Nation-Building >> Billmon Defends Dean | return to front page

I HATE THE NEW REPUBLIC

Apparently, they didn't think their Lieberman sock puppet was tough enough on Dean last night. So one of their minions decided to get in a little sissy kick, too:

SWEAR TO TELL THE TRUTH
by Spencer Ackerman

On the defining issue to his liberal base--his opposition to the war in Iraq--Dean shifted not an inch of ground. As every candidate on the Albuquerque dais urged the internationalization of the occupation through a hopefully forthcoming U.N. resolution, Dean managed to offer the single worst policy option: Not only do the new troops on the ground need to be foreign troops, he said, but "ours need to come home."

We'll leave aside the fact that Dean was talking about the need to restore a normal rotation that would allow at least some of the troops now in Iraq to come home before they're old enough to retire. Even taking Ackerman's interpretation at face value, since when does "shifting not an inch" on a core issue become an act of dishonesty?

Since the neolibs started freaking out about Dean, apparently:

Dean preceded his McGovernesque declaration with the promise never to send soldiers into battle "without telling the truth" to the American people. He should also resolve never to bring troops home without doing the same.

You know, I'm not really that big of a Dean fan, but the more these sorry sons of bitches pile on, the more I start thinking, "He's my guy."