randomWalks

Maybe now Cleveland will get some respect. Well, as soon as it gets rid of Chief Wahoo.

It looks like he's also softened his pro-life stance:

"I support Roe v. Wade and a woman's right to choose and will select Supreme Court justices who will affirm this Constitutional right. My focus as President would be in finding common ground that would provide for all choices, reducing the need for abortion. We can make progress through providing workers with a living wage and providing Americans with universal health care as well as the other services and benefits that encourage life."

Softened? It looks like he's reversed it. Not that I knew he was ever pro-life.

This is pretty much with the abortion law in Norway says -- I wonder if he paraphrased their text. I think it's right on. Nobody should feel she has to have an abortion because she can't afford to pay for her future baby's healthcare. I wish people who oppose abortion would get this through their pseudo-Christian heads.

The reason I said "softened" was because of that second part about "reducing the need for abortion," which sounds somewhat like what compassionate conservates say. But the statement as a whole is a step up from what's he's said before.

I didn't know about Kucinich's pro-life stance either until we were discussing him as a speaker for the Feb. 15 rally in New York. Some saw his pro-life stance as problematic, but that was not a majority opinion and he was selected to speak.

But do a quick "Kucinich" and "pro-life" search on Google and you'll see his voting record, among other things. He's historically taken that position as one of being morally consistent: He's anti-death penalty and anti-abortion. Even if I disagree with that approach, it's at least more understandable than the typical Right-wing pro-Life position.

I agree. He has reversed it.

I think he is our boy.

Hope he's got enough sense to stay out of small planes.

For comparison, here's what he sounded like back in May.

He's historically taken that position as one of being morally consistent: He's anti-death penalty and anti-abortion. Even if I disagree with that approach, it's at least more understandable than the typical Right-wing pro-Life position.

Yeah, it's akin to Wendell Berry's pro-life position.

Nuance. Rather bracing in a politician, I think.

WWW.KUCINICH.COM

The Worst Mayors (1820-1993)

Next, and seventh, is Cleveland's Dennis Kucinich (1977-79). Only thirty-one years old when elected, Cleveland's "boy" mayor had failings that were not the sins of venality or graft for personal gain, but rather matters of style, temperament, and bad judgment in office. Kucinich earned seventh place the hard way: by his abrasive, intemperate, and confrontational populist political style, which led to a disorderly and chaotic administration. He barely survived a recall vote just ten months into office, then disappeared for five weeks, reportedly recuperating from an ulcer. When he got back into the political fray, his demagogic rhetoric and slash-and-burn political style got him into serious trouble when he stubbornly refused to compromise and led Cleveland into financial default in late 1978—the first major city to default since the Great Depression. That led also to Kucinich's defeat and exit from executive office. Out of office, he dabbled in a Hollywoodesque spirit world and once believed he had met actress Shirley MacLaine in a previous life, seemingly confirming his critics' charges that he was a "nut-cake." After that, he experienced downward mobility, losing races for several other offices and finally ending up with a council seat; but more recently, he climbed back up to a seat in Congress. Bad judgment, demagoguery, and default also spelled political failure in the eyes of twenty-five of our experts, who ranked Dennis, whom the press called "the Menace," as seventh-worst.

The American Mayor

The Best & The Worst Big-City Leaders

By Melvin G. Holli

The Pennsylvania State University Press

Sounds like we could use a lot more politicians like him.