Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Dennis Kucinich: I Learned from My Meeting with Syrian President Assad that He Does Care...
MEMRI TV ^ | June 29, 2011 | Syrian TV

Posted on 07/04/2011 10:39:20 AM PDT by DeoVindiceSicSemperTyrannis

Video 3008: US Congressman Dennis Kucinich on Syrian TV, June 29, 2011

Congressman Kucinich: There are great democratic aspirations for freedom. This is part of this desire for freedom, which is really sweeping the region and the world. The government is listening to the people.

There has to be an agreement between the opposition and the government. When those agreements start to come together, things will change. I have no doubt that they will change. But you’re at the point right now where it must… From what I have seen, the government shows a willingness to listen, and shows a desire to help the people, and to work with the people to bring about change. That is a good sign. It’s a precondition for change. You have to have a willingness. If the willingness is there, perhaps the aspirations of the people will be realized. The fact that you can have opposition meeting in downtown Damascus, openly - whether the meeting is open or not is another matter, but they’re meeting... That’s important. That shows that people are stretching those freedom aspirations, and saying: It’s different now, we’re going to meet publicly. This is what we think. Then, in that manner, people will keep informing the government of the way they want things to go, and the government will have to respond. Again, it’s a process. We can’t make any final judgments on things, but we have to be aware that something is happening. So I came here because I think that what happens in Syria is critical, not only for this region – for every nation in the region - but it is critical to the world. If you see a nation where the people are striving for democratic change, and where the government appears to be ready to respond - that is very important.

Any time you have ferment in a nation. Anytime you have masses of people coming together, there is always the possibility that someone may have an agenda that is different than most of the opposition, and that may be an agenda that is different from the government’s. So one must be aware of the possibilities. I don’t have any information about this, but it’s something that is a cautionary thing, just to be aware of, that is always possible. One must be aware, so that when you see events unfold, you know if there’s anything… if there is any catalyst for an event that could not have been predicted because it is like a third party intervention.

Reporter: It caters to a different agenda.

Congressman Kucinich: Yes, and so we have to be aware of that, that it is possible. Do I know that it happened? No, I don’t know that. That is why you have an investigation, in Syria, that the government has supported, to find out how the violence occurred.

I think it is important for members of Congress to have an understanding of the process that is going on here - that people are seeking freedom of expression, and are seeking the realization of their democratic aspirations, but that the government is listening, that it is not dismissing it, that it is not unaware. What I learned from my meeting with President Assad is that he does care about what’s happening, that he wants to respond, that he’s thinking about the different ways that would be… the best way to address the needs of the people. And that’s what he is talking about. He’s talking about the people. He’s very engaged in that kind of a discussion. Frankly, that’s a positive development. How it plays out we can’t predict. It is going to be very important that the opposition and the government talk to each other, and then chart a course together. That is something that is up to the Syrian people. Do I think that’s possible? It’s possible, of course it’s possible, but Syria has to go down a long road right now. But it should go down that road, with encouragement.

Reporter: And not be rushed into it, I think that is very important.

Congressman Kucinich: There is no rushing. You have to unfold…

Reporter: Due to outside pressures…

Congressman Kucinich: You have to unfold democratic traditions. We’re still working on it, in our own United States, after more than some 230 years. So I think, though, that while one cannot be rushed into it, it is important not to try to set back reforms that can be brought about now.

Reporter: There is a very unfair image of President Assad in the West and in America at the moment, wouldn’t you say?

Congressman Kucinich: In the affairs of state, it is not unusual for a leader to be in a negative light one day, and the next day, they are in a positive light.


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Government
KEYWORDS: 201106; kucinich; paulkucinich12; syria; whatmeworry

Video at link

1 posted on 07/04/2011 10:39:23 AM PDT by DeoVindiceSicSemperTyrannis
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: DeoVindiceSicSemperTyrannis
"In the affairs of state, it is not unusual for a leader to be in a negative light one day, and the next day, they are in a positive light."

Or for aliens to come in peace...


2 posted on 07/04/2011 10:43:09 AM PDT by Christian Engineer Mass (25ish Cambridge MA grad student. Many conservative Christians my age out there? __ Click my name)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: DeoVindiceSicSemperTyrannis

Mr Gullibles Travels.


3 posted on 07/04/2011 10:44:14 AM PDT by unixfox (Abolish Slavery, Repeal The 16th Amendment!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: DeoVindiceSicSemperTyrannis
Dennis,please just get redistricted out of a job and have the grace to fade away.You're too damn gullible to be in Congress.
4 posted on 07/04/2011 10:44:43 AM PDT by Farmer Dean (stop worrying about what they want to do to you,start thinking about what you want to do to them)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: unixfox

lol


5 posted on 07/04/2011 10:47:28 AM PDT by DeoVindiceSicSemperTyrannis (Want to make $$$? It's easy! Use FR as a platform to pimp your blog for hits!!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: DeoVindiceSicSemperTyrannis

The term “useful idiot” comes to mind.

Why is it that some people are so easily malleable by tyrants using pretty words?


6 posted on 07/04/2011 11:01:46 AM PDT by exDemMom (Now that I've finally accepted that I'm living a bad hair life, I'm more at peace with the world.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: DeoVindiceSicSemperTyrannis

President Assad: I learned from my meeting with Dennis Kucinich that he’s an idiot....


7 posted on 07/04/2011 11:09:04 AM PDT by Jack Hammer
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: DeoVindiceSicSemperTyrannis
Sure thing, Dennis. And jolly old Uncle Joe Stalin cared about the people, too. He gave them free train rides and everything. He was elected, you know.

I like small children, but they have no business in government.

8 posted on 07/04/2011 11:10:03 AM PDT by Billthedrill
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: TigersEye

Shaking my head & thinking mandatory testing for drugs, alcohol & dementia a must for those in the govt.


9 posted on 07/04/2011 11:28:02 AM PDT by pandoraou812 ((You can discover what your enemy fears most by observing the means he uses to frighten you.))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: pandoraou812

I thought there was a rule,,,, any stories about Dennis The Menace has to include pics of his wife.


10 posted on 07/04/2011 11:36:01 AM PDT by Dr. Bogus Pachysandra ( Ya can't pick up a turd by the clean end!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: DeoVindiceSicSemperTyrannis
There has to be an agreement between the opposition and the government.

Yes , Dennis. Just like the colonists in the new land and their British overlords across the ocean came to an agreement. And voila, a new nation was born.

11 posted on 07/04/2011 11:42:01 AM PDT by HusbandMan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Billthedrill

This reminds me of the WW2 propaganda in which Stalin was depicted as a stern old Uncle who deeply loved his subjects and only wanted what was best for them.


12 posted on 07/04/2011 11:43:28 AM PDT by ozzymandus
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: pandoraou812
Shaking my head & thinking mandatory testing for drugs, alcohol & dementia a must for those in the govt.

Ditto!

13 posted on 07/04/2011 11:54:35 AM PDT by TigersEye (Wranglers not Levis. Levi Strauss is anti-2nd Amendment.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: HusbandMan

You know there was no war fought. The USA just unfolded, just like a new blanket.


14 posted on 07/04/2011 11:57:04 AM PDT by Henry Hnyellar
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: exDemMom
The term “useful idiot” comes to mind. Why is it that some people are so easily malleable by tyrants using pretty words?

It's the Achilles Heel of human beings. Neurolinguistic programming is one way of studying it. Billions of taxpayer dollars have poured into government coffers to learn how to exploit it.

Basically, words represent concepts, and concepts have boundaries, and boundaries are always fuzzy at some level - which is why they have to be defended. Who controls the boundaries of concepts, controls the words of those concepts. Who controls the words of those concepts, controls the behavior connected to those words.

Political Correctness IS that battle.

15 posted on 07/04/2011 12:01:20 PM PDT by Talisker (History will show the Illuminati won the ultimate Darwin Award.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: Dr. Bogus Pachysandra

So sorry I wasn’t aware of the rule...


16 posted on 07/04/2011 12:52:46 PM PDT by pandoraou812 ((You can discover what your enemy fears most by observing the means he uses to frighten you.))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: DeoVindiceSicSemperTyrannis; AdmSmith; AnonymousConservative; Berosus; bigheadfred; Bockscar; ...

Thanks DeoVindiceSicSemperTyrannis.
You have to unfold democratic traditions. We’re still working on it, in our own United States, after more than some 230 years.
The state-run media assclown asking the leading questions should have been a tip-off to the representative of the Lullaby League that he shouldn't be doing the interview.


17 posted on 07/04/2011 1:37:04 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Yes, as a matter of fact, it is that time again -- https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: DeoVindiceSicSemperTyrannis
Whenever Dennis Kucinich is mentioned, I propose a new FR rule requiring photos of his hottie red-headed wife be posted, to counteract the ill effects Dennis the Menace may have on all good and true people. To inaugurate this new rule, I hereby proffer for your visual enjoyment:

Photobucket

18 posted on 07/04/2011 3:14:12 PM PDT by TrueKnightGalahad
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Talisker

So—for Kucinich, the word-concept boundaries are so fuzzy as to be nearly non-existent?

He really does have that clueless look about him.


19 posted on 07/05/2011 5:19:21 AM PDT by exDemMom (Now that I've finally accepted that I'm living a bad hair life, I'm more at peace with the world.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson