Howard Dean: Bush Is Weak on Defense and Has Hurt America
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.
This country is in the worst shape since Richard Nixon, and probably before that... 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."
--- Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean, on July 16, 2006 at DemocracyFest, a San Diego conference for progressives
Given the "seeming irrelevance and marginality of the United States" on the currrent crisis in the Middle East, George W. Bush, indeed, has radically weakened US national security and defense, and influence on international affairs, during his tenure as President.
Related Reading
Howard Dean Unleashed & Unplugged: The Dean Archives
Whither America? by Josh Marshall at TPMCafe
Homeland Insecurity Department , New York Times editorial on July 17, 2006
Comments
Bush is winning the war on terror and Howard Dean is a pussified weakling who has been taken out by terrorists. He is afraid of them and will give in to them to appease them which is the wrong thing to do. Bin Laden will be caught one day. Saddam Hussein will be hanged within the next 12 months and Iran’s nuke program will end up buried under tons of bomb blast debris. This Country is in great shape thanks to Bush and the republicans and thank God Kerry and Gore lost, otherwise we would really be weak on defense like democrats want America to be.
I don’t care how many spy stations there are, Bin Laden may never be found.
If it’s that easy, you go do it.
Fighting world terror, evil and decadence is hard enough, when push comes to shove, I want those with MORAL COURAGE running the show.
Bush has fu
None of the things “Society Dweller” listed have happened. How exactly are we winning the “war on terror?”
Simply rambling off a few things that may or may not come true is hardly strengthening Bush’s credentials.
“Society Dweller” said a whole lot of nothing above: empty phrases and outright lies. America is indeed weaker, and the world as a whole is in terrible shape and suffering because of it.
All these rogue countries have or are acquiring nukes, Iraq is a quagmire with no end in sight (last estimate from US Generals: 10 years til we get out), gas prices are ridiculously high, Bush has let us lose a great American city (New Orleans), Bush doesnt want to fund science that could potentially cure cancer and many other diseases (Stem Cell research) etc etc.
And then Bush appears on TV in the middle of an international crisis, and instead of offerring words of hope, or even any kind of coherent words WHATSOEVER, all he does is talk about eating a godammed pig with the German PM. Then the very next day the wannabe redneck (he was born and raised in the Northeast) is caught on tape talking with his mouth full and chewing while talking like some kind of cow. Embarrassing, sad and disastrous — that pretty much sums up the Bush Administration throughout the last 6 years…
This country is a mess, and it’s thanks to empty-headed slogan-repeaters like “Society Dweller”, who think its more important to be on the “winning side” than to be right.
Iraq is a free country with a Democratically elected government. I think Afghanisrtan is also a free country with a democratically elected government. Two for two is a good track record. If this isn’t proof we are winning then get a life. Get a life all you empty headed slogan believers out there. Go ahead and believe your own made up lies. Believe the lie there were no weapons of mass destruction. They were mostly shipped out by truck and air before the invasion. What wasn’t trucked and flown out was buried. We all konw this to be true except those who believe the lies that there were no wmd and Bush lied to get us into war. You people are the ones who want America to lose for the sake of regaining political power which will never happen.
Good arguments “Society Dweller.” Any comment that starts with “You people…” is usually indicative of an intelligent point.
If I lived in Iraq, I’d not be too happy with my alleged freedom. I wouldn’t have the freedom to walk from here to there without the risk of being kidnapped and mutilated. My kids can’t go to Shiite school freely without fear they’ll be blown up. Winning the “war on terror” shouldn’t be a contest of how many countries we can attempt to nation-build in. It should be about eradicating threats to our safety. Iran, North Korea — those are real threats with real weapons that can kill millions.
And what’s with the reference to WMDs? You sound ignorant grasping at such conspiracy-theory straws. It’s like saying, “there was a fleet of gnomes living in Iraq. I know no one was able to find them, it’s because they all left before we got in.”
Wow. What society does Society Dweller live in? Sounds pretty cool. Perhaps it’s one of those “Alternate Universes.”
Hey, Dweller: do I need 3D glasses to join up, or just a refusal to habitate within the Reality-Based World?