Dennis Kucinich and Syria

In my previous postings about the various presidential candidates (of both parties), I never bothered with Dennis Kucinich because he isn't a serious contender. I have casually followed his antics over the years with amusement. His performances in the debates have been similarly amusing, standing there is his oversized suits (probably Buster Brown shoes to boot) telling folks about all the wonderful things he was going to do when he became president. Always good for a yuk. There is nothing funny, however, about what he did this week in Syria.

In case you haven't heard this tidbit from the mainstream news media, Kucinich followed in the footsteps of Nancy Pelosi to Damascus, Syria, where he met with Syrian dictator Assad. Speaker Pelosi took a lot of heat when she previously met with Assad since Syria is a known sponsor of terrorism and is responsible for political assassinations against Lebanese leaders who oppose their role in Lebanon. Aside from Lebanon, Syria is also responsible for assisting Hizbollah in its attacks against Israel and has also acted as a conduit for foreign fighters to enter Iraq to kill our soldiers and terrorize Iraqis. So why would Democrats or anyone else go to Syria and meet with Assad?

Kucinich, however, took it a step further. He appeared on Syrian TV and blasted his own country's actions in Iraq. For those of us old enough to remember the Viet Nam War, this was reminiscent of Jane Fonda's trip to Hanoi, where she posed on an anti-aircraft gun that was being used to shoot down our pilots (an act of pure treason, for which she should have been prosecuted).

True, Fonda's action was worse because we were engaged in active hostilities with North Viet Nam, and she provided them with propaganda. However, Syria is a true adversary, even though we have diplomatic relations with that country. Yet, Kucinich has provided Syria and all of our enemies in the region with propaganda. In short, Kucinich's actions were nothing short of disgraceful and should disqualify him from continuing his campaign for the Democratic nomination.

But it won't. Kucinich will continue to campaign and will continue to appear in the Democratic debates. He won't get the nomination, but that is beside the point. He wasn't going to win anyway. Here is the point: Watch the next debate and see if any other candidates blast him for his trip to Syria. A couple may make a side comment that they would not have gone, but that will be about the extent of it. They are not about to alienate the left-wing blog sites like Daily Kos and Moveon.org with any strong condemnations of Kucinich. What would be appropriate for them to say to Kucinich at the next debate? Something like this: "What you did in going to Syria and what you said on Syrian TV was disgraceful, and you have no place on this stage with the rest of us."

Don't hold your breath. Remember a few years back when Al Sharpton was running for the Democratic presidential nomination and appearing in the debates. Al Sharpton-he of the Tawana Brawley Hoax, a man who instigated deadly riots in New York with comments such as "white interlopers" and "diamond merchants" (referring to Jews.) a man who has been videotaped negotiating the purchase of cocaine. In those debates, did any other candidate challenge his fitness to be on the stage with the rest of them? Did anyone say to Al. "You have no place on this stage with the rest of us."? No! What we heard over and over was the other candidates making statements like," I agree with Reverend Sharpton on that point......." or "Reverend Sharpton has brought up a good point...." In short, they pandered to him, deathly afraid of alienating black voters, as if Al Sharpton speaks for all blacks in America, which he doesn't.

Similarly, the Clintons and the Obamas and the Edwards' will hold their tongues, secure in the knowledge that Kucinich isn't a serious threat. Any criticism of the trip to Syria will be fleeting and mild. Are these the kinds of leaders who we want to lead us in the War on Terror? In my view, any candidate who doesn't speak out forcefully on Kucinich's actions has no business being our next Commander-in-Chief. That will probably include all of the Democratic field.