One thing quickly led to another and I found myself on a road trip to Rose City, the beating heart of Cascadia. While checking email at the Red and Black Cafe, I heard someone say that Kucinich was going to be speaking in Portland. When I ask where and when, she replied, "Just down the street at the People's Food Coop.

So I headed on over to the coop for a chance to hear Dennis Kucinich in an intimate environment. I'm from Santa Cruz and I already decided to register under the Democratic Party and I already voted for him in the CA primary. However, the primaries are coming up soon in Oregon and Kucinich was in Portland to build up support for his campaign.

Kucinich opened up his presentation by saying how nice it was to be speaking with people in a food coop similar to the ones he shops at in Cleveland. Kucinich was very friendly and personable in his presentation. He took the time to speak openly and honestly with young children, even bending down on his knees so that he could be face to face when responding to the child's observation that, "All this war is like the 60s again."

Kucinich feels that Oregonians have a chance to determine the direction of the Democratic Party in the upcoming primary election.

In response to a question about the Democratic Party's ability to challenge 'Big Oil,' Kucinich stressed the importance of creating sustainable systems within our communities.

The creation of a Department of Peace is a goal Kucinich, and he provided a brief breakdown of what such a department would look like. (For more information on the Department of Peace, check Kucinich's website)
www.kucinich.us/issues/departmentpeace.php

One person in the audience used Argentina as an example of a country that has been through a very severe economic crisis and tried to compare the situation with the direction of the economy. Kucinich responded by mentioning that there has been a 3/4 trillion dollar switch in the budget deficit during Bush's Occupation of the White House. (* Kucinich did not use the term 'Occupation of the White House') Kucinich wants to cancel the tax cuts to rich and instead use money to create a fund so that all young people can go to college. He also wants to cut the Pentagon budget and mentioned that the US government (taxpayers) spends more money on weapons and 'defense' than the rest of the world combined!

Another person asked Kucinich about his thoughts on the situation in Iraq. Kucinich calls for the removal of US troops from Iraq and ultimately for self-government by the Iraqi people. However, Kucinich feels there needs to be an interim period where the United Nations takes control over the Iraqi oil resources as well as rebuilding contracts until the Iraqi people are ready and able for self-government.

A major problem in Iraq is that there is an unemployment rate of 80%. The unemployment is seen as a bigger problem than the political turmoil.
(I'm not sure why Kucinich would classify an unemployment rate of 80% as something other than 'political turmoil').

Kucinich is also concerned over Paul Bremmer's stated desire to privatize Iraq's top 200 services.

Kucinich would like to see the UN help Iraq create a constitution, while the current US administration would like to see an Iraqi constitution that guarantees a permanent US dominance of Iraq.

When asked about the difference between Bush and Kerry, and weather or not to vote for Nader (in the event that Kucinich does not win the Democratic nomination), Kucinich responded that he refused to 'get ahead of himself' in regards to his own campaign.

Then came my turn to ask Kucinich a question or two.

I started off by stating that I went to Miami to protest the FTAA and then to Fort Benning to protest the Western Hemisphere Institute of Security Cooperation (WHISC aka School of the Americas or SOA). Kucinich lead the room in clapping for my presence in Miami and Fort Benning. That was nice of them all, but it also makes me feel a little strange....

My questions were if he considered breaking a window 'non-violent' and what his suggestions were for resistance (to both US Imperialism abroad as well as repression here in the US).

Kucinich responded that breaking a window was an act of violence. Then, in classic pacifist style, he went on to feed the myths of Gandhi's and Martin Luther King's ability to lead people in successful social movements that yielded significant changes.

I then stated that Gandhi and MLK were not the only initiators of change and that other groups and individuals played had significant roles in both these social movements. These other groups and individuals were not bound by pacifist ideology. MLK Jr. himself acknowledged the role of armed resistance in conjunction with his strict ideology of nonviolence.

I mentioned that Pacifists are very contradicting in their support of armed resistance by the Zapatistas, for example, yet denounce others who may chose to venture outside the tight framework of Pacifist ideology.

My questions seemed to catch Kucinich a bit by surprise. I appreciated him saying that I was asking good questions that need to be discussed more in other forums, however I found his answers to be quite contradictory.

For example, he seemed to support the Zapatistas, yet stated that he did not support them taking up arms in self-defense.

Then, Kucinich said that he supports self defense, yet failed to provided any solid examples of how one might defend them self. He basically said that he supports the right of people to defend themselves with 'Moral Authority.'

.....Ok, 'Moral Authority' .....geee, thanks.

Unfortunately for me, my 'Moral Authority' failed the stop the really hard plastic bullet that a cop hit me with on my upper left thigh while nonviolently demonstrating on Biscayne Blvd. in Miami last November.
ftaaimc.org/or/2003/12/3321.shtml

Kucinich's website lists many types of issues, yet there is not one about self-defense.

In this time of widespread state repression and violence, I feel that Kucinich should be taking a clear stand on Nonviolence and Self-Defense.

After the Kucinich's presentation ended, including the Q&A, he walked around the room taking time to shake hands with people. I appreciate Dennis Kucinich and his ability to look people in the eye with honesty and sincerity.

By the way, a handful of people came up to me afterwards and thanked me for bringing up those issues, and thanking me for going to Miami and Fort Benning, and offering their experience with the police, etc...

It is cool that people appreciate things that I done. Hopefully people continue to discuss ways to tackle this corrupt Empire that we call the US Government. While the US government is the crux of our problem, at least here in the US, we really must do something to defeat the system of Corporate Feudalism that has been created.


...supporting a diversity of tactics, including Kucinich,
~Bradley