just a weeeeeeeeee bit different now than 1909. But I'll tell ya what: Send Dennis that information of yours so he can use it in defense of his ridiculous 'Department of Peace'. That way people could laugh at him even more; with all due respect.

[slowry]

47. Your Arguments Are Poor; No Amount Of Capitalized Words Can Save You

Things are just a wee bit different than when the Constitution was created too, but that's no argument against the spirit of its intent and the useful purpose it serves.

Really, that's such a weak position.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

54. No, Using 1909 As Justification Is Poor.

Listen, you obviously don't find the whole concept of the department of peace to be silly. Yay for you. I find it to be monumentally silly. In fact, it sounds like nothing more than some cheesy catch phrase and concept designed to reel the far lefters in. But to people in the real world I guarantee you that it just comes off silly. In my opinion it's nothing more than a buzz phrase, not a platform.

We don't need some cheesy sounding laughable 'department of peace'. We need an administration and a congress that act responsibly and diplomatically. The fact that he actually thinks that something specifically called 'the department of peace' is necessary, makes me think he isn't even close to being ready for the national stage and a major election. People already laugh at him, and I can't help but think that the whole DoP concept is a big reason why. I think he absolutely should drop it if he wants to be taken seriously by real people. You may disagree but that's my position.

[mudesi]

53. It's because of the cowboy mentality that you feel that way

You have to watch out for that.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

55. Is That Actually Supposed To Mean Anything?

What cowboy mentality? Whose cowboy mentality? What the fuck even is a cowboy mentality? How in the world would it relate to a concept of having a 'department of peace' being really really silly? Watch out for it why? Were you even trying to make any sense?

[mudesi]

57. Maybe you ought to elaborate

You should elaborate on why you think a department of peace is "silly".

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

61. I Have. Pay Attention Laddy.

[mudesi]

62. No you haven't

All you've done is state your opinion that

1) Kucinich's idea for a Department of Peace makes him sound like a "loon" and is "silly".
2) Americans in general feel the same way.

It's a form of macho overcompensation that is generally known as the "cowboy mentality".

[slowry]

63. it's liek ttly ghey duh n/t

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

64. Yes I Have Laddy, Pay Attention.

And nothing that I've said is even remotely on the level of 'macho overcompensation' and your ridiculously misguided assertion of having a 'cowboy mentality' is laughable. You really are a silly one.

So you like his idea for a department of peace. Yay for you. I think it is extremely silly, a sign of his inability to run on a national stage, and something that would readily be mocked by 90% of Americans. If he wants to even remotely be taken seriously he should abandon it. That's my opinion and one of which I'm entitled. You don't agree with it. Whoopieeeeeee!!! But spare me your ridiculous attacks of having a 'cowboy mentality' merely because I find some silly buzz phrase concept of having a department of peace to be a bit loony.

[nealmhughes]

68. No, but you have obviously never mastered the googles. Look up what the duties of the proposed Dept

would be before you jump on something. http://www.thepeacealliance.org/content/blogcategory/15/23/

I would contend that having a HHS is ridiculous in return, since little to no human services or health maintenance have come out of it. Why don't we rename the EPA the "Environmental Procrastination Agency," too?

p.s. I wrote the copy at PDA on the launching of the Peace Alliance's conference. http://www.pdamerica.org/articles/news/2007-01-16-12-52-07-news.php

[Californian Dreamer]

20. That solves one problem

I was thinking that DK didn't have the proper visual appeal to pull off a bid for the white house, but it seems she has enough for the both of them. :)

[slowry]

22. I thought they were going to say his secret weapon was

that he actually means anything he says.

[BornagainDUer]

29. See what espousing peace and love will get you.

:bounce:

[WinkyDink]

32. His "secret weapon" is his HEART and SOUL, and this woman was blessed to be chosen by Dennis!

[DU GrovelBot]

33. ## PLEASE DONATE TO DEMOCRATIC UNDERGROUND! ##

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[Cleita]

38. I think a new Jackie Kennedy in the White House would be

a big plus. I'm tired of the frump a dump Bush housewives First Ladies. Not that this is why I would back a candidate, but if the wife is an asset, so much the better.

[bamacrat]

42. Kucinich is and always has been my President.

Go Dennis, anything to help the only candidate with real ideas for this country is fine by me.

[BlooInBloo]

48. If it were a republican & wife of that description, we'd be cackling about small-dick-syndrome....

... Me along with everyone else.

[DemBones DemBones]

73. Why would we be doing that? I doubt that any man who feels inadequate

would marry a woman 6" taller than he is.

I think they're both very secure people because they didn't let the old-fashioned idea that husbands must be taller than wives derail their relationship.


Do you have an enhanced opinion of Fred Thompson because he married a much younger, much shorter woman with large breasts? Granted, he's a big dick, but that tells us nothing about the size of his penis. Nor do I want to know anything about ole Fred's johnson. In fact, I may have nightmares. . .

[southerncrone]

49. I think it was originally designed to be a play on words as opposed

to the DOD which seems to spend a lot of time promoting war. However, the concept is a terrific idea.

Just goes to show how Americans have been brainwashed into "tunnel thinking" by MSM & RNC. Reminds me of jr. high kids making fun of someone for having the "wrong" shoes, just because their "different" from theirs.

New ideas should be embraced until they are proven wrong.

[Nunyabiz]

60. The ONLY reason Kucinich's numbers are not WAY above

everyone else is because the MSM flatly refuse to acknowledge he exist.
He wants to bring back the fairness doctrine which would effectively kill Faux Noise and basically the entire MSM propaganda machine.

He also wants a new investigation into 9/11 which would bring out the bald faced lies told by ALL the MSM to cover up for this administrations treasonous acts.

[DemBones DemBones]

74. That, plus all the progressives and liberals who have bought into the

idea that Dennis can't win. If we all vote for him, and help him get his message out, he can win. If we all go vote for one of the "big three" that the media are pushing, he can't win, and neither can we.

We need REAL change and I don't see us getting it unless we turn away from the corporate-backed candidates.

[cymbalta]

65. he'll never be nominated

as a Democrat, he should leave a party he actually doesn't belong to.

Run as an Independent or Green, Dennis. The people running the Democratic Party are the Team B of the corporations that are sending our troops to steal other countries' resources and establish America's hegemony all over the globe.

Team A, of course, is the RNC.

[undergroundpanther]

67. DK the last true progressive.

The only one worth voting for he has integrity in him.All the others don't .THe DLC neocon flavored "Dem's" and the Neocons say he has no chance"unelectable..they say this because they FEAR him. Fear him because he will not play politics as usual. He can't be bribed threatened or bought.This terrifies the politicians who thrive on corruption.

DK '08 is the only candidate I can vote for with a CLEAR conscience.

[Ghost in the Machine]

72. You mean *this* couple?

[lovuian]

75. and she is awesome

He is amazing guy Love the Dennis