Article: My Apologies to Elizabeth Kucinich

Not long ago, I wrote a column called, Winning Hearts and Minds.

In that column, I presented the letter that Elizabeth had recently emailed to Kucinich supporters , asking us to respond to an irresponsible attack on her husband, Dennis Kucinich, by a Cleveland area public radio station, that lambasted Congressman Kucinich and his proposed Department of Peace, without fully gathering the facts.

On the radio show, Moulthrop's guest Chris Maag apparently criticized Congressman Kucinich and his proposal for a Department of Peace-which is designed, among other things, to reduce domestic crime and violence--while Maag simultaneously claimed that the Congressman is doing nothing to address the issues of crime and violence.

Elizabeth asked Kucinich advocates to call WCPN and demand that they provide the Cleveland area with the real facts about the Department of Peace, and that Moulthrop apologize to Congressman Kucinich for belittling such an ambitious and widely supported legislative proposal.

My response began with, "Dear Elizabeth Kucinich, Calm down and get used to it. Peace out. Get a grip and have a little faith. Little guys-and by that I mean the Really Big Guys, like Dennis-can't fight in the Phoney Big Guys' Horse and Pony Show and expect to win. They can get smeared through the mud for as long as they wish, however, then tarred and feathered, and sent out of town. I don't think that's what we're looking for this time around...

"Let these idiots go," I wrote. "Don't waste one more second of your precious time on them, or one more ounce of emotion. Dennis is outside the system because of the very thing he wants to do: Change the system! Conservative rags like the New York Times and Time Magazine are going the way of the dinosaurs, and they'll do that without our help..."

I also wrote, "Let's face it: Dennis WILL CONTINUE winning hearts by doing the very things he's already doing. And he'll get good press for that, as he has been doing. He does not need his fans turning into bulldogs, doing the same frustrating things so many of us (including himself and myself) have been doing for decades, over and over and over and going nowhere but into debt and frustration. What are we trying to do, emulate Bush?"

I rambled on, but that was the tone of my letter and you can read the original for yourself at the above link (even though I'd prefer you didn't).

SO I NOW FORMALLY APOLOGIZE TO ELIZABETH KUCINICH:

1) I am sorry for the tone of that letter. While it was due to the frustrations noted in the letter, there is no excuse for what in retrospect appears to be a personal attack. That will not happen again.

2) I am sorry for the content of the letter, for three reasons:

a) Not one week later, I found myself firing a response to the Cleveland Plains Dealer for its pathetic, small-minded attack on Dennis, thus countering my own original thoughts, without even noticing the contradiction, til after the fact;

b) I read many of the thoughtful letters that were sent to the Cleveland Plains Dealer by several other parties, and had no doubt that they were the appropriate response;

c) given these facts and further reflection, I have absolutely no problem with the idea of Congressman Kucinich advocates asking for fair and balanced reporting, without distortion or outright lies. I even conclude it is important to do that, while at the same time do all we can to continue making others aware of the quality of Dennis' outstanding and well-researched positions, his courage to stand up for them, and his most extraordinary dedication to making America the country it was meant to be.

Thank you, Elizabeth, for taking the time to read this, and for all the work I know you are doing to make your husband what he certainly ought to be: President of the United States in 2008.

Sincerely,

Daniel Geery

P.S. Just today I read a sorry column in Time Magazine, giving an overview of the presidential candidates. Not once did they even MENTION Dennis, even though one recent poll actually showed him ahead of Hillary Clinton. But then, what can one expect for a magazine whose standards are so low that they pick George Bush as "Man of the Year"?