Media and profs should
give Kucinich a chance
To the Editor:
Thanks so much for your coverage of Kucinich. You covered his issues well in the space you had.
As a supporter, and mother of two USM students, I was very disheartened to see that the best your professors could offer for input was that he didn’t have a chance to win the nomination. The caucus is not a casino game where we put our marker on our best guess of who can win; it is a vote, a statement of our preference of who we’d like to see win. It communicates to our crowd, who, as friends in the eventual November election, should be open to all members ideas.
It would be far more helpful if they could be induced to explain that the caucus is about voting your own preference, not that of those who would discount candidates, whether press or professors. The caucus is like a family meeting, where each member gets to say what they think the policies and direction of the party should be. They voice that by casting a vote for the candidate that best represents their own views, so that the eventual nominee will better reflect the aspirations of the “bigger tent”.
At the caucus, we are really electing delegates to the state convention. They are not really even obliged to vote for the candidates they represented at the caucus, if their opinions change! Their major function is to push for policies for the party platform. In Maine, we find a real need for something like universal, single-payer health care coverage, NAFTA elimination, and a stop to the hemorrhaging of money (not to mention, youth) to Iraq. We will get nothing for nothing. No health care, no educational supports, no job support, if we belch all our resources into the desert. That, together with the fact that the invasion was illegal, is the main thrust of Kucinich’s message, and is supported by practically everyone we know who hears about it.
The thing about the media is that they very well know that they make the news almost more than they report it. If Dennis is a strong opponent of big corporate ownership of our government and of big media power grabs, they surely don’t want his message to get out. Also, as the 2003 winner of the international Ghandi Peace Prize for his work on international relations and peace, he hardly seems as insignificant as your professors would suggest. I guess I have to question their competence or willingness to be objective, themselves.
Kucinich’s message is that we are not powerless, and we must be courageous enough to say that into the teeth of such media pundits, power-brokers, and professors. People have died for free speech and for the vote. Our vote sends a message. Please remember to honor it.
Andrea Boland
Concerned USM Mother
Congrats to columnist
To the Editor:
I just want to let you know that Khaled’s stories (An Asian Excursion) are really enjoyable to read. I only get The Free Press to read his articles. It really makes me happy that someone can actually write decently over there. I hope he has more interesting stories to write about.
Sara Johnson
Sophomore Music Major
All lathered up
To the Editor:
I believe that based on the criteria for a column that Mr Goldstein is in violation of a few of them, and should no longer be allowed to publish his column.
The column is not only being used as a soapbox, and is being used to put down a group of people (not just Republicans and those who choose to drink, but also the American Public, as he constantly assumes that we are stupid and need to be spoon fed his political opinions.)
I think he has wasted a valuable opportunity to educate the campus populace about the political arena. He could have given us information on the Democratic caucas; He could have dedicated an article to each of the candidates running; He could have dedicated his article to the specific treasons of the Bush administration, like how his cabinet members are profiting from the war in Afghanistan and Iraq. He could have done quite a bit with this column.
Instead we see the journalistic equivalent of a monkey throwing poo. His column is a bunch of transparent half-baked arguments, although some may be valid, they are easily dismissed, as he doesn’t back anything he says with any amount of evidence, nor does he bother to take the time to provide any semblance of rhetoric.
Asher Platts
Junior Music