I know politics is a dirty business; but Howard Dean's comments at a conference at San Diego State University on Saturday really make me sick.
From The San Diego Union-Tribune:
"You know, people say the Republicans are tough on defense. How can you be tough on defense if five years after 9/11, Osama bin Laden is still at large, the Iranians are about to get nuclear weapons, North Korea's quadrupled their nuclear weapons stash....
"Explain to me how it is that this president is tough on defense? I think this president is weak on defense and he's hurt America because he hasn't done the right thing," Dean said.
...Dean said the Bush administration's decision to go to war against Iraq and its overall foreign policy have hurt America's standing in the world.
"This country is in the worst shape since Richard Nixon, and probably before that," Dean said.
"We've lost the high moral high ground everywhere in the world. We want to be respected around the world again.
"We want our moral authority to be restored, because part of defending America is not just well-armed troops; it's having the high moral ground."
Dean's been saying that sort of stuff since the 2004 primaries.
He's wrong of course, but there's nothing new there.
The following comment, addressing the escalating hostilities in Israel and Lebanon, goes into previously uncharted territory.
Dean says that Dems could have prevented the crisis in the Middle East. The implication is that this is all Bush's fault.
In an apparent reference to Israeli military action deep inside Lebanon, Dean said:
"If you think what's going on in the Middle East today would be going on if the Democrats were in control, it wouldn't, because we would have worked day after day after day to make sure we didn't get where we are today. We would have had the moral authority that Bill Clinton had when he brought together the Northern Irish and the IRA, when he brought together the Israelis and the Palestinians."
What an absolute crock!
If anything, a case could be made that what's going on in the Middle East is going on because Dems were in control and had the presidency for eight years.
To suggest that Bill Clinton's "moral authority" (What an oxymoron!) would have prevented the recent violent eruptions in the Middle East is irresponsible.
When were the 9/11 attacks hatched?
During the Bill Clinton era of "moral authority."
I guess Dr. Dean forgot about that, or maybe he doesn't know.
Dr. Dean also seems to be forgetting or ignorant about all the terrorist attacks on U.S. soil and U.S. interests prior to 9/11.
The first WTC attack
The Khobar Towers bombing
The bombings of our embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
The USS Cole bombing
I think the disaster in Mogadishu, the retreat and defeat there, also deserves to be mentioned.
The golden years of Bill Clinton's "moral authority" weren't so golden, were they?
All happened under Clinton's watch, yet Dean has the nerve to say that the era of Dem control was a peaceful, idyllic time thanks to the "moral authority" of the U.S.
Chairman Dean is a lying political hack.
Is that part of the job description for the head of the DNC?
At this time of global uncertainty, Dean's comments are inexcusable.
To say that what's happening now in the Middle East wouldn't be happening if Dems were in control is about as ridiculous as saying "Bill Clinton" and "moral authority" in the same sentence.
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