Rivers of Exile

Kevin Zeese (Ind - MD) for US Senate 06 April 2, 2006

Posted by Delilah in : Maryland , trackback

Kevin Zeese

I attended today a Forum on the War in Iraq with (most) Maryland candidates for US Senate. All were invited but no Republican showed up. One Democratic candidate that I never heard of but is said to be the “frontrunner” and to have the blessings of his Party’s big guns couldn’t make it and sent in a statement which sounded very much like the canned load of crap we have been getting from the Party honchos.

I went to the meeting pretty much expecting the usual So-Called Democratic party line about Iraq and the Middle East. I went in favoring Kwesi Mfume for his record on civil rights and that was it.

Turned out, two candidates got my attention: Robert Kaufman and Kevin Zeese. This article in the Baltimore City Paper is as good an introduction to them and the challenges they face. Kaufman is running as a Democrat and Zeese as an Independent - and that, along with his outspoken, honest views, is what makes him interesting to me. We do need a viable alternative to the Democratic Party and candidates like Zeese make it a possibility.

Mfume turned out to be extremely disappointing. He wants to fit in so hard in the Democratic Party, it hurts watching him twisting himself into insane knots. To a question about a general strike to protest the continued presence of US troops in Iraq, - and after the other candidates emphatically supported it, starting with Zeese - he insisted that such a general strike would only be ok by him if it didn’t last more than one day. He worries it would be too hard for his constituency to put up with much more than that. They did in Alabama, back in the sixties. Maybe he means to say that his constituency really doesn’t care all that much about the war, in which case, I won’t be in his constituency. Zeese says “strike as long as it takes”.
Mfume also shows some serious ignorance of foreign affairs, especially the “development aid” racket as well as Iraq when he advocates “maintaining a civilian humanitarian presence” after the troops depart. He cited USAID as an example of an organization that “would be useful” and then he cited “Doctors with Borders” when he probably meant “Doctors without Borders”. That is ignorant on so many levels, not least of which, there is no question that USAID personnel and contractors would be as much of a target as US troops are right now. USAID programs will be seen as continued intrusion in Iraqi domestic affairs.
This guy is very passionate, sounds nice and says all the right things but his language is too parsed.

This woman seems caring and intelligent but clueless in a more general way. Her voice will be useful during the campaign but I’d rather not have her representing me in the Senate. She would fit right in with the Kewl Senate Girls Club but who needs more of that crusty old paradigm?