Ron Paul/Dennis Kucinich 2008 Sticking it to the Cartel politicians and media
All right, I realize most of my peers in the Free State will go apoplectic to think some "raving socialist" like Dennis Kucinich might even be mentioned in the same breath with libertarian icon Ron Paul. (Check out the Kucinich Website, though... easily the coolest bumper stickers on the planet.)
A couple of contrary points merit consideration in this context: a) Dr. Paul seems astonishingly uncomprehending of the science behind anthropogenic global warming, certainly one of the gravest threats the species faces in this century, b) he's antichoice on abortion, and c) he's 71.
Hey, we all have problems, right? On every other essential attribute Ron Paul is dead solid perfect, and I particularly like his animus toward the Federal Reserve System and the income tax—two lynch pins of Cartel[1] oppression.
Animosity toward the Cartel also characterizes Dennis Kucinich's positions. Like Paul, Kucinich is fully opposed to the war machinery of the imperial state and sometimes seems to show even more awareness than Dr. Paul of the corporate origins of such excesses of state power. (For example, Kucinich is the only candidate who concedes a possibility that 911 was an inside job... and wants a real investigation.)
Kucinich, on the MSNBC debates April 26, 2007, was the only candidate to produce a copy of the US Constitution in the course of defending a position. He did so as he announced his reasons for introducing impeachment articles against Dick Cheney. (Ron Paul has not moved toward impeachment of any administration official, though he surely regards their acts of war as the highest of crimes.)
So in the Department of Political Cojones, advantage Kucinich.
Also to his credit: Kucinich is cognizant of environmental science and an aggressive advocate of "polluters pay," not to mention "polluters stop." Which should allay fears that he's antagonistic toward property rights; his environmentalism is congruent with the views of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., i.e. that free market principles are for everyone. No privileges to the corporatist scorch-the-earth-for-profits crowd.
Oh yes, both of these candidates are adamantly against the drug war—again, I have to give the advantage to Dennis over Ron for being more up front publicly on the issue—and they would end that lunatic policy with the stroke of a pen.
So what's the caveat on Kucinich?
Unfortunately, it's as big as a Buick.
Kucinich suffers from the classic leftist
"totalitarian lean"—anyone remember the "gangster lean?"—syndrome, especially on matters of HEW (health, education, and welfare). Instead of seeing the state as a barnacle on the ass of progress, leaning leftists see a savior. Social Security, universal health care, public assistance, universal forced government schooling; you name it, they want to keep the government program and make it even more ironfisted.
Plus, Kucinich would ban handguns!
How does that square with his support of the Constitution?
Definitely a mixed bag. I tend to see Kucinich's HEWie factor as seeking community-based alternatives to corporatist plunder. But I probably give him too much credit... and there is that position on guns. But then I find the antichoice position of Dr. Paul to be almost as offensive.
Anyway, on issues, advantage Paul; so on my dream ticket, that's why I make Kucinich second banana.
In reality, none of their incorrect positions is likely to be implemented. If you want the ideal candidate in terms of positions and awareness, work for the presumed Libertarian nominee George Phillies. I've met him and he has the intellectual stature and moral courage to do the job.
Among the Reps and Dems, why are Paul and Kucinich the best? Because they are thoroughgoing humans who fervently resist Matrix-like domination of the Cartel.
And it appears genuine humans are going to have some sayso in this campaign. Ron Paul on the two TV debates thus far has led phone-in opinion polls; Kucinich has done similar in the Dem forums. Both Dr. Paul and Mr. Kucinich have appeared effectively on Bill Maher's HBO program Real Time.
I love the fact the Cartel media moguls are excreting frisbees over Ron Paul's unexpected poll numbers.
These are exciting times, indeed. Unseen ragtag armies of hard money, income-tax-and-Federal-Reserve-hating, drug-war-police-state-hating, gun-loving, freedom-is-a-family-value patriots have their trigger fingers on their mouses and their ears to the ground.
My friends and I in the Free State will be working overtime to make Dr. Paul the undisputed winner of the New Hampshire primary.
[1] My identification of the Cartel is necessarily loose because many of its workings are secret. However, a working definition in the modern international context is a set of cooperating international banks, foundations, academia, and multinational corporations who thoroughly control commerce, politics, and media. Specifically, in America, these institutions rest on strong central government—through the national bank (Federal Reserve System), the income tax, the police-state intelligence cult (CIA, NSA, etc.), and so on—and abrogate individual rights while systematically destroying community-driven, Constitutional democracy. Who is the maximum leader of the Cartel? No single individual, but the inner circle certainly consists of selected heirs to massive historical industrial and banking-monopoly dynasties. (Rockefeller and Rothschild, respectively, are emblematic.) I discuss the Cartel (aka the Oligarchy) in my book more fully, yet there exist hundreds of illuminating documents from the 1000-page tome of Dr. Carroll Quigley, Tragedy and Hope, to the brilliant little monograph The Occult Technology of Power.
