Marcy Kaptur has won the Democratic nomination in her contest against Dennis Kucinich; and we have lost our voice, our conscience, and our champion. How did Cleveland let this happen? What was the magic pixie dust she had to sprinkle across the airwaves, which could make these people willingly reject the heart of their party?

From the accounts I've read her message was fairly simple, Dennis voted against manufacturing jobs, veterans, and prescriptions drug benefits for the elderly. Say what!!!?? Dennis Kucinich, the champion for each of those issues voted against them? Say it ain't so Dennis!! Well it ain't so. What he voted against was the military spending that was attached to those bills.

What then was Marcy promising? She was promising to do what all effective politicians do, bring those defense contracts back home, and you can't do that if you're voting against military spending now can you? In the real world people need jobs, even if they are jobs linked to destruction. The one thing every voter can count on is our willingness to create conflict; which allows us to continue to produce weapons, and systems that will aid us in our mission to bring peace through military action to the world. It's the gift that keeps giving until there is nothing left.

So today I'm heartsick, because it was my distinct pleasure to meet Dennis Kucinich last October at Freedom Plaza, in Washington, DC. I was there to engage in the Occupation. That day was awesome because I started it at the official opening of the Martin Luther King monument. From there my friend Takisha and I went to Freedom Plaza where Dr. Cornel West spoke. At the end of a very long day Elizabeth and Dennis Kucinich came to offer their support for our efforts. Usually politicians were discouraged from speaking at the general assembly, but he assured Kevin Zeese this wasn't a political appeal. But it was he appealed to us to keep up the fight, to not give up, and to assure us we were being heard!!

He then stepped away from the microphone and spoke with us individually. Both he and his wife were engaged and they accommodated request for pictures, Elizabeth even offered to take my picture with Dennis for me. Now I'm looking at it wondering how it all could go wrong in Cleveland.

And it has gone all wrong, the opponent that Kaptur will face is the fictional licensed plumber known as Joe.  Samuel J. Wurzelbacher , is now living beyond the fifteen minutes of fame allotted his character created by telling President Obama about his small business as a plumbing contractor. In that conversation he dubbed the President the socialist redistributor of wealth, and parlayed it into a consulting business and book deal. This is what makes America "exceptional" it was discovered that "Joe" didn't actually have a plumber's license and that his problem with taxes is he didn't like paying them. So where do you go from there? Why you go into politics, because where else would such a rich fantasy life reap the most reward (outside of Hollywood)? Smart enough to know that if Hollywood was interested they would come a calling, our Joe did what flimflam men have been doing for ages he threw his hat in the ring. And now he is the Republican Marcy Kaptur will have to face for a congressional seat.

Dennis represented the very things that my Midwestern values taught me mattered; life, liberty, access to healthcare, employment for all who want it, and housing. Apparently those values have been replaced with abolition of opportunity, limits to liberty, and hit the man overboard in the head with the oar, so you can move on.

Nancy Pelosi whom I admire (because I think she has steel boobs under her shirt), issued a statement that both Kucinich and Kaptur were great representatives. But I think she is secretly happy that Marcy Kaptur has won, because she's a player who sits on the Appropriations Committee.  She's a tried and true politician, all about that pork barrel spending, not like Dennis always fighting for what's right, and questioning conventional wisdom.  Dennis liked to buck the tide: he lost the battle to stop Cleveland from biting their nose to spite their face when they chose a private power company over a public one. The Cleveland Plain Dealer said, he was wrong. Much later they wrote an article about their new power company with the headline, Dennis Was Right. 

In my opinion Ohio voters have made a serious error in judgment. The only good thing about it is  we'll probably get at least third row seats to one of the most entertaining political dogfights of recent memory. In one corner we have Marcy Kaptur the mistress of military mayhem, in the other "Joe" the butt crack plumber, turned activist, author, and politician. I think the Plain Dealer may need to revisit the Dennis Was Right headline.