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"New England Tradition"
Howard Dean political cartoon.
At a time when in party Democrats are uneasy about Howard Dean and his military credentials, Dean has decided to give President Bush a tutorial on defense, according to Howard Kurtz of the Time Mirror:
At another town hall meeting, in Manchester, Dean added: "Mr. President, if you'll pardon me, I'll teach you a little about defense."
Dean provided the strongest denunciation of the President to date stating that Bush has "no understanding of defense," is conducting diplomacy by "petulance" and lacks "the backbone to stand up against the Saudis." Dean, the story relates, kept coming back in his appearances on Sunday to criticize Bush on defense and foreign policy:
Amid a crush of well-wishers seeking autographs at a high school here, Dean said of Bush: "I think he's made us weaker. He doesn't understand what it takes to defend this country, that you have to have high moral purpose. He doesn't understand that you better keep troop morale high rather than just flying over for Thanksgiving," as Bush did in visiting Baghdad.
Dean also criticized the administration concerning cutting combat pay and dropping veterans from health care coverage. A Pentagon spokeswoman noted, Bush signed a bill last week that boosts monthly combat pay from $150 to $225, along with family separation benefits. The Veterans Administration also countered Dean’s charges:
Veterans Affairs Department spokesman Phil Budahn said no one has been kicked off the health care rolls but that an estimated 164,000 higher-income veterans will be excluded in the future because their ailments are not service-related.
It seems that once Dean was into his bombastic attack he wasn’t able to curtail his assault to Bush alone. He accused all of his opponents of supporting the war. This discounting of lesser candidates and including Wesley Clark into war supporters has been a constant for Dean. Clark’s campaign disagreed with Dean’s characterization of their candidate.
As with 1988 presidential candidate Michael Dukakis -- riding into town in that tank -- 2004 presidential candidate Howard Dean mimics that same New England style braggadocio. And we all know how well Dukakis faired with his theatrics, which brings things back to Dean. Perhaps Dean would be better off sticking with what he knows. For example -- if Dean had just said, "Mr. President, if you'll pardon me, I'll teach you a little about skiing....."