Your fearless liveblog team is here in Kirkland JCR awaiting the triumphal entry, trumpets included, of "visionary Congressman" Dennis Kucinich.

Jokes appear courtesy of Jarret Zafran.

1:45: Markus has just brought out a paper cup and placed it on the table. I can only hope that it contains the life-giving elixir on which Kucinich must sip every ten minutes to retain his vitality and strength.

1:48: Elizabeth, majordomoing (I love that word) the event, appears to give the customary thanks.

1:50: He appears, through a trap door!

1:51: Kuicinich begins speaking. Quotes a theoretical physicist on the "implicate order"—that which is "unseen, but still has existence." We will call forth another reality, "the power of creativity." Also quotes Shaw, "I see things and ask, why not?"

1:53: "A different way of looking at America's role in the world." Our role as a "nation among nations." We see the world as one—interconnected and interdependent. Gets claps for reaffirming the nonproliferation treaty.

1:54: He's standing super close to Harlan, whose face is literally no more than six inches from his shirt pocket.

1:56: "Come, my friends!" —Tennyson. I'll admit it, I'm kind of inspired.

1:57: Some awesome lady comes up and says something about her parking meter and hands him a piece of paper! This is awesome!

1:58: First question is about global warming. Invokes the spectre of John Kennedy, who "called us into space."

2:00: The relationship between the government and the people needs to change so they are united in conservation. "A proliferation of microtechnologies"—wind turbines and solar panels on millions of homes and offices. Ich bin ein zolarpanel!

2:02: Clock it folks. First mention of NASA! Oh Spaceman Kucinich, bring me to the moon! (Jarret)

2:04: Gets claps for the idea of repealing NAFTA/CAFTA.

2:04: Kyle (who cast his first vote ever after turning 18 for Kucinich). Kucinich asks who in the room is worried about the integrity of elections and just about everyone raises their hands (including me). A wise businessman could turn a handsome profit if he set up a tinfoil hat booth outside of Kirkland right now! But in all seriousness, Kucinich takes the issue seriously, and it is a serious one.

2:06: Says it may be time that the Electoral College has outgrown its usefulness.

2:06: Question about impeachment. Is it worth the energy? Kucinich: "we should be able to pursue multiple challenges simultaneously." He asks whether we think it is a question even worth discussion; a handful of people do. With an air of mystery, he says he has been a "thoughtful mood" and that in a few months we should hear an answer to what he has gathered by "listening to the American people." This is so Jedi!

2:10: Question from Elizabeth about teachers and how teaching is unattractive. K: "Let me take those principles and give them substance." Universal prekindergarten program. Dennis learned to read when he was three! "You realize our responsibility to the children of America." Children treated like "widgets".

2:15: How will it get paid for? Notes that nobody asks about that when it comes to war. "I know the kind of waste and fraud that exists in this Defense Department budget." Lays down some hard-hitting facts about the heinous Pentagon bureaucracy. K's budget would be a 15% reduction from defense and put directly into education, effectively doubling it.

2:19: Create a shift in our culture where education becomes part of the purpose of the people of the United States of America.

2:20: Shares his personal thoughts as he walks up the House steps, looking at the sculptures on the canopy. There is a sculpture of a woman with arm outstretched protecting a child with a pile of books right above the center of the entrance. It's called "peace protecting genius"—those would be the watchwords of a Kucinich administration.

2:22: Super-exciting double question about subprime lending and Sy Hersh's article about funding of Sunni terrorists. It's like a peanut butter and mayonnaise sandwich!

2:23: Rejects the euphemism of "all options are on the table." Take a little dig at Clinton, Obama, Edwards. Do we "communicate our worldview" in our voting records? Said it is particularly surprising to hear Obama talk about it as a "peace candidate". Take a critical view on AIPAC, which, to be fair, more congresspeople ought to do.

2:26: "There is no justification whatsoever for a United States attack on Iran [...] I think such an attack would be a criminal act." Technically illegal, since the U.N. Charter, which is a treaty, which forbids "threatening another nation."

2:28: Same person asks whether there have been any clandestine operations going on. K asked for a "secret briefing." Says that he could have gotten more information just by searching on Google for iran and the CIA.

2:31: Back to subprime lending! Says that the Federal Reserve is to blame. Thinks that we need to do a number of things to enable every American the capacity to buy a home.

2:33: Discussion of the Ministry Department of Peace. Relies on the belief that you can teach peace. Firm believer in the separation of church and state, but not that the nation should be devoid of spiritual values. Principles of the founders are connected to the transcendent.

2:36: "War on Terror" Is a license for a war forever. "We are meant for better things. Start to imagine what we might become."

2:37: While this whole discussion is quite pollyanna, one has to admit that in the current political culture of cynicism and straight-up disdain for the possible, it's somewhat of a nice break.

2:39: Someone suggests that he and Edwards are quite similar, but K talks about all the differences between the two, including those on foreign policy and healthcare.

2:42: Advocates the complete abolition of the for-profit healthcare system, in contrast to both Edwards and Clinton.

2:43: A physician who worked for Kucinich's campaign in 2004 asks about his endorsement of John Kerry. This time he "won't support anyone who isn't totally committed to working for policies of peace."

2:47: He has been in the public service for forty years, and says that he is "completely prepared" to be the President of the United States.

2:48: Question about why he doesn't support free trade to counties that use child labor, citing reports that say free trade is best for the working classes of foreign nations.

2:52: Final question is about how you actually achieve peace in Iraq. K "really believes in the power of focus." Say H.R. 1234 is the answer. Congress must reassert its authority with the "Constitutional power of the purse." We have to engage the world community, and the troops need to come home immediately.

2:58: Quotes from the Lancet report tallying 650,000 Iraqi deaths. And it may be up to a million. He pauses for a few seconds to let that fact set in. "Profound moral responsibility" to begin a program of reparations.

3:02: Heavy criticism for 'hydrocarbon provision' that requires the privatization of Iraqi oil industry—a provision that has Democratic tacit support. We have to give the Iraqi people "full control" over their natural resources.

3:05: Final comment. Congress has the power, and needs to immediately stop funding the war, especially in light of the saber-rattling towards Iran. "This candidacy has the potential to transform the country." "We're always about the act of creation."