I have never much liked Dennis Kucinich, even though on specific issues, he and I agree. Now I read that he is in Syria, and is parroting Assad's talking points, defending the regime against its critics. I have not the foggiest idea why he is doing this, but it is simply outrageous. What on earth has gotten into him?
Where did you read this?
ReplyDeletePolitico or the Daily Dish or somewhere. Politico has a follow up story on it. He is now saying that he was "mistranslated." That may be true [I don't know a word of Arabic], so we shall have to see. The original quotes were pretty bad.
ReplyDeleteThe new quotes aren't much better.
ReplyDelete"UPDATE: Kucinich's press secretary sends over a statement from the congressman disputing the article, saying it misquoted him:
ReplyDeleteToday, the Syrian Arab News Agency published an article that contained a number of mistranslations and mischaracterized statements that I made during a news conference in Damascus.
While on fact-finding mission in Syria, I was asked to share my initial reactions with some journalists, which I did. During my remarks I stressed the importance of the government paying attention to the democratic aspirations of the people of Syria. It is up to the people of Syria to decide the future of their government. There is a process of national dialogue beginning and this process is important. It is important that the Assad government listen carefully to the just demands and act positively to fulfill the democratic aspirations of the people of Syria. The process of national dialogue which has now begun is a step in the direction of identifying necessary reforms.
I did not come to Syria with my mind made up. After discussions with people at many different levels of the society, I am convinced of the need for honesty, fairness and dialogue.
A story written about my remarks by the Syrian Arab News Agency unfortunately mistranslated several of my statements and did not reflect my direct quotes. Arab-speaking friends accompanying me have explained that the problem may have come from a mistranslation as well as the degree of appreciation and affection their state-sponsored media has for President Assad.
It is unfortunate that translation errors can create such problems. Given the stakes for Syria and the region, I will consider the article only an error, not a willful intent to mischaracterize my statements or my efforts in the region.
I intend to continue my efforts to determine as best I can exactly what is happening in Syria, ever more mindful of the maxim, “lost in translation.”
Really professor, when has Kucinich EVER backed dictator regimes?
ReplyDeleteI find it quite a bit harder to believe that the Syrian press is the 'honest' beacon in this chirade...
I'm also not sure why you don't like him? He's the farthest left congressman on the hill...
Bernie Sanders?
ReplyDeleteOn matters of policy I find them pretty indistinguishable
ReplyDelete