mizChartreuse!

It is also quite lengthy, but I promise you will be a more politically knowledgeable person after reading some of this, even if you just skim over the bullet points (unless you already know everything that I’m about to share, obviously). I’m not tooting my own horn because this is not really my writing; most of the information is stuff I’m learning on my own through research. Especially in this day and age, it is so important to be aware of what’s going on and who is a potential leader of our country.

This has nothing to do with the rest of this blog, but first, I just want to say that Ann Coulter is THE devil incarnate. Thanks to my homegirl Perez (and I think Diana posted this also), I learned that she said the following:

“If we took away women’s right to vote, we’d never have to worry about another Democrat president. It’s kind of a pipe dream, it’s a personal fantasy of mine, but I don’t think it’s going to happen. And it is a good way of making the point that women are voting so stupidly, at least single women. It also makes the point, it is kind of embarrassing, the Democratic Party ought to be hanging its head in shame, that it has so much difficulty getting men to vote for it. I mean, you do see it’s the party of women and ‘We’ll pay for health care and tuition and day care — and here, what else can we give you, soccer moms?’”

Bitch.

This is what she wrote after Sept. 11:

“…we should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity.” and “Congress could pass a law tomorrow requiring that all aliens from Arabic countries leave…”

I know that photo is a bit immature, but it’s true. She’s an evil evil woman, and very gimmicky. She says what she does to get a rise out of people and likes to be extreme. Our reaction of outrage is exactly what fuels her, but her method of reason is pure evil. What a ho. I shudder at her name, even when I drive past Coulter St. in the city.

On to more important stuff.

I will be the first to admit, when I learned Barack Obama was running for president, I figured he’d automatically have my vote. A black man leading the country? That’s cool with me. He’s from Chicago, has done a lot of work for the community, and his wife is one great woman. I saw him at the UIC Pavillion a few months ago, and he is such a charismatic and “real” speaker. I like him, and he stands for a lot of things that I want to see in a president and he could make some great changes.

This is funny:

However, as I’ve been reading up more on the candidates, I am becoming more and more keen on Congressman Dennis Kucinich. I first heard of him through Frogger the blogger, and decided to check him out. What a sweet, sweet man.

He’s a bit elfin-looking, but he has a hot wife. Obviously.

His platform is very straightforward and I couldn’t agree with him more. If you are interested, here are the basics (from Wikipedia):

And, quite importantly, here is his propsed exit strategy for Iraq.

He isn’t just “another white man in a suit lining the pockets of corporate America and lobbyists,” as one blog commenter asked him. He is the only candidate that doesn’t take contributions from corporations, and that’s partially a reason why he is largely unknown in comparison to Senators Obama and Clinton and gets limited coverage not only on the major news networks, but even in the Democratic debate. Seriously, when is the last time you heard anything about Dennis Kucinich on ABC or NBC? Let’s not even talk about FOX.

Plus, he’s been through stuff. The eldest of seven children, his family moved 21 times and even had to live out of their car at a few points. He went on to be in Cleveland’s city council and later the mayor, and finally he is now in the House of Representatives.

I’m not saying by any means that I blindly trust politicians; I have my own issues with American politics, our government, and society in general. I don’t think there can ever be bipartisan resolution in the country, and I don’t think that the Democrats are solely the answer to all of our problems. But I do know that anyone who votes Republican is a blind fool—and I say that with certainty.

And I still believe that Miz Coulter needs a good ass-beatin’.

Here are some of Kucinich’s stands on a couple issues, in his own words:

The War
Question: What is your opinion on the war in Iraq?
Answer: I favor immediate and orderly withdrawl of U.S. troops.
Explanation: “If you have money which can be used to bring the troops home or to prosecute the war, do not say you want to bring the troops home while you appropriate money in a supplemental to keep them in Iraq fighting a war that cannot be won militarily. This is why the Administration should be notified now that Congress will not approve of the appropriations request of up to $160 billion in the spring for the purposes of continuing the occupation and the war. Continuing to fund the war is not a plan. It would represent the continuation of disaster,” Kucinich writes on his Web site.

Tax Cuts
Question: Do you believe the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts should be made permanent?
Answer: No.
Explanation: “The fact that a billionaire sitting next to a pool pays a lower tax rate than the person who cleans bedpans or finishes concrete should trouble all of us. America should reward those whose labors have made it great. To force the hardest working and most productive of all Americans to pay more of their income than those who merely receive dividend checks from an investment is to diminish their efforts. The Republican effort to keep the taxation rate on dividends at 15%, or to eliminate it altogether, is truly evidence that the Republican Party and some Democrats simply do not respect hard work. They only respect and admire wealth. Part of that admiration may stem from the fact that those are the people who fund their campaigns,” Kucinich writes on his Web site.

Obama’s position on a few issues:
-Iraq: There should be a timetable for removing troops in Iraq, not immediate withdrawal.
-Immigration: In favor of a guest worker program, while tightening border security.
-Tax Cuts: Opposed extending 2003 Bush tax cut law through 2010. Supports eliminating marriage penalty and extending child tax credit. Supports scaling back capital gains and dividends tax cuts and re-examining tax benefits for the top one percent of earners.
-For universal healthcare
-Favors capital punishment for some crimes. [That makes me =( .]

I like Kucinich because, as I said before, he is quite straightforward about his beliefs and has a voting track record to back him up. He was one of the few members of Congress who voted against the war. He voted against the Patriot Act. He advocates the abolition of all nuclear weapons.

Also:
Kucinich is the only congressional representative to vote against the symbolic “9/11 Commemoration” resolution. In a press statement he defended his nay vote by saying that the bill did not make reference to “the lies that took us into Iraq, the lies that keep us there, the lies that are being used to set the stage for war against Iran and the lies that have undermined our basic civil liberties here at home.”

Thank you, Congressman K!

Back in April, Kucinich announced his intention to file impeachment proceedings against Vice Prez Cheney. “He charges Cheney with manipulating the evidence of Iraq’s weapons program, deceiving the nation about Iraq’s connection to al-Qaeda, and threatening aggression against Iran in violation of the United Nations charter.”

When they were asked during the first Democratic debate, NONE of the other presidential candidates agreed with Kucinich’s stand. This is what he responded:

“As I look at the future, I see you going to college or entering the workforce to pursue your dreams. After working hard and sacrificing, you are graduating into an economy depressed by war. Though you had hope of a better life than your parents, you instead face a future with high unemployment, minimum rather than living wage, excessive healthcare costs, a neglected environment, and national policies that undermine non-violent and cooperative approaches to domestic and international problems. This is not my dream. I have spent life working to create a just and sustainable country. What I want to tell young people today is that not only can you make a difference, but without your voices, we cannot make this an America which will give you the future you deserve.”

http://www.myspace.com/denniskucinich

Check out his blogs!

Also, at this website, you can take a quiz and give YOUR positions on current issues such as the ones described above, and it will tell you which presidential candidate’s stances align most with yours.

..>

	Dennis Kucinich Score: 66	Agree Iraq Immigration Taxes Stem-Cell Research Health Care Abortion Line-Item Veto Energy Marriage Death Penalty	Disagree Social Security
– Take the Quiz! –

I thought for sure Barama would be my match, but Kucinich beat him by a landslide– 66 points as opposed to Barama’s 47. John Edwards and Hilary Clinton both scored 47 with me.

Also, the site details all the candidates’ positions on each issue, so you can read for yourself in their words what they believe.

Ignorance is not bliss.

You can’t vote for someone just because they’re black or a woman or was an actor on your favorite T.V. show or some other arbitrary reason. Well, you can, but when this country goes even further to hell than it’s already at, don’t come home crying. We already effed up–twice.

I still love Barama, but I love Kucinich more.