Here is a YouTube video of Gore Vidal speaking out about the sad state of the Federal Government. There is a lot not to like about it: that he chose to give this interview on Iranian television, while not illegal, smacks a bit of Jane Fonda in Hanoi; and his fulsome praise of Dennis Kucinich doesn't sit well with Ohioans who have long memories (even though Rep. Kucinich does deserve credit for being the only congressman with the courage to propose impeachment against a Vice President and President who would certainly be convicted -- if we only had a Congress that respected the Constitution).
Still, it is hard to argue with the truth of what he is saying. "We don't have a republic anymore ... we are a framework for crooks to go in and steal money, and know they will never get caught."
A virtual buckeye to Rob Williams at Vermont Commons.
1 comment:
I don't fully understand your comment about Dennis Kucinich. While I don't always agree with him, it can be argued that he generally sticks by his personal convictions (whether you like them or not).
With respect to Ohioans "long memories", are you talking about what happened when he was mayor of Cleveland?
For those who don't know, here's the nutshell of what happened: the banks in Cleveland exerted great pressure on Kucinich to sell "Muny Light" (now Cleveland Public Power-CPP), the city-owned electric utility. Actually, it was more than pressure, they threatened to cut off the city's credit unless he sold it. Kucinich refused, so the banks followed through on their threat, and the city went bankrupt.
As it turns out, Kucinich's decision was the right one and the residents of Cleveland are better off today because of it. The areas where CPP supplies electricity have among the lowest electric rates in the country because CPP is in direct competition with First Energy.
Also, Cleveland Public Power has been recently ordered by the city to allow combined heat and power projects (CHP) that allow, for example, businesses who need to produce steam, to use the steam to generate electricity and feed any excess power back into the grid. Private utilities actively discourage CHP through high tariffs-- they don't want anyone else producing electricity.
CHP is a very efficient way to produce and use energy and it allows for distributed generation of electricity which is far more efficient than the current system of large centralized plants located far away from customers. It's also a far more secure way to produce energy.
CHP is one of several effective and important things we need to be doing in this age of growing energy scarcity.
Long story short, yes, the City of Cleveland went bankrupt under Kucinich, but you can blame the Cleveland banks of the time.
Kucinich stuck by his convictions. The city suffered temporarily, but it's far better off now for his decision on CPP.
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