From interview with former Congressman Dennis Kucinich on Truthwire
“We have a government of elites, by elites, and for elites,” says the former congressman, making a case for dismantling the empire before it’s too late.
In this unflinching conversation, Congressman Dennis Kucinich dissects what he calls one of the most dangerous periods in modern U.S. American history. Far from a typical political interview, our dialogue with a man who’s seen so much of the depravity of politics, serves as a somber reflection on the erosion of constitutional governance, the unchecked march toward war, and the moral decay lurking beneath the surface of elite power structures. Kucinich, a veteran of decades in public service and a consistent voice for peace who staunchly opposed the war in Iraq, frames the current moment as an inflection point—a test of whether the American republic—or what’s left of it—can survive its own imperial ambitions.
Contrary to some of us covering empire, Kucinich still looks fondly at what America was long ago, perhaps blissful decades for some, that younger generations did not get to experience. With the 250th anniversary of the United State’s foundation on the horizon, he warns that the very idyllic principles of 1776 and the Constitution are being dismantled by an executive branch that has abandoned congressional authority and launched aggressive and illegal military actions without debate or consent presented to the American people. For Kucinich who was an old school Democrat, serving as U.S. Representative of Ohio's 10th congressional district from 1997 to 2013, respect for law and procedures should hold a place in government—but that’s long disappeared.
Central to his critique is the recent U.S. military campaign against Iran, which he characterizes as a catastrophic folly driven not by national security imperatives but by foreign influence and a complete disregard for international law—something we have all witnessed. He draws a direct line from the fabrications that preceded the Iraq War—where he stood as a lonely dissenter in Congress against George W. Bush’s imperial decisions—to the present administration’s use of fear-mongering and unverified intelligence to justify strikes, especially ones on civilians. Kucinich is unequivocal in his assessment that the war is being waged at the behest of Israeli interests, pointing to the symbiotic relationship between the two nations and noting that without U.S. funding and logistical support, the scale of the devastation in Gaza and the broader region led by Te Aviv, would be impossible. His frustration is palpable as he laments Congress’s abdication of its constitutional duty, asking how a nation born in rebellion against a king can now quietly accept a leader who commits to war without so much as a vote, like every tyrant Washington so often vilifies.
We go even deeper in the ocean as Kucinich explores the complex web of interests that profit from perpetual wars. He invokes General Smedley Butler’s classic indictment of war as a racket and warns that the military-industrial complex, a term coined by President Eisenhower, has metastasized into a system where over half of discretionary spending now fuels global intervention. With the Trump administration reportedly seeking a Pentagon budget that would consume 80 percent of such funds, Kucinich argues that America is transforming into “the Sparta of the 21st century”—a nation sacrificing its own domestic well-being on the altar of military dominance. The issue of the southern border is discussed but beyond its two-dimensional facade, noting that U.S. interference in Latin American governments and the presence of hundreds of military bases worldwide are direct catalysts for mass migration illegal and otherwise. Kucinich suggests that closing these bases and ceasing the CIA’s destabilizing operations would not only save hundreds of billions of dollars but also address the root causes of displacement that the U.S. then treats, or rather weaponizes, as a security crisis.
Perhaps the most provocative and unsettling segment of our talk emerges when the discussion turns to the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, and the question of whether the same “cabal” of elites profiting from this war on Iran are also implicated in the darkest abuses of power. Kucinich navigates this terrain with a measured gravity, refusing to sensationalize but acknowledging that the Epstein files reveal a “gross immorality” and a “destruction of innocence” that he finds inseparable from a foreign policy that casually results in the deaths of children. He posits that the same lack of accountability, the same indifference to human suffering, and the same willingness to operate outside the bounds of law and ethics that characterized Epstein’s circle are mirrored in the decision-making of leaders who launch illegal wars that kill innocents for profit. For Kucinich, the through-line is a profound moral rot—a state of unaccountability that, if left unchecked, leads a society on a “descent to hell.”
Then there are the structural barriers preventing meaningful change, like whether electoral politics remains a viable path forward. Kucinich, who served 16 years in Congress and witnessed the corporatization of the political system firsthand, points to the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision as the moment when the government of the people became a government of elites. He laments the capture of both parties by corporate and foreign interests—most notably AIPAC, which he says exerts such influence that congressional opposition to war is effectively neutered. Despite this bleak diagnosis, he does outline a clear alternative: dismantle the empire, bring the troops home, close the 800 global bases, and reinvest trillions of dollars into the American people’s basic needs—healthcare, housing, education, and jobs. A common sense, sensible, vision that many share, and one that returns to the founding promise of a republic with a limited military posture. But he concedes that realizing it requires a level of civic awakening that has yet to materialize. And while I concur it’s necessary and the obvious answer, the journey to get there is a mission impossible, when the ones in power are threatened by such a reality and will do anything to halt any meaningful change.
Kucinich then vulnerably shares his own journey with chronic illness and the transformative power of taking control of one’s own health. After nearly dying from Crohn’s disease at age 21, he adopted a vegan diet and incorporated Chinese herbal medicine—a combination that, decades later, has allowed him to live free of the condition. This he confesses led him toward a broader reflection on the healthcare system, which he argues is not a system of care at all but a profit-driven apparatus that prioritizes pharmaceutical and insurance interests over patient well-being—a grim reality too true for many suffering right now from chronic illness. In truth, figures like Kucinich have become “the last of the Mohicans” in a political landscape increasingly devoid of integrity. While the conversation may seem dark, it is more so sobering: it’s essential to consider not only who benefits from war, but what kind of nation U.S. Americans wish to reside in—because there’s little time left to organize and take back the country.
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