Actually, all they did was quote Howard Dean, but the effect is much the same:
"I think what the president is doing is setting the stage for the failure of America."
The failure of America. Bummer.
"If you look at what's happened to other great countries, they get in trouble when they can't manage their money — and this president's certainly proven himself adept at that — and they get in trouble when they overstretch their military capabilities."
If the single active engagement of liberating Iraq overstretches our military capabilities, then perhaps it is time to triple the defense budget and reinstitute the draft.
"This country's a great country, and the reason it's an important country is not just because I'm an American and proud to be an American, America is the beacon of hope for the rest of the world. We are the last country on earth where cynicism doesn't pervade government."
I'm sure that Howard will be shocked to wake up in February 2005 and discover pervasive cynicism in Washington should he be elected president next year.
Dr. Dean said he expects jobs to be the primary issue in next year's general election, and he expects Ohio to be the critical swing state. But he spent most of the interview answering questions about foreign policy, attacking President Bush on Iraq and North Korea and promising to send former President Bill Clinton to the Middle East as a peace broker.
I think Howard must be trying to thrill Bill, or chill Bill to get him to stop supporting Wes. (Note to self: must be careful about using Tarentino references. Impolitic, explicit use of film titles could get the Secret Service after me.)
President Bush, Dr. Dean said, is "particularly poorly suited" for foreign policy "because he has a black and white view of the world, and foreign policy depends on enormous understandings of nuances and trade-offs."
Didn't Howard Dean just accuse every other government in the world of being completely overrun with cynicism? Well, that was certainly subtle.
Regarding Iraq, Dr. Dean, who opposed the American invasion this spring, promised to bring National Guard and Army reserve troops home, leaving 70,000 American troops, and to add about 110,000 international troops, mostly from Muslim and Arab nations. Some experts say that is probably unrealistic, considering the military capabilities of American allies in the Middle East.
Who knew that the US had 110,000 men and women under arms in other nation's miltaries to order into Iraq?
On North Korea, Dr. Dean said Mr. Bush had bungled the situation by announcing at a news conference with Kim Dae Jung, the former president of South Korea, that he planned to pursue a policy of isolation toward North Korea. While the news conference was not as explicit as Dr. Dean described, Mr. Bush and the South Korean leader split sharply on Korea policy at that meeting early in Mr. Bush's presidency, and their relationship never recovered.
Must be more of that nuance stuff to just make shit up about foreign leaders.
"The president and his neocon advisers decided they were going to teach the North Koreans a lesson, and unfortunately, North Korea has the power to inflict a fairly painful lesson on us."
I think Howard is getting ready to practice some trade-offs in foreign policy here, offering our freedom and security for money, oil, food, and a promise from North Korea not hurt us.
Sigh.