Tim Blair

150 to 200 attendees, tops. Nobody in Texas (or the rest of the U.S.) gives this socialist utopian a chance. But it will play well in Austin and other reality-challenged college towns. One thing Dennis. Go up the highway about 50 miles to Fort Hood and tell the audience there about your plans and how it's all the United States' fault for any and everything. I'm sure those members of the U.S. Army and their families who have sacrificed so much and continue to sacrifice along with our allies will be receptive to your message of peace and love.
Bob
Houston,Texas

ohhh my gawwd..

I'm going to be in Austin on that date..

What should I do..? suggestions anyone? I kinda wanna be disruptive..

thanks

Arvin,

yeah, go to his rally and ask him to name the leaders of India, Pakistan, Chechnya and Taiwan. If he can't, call the major media outlets to let them know what an idiot he is. See if they print it, and ballyhoo it the way they did in 1999 when a reporter asked President Bush the same question. The media at the time had a field day about what an idiot Bush was.

Joel

P.S. The CIA factbook will have the answers.

Oops. The CIA factbook does not have the leader of Chechnya, since it isn't a separate country, just a province in Russia.

Joel

I live in Cleveland, Ohio. Kucinich was the mayor from 1977 to 1979. What an absolute disaster!!

He was nicknamed "Dennis The Menace", was anti-business, sent the city into default (bankruptcy), the first US city since the Great Depression to do that. He went trough chiefs of police left and right, antagonized everyone. The big joke back then was "Why does Kucinich lay on his back during sex? Because he can only f*ck up"!

He was so bad that there actually was a recall election. And get this...he survived by three votes! And then he has the balls to call that a "mandate"!!

He owes his seat in Congress to the AFL-CIO who poured hundreds of thousands of dollars in advertising to unseat the Republican incumbant.

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

P.J.

I'm certainly not a Dennis Kucinich fan, but I'm not sure about your statement that Cleveland is the first US city since the Great Depression to go bankrupt. I believe that New York did so, or came close enough as to make no difference to anybody not a specialist in bankruptcy law, in 1976 or so.

Once again, I agree that Dennis Kucinich was a disaster as mayor of Cleveland and would be a disaster as President; I'm just not sure that you're right on that one point - not that it's all that important whether Cleveland was the first or the second city.

Just testing the comments.

Jim,

I remember NYC having financial woes, but with Cleveland the banks actually called in the notes. And no money in treasury. Check this link (which I cut and paste below it.

http://www.kucinich.com/worst%20mayor.htm

* * * * * *

Kucinich Selected as One of Ten Worst Mayors in History

In his new book, The American Mayor, Melvin Holli reports that Dennis J. Kucinich has been selected as one of the worst big-city mayors in American history. For this exhaustive study, Holli surveyed various experts and ranked the best and worst mayors based on certain criteria.

The survey was conducted over a five-month period in 1993 and consists of the answers of 69 experts in municipal government ranging from biographers, social scientists and urban historians as well as others. The results of the tabulation show that the experts chose Dennis Kucinich, who served as Cleveland's mayor from 1977 to 1979, as the seventh worst mayor in the period studied, 1820 to 1993. On the best mayor list, Cleveland's Tom L. Johnson (1901 to 1909) was chosen as the second best mayor.

An excerpt follows:

Only thirty-one years old when elected, Cleveland's "boy mayor" had failings that were not the sins of venality or graft for personal gain, but rather matters of style, temperament, and bad judgment in office. Kucinich earned seventh place the hard way: by his abrasive, intemperate, and chaotic administration. He barely survived a recall vote just ten months in office, then disappeared for five weeks, reportedly recuperating from an ulcer. When he got back into the political fray, his demagogic rhetoric and slash-and-burn political style got him into serious trouble when he stubbornly refused to compromise and led Cleveland into financial default in late 1978 - the first major city to default since the Great Depression. That led also to Kucinich's defeat and exit from executive office. Out of office, he dabbled in a Hollywoodesque spirit world and once believed that he had met Shirley MacLaine in a previous life, seemingly confirming his critics' charges that he was a "nutcake." After that, he experienced downward mobility, losing races for several other offices and finally ending up with a council seat; but more recently, he climbed back up to a seat in Congress. Bad judgment, demagoguery, and default also spelled political failure in the eyes of twenty-five of our experts, who ranked Dennis, whom the press called "Dennis the Menace", as seventh-worst.

* * * * * * *

FYI...according to the survey the best mayor was Fiorello La Guardia (NYC). Among the worst were Frank Rizzo (Philadelphia) and Jane Byrne (Chicago).

Dennis Kucinich and I have been running neck and neck for the Democratic nomination for some time now. He's edged out to a slight lead lately but only because I haven't gotten around to campaigning yet.

How do you pronounce Kucinich?

cuss-n-itch?

koo sin itch

Unless that was a rhetorical question.

Well, hell, hon, I always liked Bonnie.

A younger Bonnie Raitt gave some advice for anyone organising a guest list for her party - "I don't want to see any face I haven't sat on". Can't say if this quote is as authentic as her Mississippi Fred McDowell influenced slide guitar style, I just remember hearing this story on 2JJ "Youth" radio 'Ted n' Lex Show' (Ted Robinson and Lex Marinos) in Sydney circa 1975. And I don't know who is organising the after concert party for the Dennis Kucinich fundraiser.

I am thrilled to see Bonnie Rait endorse Dennis Kucinich's campaign to become Santa Claus!!!