Paul Wellstone "is just out for attention."

[Eric Condon]

Russ Feingold's "ass should now be primaried. He is a traitor to his party every bit as much as the treasonous blue dogs. Fuck his traitor ass."


"I despise that grandstanding little shit Alan Grayson. He's our Michelle Bachman."


Barbara Boxer "needs to sit down and shut the fuck up..."


Ted Kennedy "is a joke. A one-man traveling carnival. Mock and dismiss the little fella... That's all he deserves."


-----

Do you see what I did there?

I took quotes made about Dennis Kucinich on DU, by DUers, in recent weeks, and replaced Dennis' name with the names of other prominent progressives.

Do these statements sound right to you?

Then stop saying them about Kucinich.

Dennis is a politician the likes of which you can probably count on one hand in Washington D.C. He is not beholden to the multinationals, and he fights for the American people, and for democracy. I cannot for the life of me believe that people on such a supposedly liberal website are spewing this shit.

I don't care that he saw a UFO. I don't care that the M$M doesn't take him seriously. What I care about is the fact that he's done more for We the People than the DLCers (who are suddenly so popular on DU) would ever consider doing. And dismissing him as a "kook" and a "whack job" isn't going to make that any less true.

[barbtries]

1. thank you

i agree with you. kucinich is a hero and i am baffled by the short shrift he is often given on this site.

[KittyWampus]

2. Aw, another DU'er can't stand criticism of his pet politician. And guess what, EVERY DAMNED DEMOCRAT

who is a solid liberal including Russ Feingold, Barbara Boxer, Maxine Waters and Conyers has been treated in similar manner on DU at some point.

Kucinich DESERVES quite a lot of the critical assessment he gets here.

If you don't like it, feel free to argue about it.

OH and Paul Wellstone was on teh evil NED's panel at one point. DU'ers were all over Wes Clark for that when he was running for POTUS.

[Bluebear]

3. Wow.

[spiritual_gunfighter]

11. Thank you for posting the most idiotic thing I have read on DU in some time n/t

[demwing]

25. Then you must not read much here.

This post was certainly not idiotic. You may disagree, but it was not idiotic.

[Kermitt Gribble]

13. Critical assessment??? Ha!

What you call critical assessment is generally name calling and people being angry that he says something negative about Obama Administration policies. Please provide a link to an example of this 'critical assessment' and an instance of where he deserved such criticism.

[northernlights]

17. you call that critical assessment?

wow. welcome to my ignore crowd. i'm sure you'll like it there. many people with similar critical thinking skills. :shrug:

and, fwiw, Kucinich is not my personal fave. just sayin'...

[rudy23]

20. Good discipline. nt

[tonysam]

21. There is nothing worse than hero worship, especially in politics.

Politicians are fallible human beings, as we all know.

You put a pet politician on a pedestal, and you are always going to be disappointed.

[Bjorn Against]

27. You just need to be more tolerant.

[roody]

4. Thanks.

[Blue-Jay]

5. So Wellstone is an attention-seeking zombie?

That makes perfect sense.

[Robb]

6. "Dennis is a politician the likes of which you can probably count on one hand in Washington D.C."

That's true.

[Jackpine Radical]

39. One finger, actually.

I decline to comment on which finger, for I will surely be misunderstood if I do.

[Orsino]

7. While I support the right of every DUer to level similar venom wherever s/he likes...

...but the sort of perspective you've offered is valuable. :thumbsup:

[DesertRat]

8. K&R

[madrchsod]

9. that`s why i voted for him....

[G_j]

10. good one

nt

[spiritual_gunfighter]

12. K&R n/t

[Kermitt Gribble]

14. K&R! n/t

[alfredo]

15. DK isn't perfect, but he's a gutsy guy, and I like that.

He stood up for us when we were fighting against the voting machine companies. When the bush junta wanted to use the Patriot Act against some of us, he stood with us. When they tried to punish some school kids for posting leaked e-mails from Diebold, he posted them on his congressional site and dared them to arrest him.

[bertman]

23. He was an unflinching proponent of impeachment of Bush and Cheney despite Pelosi's treachery.

That in itself is one reason I love the guy; although, he gives me many more reasons on a regular basis.

I find it totally predictable that the Corporate media, as well as anyone who doesn't want a progressive leader in the Congress, would make his statement that he saw a UFO into a big deal. It takes a hell of a lot of brass for a public figure to admit that he/she has seen a flying object that he/she could not identify. HE DIDN'T SAY HE SAW ALIENS or that he was taken aboard an alien craft. he simply stated a fact and wouldn't lie about it to save himself the barrage of bad press it has brought down on him.

Just goes to show how easily distracted we earthlings are.

[alfredo]

29. He was honest that he saw something he couldn't identify: a UFO.

He might have been naive in believing that people understood that a UFO is any object you can't identify. It doesn't mean you believe in Aliens.

[noamnety]

35. FYI - you can alert on the "aliens" crap

and the mods have been good about removing those posts.

They violate DU rules (attacking democrats with birther-style "he's a kenyan!" style smears).

[bertman]

44. I hope you didn't misunderstand my reason for bringing up the UFO issue, noamnety.

There's no need for an "alert".

P.S. If you were just informing us of the ability to alert if someone cited the UFO b.s., my apologies for jumping to a contusion.

[timtom]

16. Your on my Good Folks list!!

K & R!!

[Nikki Stone1]

18. I love Dennis. But considering that two of your examples were of dead Democrats

you've kinda diluted your own point.

[rudy23]

19. Message Discipline -- this is part of Rahm's long term strategery for dealing with us

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x6972693
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x6022082

The DLC wants to make the left look "uncool", so that's why you're seeing the odd Kucinich bashing "out of nowhere." It all started in July when the New Democrats took single payer off the table, and they've had the bullseye on him ever since. Rahm's "Message Discipline" team was formed in April. You do the math.

[G_j]

22. "I love Moonbeam McCrazypants' ideals. I just wish (a) he wasn't batshit insane.."

taken from one of those threads.


Correct, there are a number of themes repeated consistently to try to marginalize him.
In 2004 it started with "unelectable".

[Ohio Joe]

24. K&R - Very well said - nt

[Vidar]

26. Excellent post in praise of one of our very best.

[Unvanguard]

28. Maybe none of that is true for Wellstone, Feingold, Grayson, Boxer, and Kennedy

It might still be true of Kucinich.

[ddeclue]

30. Paul Wellstone is DEAD and this post is in very poor taste.

[Eric Condon]

40. The point is, as beloved as he is, Wellstone would be vilified the exact same way

if he were around today. Because he, like Dennis, would be standing up for the people.

[ddeclue]

43. I am actually a DK supporter and a personal friend of Congressman Grayson

and I find this post offensive. THe OP is calling out other DU'ers and painting with them broad brush, insulting unrelated Democrats and none of it defends DK, it just insults other people.

[BzaDem]

31. ... except that Dennis Kucinich SHOULD be primaried, while Feingold/Grayson/Boxer should not be.

Dennis Kucinich is no progressive. Just because you hate people calling him out on his anti-progressive actions and voting record doesn't somehow make it not true.

It is really quite ridiculous when people take statements that manifestly apply to one politican, and then pretend that other people applied them to other politicians (when the statements don't even remotely apply to these other politicians). I have actually never seen such a stupid argument made before. Congratulations.

Let me know when Feingold, Grayson, or Boxer vote against the main centerpieces of the Democratic agenda (healthcare reform and cap and trade).

[Eric Condon]

32. Let me know when there's anything remotely "Democratic" about the HCR we're getting. nt

[Eric Condon]

41. Also, I make very clear that I'm not "pretending" anyone said these things about those politicians.

It's a thought experiment.

[Helga Scow Stern]

33. Jeez we need more people who stand up for us,

not less!
Thanks for shouting out about DK, one of a few!

[Echo In Light]

34. Very revealing how DK can send the foaming-at-the-mouth-haters into a keyboard frenzy

K&R for DK!

[mikelgb]

36. Aye.

[jgraz]

37. Sadly, these statements and more have been made each of the Dems you listed.

Anyone who dares question Dear Leader gets the same treatment. DK is just the most prominent among them.

[Time for change]

38. Spot on

[Cleita]

42. Thank you for standing up for Dennis and the DLC has never been popular on DU.

I think if you took a census you would find them very much in the minority, a loudmouth one, but a minority and that makes them also like Republicans.