Dennis Kucinich: A Fan of Cafferty’s Comment that Iraq is a ‘Hell Hole’

Ever wonder who the constituency of CNN reporter Jack Cafferty is? Apparently one member of his fan club is far left Democratic Congressman, and 2008 presidential aspirant, Dennis Kucinich. During the Tuesday edition of “The Situation Room,” Cafferty delivered another angry diatribe, labeling Iraq a “hell hole” and, once again, calling the Fox News Channel “the F-word network.” In his “Cafferty File” segment, the CNN reporter discussed the President’s decision to delay any announcements on Iraq. His comments certainly did not esape the attention of Kucinich (video here):

Jack Cafferty: “And yet, President Bush told Brit Hume over at the F-word network, in an interview the other day, that the load of the war in Iraq is, quote, ‘ not heavy,’ unquote. He called it a joyful, not a painful experience, because millions of Americans are praying for him. So, as our soldiers get ready to spend their fourth Christmas in this hell hole, here is the question: ‘How long should it take President Bush to figure out what to do in Iraq?”

A few minutes later, at 4:20pm, “Situation Room” host Wolf Blitzer, interviewed Congressman Kucinich, who seemed to be taking his talking points from Cafferty:

4:21

Dennis Kucinich: “I say this is the time to bring the troops home. If you looked at ‘The Cafferty File,’ you can see that, look, it's a hell hole. We need to bring the troops home. And, so, my position and my, my race for the presidency is about consistency; It’s about a quest for integrity. It’s about, about saying the money is there to bring the troops home so let's bring them home. What are we waiting for?”

4:24

Kucinich: “And so I’m challenging all the Democratic candidates for president on this point., If you vote for funding for the war, don't tell the American people you're opposed to the war. If you vote for funding of the war, don’t bemoan the plight of the troops. We can bring the troops home right now right now. I listened to Jack Cafferty's– Jack Cafferty’s report. I mean, our hearts go out to all of those families whose, whose sons and daughters are paying a horrible price for the misjudgment of this administration.”

Quite a fan base Cafferty has.

A transcript of the “Cafferty File” segment, which aired at 4:12pm on December 12, and Kucinich’s comments follow:

Jack Cafferty: “Wolf, President Bush apparently in no hurry now to come up with a change of strategy in Iraq. I mean, hey, what is the rush? Things are going so well over there, right? Last week, he got the Iraq Study Group report amid expectations he might announce a change in strategy sooner rather than later. Now it looks like it’s going to be later. Instead of a Christmas present to the nation and the people of Iraq and to stop the insanity, the decider has decided not to decide until January. In the meantime, American troops get butchered every day. The American death toll approaching 3000 now as December looks to be a very bloody month. 47 soldiers and Marines have been killed in Iraq since December 1st. And since the start of the war now, 2937 U.S. Troops have been killed. And for innocent Iraqi civilians, it is much, much worse on a daily basis. Today, 71 Iraqis looking for a job, hoping to find a day's work so they could feed their families, were slaughtered by a suicide truck bomber in Baghdad and 220 additional Iraqi civilians were injured. And yet, President Bush told Brit Hume over at the F-word network, in an interview the other day, that the load of the war in Iraq is, quote, ‘ not heavy,’ unquote. He called it a joyful, not a painful experience, because millions of Americans are praying for him. So, as our soldiers get ready to spend their fourth Christmas in this hell hole, here is the question: ‘How long should it take President Bush to figure out what to do in Iraq? E-mail your thoughts to Caffertyfile@cnn.Com or go to Cnn.com/Cafferty file.”

4:21

Dennis Kucinich: “I say this is the time to bring the troops home. If you looked at ‘The Cafferty File,’ you can see that, look, it's a hell hole, we need to bring the troops home. And, so, my position and my, my race for the presidency is about consistency; It’s about a quest for integrity It’s about, about saying the money is there to bring the troops home so let's bring them home. What are we waiting for?”

4:24 Dennis Kucinich: “And so I’m challenging all the Democratic candidates for president on this point., If you vote for funding for the war, don't tell the American people you're opposed to the war. If you vote for funding of the war, don’t bemoan the plight of the troops. We can bring the troops home right now right now. I listened to Jack Cafferty's– Jack Cafferty’s report. I mean, our hearts go out to all of those families whose, whose sons and daughters are paying a horrible price for the misjudgment of this administration.”