Last updated on August 11th, 2014 at 12:01 am
In what was the best speech given by any of the early speakers so far, Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) energized and enthralled the Democratic Convention with his call to action in support of the Democratic ticket.
“Fellow Democrats, are you ready for November? Its Election Day 2008 and we Democrats are giving America a wake up call. Wake up, America! In 2001, the oil companies and the war contractors seized the country and added four trillion dollars to the national debt. Millions of Americans have lost their jobs; trillions of dollars for an unwarranted war paid for with borrowed money; tens of millions of dollars in cash and weapons disappeared into thin air at the cost of the lives of our troops and innocent Iraqis. Meanwhile, with the U.S. helping to rebuild infrastructure in Iraq and Afghanistan, “there is no money to rebuild bridges in America,” Kucinich said.
“Millions of Americans have lost their jobs, their homes, their health care, their pensions. Trillions of dollars for an unnecessary war paid with borrowed money. Tens of billions of dollars in cash and weapons disappeared into thin air, at the cost of the lives of our troops and innocent Iraqis, while all the president’s oilmen are maneuvering to grab Iraq’s oil. Borrowed money to bomb bridges in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. No money to rebuild bridges in America. Money to start a hot war with Iran. Now we have another cold war with Russia, while the American economy has become a game of Russian roulette.” Kucinich continued.
It was his liberal call to arms, which made this speech so special, “The insurance companies took over health care. Wake up, America! The pharmaceutical companies took over drug prices. Wake up, America! The speculators took over Wall Street. Wake up, America! We went into Iraq for oil, and now they want to drill more… into your wallet. Wake up America. This administration can tap our phones but they can’t tap our creative spirit. They can open our mail but they can’t open economic opportunities. They can track our every move but they lost track of the economy.”
Kucinich put this in terms that every American should understand, “Wake up, America. This is not a call for you to take a new direction from right to left. This is call for you to go from down to up. Up with the rights of workers. Up with wages. Up with fair trade. Up with creating millions of good paying jobs, rebuilding our bridges, ports and water systems. Up with creating millions of sustainable energy jobs to lower the cost of energy, lower carbon emissions and protect the environment. Up with health care for all. Up with education for all. Up with home ownership. Up with guaranteed retirement benefits. Up with peace. Up with prosperity. Up with the Democratic Party. Up with Obama-Biden.”
Democrats have been dying for some red meat attacks against the Republicans and Kucinich delivered them by the bushel. If Democrats wanted to fire up their base, they should have put Kucinich on in prime time. When given the airtime Dennis often delivers an argument that if full of passion and reminds Democrats about the good that their party is capable of doing. If Hillary Clinton is able to provide half of the zest that Dennis Kucinich did, she will have had a great night.
Read the full Kucinich remarks
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
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