Breaking News: Judge says MSNBC must include Kucinich

A judge in Nevada has just ordered MSNBC to include Rep. Dennis Kucinich in Tuesday's Democratic Party presidential debate in Las Vegas or he will cancel the forum.

Senior Clark County District Court Judge Charles Thompson vowed to issue an injunction halting the nationally televised debate if MSNBC failed to comply. Kucinich had filed a lawsuit seeking to be included just this morning.

(UPDATE: Late Monday, according to the Associated Press, NBC indicated that if Judge Thompson officially signed his order Tuesday morning, it would appeal that decision to the Nevada Supreme Court, seeking to keep Kucinich out of the evening's debate.)

The judge ruled Monday it was a matter of fairness and Nevada voters would benefit from hearing from more than just Hillary Clinton, John Edwards and Barack Obama. Kucinich had been invited to participate in the 6 p.m. Pacific debate Tuesday, but that invitation was rescinded last week following the ....

results of the New Hampshire primary and Iowa caucuses that showed Kucinich trailing badly.

Kucinich received the news in an Associated Press story handed to him during a telephone interview with Neil Cavuto on the Fox Business channel. Kucinich read the news item out loud: "It says ‘A Nevada judge said Monday that Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich must be included in Tuesday’s candidates’ debate in Nevada’.  Holy smokes!  I just found out.  I have to get off the phone now.  I have to make plans to go to Nevada.”

So set up a fourth podium.

--Andrew Malcolm

Comments

[Fred Werner]

Thank God that sanity prevailed here. I was OUTRAGED when I heard they weren’t going to let Kucinich in the debate, and not only because Edwards and Clinton and Obama all sound identical. Who the heck do the folks at MBSNC think they are? Just because their brain capacity (and their programming formats) are too limited to consider more than three candidates doesn’t mean that ours is too.

I am sick and tired of news programs telling us who are the “electable candidate”. There is only ONE poll that matters, and that’s the one where WE pull the lever. Stop telling us who is “electable”, and let OUR votes decide that!

[Charley]

Your article is misleading about why Kucinich was uninvited from the NBC Debate. The initial criteria included a fourth-place or better showing in a national poll. Kucinich met that criterion and all the other criteria. Kucinich was uninvited because NBC thought that the 4th candidate would be Bill Richardson. Richardson dropped out and the 4th invitation automatically went to Kucinich. Kucinich was uninvited to silence "public debate that dissents with the views of NBC, its parent company, GE, and all of the military contractors and their candidate-funding corporate interests."

[Lee L.]

Hurray for Dennis! Hurray for the rule of law over Corporate shenanigans!

If we vote for anyone on the corporate dole we are voting for the end of democracy and the degradation of our earth.

Go Dennis and John...our 2 non corporate warriors.

[ArchiesBoy]

Remember the good old days when broadcasting companies were impartial? Me neither...

[Jaye]

Score!

[wdcluis]

There is a reason for taking Dennis Kucinich out of the picture is because the Democratic voters will like to focus on the top runners. Most of the people complaiinint about poor Dennis are the Republicans TYVM.

[tarotlaydee]

For Dennis to take part in this forum/debate is the only democratic way! Who the hell are NBC to tell me who I can listen to? This is censorship and results in an unfair election. All viewpoints need to be presented!

[Trudy]

Vote Dennis!

[Rigo L.]

Finally someone is listening to the concerns of the American people instead of pleasing big news corporations by putting all efforts imposing 3 democratic candidates that don't have much difference in platforms. The news corporations have been focusing on is, how much money candidates have, race and gender. When the most important issues for Americans are: Universal Health care, Stop the War, and Punish the president that lied to to get us into an unnecessary Iraq War. I want to see Kucinich on debate, because he is the only one that has something intelligent to say.

[Arabsdid911]

Does wdcluis even know what "Democratic" means?

[Linda Danesi]

Dennis Kucinich is an honest American. That cannot be said about the President or Vice President of our country. I want to heard what Mr. Kucinich has to say. I respect him as a person.

[chris thayer]

Are you listening msnbc, and mass media? Frauds are transparent, and are seen through very easily in the 21st century. Let people speak - in the further future, debates will come in the streets with pots, and pans, and voices louder then any conglomerate's airwaves.

[Manuel Gonzalez-Olmo]

There seems to be a media gag on Dennis Kucinich. This all started with Iowa newspaper sponsoring their debate excluding him for no valid reason, it then followed with ABC and now MSNBC. Mr. Kucinich has a lot of voter support in this Country and truly represents the Liberal stand on all of the issues. Better yet, his record as Mayor of Cleveland and Ohio Congressman speaks volumes, as opposed to the record for Mr. Obama, and Mrs. Clinton.
If the stations sponsoring these debates really wanted what is best for our country they would be in favor of including more presidential candidates and not limiting these debates to reruns of the previous debate.
Judging by the slant on this article printed by the LA Times, I seriously doubt that this comment will be posted.

[Rory Reiff]

Amen!

[Arthur Ross Cady]

Dennis Kucinich is the Only candidate willing to speak Truth to Power; he is the only candidate who will bring about actual change, not just more of the status quo. He represents we the people, not 'we the corporations' - and his voice will be a welcome change in the debates! Listen carefully...and vote your conscience.

[IMA Believer]

It's not just Eisenhower's "Military-Industrial Complex" anymore.

What we have here, is the "Military-Industrial-Media-Poliitical Complex".

Holy smokes, Batman! Kucinich rocks!

[idiocracyhell]

Dennis Kucinich is the only candidate willing to stand up for the people in this election process. For Clinton, Edwards, and Obama, not to challenge the blatant corporate manipulation of our elections, is a poor reflection on their sense of ethics and stewardship for the American people.

The powers that be want to only show the three front runners because as evidenced by their corporate loyalty, they will keep the status quo. Dennis Kucinich is the real voice of change, and the only threat to the corporate giants that are violating our Constitutional rights to a democratic election, and a democracy "for the people."

I applaud the judge that ruled in favor of the people, not MSM. I also applaud Dennis Kucinich for his continued effort to honor our Constitution, and ensure our election process is free from corporate corruption.

[NevadaNan]

wdcluis is clueless.... I'm a Democrat (capitalized) and I support the democratic (not capitalized...) process. That means ALL voices need to be heard. I am offended by NBC trying to tell me and many of my Democrat friends who we should and should not consider "electable". I wrote to MSNBC and asked that Kucinich be "re-invited" to the debate. If you feel the same way, please contact MSNBC/ NBC and tell then that the judge is right!

[audrey zuccaro]

please ask candidates, why spend trillions on a war when couldn't trillions of dollars have been enough to buy every home in america solar power??????

[Bryant Knight]

It is immoral for the government to tell a news agency what it must and must not broadcast.

I'd prefer that MSNBC cancel its entire debate than be manipulated by a rogue tyrant judge.

I'm not saying this because I dislike Kucinich. He is a respectable candidate, though I'm a Ron Paul supporter myself. But government intrusion here is unjustified and immoral and will only lead to bigger problems down the road.

[Michael]

Thank you Kucinich for standing up to our brave new "election by corporation." It is astounding to see how successful the media has been in marginalizing those candidates whose views actually reflect the concerns of the American people. Here's the only democrat who's talking about firing the health insurance industry, getting us out of an illegal war now and impeaching the administration criminals who have spent the last 7.5 years dismantling the very Constitution they took a solemn oath to defend; and so NBC, in an act of sage patriarchal kindness, has pronounced that we should see instead three popinjays with not a dime's difference between them, and why? -- because they can be counted on to behave like good little candidates and spend their time slinging insults at each other rather than clearly addressing the concerns of the American people. Go Dennis!

[GMFORD]

Bryant Knight -- you are misunderstanding this situation. The media is the fourth estate and has a role to play in our democratic elections. That role is not to narrow down the legitimate candidates to ones they would prefer to promote but to give all candidates an equal opportunity to get out their message. The airwaves belong to the american people not to the corporate media. This is not a rogue judge, any judge would have ruled the same way.

[jatcagirl]

i'm a ron paul supporter and i'm tickled that the judge ruled in dennis kucinich' favor!

[JK]

"It is immoral for the government to tell a news agency what it must and must not broadcast."

Who, pray tell, do you think owns the bandwidth/frequency/whatever that MSNBC broadcasts on? WE DO! If MSNBC chooses to distort and manipulate our democracy, they do not deserve to be allowed to broadcast at all. That is what the judge ruled. A judge that rules in favor of you over a corporation may be rogue in that it so seldom happens, but the last thing the ruling could be called is is immoral. When are you going to figure out that the government represents YOU and YOUR RIGHTS as a citizen!

[A Ron Paul Fan]

I'm glad Mr Kucinich finally got some justice. When you're a true supporter I know how frustrating it is when your guy gets disrespected and ignored. It's like any candidate the media like and doesn't agree with gets excluded. Why can't the media stop trying to influence the outcome of elections and just let the public decide? Ron Paul has had his own battles with the media but he and Dennis Kucinich have many similarities when it comes to their philosophies. I've always liked Kucinich because of his views but also because he is not a CFR member. Paul, Kucinich, and Gravel are the only ones running for office that aren't. If it weren't for all the biases and blatantly unfair treatment of the 2 party system any of these men would be a great choice as a 3rd party candidate. The founder's of this country would be ashamed of what the election process in the US has now become. The media has too much control in deciding our elected officials, something really needs to be done about it..