Via John Cole, here’s Glenn Greenwald’s defense of Dennis Kucinich:
Both the Prospect and Post recite the trite case demonstrating Kucinich’s supposed weirdness. He’s friends with Shirley McLaine, who believes in reincarnation, and he once (according to McLaine) claimed to have an encounter with a UFO. Is any of that really any more strange than the litany of beliefs which the world’s major religions require? Is Barack Obama “wacky” because he claims to believe that Jesus turned water into wine, rose from the dead and will soon welcome him to heaven? Is Chuck Schumer bizarre because he seems to believe that there’s some big fatherly figure sitting in the sky who spewed fire and brimstone at those who broke the laws he sent down on some stones and now hovers over him judging his every move? Is Harry Reid a weirdo because he apparently venerates as divine the “visions” of a man who had dozens of wives, including some already married to other men?
First, I’m getting a little tired of the left’s ongoing effort to marginalize religious people (minus fringe zealots who deserve what they get). While I’m not religious myself, a larger-than-you-think number of liberals are, and I’ve always believed that as long as religion and secular government remain separate, I don’t care who or what you believe.
Anyway, I don’t think he’s weird, but any respect I had for him went out the door when he, 1) joined the Worse Than Bush meme, and 2) when he sued the congressional cafeteria because he bit into an olive and — shocker! — there was a pit inside.
And this doesn’t have much to do with Kucinich himself, but I also think his supporters are crazy to believe he could actually govern without compromising his progressivism if perchance a miracle happened and he was elected to the presidency. He would’ve either been totally ineffectual, which would have meant disaster for the country, or he would’ve been forced to compromise with the Republicans and conservadems in order to pass something resembling a legislative agenda.
