16 questions for Howard Dean

[Tigermike 3,692]

I wonder if he will answer any of these?

16 questions for Dean

Rich Lowry

December 29, 2003

The other Democratic candidates for president are beginning to challenge front-runner Howard Dean daily, asking questions about his positions and fitness for office. Here are the questions that they're not asking Dean, but should:

-- The U.N. Security Council in November 2002 unanimously passed Resolution 1441, giving Saddam Hussein "a final opportunity to comply." How do you interpret the phrase "final opportunity"?

-- You routinely say that the Berlin Wall came down without a shot. You mean without a shot excluding Korea, Vietnam and small wars throughout Latin America and Africa during four decades, right?

-- You say Osama bin Laden should be presumed innocent until a jury gets to decide his fate. Who do you think would best represent bin Laden at his trial, Johnnie Cochran or Mark Geragos?

-- You say the United States shouldn't have fought the Iraq War because Saddam did not present "an imminent threat" to the United States. Yet you supported wars in the 1990s in Bosnia and Kosovo. How exactly did Slobodan Milosevic pose an imminent threat to the United States?

-- You say that it was a mistake for the United States to go to war without the "permission" of the United Nations. For what other sovereign acts of the United States would you require U.N. "permission"?

-- You have said at various times that it would be irresponsible not to support President Bush's $87 billion funding request for the troops and reconstruction in Iraq, and that you opposed the $87 billion. What is your position right at this moment on the $87 billion? How about now? And ... now?

-- You quit the Episcopal Church because you thought its position on a Burlington, Vt., bike path was "not very Godlike." What is God's position on bike paths? Scriptural references would be helpful.

-- You say that the invocation before congressional sessions makes you uncomfortable. What phrase or sentiment makes you most uncomfortable from this passage from a recent invocation: "Help each of us to depend upon Your strength as we navigate life's challenging seas. May we trust the wonderful laws of sowing and reaping, knowing You will bring us an abundant harvest"?

-- You say that Republicans want to end public education. Education spending under Bush has increased 65 percent. How is that consistent with the alleged goal of ending public education?

-- Did you have any favorite ski spots during the Vietnam War?

-- In the North Korean crisis, the Bush administration is engaging in intense multilateral diplomacy to make North Korea's neighbors part of any settlement. You advocate that the United States instead cut out other countries to engage in direct talks with Pyongyang. What explains your burst of unilateralism?

-- Do you prefer your would-be Southern voters to fly the tasteful "stars and bars" that was the official flag of the Confederacy from March 1861 to May 1863, or the more familiar and popular Confederate battle flag?

-- You have at various times said you supported NAFTA, and said you opposed any agreement like NAFTA. You have both said, "NAFTA is here to stay," and advocated negotiating a "New Deal" with Mexico. What the hell?

-- You said recently that the Saudis might have tipped off the Bush administration prior to Sept. 11. Are there any other bizarre theories that you have picked up from the Internet that you would like to share at this time?

-- You say that Bush doesn't understand the needs of middle-class families. Yet your proposed full repeal of the Bush tax cut could, as some of your opponents point out, result in a $2,000 tax increase for a middle-class family of four. What do you understand about middle-class families' hunger for higher taxes that the rest of us don't?

-- If you had to choose your percentage of the popular vote in a general election right now, would you pick George McGovern's 37.5 percent, Walter Mondale's 40.5 percent or Michael Dukakis' 44.8 percent. Please round to the nearest single digit.

[AUloggerhead 2,514]

LOL! Good one, Tigermike. I think ole Howie has already answered these questions at least twice each -- once off the cuff, and the other in an official press release. I do not think he's through answering them, though. I fully expect his answers to change once or twice more.

[TitanTiger 21,219]

It will never cease to amaze me that there are actually people who support this wishy-washy clown. I'd love to hear him address some of those questions if for no other reason than comic relief.

[CarolinaTiger 0]

hard to pick a favorite, but here goes:

-- You have at various times said you supported NAFTA, and said you opposed any agreement like NAFTA. You have both said, "NAFTA is here to stay," and advocated negotiating a "New Deal" with Mexico. What the hell?

if you're one of the other 8 candidates for the dem nomination, you gotta be scratching your head as to how this guy maintains his credibility & supposed lead in the polls.

ct

[MDM4AU 338]

-- You have said at various times that it would be irresponsible not to support President Bush's $87 billion funding request for the troops and reconstruction in Iraq, and that you opposed the $87 billion. What is your position right at this moment on the $87 billion? How about now? And ... now?

This one is pretty good, too!

[Jenny AU-92 0]

-- Did you have any favorite ski spots during the Vietnam War?

DONUT: "Bush was AWOL and would have been tried for desertion and stood up against a wall and shot but his daddy had money and powerful friends so he got to go to Harvard instead..." :roll:

Just out of curiosity - why haven't our resident "Up Yours With Dean" supporters even attempted to refute any of this? Maybe....THEY CAN'T?????????

[MDM4AU 338]

Just out of curiosity - why haven't our resident "Up Yours With Dean" supporters even attempted to refute any of this?  Maybe....THEY CAN'T?????????

Their still trying to find a way to blame it on Bush!

[Tiger Al 0]

OK, I'll bite...

16 answers from TigerAl

-- The U.N. Security Council in November 2002 unanimously passed Resolution 1441, giving Saddam Hussein "a final opportunity to comply." How do you interpret the phrase "final opportunity"? Saddam was in full compliance for three months prior to the invasion. Bush, seeing that unfettered access to all of Iraq was uncovering nothing more than his administration's lies, pulled UNMOVIC inspectors and launched 'shock and awe.'

-- You routinely say that the Berlin Wall came down without a shot. You mean without a shot excluding Korea, Vietnam and small wars throughout Latin America and Africa during four decades, right? The Berlin Wall came down without a face to face showdown between two world superpowers that surely would've ended in nuclear war. That's what he means.

-- You say Osama bin Laden should be presumed innocent until a jury gets to decide his fate. Who do you think would best represent bin Laden at his trial, Johnnie Cochran or Mark Geragos? It doesn't matter. Whoever is appointed will do fine.

-- You say the United States shouldn't have fought the Iraq War because Saddam did not present "an imminent threat" to the United States. Yet you supported wars in the 1990s in Bosnia and Kosovo. How exactly did Slobodan Milosevic pose an imminent threat to the United States? He didn't. But, he was actively involved in full scale ethnic cleansing of Croatians, Muslims and Albanians and this was stopped by the full force of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

-- You say that it was a mistake for the United States to go to war without the "permission" of the United Nations. For what other sovereign acts of the United States would you require U.N. "permission"? Unprovoked military attacks should not be a "sovereign" act the US needs to get in the habit of doing. The US should be held to the same standard that we hold the other members of the UN to.

-- You have said at various times that it would be irresponsible not to support President Bush's $87 billion funding request for the troops and reconstruction in Iraq, and that you opposed the $87 billion. What is your position right at this moment on the $87 billion? How about now? And ... now? Because it would be foolish at this point to withdraw our troops from Iraq, unless they are replaced by UN troops, the military should be funded so it can REALLY accomplish its' mission and come home. Unfortunately, because Bush dropped the ball in his rush to conquer Iraq, hardly anyone else will provide significant financial aid. The US taxpayer should not be forced to foot the bill for non-military expenditures at this time. Get the money from oil sales, loans to the Iraqi government and/or donations from Dick, Donald, Ken, George, Colin, Jenny, Tigermike, rexbo, TitanTiger, DKW, ranger12, MDM4AU, CCTAU, AUloggerhead, Carolina Tiger, War Eagle 96, et al, to pay for the reconstruction.

-- You quit the Episcopal Church because you thought its position on a Burlington, Vt., bike path was "not very Godlike." What is God's position on bike paths? Scriptural references would be helpful. God's position on bike paths is very clear and I'd be happy to provide scriptural reference. Job 12:23-25 He makes nations great, and destroys them; He enlarges nations, and guides them. He takes away the understanding of the chiefs of the people of the earth, And makes them wander in a pathless wilderness.They grope in the dark without light, And He makes them stagger like a drunken man. Furthermore, Job 30:13 They break up my path, They promote my calamity; They have no helper. You see, Job knew the value of bike paths and so does Howard Dean.

-- You say that the invocation before congressional sessions makes you uncomfortable. What phrase or sentiment makes you most uncomfortable from this passage from a recent invocation: "Help each of us to depend upon Your strength as we navigate life's challenging seas. May we trust the wonderful laws of sowing and reaping, knowing You will bring us an abundant harvest"? This is fine. It's the ones with the heavy flavor of a specific religious affiliation that makes them become un-American.

-- You say that Republicans want to end public education. Education spending under Bush has increased 65 percent. How is that consistent with the alleged goal of ending public education? In a word: Vouchers.

-- Did you have any favorite ski spots during the Vietnam War? Not really. But I heard there were a lot of nice bars down in Texas where you could get lost for days...

-- In the North Korean crisis, the Bush administration is engaging in intense multilateral diplomacy to make North Korea's neighbors part of any settlement. You advocate that the United States instead cut out other countries to engage in direct talks with Pyongyang. What explains your burst of unilateralism? Dean's character and intelligence aren't so weak that he needs the help of people who haven't gotten the job done for the last 15 months.

-- Do you prefer your would-be Southern voters to fly the tasteful "stars and bars" that was the official flag of the Confederacy from March 1861 to May 1863, or the more familiar and popular Confederate battle flag? It doesn't really matter as long as they'll vote for Dean!!!

-- You have at various times said you supported NAFTA, and said you opposed any agreement like NAFTA. You have both said, "NAFTA is here to stay," and advocated negotiating a "New Deal" with Mexico. What the hell? NAFTA is a good idea that needs tweaking.

-- You said recently that the Saudis might have tipped off the Bush administration prior to Sept. 11. Are there any other bizarre theories that you have picked up from the Internet that you would like to share at this time? There's one about a poem that Karl Rove wrote to  Laura "the lump" Bush but it's just a theory, it hasn't been proven. No one knows for sure if it was from Karl or if he was just ghostwriting for Georgie.

-- You say that Bush doesn't understand the needs of middle-class families. Yet your proposed full repeal of the Bush tax cut could, as some of your opponents point out, result in a $2,000 tax increase for a middle-class family of four. What do you understand about middle-class families' hunger for higher taxes that the rest of us don't? Has this middle class family got health insurance? If not, they might like some. Are the kids in a good public school? That might be nice. Dad got a job? Better unemployment benefits could've helped. Investments in areas that would TRULY create jobs would be good. See, this middle class family of four didn't really get much tax relief anyway, and what little they did get they would probably be happy to give up to get better services that would make their lives more comfortable.

-- If you had to choose your percentage of the popular vote in a general election right now, would you pick George McGovern's 37.5 percent, Walter Mondale's 40.5 percent or Michael Dukakis' 44.8 percent. Please round to the nearest single digit. This is a trick question. I'll take 270 electoral votes. Incidentally, why didn't you include Dubya's 41.4 percent? Was it because it was less than Gore's 42.6 percent?

[Tigermike 3,692]

OK, I'll bite...

16 answers from TigerAl

Saddam was in full compliance for three months prior to the invasion. .'

Al when your first one is this I can't go any further. Soddom has NEVER been in full compliance.