STORMGLASS

Today I am going to salute Kucinich by making a plea to his most famous supporters. Okay people let's get it together - Dennis needs your help and he needs it NOW! Granted, you may already be too late but that is no excuse to give up and you have only yourselves to blame for that. Now is when he has the nations attention (at least everyone who counts in the ethics department) and he desperately needs well respected people backing him up now more than ever. Not just to get him into the white house but simply to offset the goliath like power being wielded by the main stream media machine that is trying to trick people into thinking that the man doesn't exist, or is so irrelevant he might as well not exist. Well you and I know different and it is time we figured out a way of getting the general public up to speed.

Viggo Mortensen, your off the hook, for a while anyway. What you did in New Hampshire was commendable - but it shouldn't have taken Dennis being excluded from a debate to get you to do it, sorry to say. If you are so fired up and passionate about him you should have been pounding the pavement with him for months - lord knows you can afford to unlike many of Kucinich's less known supporters who work tirelessly for him while struggling with poverty. I've heard about and known of a number of them. And why didn't you call up Sean Penn and Shirley MacLain and tell them to get off those film sets and out there campaigning? Lord knows Dennis will never put the pressure on anyone so his biggest supporters kind of have to inspire the other supporters to step up to the plate, if you know what I mean. I'm sorry but no movie is more important that pulling this country back from the brink of imperialist madness and that's saying a lot coming from me.

And where are Roy Sheider, Hector Elizondo and James Cromwell when you need them. They should be following Dennis from town to town as far as I'm concerned - Hollywood careers be damned. After all what is going to happen to Hollywood if our country doesn't change course asap? More banks, more right wing fanatics, more apocalyptic imagery and under aged booty call films that don't win anybody no awards. If liberals are hired at all in an even more right wing America it will only be to occasionally portray weak kneed liberal presidents caving in to terrorism while die-hardesque renegade heros explode their way in to save the day. What we want is the opposite - a hollywood where the only thing the right wing actors can get cast in is to play an out of control president who is swept out of office by a popular uprising long before he has a chance to ignite WWIII.

And there are more of you out there, lots more. I've seen the lists of his donors and there are a quite a number of famous people who send him money but never publicly support him. Shame on you. And I'm not even going to mention the ones who due to their positions should support him and yet have gone for one of those three candidates who seem to want war with Iran almost as much as Bush does.

There's no question about it, we need to see all of the celebrities who support Dennis to get together and hold a joint "star studded" press conference in which they all collectively draw attention to his impeachment efforts, his truly not-for-profit healthcare program, his firm opposition to the war from the beginning and his total lack of corporate money. Then, as if that weren't enough, they should also bring along computer and election law experts and declare American elections null and void while calling for a nation wide repeal of computerized voting devices as well as the ending of Diebold's involvement in elections period. forever.

Famous people of integrity, your country needs you now more than ever. Dennis needs you now more than ever. History is calling upon you to react not just as individuals but as a collective. The world is waiting for you to all join together with all the other famous and not so famous people who know the difference between right and wrong in a climate where truth has become a casualty of war. Now is the time to unify with all those who have spoken out for full disclosure of the many government cover ups over the last fifty years and those who have spoken up for global peace and justice and an end to global military/banking complex tyranny. It is time to show that there is a just and honest future course for America waiting for us it's just that its messenger has been shouted down by the forces of corruption.

It is time to recognize that the elite cannot and win the hearts and minds of the American people. All the population needs is to be led toward more accurate information than they get on tv and in newspapers and sensible leadership like Kucinich. We are backing away from the hijacked course we have been set upon and are soon we will re-embrace a humane cooperative approach to life with an emphasis on true democracy and real freedom. That's just the way the pendulum swings.

Ed Begley Jr. Didn't you support Dennis - speak up! Demand to be heard. Lord knows you've got more of a bully pulpit than I do. And what about Charlie Sheen shouldn't you be a Kucinich supporter what with all of your controversial views? There isn't a liberal or progressive actor who is off the hook. Quite frankly, at the risk of offending some, Hillary and Obama are taking a lot of you for a major ride. It is embarrassing to see so many of you embrace them just because they are in the celebrity club. News flash, they are corrupt to the core and it is rubbing off on all those who rub up against them. Even Republicans with integrity should be backing Dennis to show that they are not part of the establishment machine.

Granted I'm sure I sound a wee bit cranky about the whole subject and I know you catch more flies with honey and all that but Dennis has been out there standing up for what we all agree is right for quite a number of years now. All people seem to do is sit back tsk tsking that he doesn't stand a chance. What is wrong with us? Where's our "can do" spirit of personal empowerment? If we all pulled together we would MAKE SURE he stands a chance. A good number of his supporters could even afford to put their careers on hold for a while and campaign for him full time. Why not, you might learn something - about policy and people. The entire experience will help you a great deal when trying to decide which script you should choose to do next. I should know - I'm the guy who will be peddling it to you.

Dear Dennis,

You're doing great. Keep doing what you are doing. People are starting to come around. Sure it may be taking a bit longer than we'd like and of course there are those pesky corporate media shills and spooky election riggers playing their part but what would life be without a good challenge right?

In general, considering all of that and more, I'd say your doing a fantastic job and it is pretty impressive that with all the work they do to black you out of the media, you are still as popular as you are. Much of it is due to your determination and vigilance. Much of it is due to the fact that your bravery and steadfast persistence has inspired the same in the hundreds of thousands if not millions who support you. Of course I know it doesn't help you that the portion of the population who support you also happen to be the bottom third economically and don't have a lot of loose change floating around to be donated to worthy causes. Of course that was a joke. Nothing could be more honorable and true to form for a revolutionary leader than to be supported by those who are struggling - it is the proof that you are the real deal. Republicans may round up a large gaggle of unsuspecting working folk every four years but the vast majority of their support comes from the richest people in the world and that kind of money always buys you a certain amount of support from the unsuspecting classes.

Your support is as deep and genuine as it comes and much of it is from hard working people wiht main stream values that are not reflected by the corporate media. You understand where their hearts are because you have been there. You have never wanted to run away from your roots and people respect that. You have a loyal following because you have played a crucial role over the last few years trying to keep us on a sane course. Those who support you feel their support deep within themselves even when they betray you and vote for a corporate candidate.

the depth of your connection with voters is far beyond what any other candidate has achieved in years and if you got a fraction of the media that the frontrunners get you would be so far ahead in the polls the entire election would be considered a done deal. That deep connection comes from your level of honesty and integrity. It comes from being incorruptible and hopeful. Things that are very needed right now making you a very good role model. Perhaps the rest of us need to look carefully and learn a trick or two about humility, ethics and peace.

Perhaps then there would be such an upsurge in the desire for reform that Washington would actually become not such a bad place to work. Or such a frightening place to work. I don't think there is any telling how far your supporters will take you. Just stick with them and they will stick with you. Just keep running and they will make sure you get there, if not now then soon. Nothing else makes sense.

The only thing I would suggest, if I were to be so bold, would be that perhaps you can afford to be a bit more controversial - people love controversy and lord knows there are plenty of festering scandals and secrets lying around these days. Perhaps a bit of controversial truth is just what the people need to spur them on to the next level. Enough of it is leaking out anyway so you would only be confirming the majorities suspicions. Just some food for thought - might be time to raise the stakes and all that.

PS
I wrote a letter to Barack asking him to be your VP - hope that's okay. If not you can just pretend to have poor cell reception when he calls.

Someone recently threw out the suggestion that perhaps being blocked from the recent debates in Nevada and elsewhere was actually good for Kucinich in that it revealed that his accusations of media cencorship are correct. He had been blocked from other debates and is being blocked from future debates as I write this, but there was a dramatic twist in Nevada. A lower court judge decided that Kucinich was entitled to debate and the State Supreme Court overruled that verdict about an hour before the debate was to begin. This dramatic twist is a perfect illustration of something much bigger and more consequential to the Kucinich phenomena than just the fact that the media censors the only candidate with real integrity. What it proves beyond a shadow of a doubt in my mind, or should I say what it disproves once and for all, is the media myth that everyone has swallowed whole for the last four years that Dennis Kucinich is somehow "unelectable".

This is the only reason why the highest court in Nevada would risk it's entire reputation, not to mention NBC, just to keep one brave candidate out of the room, a man that supposedly doesn't even rank high enough to matter. So if he is so insignificant, the question looms, why not just let him debate. Sure that may not have been your first choice for perfectly warped reasons but once a judge tells you to let him debate and the public sees that, why then go to such lengths to make sure he doesn't win this little victory. I'm sure there are some executives who took Kucinich's legal challenge a bit personally but generally major corporations are extremely savvy about when to concede to public or legal pressure when is to it's own benefit. For NBC and the Nevada Supreme Court to expose themselves as being pretty much on par with the right wing news hacks on Fox, flagrantly flexing their muscle in the name of their own best interests then they really must be pretty desperate about something. What interests are at stake here, we have to ask ourselves. If Kucinich is so "unelectable" why not just concede graciously and make yourself look good in the process.

I think we all know why. Because they know what nobody else knows. They know what even Kucinich's supporters often doubt. They know that the democratic leadership along with all other media organs of this country (and when I say all I mean pretty damn close) are conspiring desperately to keep Kucinich out of the public eye because they know, unequivocally that Kucinch would catch on like wildfire if they were not in such united opposition against him. They know this just as sure as they know that without the billions of dollars in soft money that the major networks lavish upon the so called "main stream" candidates they would eventually fizzle out just like any other product that the people stop believing in. The only time people keep buying a product they've stopped believing in is when there are no other alternatives on the shelf. The hypocrisy of it all shines right through this grandiose national charade due to the fact that Kucinch polls better than any of the other candidates on the issues showing that he is in fact MORE main stream than the big three.

The big three are in actuality out of step with the majority of people evidenced by their policy positions which closely match the policies advocated by corporate power brokers and the neo-cons who serve them. So NBC's little legal scuffle with Kucinich is the front line of a very high powered, high stakes propaganda war between the entire establishment and very large group of people who are dedicated to somehow, someway, change the course of our country away from war and predatory corporate practices. Who is winning this war between the elites of the world and the people of the world, all of whom seem to be embodied by and/or invested in the United States of America?

My view is that the people are winning. I think much of the violence and turmoil that we have seen over the last several years has been an indication of that. Why would the media tighten its grip on a population arbitrarily? Because some impatient old men are desperate to get a better taste of ultimate power before they die? I don't think so - at least not exclusively. It is because people are actually catching on in large numbers, in the first time in human history to the true extent of the utter corruption and clandestine manipulation of opinion that has always been underlying every system, institution, government, or established culture ever known to human history with the exception of certain isolated aboriginal communities.

This knowledge is a heavy burden to bear and many people just don't want to look at it. But deep down they know the books and articles and photographs and films that they have spent a life time avoiding are telling some part of the truth. The problem with knowing the truth deep down but never letting it come to the surface is that you get scared and cynical which is really the same thing. We fear the fact that we cannot improve upon the world or ourselves therefore we never do.

On the other hand, despite what people may imagine facing the truth about the harm we and the elite are doing to our culture and our democracy brings about a renewed sense of bravery and hope. Sure you might get depressed for a while but it is only fitting that every American be a bit depressed right about now - and we shouldn't use pills and/or alcohol to try and solve the problem either. If we started to read blogs coming straight from Iraq, and found out for ourselves the kind of devastation and carnage we are leaving behind we would be more impelled to mourn personally for the dead, raped, maimed and traumatized. We don't really deserve to be very happy right now but the world is waiting for us to find enough bravery and hope to actually change our course, enough to elect someone like Kucinich to high office and thousands of others just like him to public service on the national, state and local level. We have hard work to do - that is what will make us deservedly happy.

Our leaders are all around us and this is what the major corporations are trying to keep you from realizing. Have you ever noticed how much of what you see on television is designed to make you feel inferior. It's all there - psychological warfare 101. The dreadful truth, when you open your eyes to it is that the entire media not only routinely plays upon and stokes our fears they also systematically works on our self esteem. NBC knew that only a relatively small percentage of the population would even notice that Kucinich had been blocked from the debate.

They know that only a small percentage of people even know that he has brought forward impeachment proceedings on the floor of the house even though the vast majority is pro-impeachment. Again their dramatic daily manipulation of our awareness level is at an all time high. Twenty four members of congress have voted to impeach, over two hundred thousand people have written in to encourage impeachment, the majority of the country favors it in polls, one or two states and dozens of towns have voted for it, but somehow, it is not newsworthy in the slightest way and all of the major candidates avoid the subject like the plague. Is it impeachment that they are afraid of or is it Kucinich's popularity. He has wisely locked himself to this issue so that any move to impeach automatically shows who the first one to push for it really was. If you look closely there is a perfect storm brewing that will place Kucinich in the white house, if not now, then at some point in the future. He has after all beaten all the other democratic candidates by wide margins in internet polls which hundreds of thousands participated in as opposed to the few thousands involved in most corporate polls.

We know that high powered corporations are tied in with high powered PR firms who employ high powered focus group experts and there are thousands of people whose job it is to scientifically try to predict the future while simultaneously creating bogus statistics with leading questions and polls where certain candidates are simply left out but later conspicuously added with 0% to make them look weak. We know they rig elections and those are regulated - so what of these polls.

Isn't it a safe conclusion that since in news and opinion these days the internet is actually the safest bet, regardless of all the garbage that floats around, that in polls the internet might have a bit more integrity as well. Especially since the groups hosting the polls are grass roots non-profits who are not tied into major corporations who sponsor candidates like Disney. Sure not everybody has the internet or bothers to take part in these things but a lot of people also hang up on phone surveys with smarmy dubious approaches, including yours truly.

From what I can tell, among the wise and sensible people in this country Kucinich is wildly popular. People may not feel he has a chance because the establishment machinery won't let him have a chance but they still love him and how often does that even happen with a candidate? Not often. That's why we have to just check off the list. People love him, check. Next item on the list, get him elected. WHAT NOT TO DO: abandon him for yet another corporate controlled candidate who has finally come around to stealing a few pages from Kucinich's hand book.

In fact the "qualification" barrier in the debates is the perfect symbol for what the corporations are trying to do to Kucinich. They are saying he simply doesn't "qualify" to be president. Sure he may be the best one but when there are powerful people trying to take over the world, integrity is an automatic disqualifier for high office. Deep down we all seem to know this sad fact and THAT is where our deep, depressing cynicism is coming from.

In order to pull ourselves out of the naive hope that someone like Obama is going to magically make it all better without actually committing himself to anything, we must look the truth straight in the eye. We could do much worse than to realize that we must remove the pillar of money from underneath the bloated corporate monopoly that our culture has become. By rearranging where we spend, store, earn and invest our money we have the power to change the world practically overnight. We just have to act in unison. We can shift our economy so that it is based upon peace, integrity, education and fair play and in doing so we would also create the perfect climate for a Kucinich presidency. Without such fertile political soil he would have a hard time beating back the wolves of the past who in their extinction feel the need to lash out.

The way to ensure that Kucinich will effortlessly sift his way to the top is by changing our lives individually and dedicating ourselves to being informed and active in both local and national politics and spending and earning our money wisely. If we all changed just our banking habits today the world would change tomorrow. If it takes us four years then Dennis will have enough momentum to challenge the incumbent, if it takes us eight years he will still be there, waiting patiently for the moment that his life has led up to - the moment when we all realize that he is not only electable, he is inevitable.

Dear Mr. Obama,

If you truly believe all of the things you profess to believe then I
feel that there is only once sensible course of action: throw your
full weight behind the candidacy of Dennis Kucinich and hope that he
will return the favor by asking you to be his running mate.

This is the truly revolutionary thing to do. Such an act would
convince the majority of Americans that you really do stand for hope
and change. It would also convince the vast majority of the world's
population, who are a good deal more savvy about such things than we
are, that we really are going to take our collective fingers off the
proverbial trigger.

Right now statistics show that the country is deeply disgusted with not
only the war but; the lies, the erosion of civil liberties, the so called war
on terror, the corruption of the media, the criminality in Washington, the
gangsterization of the private sector, the military complex and election
machinery. Many are demanding impeachment and we are all hungry
for a real democracy and an end to imperialistic doublespeak. We are all
pondering how those who kill, maim or torture millions around the world
over many decades through media manipulation and war could possibly
be held accountable. The answer escapes most because we are all ultimately
held accountable, through our actions. None are uninvolved.

With all due respect you do not appear to be on the path to providing us
with the complete legal and ethical overhaul this country, and even more
so the rest of the world, truly deserves. The song and dance the democratic
leadership is peddling is only mildly distinguishable from that which the neo-cons
are offering and everybody seems to knows it on one level or another.

If you remain on your current course your ability to change the system
from within will come up against the brick wall of the corporations who put
you in power in the first place. The only thing that might provide
you with the power to change the country for the better would be the
people themselves but they are not truly activated because you are cueing
them with a wink and a nod that you are not really about change in the
grand sense. Only enough change to be able to let some steam out of the
pot before spiraling down into a lame duck president mired in age old scandals.

The motivation of the people will be sapped significantly by our
bitter acceptance that you were just another politician who talked big
about change and hope but implemented and inspired very little of
either. We will have come to accept that hope does not come in the
form of handsome politicians who talk tough to get elected but
otherwise pretty much do what the ultra elite tell them to do.

You may score a few points with the people for normalizing relations
with the rest of the world and even more points from the elite for
helping to usher in their fabled new order but that certainly
isn't going to give you the kind of legacy historians will want to
write about fifty or a hundred years from now. At least not write
about kindly. History is of course a much more brutal adversary than
republicans and progressives. History may just look at this time in
America and see two types of people occupying all points of the
political spectrum. Those aiding and abetting fascism and those doing
everything in their power to reverse our decline into a culture of
death and imperialist destruction.

If as you read this letter you take a deep breath and look into the
depths of your being, the part where you ponder the world your
children and their children will be left with, if you dig deep enough
you may awaken to the merit of this suggestion. If when you search
down into that personal space you have a most important epiphany and
come to understand what is at stake and what is good, then you may actually
take this outlandish concept to heart. If you do, the very next day historians
will sharpen their pencils to write about the unfolding of one of the
most noteworthy events in modern history. Far bigger and broader and
earth shattering than simply becoming the first black president - and
that's saying a lot. That's how big such a move would be.

Your readjusting to such a clear position of integrity and courage
would be such a large scale act of humility and grace that it would
stand to eclipse all of the horrible events of the past few years.
Such a statement would show that you really are worlds apart from
Edwards and Hillary and give the American people the chance to step up
to the challenge and emulate your gesture by, themselves, doing what
needs to be done.

Your sudden act of clear, breathtaking leadership would encourage
people not only to support Kucinich's candidacy but also, even more
importantly to; start boycotting major corporations, start taking part
in the electoral process, start helping their neighbors get back on
their feet financially and otherwise transform themselves into better
people who are busy going about the business of creating a better world.

By singling out the one man who has been saying and doing the right
thing for the people of the world from the very beginning of this
national nightmare, you will be singling yourself out for the most
authentic form of political redemption. By embracing the man who has
implemented impeachment proceedings, and who accepts zero corporate
funding and who has the only truly not for profit universal healthcare
plan, you will be dramatically and unequivocally transforming your
words and positions into actions. Nothing would so boldly and
effortlessly place you among the truly heroic history makers of our time.

This is a time where we desperately need a new generation of founding
fathers and mothers to assume the reins in public life. So far, there
are only twenty-four signed on to Kucinich's impeachment bill. It is a
start. We could use a Senator! By placing your weight behind Kucinich,
who would institute a truly incorruptible, peace seeking, environment healing
administration you will be taking a much more profound position of leadership
than by seeking the presidency yourself.

By backing Kucinich you would instantly become part of a broad
tapestry of citizens who are leading America through perhaps the most
significant transformation in her entire history. A growing coalition
that will help the world move toward peace and cooperation. By
becoming part of this team of truth seeking advocates and protectors
of the greater global community you will allow history to smile upon
you. You will also be, after eight years of Kucinich, elected for two
terms as the person who people trust most to make sure we don't slide
backwards after all of our hard work.

It's a hard decision. We certainly know what your handlers would say. Good luck.