As always, 90 minutes with Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) is like being in the presence of a person just given a potent shot of a truth serum. Of course, a Bainbridge Island liberal’s version of truth is undoubtedly different from that held by a Republican from Gorst, but you have to like the fact he’s fearless and cannot be bought.
To Kucinich, who addressed about 280 people (an estimated 100 were turned away) last Saturday night at the Lynwood Theatre, is never pallid. He calls a corrupt government controlled by corporations corrupted and a war is always a war. For example, he was quick to label America’s “intervention” in Libya as an act of war, which, by any other name is still a war.
The “truth teller” saves much of his ire for war’s methodology, such as the popular drone missiles fired by junior officers sitting in dark rooms in California, who, just like combat officers in Afghanistan, are being treated for Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. “World War II is over, but we can’t seem to stop this movement toward an empire war.” Put another way: “We can bomb the world to pieces and we can’t bomb it to peace either.”
As friends of author Dave Korten and YES! Magazine publisher Fran Korten, last week’s speech was his second on Bainbridge during the last several years; previously he addressed an equally fervent audience at the high school prior to an election. But a lot has happened over the last six years.
The mood of the crowd wasn’t different in that there’s still pent-up fury against the Republicans, but it’s apparent from the audience’s questions that there is an increasing level of disappointment with the current administration’s inability to move forward. Democrats expected more and got less.
And, as always, Kucinich urged citizens to get more involved in government on a daily basis, especially when it comes to voicing concerns about the country’s direction. “We need to let our government know we want peace and we need to overhaul our economic system. If we don’t stand up, nothing will change.”
