Posted by
Always To The Right on Sunday, July 16, 2006 10:21:05 PM
This speech by the DNC Chairman Howard Dean makes the most absurd comments about a wartime American President [notably George W. Bush]. The comment that Bush is absent on the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah and the assumption that if a Democrat were President there would not be these problems makes no sense. U.S. leaders for years have been trying to make peace between Israel and its Arab neighbors, but there are elements in this area that do not want peace with Israel they want the elemination of Israel because they are Jews plain and simple. Comments by Dean that a Democrat could work some magic and end decades of violence just shows another reason why Democrats [the liberal leftist kind] should not ever be trusted with being responsible for our national security again. Osama still at large, I've never heard any secret method that the Democrats have let us know how they can get him if they would ever [I hope not] get back in power. Dean does not mention the Clinton Administration deal worked out that put North Korea on the path to nuclear weapons, we are using methods to stop Iran [its diplomacy that "they" wanted us to use against Iraq]. Now do they want us to attack Iran? This is an example of what we would have if the 2006 elections bring the Democrats back in control of one or both houses of Congress, so remember that when you vote in November. Look at the alternative.
Democratic chairman speaks at conference
By Philip J. LaVelle
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITERJuly 16, 2006
Democratic
National Committee Chairman Howard Dean accused President Bush last
night of being weak on national defense and absent in the escalating
violence between Israel and Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon.
In
remarks at San Diego State University, Dean urged activists to fan
across the nation – including deep into the heart of Republican-rich
“red” states – to tell voters that Bush has failed as president –
including in national defense, which Republicans tout as their core
strength.
“There are a lot of
things we can say when we knock on the door (of voters),” Dean told
hundreds at San Diego State's Open Air Theater.
“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
was the keynote speaker on the second day of a three-day conference
called DemocracyFest, billed as part conference, part festival for
progressive activists.
Dean waged a
rollicking bid for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination, which
fizzled en route to the nomination battle in Iowa. He built on the
strength of his grassroots network, expert at raising money on the
Internet. He promised to apply that knowledge when he became chairman
of the Democratic Party last year.
Tucker Bounds, a spokesman for the Republican National Committee, dismissed Dean's attack on Bush's national security policies.
“Howard
Dean is the chief spokesman of a party that has highlighted obstruction
and hasn't provided real answers that matter to the American people,”
Bounds said.
“He's not going to be
able to come into San Diego and disguise the fact that the Democratic
Party doesn't have real answers for the issues that are important to
the American people.”
Introduced by
comedian and radio host Al Franken, Dean touched on various high points
of the Democratic Party's national agenda, including a higher minimum
wage, environmental protection and voting initiatives.
Dean was especially pointed in an area the Bush administration has long claimed as its home turf – a muscular national defense.
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.”
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.”
Dean
also focused on the battle this fall in the midterm election in the
50th Congressional District, where Democrat Francine Busby hopes to
unseat incumbent Republican Brian Bilbray. Dean predicted victory for
Busby.
Bilbray defeated Busby last
month in the contest to fill out the remaining term of disgraced former
Republican Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham, now in federal prison after
taking more than $2 million in bribes from defense contractors.
The outcome of the November Busby-Bilbray rematch will determine who holds the seat for the next two-year term.
Philip J. LaVelle:
phil.lavelle@uniontrib.com
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http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/politics/20060716-9999-1m16dean.html |