The Contemptible Howard Dean (with apologies to Jon Bon Jovi)
I do not believe force is justified simply because we think someone is a brutal dictator.
- Howard Dean
Bigwig takes on Howard Dean over his "Pat Buchanan moment", and I've got to say that while I find the Nazi death camp pictures a bit over the top, I do believe that Dean is dead wrong on this issue. When he first came out of the closet (as a Presidential candidate, that is), I was excited about Howard Dean as Presidential material. As the campaign has progressed, however, I'm becoming progressively more disturbed about his "loose cannon" tendencies. Dean's habit of shooting from the lip leaves me to wonder how he would hold up under the tremendous pressures of the office (not that the current occupant has distiguished himself).
Bigwig's quoting of Theodore Roosevelt eloquently covers more than either of us likely ever could:
It is not merely unwise, it is contemptible, for a nation, as for an individual, to use high-sounding language to proclaim its purposes, or to take positions which are ridiculous if unsupported by potential force, and then to refuse to provide this force. If there is no intention of providing and keeping the force necessary to back up a strong attitude, then it is far better not to assume such an attitude.
IF we are going to present ourselves as the bastion of freedom, then I believe that we need to be prepared to back that belief up. Wilfull ignorance of tyranny is no defense. I'm not here to say that the Bush Administration's mockery of an Iraq policy is the way to go (an after-action plan is ALWAYS a GOOD thing), but at some point we need to be willing to put our force behind our beliefs. Otherwise, we may as well just go back to our pre-WWI isolationism and effectively tell the world to go to Hell.
Wake up and smell the cat litter, Howard. You can do better than this.
