Primaries - I will vote for Dennis - he is the only one who has

consistently opposed this war, wants a peace department, and cares about he people

Personally, when it comes to government bureaucracy, I think that breaking up the Department of Homeland Security is a much higher priority than creating a new department.

Kucinich's Peace Dept is designed to counter the perpetration of violence at home & abroad, and to promote action for human development as an alternative to reliance on reactive responses to problems. I don't know that it's needed in that particular form, but it's a response to a big problem that the US seems to have a hard time addressing coherently.

Could you give an example?

And how in the world do you counter "the penetration of violence at home and abroad" with a brand spanking new department, as opposed to new programs in our current departments? (even assuming that doing such a thing is both possible and proper for the federal government to do).

That's why I don't know that all those policies need bringing together in this particular form. But it would nail government's colors to the mast, whereas programs can otherwise so easily go AWOL amid all the other programs, policies, initiatives etc.

The human development side seems to embrace US global social & economic development strategy generally. K's absolutely right in identifying failures there as one of the sources of conflict in the world. I think givng that a "peace" orientation is actually a really smart move: why should Americans pay money for others to have a decent future? Peace is a very good reason: people with nothing to lose make poor guardians of order.

New Deal-style foreign policy programs that help build up middle and working class people in developming countries. For example, the US would support building a public school system in Afghanistan and health care programs in Africa.

and it's not going very well?

Despite what they say, lawmaking can influence culture, but I see that more in the area of civil rights than I do in the area of war and peace.

anything Dennis might have said about this.

I understand that our culture has way too much machismo, and that it does cause problems when guys start hosing down the decks with testosterone, but that strikes me as a full-employment opportunity for psychologists, sociologists, and feminists, not bureaucrats.

Legislation Introduced to Create a Department of Peace and Nonviolence

On September 14, 2005 Congressman Kucinich introduced H.R. 3760 (first introduced July 11, 2001) a bill to create a Cabinet-level Department of Peace and Nonviolence which embodies a broad-based approach to peaceful, non-violent conflict resolution at both domestic and international levels. The Department of Peace and Nonviolence would serve to promote non-violence as an organizing principle in our society, and help to create the conditions for a more peaceful world.

Domestically, the Department would be responsible for developing policies which address issues such as domestic violence, child abuse, and mistreatment of the elderly. Internationally, the Department would analyze foreign policy and make recommendations to the President on matters pertaining to national security, including the protection of human rights and the prevention and de-escalation of unarmed and armed international conflict.

The Department would also have an Office of Peace Education that would work with educators in elementary, secondary and universities in the development and implementation of curricula to instruct students in peaceful conflict resolution skills. In addition, a Peace Academy, modeled after the military service academies, would be established to provide instruction in peace education and offer opportunities for graduates to serve in programs dedicated to domestic or international nonviolent conflict resolution.

http://kucinich.house.gov/Issues/Issue/?IssueID=1564#Legislation%20to%20Create%20a%20Department%20of%20Peace

New Year's Eve/Day is my favorite holiday, and I'd love another reason to celebrate it.

Ok, this isn't as duplicative as I thought (or, let's be honest, as half-baked as I feared). Maybe there is something to it.

The whole idea reminds me of a Doris Lessing novel where a whole people is taught to think in different terms. Not "reprogramed" exactly, but taught and encouraged in their development.

and in domestic situations, domestic abuse, gangs.

http://www.thepeacealliance.org/content/view/20/

Way to go out in the off-season and make yourself even more unelectable, Einstein!

Dennis is a lucky man to meet a woman who is beautiful, smart, and shares his beliefs, then gets to marry her after just one date. Oh, and that British accent...yum!

Yes, she's way younger than him, and way taller than him. And their marriage sets up such a strong attractiveness-imbalance that the very fabric of the time-space continuum is threatened. But a tongue stud too? Look, I'm as modern as the next man. At this point, I expect tongue studs on the people who make our frappucinos and the people who make our porn. I don't yet expect them on our First Ladies!

I want a full-blown goth or hippie chick to be first lady (not speaking of the lovely Mrs. Kucinich here, just in general)!

So, what's the diff if she has a tongue stud? You're really going out of your way to get worked up over... I dunno what.

If past models are guides, then I suppose if he married a glaring albino frump with a Mt Rushmore visage like Babs, he'd get a cred boost. But alas, he married the woman he loved.

I think he and Ghouliani are neck-and-neck in the Most Married race.

Tongue stud giving you the vapors too?

Just makes me giggle to see to how Conveniently Catholic he is - when it's convenient for him. Divorce okay; abortion not okay until literally moments before running for president. What next?

Whether or not he's a good Catholic or New Age woo doesn't matter much to me. With the entire field pledging obligatory fealty to a talking serpent mythos, pickings are slim for an atheist. He gives me a chance to vote in the primary for stances on some issues that more closely aligned to the way I'd like to see them handled than the others.

so it pretty much does not matter at all about his wife. Regardless of who wins the White House in 2008 I expect Kucinich to run in 2012, 2016, 2020, and as long as he is lucid and can walk. He is there to stimulate debate and bring alternative ideas to the table, but he won't be elected to any national office.

... is reason enough to have one with a tongue-stud. :P

I work in a professional setting and know numerous people - male and female - who have tongue studs. And, no, I don't work at Starbucks or for a porn outlet.

:eyes:

:P

just kidding you on your typo.

I'll vote for Dennis again as well.

:hi:

Gulianie married a women who stapled puppies for a living. I believe who you choose to marry says a great deal about who you are.

I also like Dennis.

with every kind of slimy, smarmy attack they can think of. Hopefully the voters will be smart enough to see DLC for what they are. Kucinich gets my vote.