Verified, Unfortunately

Days Until Bush Leaves Office = 662

OK, I must confess that I had been a little nervous that the whole Kucinich Spy Ring story I ran yesterday stemmed from some sort of early April Fool's Day spoof. But, no: the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Kucinich's home town paper, picked up the story and has independently verified the email's authenticity.

I have read comments elsewhere making the point that all the Kucinich campaign is after here is just opposition research, performed at a netroots level, and so there's nothing out of the ordinary, and certainly nothing wrong, with trying to recruit people to help out with that. Fair enough, up to a point. But, honestly, has anyone making even the most cursory rounds of the political blogosphere and mainstream media seen evidence of the other candidates, from the rock stars on down, taking any notice of Dennis Kucinich at all? Does the Kucinich campaign really think it's stuck in Nowhereland due to the contrivance of the other candidates? And if Clinton, or Obama, or Edwards, or any of the other candidates in the Democratic field are up to anything unsavory or unflattering, does Dennis Kuchinich not realize the extent to which they, as *ahem* serious contenders for the White House, are already under nanoscrutiny from the GOP and right-wing media? Wouldn't Dennis Kucinich - and the rest of us - be better served if his campaign concentrated on getting its own message out, instead of worrying about what the other candidates are doing?

The whole thing so reeks of desperation and ineptitude that it is just sad. What an embarrassment to Dennis Kucinich...and honestly, does he need any more of those?