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Kucinich Deeper Rivers * McKinney's Inspiration * Bush Knew * Patriot-Enron?

21 May 2002


1) Deeper Rivers - A Kucinich candidacy where others can't reach
2) Cynthia McKinney's Statement: Terrorist Warnings
3) The Terrorists Flew and Bush Knew
4) CBS Anchor Rather Admits: "patriotism run amok"
5) Enron Pipeline Leaves Scar on South America


Editor's Notes:

The first item is another Kucinich for President article. This time from LA Weekly with an apropos title, both poetic and meaningful, "Deeper Rivers - A Kucinich candidacy would tread where others can't reach." Item 2 is a statement by the courageous and inspirational, Cynthia Mckinney, who stands tall in her continuous calling for investigations on the Bush administration's 911 awareness, or lack thereof. The article links following her statement, show the obvious contrast of true patriots, like McKinney and Kucinich, and about those now running the government as a crooked business, like Cheney and Bush. Item 3 confronts the B.S. with articles and time-lines by William Rivers Pitt, Michael C. Ruppert, Russ Kick, and David Corn, on what they knew, and when they knew it. Item 4 is an article about Dan Rather admitting self-censorship with an untrue patriotic fervor. And item 5, is on our Enron friends screwing up the environment again, with their political muscle, leaving ruin in their wake before their demise.

Call Congress for 9/11 Investigations -- Stop the US withdrawal from the ABM Treaty -- Support the Space Preservation Act of 2002 (H.R. 3616), a ban on all space-based weapons.

The Congressional Switchboard telephone number is 202-224-3121.

For more information on the Bush Conspiracy and 9/11 Investigative Reports, see:
http://www.flybynews.com/cgi-local/newspro/viewnews.cgi?newsid1014738186,11057,m

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1) Deeper Rivers - A Kucinich candidacy would tread where others can't reach


Deeper Rivers - A Kucinich candidacy would tread where others can't reach
L.A. Weekly
May 10

By David Corn

SINCE SEPTEMBER 11, MANY POLITICIANS have prayed for America, but only one offered a devotional accusing the government of "in effect canceling" the first and fourth amendments, warning that a "great fear" overwhelmed America's leaders, and opposing "war without end."

When Representative Dennis Kucinich, a Democrat from Cleveland who is not a familiar face on Sunday news gab shows, offered such a "prayer for America" in February at a Los Angeles meeting of the Southern California Americans for Democratic Action, he became a magnet for progressives suffering post-9/11 blues and longing for a kick-ass leader who would bash the Bush administration, the national-security establishment and the recent expansion of federal police powers, and who also could express a left vision promoting peace, social justice, civil liberties and democracy.

Thousands of leftists across the country read Kucinich's words on the Internet and sent him emails declaring, "Right on!" The response to his speech prompted talk among liberals in L.A. and elsewhere of an improbable Kucinich-for-president campaign. In The Nation magazine, a starry-eyed Studs Terkel, the well-known lefty oral historian, declared, "Kucinich Is the One."

That's some speech that can do all that. (And Kucinich began it by singing portions of various patriotic anthems.) But with most elected Democrats proclaiming their support for George W. Bush's war on terrorism at home and abroad, the competition is slim these days for a national progressive leader.

For his part, Kucinich, 55, has long been an independent voice willing to cut against political fashion. The son of a truck driver and the oldest of seven children, Kucinich was a child star of Cleveland politics. He was elected to the City Council in 1969 at the age of 23, a populist eager to mix it up with the city's business establishment. In 1977, as the boy mayor of Cleveland, he waged a titanic struggle against the town's financial elite. The money gang wanted him to sell off the municipal utility to balance debt-ridden books he had inherited. Kucinich refused, hoping to preserve low electricity rates. The banks called in their loans, and the city went into default. Kucinich won voter referendums on the issue and on raising income taxes to cover the city deficit. But in the face of opposition from the local barons, he was bounced from office in 1979.

Seventeen years later, he was elected to Congress, beating a Republican incumbent/millionaire- businessman. As a backbencher in the minority, Kucinich does not have much clout. But he has become chairman of the Progressive Caucus, a collection of several dozen House liberals. And he has established himself as an iconoclastic and idealistic legislator who pushes issues few others will touch.

At the Web site he recently set up -- http://www.thespiritoffreedom.com -- Kucinich highlights three causes he's been chasing: establishing a Department of Peace, outlawing weapons based in space, and advocating nuclear disarmament. In Congress, he recently offered an amendment to stop Bush's tax cuts for the wealthiest one percent and apply that $187 billion to prescription-drug benefits for seniors. When Homeland Security czar Tom Ridge refused to testify before Congress but deigned to appear at an informal closed-door session, Kucinich walked out of the briefing in protest.

"I have a sense of urgency," says Kucinich. "This is a time when world peace is at stake, when nuclear armament is occurring, when domestic needs, such as health care, are being ignored... I am trying to be a spokesperson. I have this sense of an unarticulated consciousness that exists in this country and that has been waiting for representation."

His unadulterated message has registered. Not only has he been flooded by 20,000 or so e-mails, he's been receiving speaking invitations from across the country. In late May, for instance, he will be the keynote speaker at the Western conference meeting of the Democratic National Committee in Seattle.

KUCINICH HAS TAKEN POSITIONS not widely shared by his fellow elected Democrats. He is openly critical of the U.S. bombing campaign in Afghanistan, saying the response to the 9/11 attacks ought to have been more in line with a police action than a war. The incursions of Ariel Sharon, he adds, are bound to fail because they "will create more violence against Israel." In one break with traditional liberals, Kucinich is not pro-choice. He explains that he represents one of the most Catholic districts in the country and was raised in a Catholic setting: "I believe in the sanctity of life and that life begins at conception." But, he adds, he has "never taken a position that Roe v. Wade should be overturned or that people should be prosecuted for abortion." In a similar vein, last year he joined with social conservatives to lead the fight in the House for a ban on all forms of human cloning, even therapeutic cloning.

Kucinich has a spiritual -- almost New Age-ish -- side to his politics he is not afraid to show. "There is a hunger out there for a message that goes beyond traditional politics," he says. "My philosophy has a lot to do with the potential for all of us to unfold." For several years, Kucinich has been friends with best-selling, spirit-celebrating author Marianne Williamson, who, he says, "has a grasp of the deeper meanings of the American experience." Regarding Kucinich, Williamson observes, "Many of us have felt so frustrated for years, because hardly anyone within mainstream politics swims the deeper river of the American psyche anymore... But then comes Dennis, and it's as though he sounds a clarion call to those of us trying to reconcile our love for this country with our disdain for so much of what we have come to stand for... He's a rare combination of poetry and power." She adds, "If he does run for president, I'll help in any way I can."

IS KUCINICH PONDERING A PRESIDENTIAL bid? He pauses -- for a long time -- before answering: "I'm getting requests from people across the country who ask me to consider it -- some from people considered to be politically astute. But it's a bit early to start that speculation." As political reporters are quick to note, that's not a "no."

"I'd like to see him run for president," gushes Lila Garrett, the immediate past president of the Southern California Americans for Democratic Action, which provided last February's forum for Kucinich's prayer. "Stranger things have happened. Look at Jesse Ventura in Minnesota. I get calls every day from people asking what they can do to support him." If Kucinich does steer in that direction, it may be because of the encouragement flowing from the support base he has cultivated in Los Angeles, where he often speaks and raises money.

Would he have a prayer? Not since 1880 has a sitting member of the House grabbed the presidential nomination of a major party. And usually candidates need tens of millions of dollars to be competitive -- a chunk of change likely beyond Kucinich's reach. Still, a bid might be worth considering. Steve Cobble, a liberal political strategist, says, "There is an opening in the 2004 field for a progressive candidate who holds office, is used to organizing grassroots support rather than depending on elites, and is brave enough to lead rather than just report back on focus-group findings. He or she would rally millions of American progressive voters who currently have few political outlets for their energies."

In the past, ideologically minded long-shot candidates have seen presidential campaigns bolster their status and influence. Pat Robertson's once-powerful Christian Coalition rose out of his 1988 presidential run, and Jesse Jackson's 1984 and 1988 campaigns transformed him, for a time, into the left's chief champion.

His prayer, Kucinich says, "was intended to let people know there's a real threat to our Bill of Rights and Constitution." In delivering it, Kucinich also won himself a much more prominent pulpit.

http://www.laweekly.com/ink/02/25/news-corn.shtml

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2) Cynthia McKinney's Statement: Terrorist Warnings

Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney

Terrorist Warnings
May 16, 2002

Several weeks ago, I called for a congressional investigation into what warnings the Bush Administration received before the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. I was derided by the White House, right wing talk radio, and spokespersons for the military-industrial complex as a conspiracy theorist. Even my patriotism was questioned because I dared to suggest that Congress should conduct a full and complete investigation into the most disastrous intelligence failure in American history. Georgia Senator Zell Miller even went so far as to characterize my call for hearings as "dangerous, loony and irresponsible."

Today's revelations that the administration, and President Bush, were given months of notice that a terrorist attack was a distinct possibility points out the critical need for a full and complete congressional investigation.

It now becomes clear why the Bush Administration has been vigorously opposing congressional hearings. The Bush Administration has been engaged in a conspiracy of silence. If committed and patriotic people had not been pushing for disclosure today's revelations would have been hidden by the White House.

Because I love my country, because I am a patriot, and because the American people deserve the truth, I believe it would be dangerous, loony and irresponsible not to hold full congressional hearings on any warnings the Bush Administration had before the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

Ever since I came to Congress in 1992, there are those who have been trying to silence my voice. I've been told to "sit down and shut up" over and over again. Well, I won't sit down and I won't shut up until the full and unvarnished truth is placed before the American people.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/05.17AA.Mckinney.Bush.NU.htm

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Related Articles:

Cheney Moves to Block 9-11 Probe
By Alison Mitchell

May 20, 2002

WASHINGTON, May 19 -- Vice President Dick Cheney said today that he would advise President Bush not to turn over to Congress the August intelligence briefing that warned that terrorists were interested in hijacking airplanes, and he insisted that the investigation into Sept. 11 should be handled by the Congressional intelligence committees, not an independent commission.

For this complete story, see:
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/05.21A.Cheney.Block.911.htm

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Strife, Dissent Beset Hill's Sept. 11 Panel
--- Bipartisan Group Disagrees on Mission ---

By Dana Priest and Walter Pincus
Washington Post Staff Writers

Monday, May 20, 2002; Page A01

The congressional panel authorized and funded to investigate the performance of intelligence agencies leading to the Sept. 11 attacks has been racked with internal strife, partisan politics and disagreements over its ultimate goal.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A42577-2002May19.html

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"Statewide, the largest numbers of voting problems were found in precincts with high proportions of black and elderly voters. Under the settlement, both sides will work to restore voters who were wrongly removed from voters lists in the 2000 election. Many law-abiding voters across the state said their names were dropped because they were mistakenly pegged as ex-cons, who generally aren't allowed to vote in Florida. "
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/04.28A.Election.Fraud.htm

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Quietly Florida Admits 2000 Election Fraud By The Associated Press 4/26/02
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Election-Lawsuit.html

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3) The Terrorists Flew and Bush Knew

The Terrorists Flew and Bush Knew
By William Rivers Pitt

When Andrew Card interrupted the 298th reading of 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' by whispering words of fire and death into the ear of George W. Bush as he sat with schoolchildren on September 11th, 2001, Mr. Bush's face betrayed not a hint of surprise and shock.

Now, we know why..

For the complete article, see:
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/05.17A.WRP.Bush.NU.htm

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"Oh Lucy! – You Gotta Lotta 'Splainin To Do"

A TIMELINE SURROUNDING SEPTEMBER 11TH - IF CIA AND THE GOVERNMENT WEREN'T INVOLVED IN THE SEPTEMBER 11 ATTACKS WHAT WERE THEY DOING?

Bin Laden Met with the CIA in July and Walked Away
by
Michael C. Ruppert

Expanded and Revised:
http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/02_11_02_lucy.html

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September 11, 2001: No Surprise
by Russ Kick:
..Let us build the case slowly, starting with the more general warning signs that were allegedly missed. Gradually, we shall move up the evidence ladder, to the indications that the US knew what was about to happen.

For this complete article, see:
http://www.loompanics.com/Articles/September11.html

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Bush's Little Secret
David Corn,
The Nation & WorkingForChange.com
May 20, 2002

By the way, we, uh, forgot to mention, that in August of 2001, while the President was taking a long vacation at his ranch in Crawford, the CIA told him that, uh, Osama bin Laden might be planning to hijack an airliner as part of some, who-knows-what terrorist action against the United States. That is, in essence, how the Bush White House confirmed the CBS News report that broke this story Wednesday night.

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13174

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4) CBS Anchor Rather Admits: "patriotism run amok"

US media cowed by patriotic fever, says CBS star

Network news veteran admits national mood caused him to shrink from tough questions on war in Afghanistan

Matthew Engel in Washington
Friday May 17, 2002
The Guardian

Dan Rather, the star news anchor for the US television network CBS, said last night that "patriotism run amok" was in danger of trampling the freedom of American journalists to ask tough questions. And he admitted that he had shrunk from taking on the Bush administration over the war on terrorism.

In the weeks after September 11 Rather wore a Stars and Stripes pin in his lapel during his evening news show in an apparent display of total solidarity with the American cause. However, in an interview with BBC's Newsnight, he graphically described the pressures to conform that built up after the attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon.

"It is an obscene comparison - you know I am not sure I like it - but you know there was a time in South Africa that people would put flaming tyres around people's necks if they dissented. And in some ways the fear is that you will be necklaced here, you will have a flaming tyre of lack of patriotism put around your neck," he said. "Now it is that fear that keeps journalists from asking the toughest of the tough questions."

Rather did not exempt himself from the criticism, and said the problem was self-censorship. "It starts with a feeling of patriotism within oneself. It carries through with a certain knowledge that the country as a whole - and for all the right reasons - felt and continues to feel this surge of patriotism within themselves. And one finds oneself saying: 'I know the right question, but you know what? This is not exactly the right time to ask it.'"

Such a confession is astonishing, bearing in mind its source.

For the complete story, see:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/bush/story/0,7369,717097,00.html

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5) Enron Pipeline Leaves Scar on South America

ENRON'S END RUN (Weekly Grist)

Here's another victim of Enron: the Chiquitano Dry Tropical Forest, one of the two most valuable forests in Latin America and one of the 200 most endangered eco-regions in the world, according to the World Bank and the World Wildlife Fund, respectively. The forest was the largest remaining undeveloped land of its kind in South America -- until Enron built a 390-mile natural gas pipeline directly through it. Perhaps even more horrifying, the project was given the go-ahead and $200 million by a U.S. agency, Overseas Private Investment Corp., that is charged with protecting sensitive forest areas. Enron needed OPIC's backing because no commercial bank would finance the project; OPIC needed Enron because of a congressional battle to eliminate the agency. Enron successfully lobbied against the elimination, and OPIC backed the pipeline project even though one of its environmental reviewers is said to have exclaimed that there was "no way in hell" it should be funded.

Enron Pipeline Leaves Scar on South America
Lobbying, U.S. Loans Put Project on Damaging Path
Washington Post, James V. Grimaldi, 06 May 2002

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37365-2002May5.html

To subscribe to WEEKLY GRIST, send a blank email message to
weekly-grist-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

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