Questions for Dean

The National Review has a list of questions that they would love to see posed to Howard Dean. They made me chuckle at least once, so I offer them to you now:

-- The U.N. Security Council in November 2002 unanimously passed Resolution 1441, giving Saddam Hussein "a final opportunity to comply." How do you interpret the phrase "final opportunity"?

-- You routinely say that the Berlin Wall came down without a shot. You mean without a shot excluding Korea, Vietnam and small wars throughout Latin America and Africa during four decades, right?

-- You say Osama bin Laden should be presumed innocent until a jury gets to decide his fate. Who do you think would best represent bin Laden at his trial, Johnnie Cochran or Mark Geragos?

-- You say the United States shouldn't have fought the Iraq War because Saddam did not present "an imminent threat" to the United States. Yet you supported wars in the 1990s in Bosnia and Kosovo. How exactly did Slobodan Milosevic pose an imminent threat to the United States?

-- You say that it was a mistake for the United States to go to war without the "permission" of the United Nations. For what other sovereign acts of the United States would you require U.N. "permission"?

-- You have said at various times that it would be irresponsible not to support President Bush's $87 billion funding request for the troops and reconstruction in Iraq, and that you opposed the $87 billion. What is your position right at this moment on the $87 billion? How about now? And ... now?

-- You quit the Episcopal Church because you thought its position on a Burlington, Vt., bike path was "not very Godlike." What is God's position on bike paths? Scriptural references would be helpful.

-- You say that the invocation before congressional sessions makes you uncomfortable. What phrase or sentiment makes you most uncomfortable from this passage from a recent invocation: "Help each of us to depend upon Your strength as we navigate life's challenging seas. May we trust the wonderful laws of sowing and reaping, knowing You will bring us an abundant harvest"?

-- You say that Republicans want to end public education. Education spending under Bush has increased 65 percent. How is that consistent with the alleged goal of ending public education?

-- Did you have any favorite ski spots during the Vietnam War?

-- In the North Korean crisis, the Bush administration is engaging in intense multilateral diplomacy to make North Korea's neighbors part of any settlement. You advocate that the United States instead cut out other countries to engage in direct talks with Pyongyang. What explains your burst of unilateralism?

-- Do you prefer your would-be Southern voters to fly the tasteful "stars and bars" that was the official flag of the Confederacy from March 1861 to May 1863, or the more familiar and popular Confederate battle flag?

-- You have at various times said you supported NAFTA, and said you opposed any agreement like NAFTA. You have both said, "NAFTA is here to stay," and advocated negotiating a "New Deal" with Mexico. What the hell?

-- You said recently that the Saudis might have tipped off the Bush administration prior to Sept. 11. Are there any other bizarre theories that you have picked up from the Internet that you would like to share at this time?

-- You say that Bush doesn't understand the needs of middle-class families. Yet your proposed full repeal of the Bush tax cut could, as some of your opponents point out, result in a $2,000 tax increase for a middle-class family of four. What do you understand about middle-class families' hunger for higher taxes that the rest of us don't?

If we''re making lists of questions and demanding answers, I''m sure we could come up with plenty for Bush and Cheney.

Those wouldn''t get answered either.

I''ve been reading them for months on this very forum...I thought equal time was in order.

I have a couple for Dean, myself:

1) Mr. Dean, you have said that you suported removing the Taliban as part of the war on terror, but later said that we are no safer today than before 9/11. If removing the Taliban didn''t make us safer, why would you have done it?

2) Mr Dean, you have said that the war in Iraq was unnecessary and predicated on falsehoods, but you have also said that you would have supported the war if we could have gotten UN approval. What is it about UN approval that would have made the war necessary or based on truths?

Hey, I''m all for spirited debate, especially on subjects other than the PS2 is better than (insert competing console here).

-- Did you have any favorite ski spots during the Vietnam War?

Considering our current president skipped out on his National Guard tour, asking about Dean''s military record seems a little hypocritical.

Yeah I don''t understand the Vietnam thing either, I don''t think we''ve had a president in a good decade who didn''t somehow get out of military service. I think Bush Sr. actually did service. Not really sure though, he was President when I was 11.

Bush was the only recent president with military experience.

That said, I''m going to hijack this thread for a minute: there is a bit of hypocrisy in slamming candidates for things that, had we the same opportunity to get away with it, we would do ourselves.

The fact that someone pulled some strings to get Bush out of the required national guard tour doesn''t really phase me, nor does Dean skipping his obligations.

Military service sucks: it can kill you, and you lose your independance. If you drafted but didn''t want to go, or in ROTC but didn''t want to finish the requirements, and you had an out, you''d take it.

That''s just human nature. Anyone that holds candidates to a higher standard of ethics or morality than they themselves are capable of are hypocrites.

Oh, and don''t give me a thread of ""I''d be a man and serve"" crap-the fact that you are here discussing it, rather than in Iraq, is proof that you would not in fact walk the talk.

Unless you are Canadian, in which case, there is no helping you.

there is a bit of hypocrisy in slamming candidates for things that, had we the same opportunity to get away with it, we would do ourselves.

Technically, it would only be hypocrisy if we were running for president. And while Dennis Kucinich may post here, I''m willing to bet that doesn''t apply to any of the rest of us.

Oh, and don''t give me a thread of ""I''d be a man and serve"" crap-the fact that you are here discussing it, rather than in Iraq, is proof that you would not in fact walk the talk.

That''s the most ridiculous statement I''ve ever seen. There''s a big difference between avoiding mandatory military service and not signing up for a volunteer army. There''s also a big difference between avoiding war by signing up for alternative military service - which may see you sent over anyway as anyone in the national guard can tell you - and dodging the draft so you can ski...