In Pittsburgh, Gephardt slams president on war

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/04301/402382.stm

U.S. Rep. Dick Gephardt left his mild Midwestern manner in his home state of Missouri yesterday, pumping up Pittsburgh members of the United Steelworkers union with a lectern-pounding campaign speech.

Gephardt knows President Bush far better than most of the big-name Democrats who are stumping for Sen. John F. Kerry. As the House minority leader, he met weekly with the president to discuss national security after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

But familiarity bred much of the contempt that Gephardt displayed yesterday in the Steelworkers Plaza, Downtown.

"I have served with five presidents. This one is by far the worst," he told a cheering crowd of 150 partisans. "I'm nostalgic for Ronald Reagan. I'm serious."

<snip>

"Today we're stuck in Iraq with our kids being killed and shot at and blown up because he didn't get the help that we need," Gephardt said. Gephardt tried yesterday to send shivers down the spines of the steelworkers, predicting that Bush in a second term would push Congress to enact a federal right-to-work law.

[Voltaire99]

1. Another sad misreading of the Iraq war

Listening to Gephardt trot out this canard is depressing. We are not "stuck in Iraq with our kids being killed and shot at and blown up because he (Bush) didn't get the help that we need."

No, we are stuck there because insufficiently critical--or brave--politicians of both parties voted for an unnecessary war, against overwhelming international opinion, against logic, against the evidence.

A year and over a thousand deaths later, they still can't admit the truth: they backed a fool, stupidly, and let him go to war.

And today they act as if it would all be better if we could bribe more foreigners into occupying Iraq with us.

Fools, fools, and more fools.

[sandnsea]

3. They voted for 1441

All those countries. After the Oct vote. Did they all vote for George to go to war too?

"Offering Iraq "a final opportunity to comply with its disarmament obligations", notably to provide "an accurate full, final, and complete disclosure, of all aspects of its programmes to develop weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles". It reasserted demands that UN weapons inspectors should have "immediate, unconditional, and unrestricted access" to sites of their choosing, in order to ascertain compliance." 1441 threatens "serious consequences" if these are not met.

By your logic, since Bush ignored the intention of 1441, the whole world is responsible for Bush going to war, they voted for it. They knew what serious consequences meant.

[Voltaire99]

5. No, that's a poor comparison.

You can't compare 1441 to voting for a US congressional resolution to go to war. The first only anticipates further international decision making before inflicting "serious consequences"--something the UN rarely ever does, in any case, so it's better seen as a fig leaf for US intervention. The latter is a national vote and should be viewed solely as such.

We can examine the motivations and failings of those US politicians who gave Bush their support for war and now style themselves as technocratic critics--but let's keep our votes, and our logic, separate. People like Gephardt...

a) believed the neo-con claims, in which case more fool he;
b) didn't believe them, in which case how cynical a vote;
c) didn't care, but just thought deposing Saddam was nice;
d) didn't care, and wanted the resources in Iraq;
e) feared for their political futures;
e) some sickening admixture of the above.

Gephardt and Bush share the blame. That is what occurs when a political system massively fails its citizens: the blame crosses party lines.

[sandnsea]

6. Oh bull

If Congress was supposed to know Bush was a nut, international leaders should have known too. That was their opportunity to stand up to him and they failed. If you want to go down that line, which I never have to begin with.

[bubbismith]

4. Well put...

[rocktivity]

2. Was it not Gephardt who coined the term "miserable failure"?

:shrug:
rocknation

[LeinesRed]

7. HECK YEAH!

He was on the Daily Show afterward....Jon commented him on the "fire in his belly."

[Carolab]

8. Yeah, sure, whatever

I remember Gephardt trashing Dean in Iowa and I also remember him standing all shoulder-to-shoulder with Bush in the Rose Garden after they worked him over to support the war rez. So now he tries to redeem himself. Yeah, sure, whatever.....