I am truly troubled by the Tampa Tribune Editorial Board’s article, ”Kucinich Not A Viable Choice”, which unfairly attacks the integrity and policies proposed by Representative Dennis Kucinich. It is important for the public to know how the Editorial Board disparaged Kucinich and why.
The Tampa Tribune claims:
“When it comes to the issues, Kucinich is less amusing. He would create a government-run universal health-care system, withdraw U.S. troops from all foreign bases and no longer involve America in defending its allies around the globe. His extremist positions make his candidacy difficult to take seriously.”
They claim Kucinich “commands a small but zealous group of supporters, but his credibility in the campaign is dinged by his often cartoonish antics.”
Such unfounded, biased, and aggressive remarks by professional journalists should give the public pause and make them wonder why the Tampa Tribune feels compelled to attack Kucinich.
It’s important to remind professional journalists about their profession from time to time, that they have an professional obligation to tell the truth to the public and to contextualize their analysis with respect to the issues. The editorial board makes the unfounded and irresponsible claim that Kucinich will not defend its allies around the globe. This hyperbole is a characteristic mark of tabloid punditry - not journalism. They also misrepresent the facts, when they claim that Kucinich will create a government-run universal healthcare system; H.R. 676, the legislation that Kucinich and House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers introduced, is a single-payer, non-profit national healthcare plan, one that relies on non-profit healthcare organizations. The government does NOT run these organizations, but sets up the legal framework that they operate within. To suggest that H.R. 676 is just a government-run program indicates that the members of Tampa Tribune Editorial Board probably did not take the time to read the legislation.
For those of us who respect and support Dennis Kucinich, we take great offense at begin labelled zealots, as if we have no ability to think for ourselves, but simply take commands from Kucinich. We are very independent and educated people with different views on many issues.
To suggest that Kucinich is a cartoon is a low blow. It’s an unjustified and cheap ad hominem attack on man who has worked very hard to restore human and civil rights in our country. Is it cartoonish to defend habeas corpus, to disavow war as a legitimate instrument of foreign policy, to advocate peace, to defend worker’s rights, to call for comprehensive universal healthcare, to impeach Dick Cheney for manipulating intelligence that lead us into the war in Iraq, and to oppose NAFTA and the WTO? What is cartoonish about caring and speaking out about these substantive issues?
And finally, it is important to weigh in on the issue of viability and electability. It is perfectly fine to claim that Kucinich is not a viable candidate, but when one does, it is important to explain why he does not best represent the interests of the people based on the facts. The truth is that much of the corporate media, including the Tampa Tribune, is more interested in the spectacle of the presidential elections and how that increases their profits from advertisers than the difficult public policy decisions we confront as a nation. I wish the Tampa Tribune Editorial Board would address these important issues and analyze how the various candidates deal with these issues. It is extremely important for them to serve the public as journalists. The American people need to know the facts on the candidates in context. They need to know Kucinich is not an alien watcher, but the only candidate that advocates a nonprofit healthcare system. Hopefully, the Tampa Tribune will review and revise their inflammatory attacks on Kucinich and his supporters. Hopefully, the people of America - and not the corporate media - will get to decide who becomes the next president of the United States of America.
