Is this true re: Dean and Kerry

[Mick Knox]

A pug on another board is saying that Dean said the following:

Dean: "The difficulties and tragedies we have faced in Iraq show the administration launched the war in the wrong way, at the wrong time, with inadequate planning, insufficient help, and at the extraordinary cost, so far, of $166 billion."

John Kerry responded to Dean's comments on December 16, at Drake University in Iowa, stating "those who doubted whether Iraq or the world would be better off without Saddam Hussein, and those who believe today that we are not safer with his capture, don't have the judgment to be president or the credibility to be elected president."

Is that how it went down as is being alleged?

[michaelzef]

1. true

Ya! but so what. I don't get your point.

[AntiCoup2K4]

2. Yeah, that's about what I remember.

Not just Kerry though.... ALL the DLC controlled candidates (Holy Joe, Gephardt, etc) ganged up on Dean for that statement.

And as we all know now, Howard was right. And I'm not gonna lie and say I'm not still pissed about that kind of shit, because defending Bush's FAILURES and LIES was never neccessary.

[Larkspur]

3. Ditto!

It will be ironic that Kerry will be forced by the Repukes to eat his own words spoken during the Primaries.

[LisaL]

5. Aren't you allowed

to change your mind?
Some people don't have a one track mind.

[Larkspur]

6. In the Media, that's called "flip-flopping" and Dems aren't suppose to

do that.

Personally, I don't have a problem with politicians changing their minds if they can explain rationally why they did, but the problem comes when the Media limits explanation to soundbites and the soundbites is what most people hear.

[LisaL]

9. I know that...

[Mick Knox]

7. OK, Kerry changed his mind.

Thanks for the info.. i thought it was a another repuke lie accusing him of flip flopping when it was BS.

[LisaL]

10. I was just making a comment

I personally don't recall Kerry making this comment back in primaries.

[Larkspur]

11. Kerry made it after Dean, a few days before, said that Saddam's

capture did not make the world safer. And Dean has been proven right. The Iraqi insurgency has grown stronger after Saddam's capture.

[papau]

8. Besides both statements are true and do not contradict each other

We can agree that the administration launched the war in the wrong way, at the wrong time, with inadequate planning, insufficient help, and at the extraordinary cost, so far, of $166 billion, and that the fact that the Iraq and the world are better off without Saddam Hussein, and that we are indeed safer with his capture, doesn't excuse the lies that got us into war and the poor planning that has kept us in Iraq.

[LisaL]

4. They say a lot of things in primaries

Look at Bush and McCain, LOL. Bush and McCain are best buds now, but look what they were saying about each other back in primaries.

[lefthandedskyhook]

12. Here is the speech with the Kerry quote

http://www.cfr.org/campaign2004/pub6604/john_kerry/foreign_policy_in_a_postsaddam_world_rebuilding_our_alliances_and_iraq.php?issue=4

It does look a bit better in context. Kerry was seeking a position between the anti-war folks and the warmongers. He still is IMO.

I was a Kucinich supporter back then. It is somewhat unpleasant to admit that Kerry's centrist posture is probably the most prudent at this place and time. The journey toward liberal recovery must begin with the first step, and the climate isn't yet ripe for the last mile. We have many years of work ahead (stay tuned).