Kucinich was right.

posted by The Vidiot @ 8:36 AM Permalink

Remember when Dennis Kucinich was one of the dem candidates for president back in 2004? Remember how people made fun of him for being too far left, elfin and well, just a little strange? Funny thing though. More people, in the end, identified with his point of view than actually voted for him (mostly due, I'm sure, to the negative media narrative, but that's a 'nuther post.) Part of his reputation was due to the fact that when he was mayor of Cleveland (the youngest mayor as well) he stood up to electric deregulators. He said "Hell no. Electricity is a public service and it will stay that way." Well, the corporations and the banks then conspired against him and forced Cleveland into default. (To be fair, Cleveland was on the ropes financially anyway, but the angry bankers and corporations poured salt on the wound.) From then on, the poor guy has had to really fight to get his word out. See. Dennis understood (and still does) that corporations have one reason to exist and that's to turn a profit. That motive runs counter to the public good when it comes to providing a necessary service. But noooooooo. He was viewed as a maverick, a crazy man, a shrill little elf.

Well, funny thing. He was right.

Excerpt: Maryland and District consumers angry at the record electric bills they will receive this summer might want to recall the promises made by proponents of deregulation seven years ago. If they do, they'll be even angrier.

Of course, when you have public officials profiting from public policy, like, say, Don Rumsfeld's profiting from the Bird Flu scare, well, people like Dennis Kucinich are just too few and far between to NOT be marginalized by the media.

Kucinich. He should've been president. Or at least speaker of the house.