"Retreat, Hell! We're Just Attacking In Another Direction."

Dean delivers more Dems in disarray as he describes his party's "'coalescing" position on Iraq:

"I think we need a strategic redeployment over a period of two years," Dean said. "Bring the 80,000 National Guard and Reserve troops home immediately. They don't belong in a conflict like this anyway. We ought to have a redeployment to Afghanistan of 20,000 troops, we don't have enough troops to do the job there and its a place where we are welcome. And we need a force in the Middle East, not in Iraq but in a friendly neighboring country to fight (terrorist leader Musab) Zarkawi, who came to Iraq after this invasion. We've got to get the target off the backs of American troops.

Dean didn't specify which country the US forces would deploy to, but he said he would like to see the entire process completed within two years. He said the Democratic proposal is not a 'withdrawal,' but rather a 'strategic redeployment' of U.S. forces.

Hmm.  Leaving Iraq so we can fight Zarqawi, currently based in Iraq.  Why not?!

The Monday WaPo had another in what looks to be an ongoing "Dems in Disarray" series; here is last Friday's installment, with pithy mockery from The Captain.

Maybe the Dems inability to coagulate on a message (coagulate - "stop the bleeding" - do ya luv it, or just like it a lot?) won't matter in 2006.  Maybe the Dems can run on a "Contract To Not Be George Bush".  Maybe.

UPDATE:  Via Mickey Kaus, "Dems in Disarray" has been turned into a one-man stage show starring Rep. Murtha.

Comments

[Gary Maxwell]

Yeah but but but he was not there ( in Iraq) before the war see cuz, well our other well worn talking point is that there is no connection between Saddam and the terrorists - so dont get any ideas that we are backing off that and anyway Chimpy lied and Hallyburden made a profit and did I say he lied?

Scrappleface has been out scrappled by Dean's own speech writer. I am wiping tears!!

[clarice]

Mickey Kaus observes that the latest strategy seems to be to attack members of their own party who take positions the majority agrees with--In other words, attack the majority for not adopting a minority position. Looks good to me..I'm sending a letter of support to Move On. %^)

[arrowhead]

My condolences to anyone who was ever a patient of Dr. Dean. How did this guy ever get through kindergarten - let alone Med school?

[Crew v1.0]

DR. DEAN: "And we need a force in the Middle East, not in Iraq but in a friendly neighboring country..."

ME: I like this plan because it is so specific. In my mind's eye I can picture our troops... they are all gathered 'round a series of gigantic plastic turkeys; indistinct, murky masses of these misled troops just beyond the horizon of sight, like in my REM-state, or Murtha's wet dream of withdrawal... Just over the bend, but where (o where)?

But I also like this very specific plan because it is so, er, general. After all, there are so many "friendly neighboring [countries]"... that it would be redundant to name them all (or even one). These are the nice countries that are helping us in Iraq, and not just us -- they are helping the Iraqis because they like them so -- and, if we promise to not defoliate their holy places, I am sure these Mr. Rodgers will give us bases in their Neighborhoods. In fact, yes -- if nothing else, maybe we can base them in Sr. Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's al-Andalus.

DEAN: We will base in these friendly neighborhoods next to Iraq to defile back to Iraq "to fight (terrorist leader Musab) Zarkawi, who came to Iraq after this invasion."
ME: Here, here! Zarqawi, never in Iraq before Bush broke out in a rash, precipitous war. And John Edwards, Barb Mikulski, Evan Bayh and the other Democratic members of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence that signed onto its Report on Iraq Intel... and their diligent Dem staffers... were lied to and misled when they penned pp. 337-338. Howard Dean, I ask you NOT to read those pages; they will only serve to confuse and confound.

[SteveMG]

Dean and the left repeatedly wish to characterize the insurgents as some sort of legitimate nationalist movement that will stop their fighting if the foreign occupiers were to leave. It's a grossly inaccurate portrayal of the conflict and of the history of the country, it seems to me.

Baathists as the Vietcong? I don't think so. Zarqawi as Ho? C'mon. The other insurgents as fighters for self-determination against imperialist occupiers? Please.

But I guess if all you have is a hammer made in Vietnam then everything looks like a nationalist nail.

SMG

[owl]

"He said the Democratic proposal is not a 'withdrawal,' but rather a 'strategic redeployment' of U.S. forces."

Nope, the Dem proposal is not a 'white flag surrender' but rather a strategic 'cut & run'. You can't make this stuff up.

[Lew Clark]

I assume the Monty Python guys have copyrights on their stuff. Can't the sue Dean for stealing these lines?

[kim]

According to some, coagulation is intelligently designed. I don't see much intelligence in coalescing around Dean; he'd be over the horizon when you needed him for the bleeding.
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[kim]

The doctor faint at the site of blood.
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[Syl]

That's a GREAT idea Dean! Let's redeploy to...

SYRIA!!

[Rick Ballard]

Shoot Syl - don't put all your eggs in one basket - headquarter one corp in Damascus and another in Tehran - that way we can attack Zarqwi from two directions.

[Gary Maxwell]

Never forget Zarquawi was not based there until we invaded. So you see its another way of asking the timeless question "why do they hate us?"

[kim]

He believes that if we leave, Zarqawi will.

Why doesn't he just point his channel changer?
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[topsecretk9]

Speaking of Kaus and Dems and disarray, he has Murtha vs. Murtha on the same show

Synopsis:
"Sorry, this man seems confused. In his current state I wouldn't follow him either into battle or out of it"

[Truzenzuzex]

Check this via Drudge:

(SAN ANTONIO) -- Saying the "idea that we're going to win the war in Iraq is an idea which is just plain wrong," Democratic National Chairman Howard Dean predicted today that the Democratic Party will come together on a proposal to withdraw National Guard and Reserve troops immediately, and all US forces within two years.

So Dean not only thinks we're gonna loose, he's willing to back it up.

Gotta love a party leader so tone deaf he can't hear the screams of his own party.

YEEEEAAAARRGGGGHHHH!!

[kim]

Naturally. He didn't help win the war in Vietnam, either. No spine then, either.
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[FireFireFire]

At least,the dems FINALLY have a plan.
SURRENDER.

[kim]

On to Teheran.
=============

[kim]

Mark the gleam in turquoise eye,
Meshad is not to occupy.
==========================

[Sue]

Zarqawi will leave Iraq if we do. He will follow us to that 'friendly' country Dean speaks of and start killing their citizens. Great idea, Dean.

Howard Dean...the gift that keeps on giving.

[Ari Tai]

re: Mr. Dean, TGTKOG (the gift..)

Amazing. I thought I recognized him (from the Ministry of Silly Walks).

How do Messrs. Bush and Rove do this? They continually turn the other cheek and yet their opponents can't land a blow. It's almost like they have a higher power protecting them. Mom, is that you?

Close your eyes. Picture Mr. Dean as Rameses (Yul Brynner :-). Oh my. Must be. What other explanation could their be - for such sane and smart and worthy individuals (and their party) to soil themselves so regularly.

[kim]

Hey Dr. Dean, Turkey saw us coming. Why do you think they fled into Europa's arms?
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[kim]

Flew, dammit, flew.
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[kim]

Bird flew. Get it? Neither have I. Maybe we will someday. Sauerkraut is supposed to help, and fortunately it keeps. Watch out for the sodium and leave the mother in if you use vinegar. Cabbage Patch, Dolls.
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[kim]

One Flew over Placebo's Nest, the Joseph's Coated Phoenix of Medicine.
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[Bill in AZ]

heh heh, Sue, mebbe Dean has a plan after all. Bring ZarKow over here. If he got caught by some good old American rednecks here, he would wish he was dodging bunker busters back in relatively safe Iraq. 'Course he'll target gun-free zones link SF, DC, NY, NJ, etc first (but, but, but, we voted BLUE!!!)

[maryrose]

Truzenzuzex,
Love the scream reference! Dean is still clueless as to how he is seen by others. This recent comment ia akin to his southereners with confederate flags in their pick-up trucks reference. Or Kerry's comment that he didn't need the south to win in 2004.

[kim]

His experience with fly-over country is Aspen.
================================================

[Truzenzuzex]

Maryrose

Love the scream reference! Dean is still clueless as to how he is seen by others. This recent comment ia akin to his southereners with confederate flags in their pick-up trucks reference. Or Kerry's comment that he didn't need the south to win in 2004.

Yeah, he must be. I just can't bring myself to think of Dean as stupid - he is a physician after all and that takes some doing.

I would suppose he is just one of those guys that loves to hear himself talk, and can't hear the screams of pain around him because he is too interested in his own voice.

Or his own scream... :- P

[maryrose]

Dems, clueless also because they selected Dean to be their leader. THey can dress up their stategy any way they want- it still spells CUT AND RUN!

[cathyf]

kim, kim, kim... As Les Nessman found out, turkeys can't fly.

cathy :-)

[Florence Schmieg]

When the subject involves security and defense issues, Republicans win. When the subject is healthcare, education, helping the poor, Democrats win. So why are the Democrats running on Iraq? It just reminds Americans that they really don't trust them to defend the country. Fair or not, that's the perception. There are openings for the Democrats after Katrina, General Motors layoffs, etc. But their hatred of George Bush won't allow them to leave the Iraq issue. Foolish, in my opinion.

[clarice]

Yes, it is Florence. But even stupider was there allowing the DNC to wither and Soros to take over so much of the organizational and financial control of their fate. Today they are running a candidate against Hillary! and bedeviling hjer every appearance and threatening to withdraw support from Lieberman--as Kaus notes that wing of the party (now rich on Soros and Bing and Lewis money ) is insisting the voters are clods and their party should fight the majority opinion.

[maryrose]

Threatening to withdraw support from Lieberman,
Just read former governor of Connecticut is considering challenging Joe Lieberman in 06 senate race.

[owl]

maryrose, we really do love our pickup trucks, but I don't remember ever seeing those confederate flags. But that's Dean...just has to go over that edge and insult all. He is quickly becoming a national treasure we should all protect from wind and rain. Pugs could never replace him, nor make this stuff up.

[clarice]

Now he's linked arms with the Marxist Code Pink:Code Red

You know, among other things they collected $600K for the terrorists in Fallujah..

How's that for a campaign banner?

[Jim Rockford]

Stick a fork in it. Democrats are done as a national party.

Sadly, no one seems willing to consider what Kaus suggested: what happens if we WIN? Churchill was thrown out on his behind, and Bush would be too if we won finally over Zarqawi in Iraq and faced down Iran and the remnants of Al Qaeda. Because besides fighting Al Qaeda Bush has NOTHING.

Instead the Dems have pushed a policy of pre-emptive surrender. Yes posing with Code Pink.

He is indeed the gift that keeps on giving.

[The Unbeliever]

Wow, Dean came up with a real winning strategy there. Let's see, we should move our troops into a nearby country, and that'll take the target off the Americans? Great idea! We can move into Saudi Arabia, who's nominally friendly to us already, and then we...

Oh wait, wasn't that what got Osama bin Laden to target us in the first place???

[DrSteve]

Didn't Zarqawi first go to Iraq in May 2002? Or did the CIA leak a non-concurrence on that?

[Ed Poinsett]

The dems are so far out on the limb, it would be gracious of the Rovester to hand them a saw. Wait a minute, they brought their own saw.

Agree with the posts that suggest the dems have a solid opportunity to take back power. All they have to do is get behind the president and help win the war. The repubs would be dumped just like Churchill. However it seems unlikely that they can get off the Soros teat long enough to think straight. Lieberman gets it, Hillary also to a certain extent, but her left wing won't let her come out very far. The country would celebrate!

[Teller]

"Zarkawi, who came to Iraq after this invasion."

No, he came to Iraq a year BEFORE the invasion, almost certainly with the consent of Saddam. This fact has never been disputed. Doesn't dr Dean know anything? Or just some more real-time history revisionism?

PS.
Brit Hume reported on Deans false facts. Thank god for Fox, at least one network tells the truth.

[Dale]

To many boys are dying. It's time to bring them home. Once Iraq has their election they need to start taking control. It's time they stop biting the hand that is feeding them.

Dale

[DaveP.]

Democrats in '06: "For three years out demand is that America cut and run, abandoning people who trust us to work for their freedom, just like our party demanded in '72 and again in the FIRST Gulf War; we feel that the American Army (that terroristic force of people we wish would die) is too weak and useless to defend itself against less than one-tenth its number of untrained bandits... and oh yes, we want you to TRUST US WITH THE FUTURE DEFENSE OF AMERICA AND YOUR CHILDREN'S SAFETY!!!
YEEARGH!

Which way are YOU gonna vote? Democrat... or American?

[Mike]

". . . the Dems inability to coagulate on a message . . ."

Is that a great turn of phrase, or what?

[frank la may]

well i guess that shows us what a moran Dean really is. move out of iraq to fight someone who is currently in iraq. i guess we call it long distant war. wow. what a moran. no one he lost the election. everyone could see he was a moran. and he is a doctor not working in his field. i wonder why? does he do doctoring like he does politicals...

[kim]

Interesting question, frank. Feel safe with him at your bedside? He has the right idea about fighting evil, though. He's just misplaced it's origin.

I'm sure he rationalizes himself somehow as doctoring the body politic. Kerry is similarly deluded.
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[kim]

Dean's a witch doctor, for all that's good and bad about that. I doubt he is highly skilled clinically, if only from lack of practice. Old doctors never die, they just lose their patience.
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[kim]

Now Frist may well be a more skillful doctor than politician.
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