Sunshine and Gasoline
By Daniel Burke, Assistant Managing Editor

Media Ignores A Hopeful Dennis Kucinich

I really wonder how many Americans are vouching for Kerry simply because they don't know any of the other candidates. As another election quickly approaches and the media has begun to intensify its hounding of the Democratic candidates. Or rather some of them, that is.

Ohio Representative Dennis Kucinich has been almost completely ignored by the corporate media. Most voters probably don't know that he exists, but he's still in the race, and he intends to follow it for as long as he possibly can. Perhaps he's one of those dirty idealists. Let's examine what makes him a "crazy vegan," "fringe," "liberal elitist" candidate:

¥ Kucinich is the only candidate running that voted against the Patriot Act, which has effectively nullified civil liberties once guaranteed by the Bill of Rights.

¥ He's the only one running who voted against the war in Iraq, which has nearly reached its first anniversary. He has outlined a plan to effectively remove American troops and instate the United Nations within his first 90 days in office.

¥ He's the only candidate who voted against school vouchers, which would sap our already underfunded schools even further.

¥ He's the only one running who has loudy declared his desire to abolish the World Trade Organization and the North American Free Trade Agreement, and re-instate bilateral based on what the rest seem to have no concern over- such as workers' rights and the environment.

¥ He's the only one who wants to abolish a relic of the Reagan administration, the futile "war on drugs," which has filled our prisons with hordes of non-violent offenders.

But most radically...

¥ He's the only one who has refused corporate funding for his campaign, and thus would have no responsibility to dole out "favors."

Perhaps this is where the media decided to give Kucinich the cold shoulder. Who owns the media anyway? A handful of conglomerates.

¥ Time Warner controls most of it. As the largest media coroporation in the world, they own four regional all-news channels, CNN, CNNfn (financial network), CNNRadio, Headline News, CNN International and the CNN Airport Network. It also owns 33 magazines, including Time, Life, and People.

¥ But then there also is General Electric- one of the world's largest corporations- who dumped PCBs into the Hudson River (and then denied any responsibility). They produce consumer electronics, but also turbines for nuclear power plants and military hardware. They also own NBC, CNBC, MCNBC and NBC Radio.

¥ Westinghouse similarly produces consumer electronics and facilitates nuclear power plants. They own CBS.

Perhaps these conglomerates have good reason to ignore such a "fringe" candidate. But that doesn't mean that you also have to.

The truth of the matter is that it's only the media that has branded Kucinich as unelectable. I have heard so many people say that they support his platform yet would rather vote for a "safer" candidate.

I can assure you, the state of affairs will not alter dramatically if Kerry does [as he and the others are so apt to spout] "take back the White House." For Kerry actually has much more in common with judicially-placed President George W. Bush than he will admit.

They can collectively claim they will prod the economy. Yet even as the economy grew, the conglomerates transported American jobs to China.

They can continue to ravish Iraq. The first anniversary is due in a month. Perhaps they can kill a few thousand more civilians. And continue to deny popular elections.

Or perhaps it's time for a change.