Strongly Worded Letter #8

Chairman Howard Dean
Democratic National Committee
430 S. Capitol St. SE
Washington, DC

Dear Dr. Dean,

     There were a large number of Democrats who would have liked to have seen you get the party's nomination when you ran for president in 2004, who felt that you got a raw deal being derailed by The Scream, and that you would have had a much better chance of preventing George Bush's second term than old WhatsHisName who ran and failed.

     You've lost whatever goodwill you had with this voter though with the way you're guiding the DNC through the 2008 campaign. Your current television commercial grossly distorting Senator McCain's comments about American involvement in Iraq for 100 years is something you should be very ashamed of, not just as the party leader but as a U.S. citizen.   

     I know you've seen the unedited remarks from the town hall meeting in New Hampshire where Mr. McCain answered that question about President Bush's belief that U.S. troops might be in Iraq for 50 years. He made it very clear that whether is 50 or 100 years it would be fine with him "as long as Americans are not being injured or harmed or wounded or killed." To further clarify his meaning he reminded the audience that we have been in Japan for more than 60 years and South Korea for more than 50. He was obviously talking about peacekeeping, not combat deployment.   

     The only people who could draw the conclusion your television ad does, that Senator McCain's intention is 100 more years of the kind of involvement we have had in Iraq the last five, are either stupid, dishonest, or both.

     What's most troubling for me is that you have two candidates vying for the Democratic presidential nomination whose positions both differ vastly from Senator McCain's on how to proceed in this war. Why not spend that advertising money to talk about what their plans are instead of making up policies for your opponent?

     Political ads like this one are not only unethical, they denigrate our democratic process. They are also insulting to the American people. If you can't see that then you prove yourself to be unfit to lead the party, much less a nation.


Sincerely,



   

   

Comments

[Edmund F]

Wow Bean,an actual letter I don't want to mock.

Thanks

[j thorn]

perhaps mccain was interpreting bush to mean: 50 years of our presence in iraq to protect our interests, much like our presence in other countries. what are the chances we can do that without the people of that region wanting to fight to their last breath to eject these radical judeo-christian types who are ruining their lives physically, mentally & spiritually. hence the assumption many make that 50 or 100 years there means that many years of war.

[Raul]

Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaarh!

[Ana]

Amen, well said, Bean!!! Bravo!!!

[Ken]

Oh, I understand now, 50 or 100 years as “peacekeepers”, my mistake, I thought he meant 100 years to clean up the horrible mess we’ve made out of the fool’s errand known as “Operation Iraqi Freedom”. I completely understand now, especially if by “peacekeepers” you mean imperialists…Keep on Rockin’ in the free world!

[Janet]

Well done!

[brother john]

I've often thought that if you have to lie to make a convincing argument then you might want to rethink your position.
All too often politicians and their advisors tend to think of elections as zero sum games. In reality we all lose a little when the participants seek to win by any means necessary.

[Christina L.]

Politics is a dirty game, and I am glad Howard Dean is running that ad. I hate to sound cynical, but the majority of Americans are ignorant about a lot of things, and expressing things in ways even the least common denominator can understand them has to be done from time to time.

What frustrates me is that we still have not chosen a Dem nominee and it is distracting from keeping another war mongering GOP candidate out of the White House.

However, I'm sure by the end of the June primaries, the choice will be clear and the Democratic party can begin healing and focusing more on the Nov election and the infighting between the 2 Senators' campaigns will cease.

[Larry Algaze]

Bean, it is unbelievable that the Dems could lose this election. When Americans are polled this question "Are you more likely to vote for a Democrat or Republican in Novmeber?", 70% said they were leaning toward a Democrat. Yet, McCain is showing to be very competitive against both Clinton and Obama. What that means is that the DMC and Dean really suck balls!

[alisa]

Bean for President.

[K]

Please, please, please send this letter FOR REAL!!!!!! I think it's your duty as an American...

[Rochelle]

Careers have been utterly ruined over quotes being ran out of context with the intent of slandering someone. Rarely does the truth surface; the media will not retract its statements unless its victim is wealthy enough to sue.

[cathy g]

your best strongly worded letter to date... i agree, i hope you really send this one. the democrat party needs to get it done and done now... a clear candidate would be nice instead of this never ending primary season. i am so over this election and the actual election is still six months away!!

[db]

you little closet conservative you

[Abel]

Well written Bean...

[Cassandra]

Bean thanks for putting aside party affiliations to acknowledge that in the end it's about making choices based on facts not propaganda. Election years are my least favorite by far because of these very ads that; rather then serving to build up our country, rather break us all down into he said/ she said school children and "oh yeah you think I'm bad look at what he did" finger pointers. It denegrates all citizens when leaders use such tactics.

Thanks!

[DeeJay]

Thanks for the form letter Bean! I putting it on my distribution list now.

[Kity]

You simply illustrate how both major parties insist on keeping the focus on more of the same, regardless the outcome of the coming elections.

Check out Ron Paul's new book, The Revolution: A Manifesto or any synposis now online. You might find it interesting.

[Vic Rattler]

First of all, Dean wasn't derailed by "The Scream," his campaign got a death sentence when he made comments about the major news conglomerates being broken up. Positive press coverage came to an abrupt end.

Secondly, I'm always upset when people bring up McCain's "100 years" comments, but not for the same reason. By going right for the obvious attack they miss a much more substantive criticism; a peaceful presence like we have in Korea is impossible due to that fact that our very presence is a major cause of the violence. If he thinks this could go ahything like Korea, Japan, or Germany, he fundamentally does not understand the conflict.

[Joe]

Bean, you dumb.