Howard Dean was right!

Probably none. They say stuff like this all the time. Have we?

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Has there been anything at all you agree with Bush about? Anything at all? Just one thing?

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I absolutely agreed 100% with Bush on going after the Taliban and Osamma Bin Laden in Afghanistan after 9/11.I think it's great that you are actually critical of the Bush administration and the Republican congress.But you justify your unwillingness to be critical of Bush et. al. in public here by saying:

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I have my disagreements. I’ve been critical of conservative positions on more than one occasion. You probably haven’t noticed it because when it comes to criticizing Bush on this board, it’s a stampede.

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So what if the criticisms of Bush are a stampede?Isn't it more important to discuss if the criticisms are true or not instead of just defending the indefensable?To me, this is the essence of the "team mentality" I keep harping upon.It seems to me that you would rather avoid taking these issues on in a substantive way because you feel you would be letting down or turning against the "team" by doing so.

You asked why I don’t post more criticisms of the Bush administration. I told you that I don’t need to because so many people on this board are willing to jump at the opportunity. My post would be just one of many. This has nothing at all to do with whether these criticisms should be discussed. They should and are discussed at length. I just posted that I have issues with my party. I gave you what you asked for, I laid it all out here Message 127. My 10 criticisms of Republicans. 10 issues to indicate that I don’t blindly accept everything put forward by Reps, but evidently that didn’t satisfy you. I just posted a list of 10 things that I have issues with the Reps about and still you accuse me of TEAM mentality. I’ve gone much further than anything I’ve seen you do in terms of being critical of party affiliation. Yet somehow, I’m part of the TEAM who never questions anything by the Reps.How about some reciprocity? I challenge you to post 10 current issues that you disagree with Democrats about. 10 issues that shows you are not part of your TEAM’s mentality. 10 things that show you are not one of the mindless Democratic drones.

Then it should be easy for you to support your assertion. Post some links where high ranking Republican politicians have said things like Democrats are brain dead or I hate Democrats.

It is true that much of the political news is about what Bush and the Reps are doing because they are in power, but to say that everyone should be talking about Bush, the Reps and nothing else is nonsense. People talk about anything and everything in the news. Bush, Reps, Dems, Congress, anything. Dems contribute to policy making and have strong opinions. They’re voice should count, shouldn’t it?They should be heard and their viewpoints discussed and debated just like the Reps. For every policy issue, action, or statement put forward by Reps, there is a response, a counter argument, a counter proposal, a criticism, etc. by the Dems. All of these should and are discussed. Why do you want to muzzle Dems?

They have? That would be news. Except for state level issues, the Dems have been shut out of gov't policy decisions. That is one of the major criticisms going on.Anytime they try to become part of the process, they get called names from unpatriotic to idealogues creating gridlock.Perhaps you can recount the numerous Dem victories (or bipartisan victories) for which there would be a need to discuss Dem policies.Oh yes, I can think of one... many Dems backed the Iraq War and the Patriot Act. I think you've seen plenty of liberals and traditional conservatives knocking them for that here.However, as is evident, policy under the Bush administration is Rep way or the highway. I mean come on Bush's statement after his inauguration was he was willing to meet Dems and work with them as long as they agreed to work on his policies.You have simply been ridiculing the people out of power, specifically encouraging them to stay out of power, and now you want to sound balanced by crying crocodile tears. Give me a break. I want to muzzle both parties, and free the voice of many different view points, returning debate on policies and the people driving those policies.Right now Bush is in the hotseat and has created an isolated echo chamber for himself and those who like his policies. That needs to be broken down by people addressing his errors, not discussing unimportant issues about Dean's use of hyperbole in pointing out such errors.

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holmes
"...what a fool believes he sees, no wise man has the power to reason away.."(D. Bros)

I don't think so, rather a very disappointed Republican. We have simply had a long series of very dishonorable people that have taken over the party, and our last honorable candidate was Gerald Ford.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

Then don't participate in this thread because Dean's hyperbole is the focus.

Sure, you can be disapointed with the performance of some of our past Republican presidents. Many Republicans are. But that's quite a bit different from characterizing Bush Jr. as a retard and a brain dead manequin of his father's secret puppet regime. That's ridiculous and you know it.

Do I? And I would never characterize GWB as a manequin. They are three dimensional.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

His hyperbole or his accurate analysis of a problem with the Reps? You keep demanding that it be about one thing, but it appears to be about the other.I realize that there may be some brouhaha about the way Dean made his point, but wasn't berb's OP essentially saying whether offensive or not, he was right?Now you might dispute that Reps are having problems representing minorities, even if they fail to produce minorities as representatives, but all you did was make jokes about Dean based on superficial aspects of how he has addressed some issues.

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holmes
"...what a fool believes he sees, no wise man has the power to reason away.."(D. Bros)

I'm not sure if you noticed that there was a new thread in the Coffee House about neocon policies and how they have pulled Reps away from their traditional principles.Within that thread (it is still pretty short) there is a link to an interesting BBC documentary on the neocons who were behind Bush's recent policies (most notably Iraq). By their own admission they started out as liberals and progressives and to my mind have not changed much at all.I'd be interested in hearing your response to that documentary or any of the observations within that thread. The doc is about 49 minutes long so I realize you may not be able to watch it right away, but it is interesting and I think points out that neocon republicanism is radical from traditional republican ideals, and as far as I can tell it is hard Democratic.

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holmes
"...what a fool believes he sees, no wise man has the power to reason away.."(D. Bros)

Sure, Dean was right about a few things, but he was also wrong about a few things.Dean was correct when he said: Dean was wrong when he said:

My Heros have always been cowboys

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"A good plan executed today is better than a perfect plan executed at some indefinite point in the future."
- General George Patton Jr No webpage found at provided URL: www.1st-vets.us

I have already conceded he uses hyperbole which doesn't really help him, but he also says other things with substance which Reps continually avoid discussing... and that was the point of this thread (a substantive assessment).Once again, you have replied by simply stating his hyperbolic commentary, and not dealing with any of his substantial comments, which was my criticism of Reps.You continue to practice the addage, if not prove the point that Reps are brain dead.This message has been edited by holmes, 06-16-2005 03:53 PM

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holmes
"...what a fool believes he sees, no wise man has the power to reason away.."(D. Bros)