Friday, January 25, 2008

How can we stop the media from marginalizing good candidates?

Dennis Kucinich, an intelligent, visionary and moral presidential candidate, dropped out of the Democratic race today. I guess given the circumstances, that was a wise and realistic course of action -- his energies are probably better used elsewhere, like his bill to impeach Vice President Cheney, but nonetheless this whole sorry business just adds to my growing frustration that anyone who champions the Constitution over moneyed interests is automatically marginalized by the mainstream media.

Who, out of all the candidates, has demonstrated the most leadership lately? When Obama suffered a surprising defeat under dicey circumstances, who demanded a recount and used his own campain funds to pay for it? Not Obama -- it was Dennis Kucinich. Who recently made the bold move to force his neglected Cheney impeachment bill to the floor of the House? Again, Dennis Kucinich. The guy might look like an elf but he's got the courage of a Titan.

He's got well-thought out plans to get us out of the mess we're in and he's brave enough to put them into action. Yet from the very beginning of this seemingly endless and increasingly trivial election process, media pundits would never mention Kucinich's name without a dismissive chuckle or an aside like, "... who doesn't have a chance, by the way ..." And I don't even listen to Fox News -- this stuff was coming from the Stephanie Miller Show!

Then they barred him from even debating. Why, he might actually bring up topics that directly affect people's lives, instead of petty jabs at what constitutes "racist overtones" -- while elsewhere in the country they're hanging nooses and forcing Katrina victims out of their miserable homes.

Ron Paul, another man who the press seems to think takes his constitutional oath too seriously, is faring slightly better despite being banned from some debates. You just can't ignore the passion of his supporters, and their amazing capacity to generate contributions. Still, the media are doing their very best to stifle what threatens to erupt into a blazing wildfire.

My question is this: what can we do to get around this obvious media bias towards the moneyed interests? Right now I'm volunteering for Cindy Sheehan's congressional campaign against Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Despite Cindy's name recognition and a growing divide between Pelosi and her constituents, the press is doing everything it can to ignore or trivialize Cindy's campaign. I'm tired of seeing good people like Kucinich, Gravel, Paul and Sheehan being shunted off from public view because only "crazy" people believe in idealistic princibles anymore. I mean, let's get *real*, people ... being president has more to do with sucking up to AIPAC than anything else.

I'd appreciate any ideas on this.

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