By JIM GENARO

Dennis Kucinich

When presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich presented his vision of the United Statesí future world role to a rally at UNC Ashevilleís Justice Center on April 29, he invoked the legacy of President John F. Kennedy.

In the early 1960s, Kennedy united the country around a powerful vision ó that of putting a man on the moon, Kucinich said.
Similarly, if elected, he would unite the country in a vision of environmental sustainability and international peace and justice, the Ohio congressman and contender for the Democratic nomination said.

ìAs president, I intend to ask the American people to join with me in a powerful effort to look at the choices we make every day ... Each one of us has the capacity to save the planet.î†

His words were enthusiastically cheered by the audience of more than 300 people who attended the rally. The event was sponsored by the UNCA College Democrats.

ìToday in our country, so many of our citizens are waiting to be inspired about the quality that we can bring to transforming our nation,î Kucinich said.

He invoked the dream of a nation that is ìjust waiting to be called forward, that truly stands for peace, that truly stands for prosperity.î

This role, one which the U.S. once held, has been undermined by the war in Iraq, Kucinich told the audience.

ìI want to see America reclaim its role of goodness and greatness in the world community by standing for peace, by standing for human unity, by standing for enforceable structures of international law ... an America that will face the world community and say that we must never again let what happened to the people of Iraq happen to the people of any other country.î

By giving support to international legal structures such as the International Criminal Court and by making efforts to abolish all nuclear weapons, the U.S. could use its power to lead and unite the world community, Kucinich said.

This is critical, he added, to counteract the harm done by the invasion of Iraq, which has led the U.S. down ìa political, a moral and a spiritual cul-de-sac. We not only attacked a nation that did not attack us, but we have visited upon that nation a calamity of epic proportions.î

Domestically, he focused on the gap in health-care coverage in the U.S. He noted that the country spends $2.2 trillion annually on health care. However, $660 billion of that money goes directly to for-profit health-insurance providers, he said. If that money were spent entirely on treating patients, everyone in the U.S. could get medical care, dental care, mental-health care and prescription drugs, all while eliminating co-payments and deductibles.

ìWeíre already paying for universal health coverage ó weíre not getting it,î Kucinich said.

He said that this was the number-one domestic issue facing Americans. Even for the wealthiest, a single debilitating disease can wipe out a familyís life savings, he added.

Kucinich noted that while some of his Democratic rivals do advocate for universal coverage, their plans all involve the health-insurance industry serving as a middleman.

He also took aim at his own party, contesting the idea that the war would be better managed by a Democratic leader. Rather, he said, Congress needs to ìtell President Bush, ëNo more funding for the war. Thatís it, none.íî

He said that the recent legislation passed by Congress that links war funding to a timetable for withdrawal included a provision that compels the Iraqi government to privatize its oil industry as a condition of the U.S. providing security. Most of his fellow Democrats ó including some involved in drafting the legislation ó did not even realize that provision was in there until he pointed it out, he said. Though they promised to eliminate it in the final version, this never happened.

He said that he is doing everything in his power to help the Democrats ìreclaim the moral high ground ó that we cannot be in the position of delivering to the Bush administration and to the oil companies the ill-gotten gains of our illegal invasion of Iraq.î
During a short question-and-answer session that followed, a man asked about the Bush administrationís policies towards detention of prisoners without trial and other civil-liberties issues.

Kucinich replied that, if elected, he would, ìask the Justice Department during my first week in office to go to federal court to strike down the PATRIOT Actî and the Military Commissions Act.

ìAll of our constitutional rights have been undermined by this administration and the right of habeus corpus must be reinstated,î Kucinich said. ìBecause after all, those who led this country into a war based on lies should, themselves, be entitled to due process of law.î

A man said that the war on drugs represented a failed policy that served only the ìprison-industrial complexî and asked Kucinich about his views on drugs.

ìFirst of all, by way of disclosure, (I) never smoked, never did drugs. But I am for legalization of marijuana,î Kucinich replied. He went on to say that drug abuse needs to be addressed from a public-health perspective, not a criminal-justice perspective.
ìWe need to take a compassionate approach to this and stop torturing people.î

Another man said he noticed that during some of President Bushís State of the Union addresses, Kucinich had positioned himself close to the president and had even whispered something in his ear. ìWhat do you say to the president?î

Kucinich answered that he likes to get close to the president during the talks because it affords him an opportunity to talk to different foreign ambassadors and establish relationships that can be useful for helping people in the future.

But turning to the question of what he says to President Bush, he said, ìItís well known that President Bush and I have our differences of opinion.î

However, Kucinich said it is important to have compassion even for oneís opponents.

So, one time, he shook Bushís hand and whispered something in his ear.

ìHe walked a couple of steps and then stopped in his tracks. He came back and looked at me and said, ëDennis, what did you say?í And I said, ëMr. President, I wish you peace.íî

Bush replied, ìThank you, Dennis, I know that you mean that.î

ìThe second time the president and I had that encounter, I offered him a copy of my plan to get out of Iraq,î Kucinich added.