Integrity, Impeachment, and Movement-based Politics

I received an email today from Dennis Kucinich (remember him?) regarding his introduction of an Article of Impeachment on the House floor, which is scheduled to take place today. In the message was a link to a petition that people can sign to show support.

From the email:

The article of Impeachment will deal directly with President Bush fraudulently obtaining support for an attack on Iraq by creating a false case for war. Full details of the Article of Impeachment will be available after they are read on the floor of the House by Congressman Kucinich.

I have written on this site that I support impeachment. Further, I conducted an online survey in which 54% of people said that they too supported impeachment. Sign the petition and show your support too!

Movements are based on principles

Kucinich is taking a principled stance on impeachment, and I believe it is not only an important stance, but it also sets an excellent example of how politics should be conducted.

Election-based politics are not based on principle, they instead are based on convenience, expediency, and the electability myth. On the other hand, movement-based politics are based on agreement on ideology, on goals, on a way of doing things.

Let’s strongly support politicians who do not compromise their integrity and principles in search of a mythical middle ground. If you agree with someone in principle, you can work through differences in implementation. But the foundation of meaningful conversation must be a common goal. By being open, asking the right questions, and talking honestly, we can find the commonality we need to move forward.

One Love. One II.

Impeach the President: Why not?

Last night, Dennis Kucinich introduced a resolution that included 35 articles of impeachment against George W. Bush. Why no one had the wherewithal to do this earlier is beyond me. Wait, I guess Kucinich did introduce articles of impeachment against Cheney last year, but that resolution didn’t get far.

I met some folks from the Backbone Campaign while in Minneapolis this past weekend. This made me think of them because I doubt that very many House Reps. will have the audacity to stand with Kucinich. I also wonder if any Senators will show support. Three people specifically come to mind here:

• Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House: She said that impeachment was off the table. Will she stick by this nonsense?
• John Conyers, Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee: This committee would handle the proceedings, should they take place. Will he challenge Pelosi and live up to his reputation as a protector of the law?
• Barack Obama, Senator & presumptive Democratic Presidential Nominee: Will he go out on a limb and show support for Kucinich’s resolution? If not, will he say why he won’t? My guess is that he’ll make no statement on this, especially not one in support.

What do you think?

Should the House accept Dennis Kucinich’s impeachment resolution? (click to vote Yes or No. Currently 176 people say No (46%) and 207 say Yes (54%))

WIll Barack Obama make a statement in support of Dennis Kucinich’s impeachment resolution? (click to vote Yes or No. Currently 161 people say No (55%) and 131 say Yes (45%))

One Love. One II.

Kucinich asks Iowa supporters to caucus for Obama

From dailykos

Kucinich asks IA supporters to caucus for Obama
by kos
Tue Jan 01, 2008 at 06:57:21 PM PST

in 2004, Kucinich instructed his caucus supporters to cast their lot with Edwards, playing a role in killing Howard Dean’s presidential ambitions. This year, he’s abandoning Edwards for Obama.

“I hope Iowans will caucus for me as their first choice this Thursday, because of my singular positions on the war, on health care, and trade. This is an opportunity for people to stand up for themselves. But in those caucus locations where my support doesn’t reach the necessary threshold, I strongly encourage all of my supporters to make Barack Obama their second choice. Sen. Obama and I have one thing in common: Change.”

Funny that Kucinich endorsed the war-supporting conservative Edwards in 2004, but has now ditched the far more progressive 2008 edition. I’ll never understand that guy.

Now in 2004, Kucinich clocked in at 4 percent in the entrance poll, while he’s polling around 1 percent this time around. Then again, he polled at around 2 percent last time and doubled that in actual results. So if history repeats itself, that’s two percentage points at stake. Not exactly decisive, but definitely helpful. This thing is so tight, that every percentage point will matter.

More important will be the five percent Biden seems to be getting, and the seven percent Richardson is polling.

I have a feeling that Biden’s supporters are more the Hillary type, so maybe Richardson will get to play kingmaker.

One-on-One Presidential Debates

A lot of people think that Presidential debates don’t really mean a lot. They see them as a bunch of people making meaningless, empty, rhetorical statements.

I think that is sentiment is true for the most part. I do think that there is a solution: One-on-one debates. The reason is simple. It is much harder to get away with B.S. statements when you are giving them to one person than it is when giving it to a group.

Dennis the Menace & Why it’s Important to Watch Candidates Closely

Many people have never heard of Dennis Kucinich, a Democratic Congressman from Ohio. Kucinich is running for President in 2008, and is considered to be one of the most progressive candidates on the Democratic side. In my view is right on on most of today’s issues: Iraq, the media, health care, and others. I think he did very well in the debate this week. All in all, a guy I’d vote for.

The above reasons are why it troubles me so much that he is SO ABSOLUTELY WRONG about the CBCI/CBC-Fox New Debate Issue.