Demo calls for Cheney ouster

Lyndon H. LaRouche, Jr., perennial candidate for president since 1976, did not appear on the Utah Democratic primary ballot Tuesday.

But that didn't stop him from coming to the Beehive State to talk about his two key issues and more.

First, LaRouche believes Vice President Dick Cheney should be ousted, if not impeached, for pushing the war in Iraq. Second, he fears the world's monetary structure will soon disintegrate, producing the planet's worst-ever financial crisis.

The 81-year-old LaRouche is a convicted felon — for mail fraud and conspiracy — and as a result has lost his ability to vote. Because he's not registered, he doesn't meet Utah's Democratic Party requirements for candidates and therefore could not appear on the ballot.

LaRouche and his supporters believe the requirements are a conspiracy to cover the fact that Democrats are simply afraid of him. LaRouche said bankers wanted him imprisoned or killed, and that led to his felony convictions. He said President Bill Clinton intended to pardon him but never got around to it.

Most Democrats say he doesn't agree with their principles, anyway.

"They don't have any (principles)," LaRouche snapped back during a news conference at the Sheraton Hotel Tuesday morning.

LaRouche said he will appear on the ballots of at least 28 other states and as many as 36. He calls most politicians insane or liars.

"I'm an FDR Democrat," he said.

His slogan is "the real Democrat for president," and he firmly believes the Democratic race is between himself and John Kerry.

"The front-runner is John Kerry," LaRouche said. "He's not a bad guy. He's a good guy."

But he said Kerry probably doesn't have the nerve to do what needs to be done to save the nation from an impending financial crisis LaRouche predicts will be worse than the Great Depression.

LaRouche said he's an economist and could walk into the White House today and know what to do. He feels the U.S. economy is not going to recover and that the next president will have to deal with a financial disaster.

"The U.S. has been taken over by Enron-like thinking," he said. "This system is coming down."

LaRouche has raised $7 million in campaign contributions so far, most of it already spent.

If he's chosen by the Democrats, LaRouche said Kerry might make a good running mate.

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E-mail: lynn@desnews.com