George McGovern: Cheney Is Wrong About Me, Wrong About War (LA Times, via CommonDreams)

[marmar]

Published on Tuesday, April 24, 2007 by The Los Angeles Times

Cheney Is Wrong About Me, Wrong About War
by George S. McGovern

Vice President Dick Cheney recently attacked my 1972 presidential platform and contended that today’s Democratic Party has reverted to the views I advocated in 1972. In a sense, this is a compliment, both to me and the Democratic Party. Cheney intended no such compliment. Instead, he twisted my views and those of my party beyond recognition. The city where the vice president spoke, Chicago, is sometimes dubbed “the Windy City.” Cheney converted the chilly wind of Chicago into hot air.Cheney said that today’s Democrats have adopted my platform from the 1972 presidential race and that, in doing so, they will raise taxes. But my platform offered a balanced budget. I proposed nothing new without a carefully defined way of paying for it. By contrast, Cheney and his team have run the national debt to an all-time high.

He also said that the McGovern way is to surrender in Iraq and leave the U.S. exposed to new dangers. The truth is that I oppose the Iraq war, just as I opposed the Vietnam War, because these two conflicts have weakened the U.S. and diminished our standing in the world and our national security.

In the war of my youth, World War II, I volunteered for military service at the age of 19 and flew 35 combat missions, winning the Distinguished Flying Cross as the pilot of a B-24 bomber. By contrast, in the war of his youth, the Vietnam War, Cheney got five deferments and has never seen a day of combat - a record matched by President Bush.

Cheney charged that today’s Democrats don’t appreciate the terrorist danger when they move to end U.S. involvement in the Iraq war. The fact is that Bush and Cheney misled the public when they implied that Iraq was involved in the terrorist attacks of 9/11. Iraq had nothing to do with the attacks. That was the work of Osama bin Laden and his Al Qaeda team. Cheney and Bush blew the effort to trap Bin Laden in Afghanistan by their sluggish and inept response after the 9/11 attacks.

They then foolishly sent U.S. forces into Iraq against the advice and experience of such knowledgeable men as former President George H.W. Bush, his secretary of State, James A. Baker III, and his national security advisor, Brent Scowcroft.

...(snip)...

Who was the real loser of ‘72?

THE VICE PRESIDENT spoke with contempt of my ‘72 campaign, but he might do well to recall that I began that effort with these words: “I make one pledge above all others - to seek and speak the truth.” We made some costly tactical errors after winning the nomination, but I never broke my pledge to speak the truth. That is why I have never felt like a loser since 1972. In contrast, Cheney and Bush have repeatedly lied to the American people.

It is my firm belief that the Cheney-Bush team has committed offenses that are worse than those that drove Nixon, Vice President Spiro Agnew and Atty. Gen. John Mitchell from office after 1972. Indeed, as their repeated violations of the Constitution and federal statutes, as well as their repudiation of international law, come under increased consideration, I expect to see Cheney and Bush forced to resign their offices before 2008 is over.

Aside from a growing list of impeachable offenses, the vice president has demonstrated his ignorance of foreign policy by attacking House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for visiting Syria. Apparently he thinks it is wrong to visit important Middle East states that sometimes disagree with us. Isn’t it generally agreed that Nixon’s greatest achievement was talking to the Chinese Communist leaders, which opened the door to that nation? And wasn’t President Reagan’s greatest achievement talking with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev until the two men worked out an end to the Cold War? Does Cheney believe that it’s better to go to war rather than talk with countries with which we have differences? .....(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/04/24/716/

[htuttle]

1. Cheney really IS turning into Dick Nixon!

He's even debating McGovern's '72 platform now!!!

:crazy:

[The Count]

13. he can only wish! See chart:

[ShortnFiery]

2. But George McGovern was right!

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2004/01/06/but_george_mcgovern_was_right/

snip

Here's the problem:In 1972, McGovern was right. If there is shame attached to that election, it is America's for having so dramatically elected the wrong man. Apart from the rank dishonesty of Richard Nixon and his administration (a pattern of lies that would be exposed in Watergate), there were two world-historic issues that defined that election, and on both Nixon was wrong. 1972 was a fork in the road, and history shows that the United States made a turn into a moral wilderness from which it has yet to emerge.

/snip
snip

Nixon was the avatar of America's tragic Cold War mistake. His entire career was informed by a paranoid assessment of the Soviet threat. "It's a we/they world," Paul Nitze said when he served in the Nixon administration. "It's us against the Soviets. Either we get them first, or they get us first." (Nitze was Nixon's idea of an arms control negotiator.) This apocalyptic way of perceiving the enemy was already outmoded in the early '70s, but it would take American statesmen another two decades to see it. Nitze, Richard Perle, Donald H. Rumsfeld, Paul D. Wolfowitz, Richard Cheney -- such apostles of the "we/they world" were empowered in 1972, and if their bipolar vision had not been undercut by Mikhail Gorbachev, the Cold War would still be on. Indeed, these men of 1972 are back, aiming to create another.

McGovern was an opponent of the "we/they" vision. A prophet of detente, he has since been vindicated by history. He offered America a way out of the trap that opposes "realist" and "idealist" perspectives. McGovern understood not only that the Vietnam War was wrong but that in the nuclear age, the realist is the one who sees that the structures of war itself must be systematically dismantled. One hears the complaint from today's Democrats that McGovern, a decorated World War II bomber pilot, did not tout his war hero's record, but that entirely misses his most important point -- that fear of war and glorification of war are simply not to be exploited for political purposes, whether at the personal level or the national. What McGovern the candidate refused to do is what American presidents should refuse to do.

George W. Bush obscenely exploits war for his own purposes. He sponsors a paranoid assessment of what threatens America now and draws political advantage from the resulting fear. The news media propagate that fear. Pundits continue the false opposition between "realist" and "idealist" visions, marginalizing anyone who dares question Garrison America. Meanwhile, the unnecessary Bush war rages, and not even the steady death toll of young GIs makes much news anymore. If a Democrat running for president dares to speak the truth about these things, it is the furthest thing from shame. And before feeling gloom about next November, ask what it means if the Democrat, to win, must do what Nixon did.

[Dhalgren]

3. I voted for George McGovern in '72 and I'd vote for him again, today.

He is a great man and deserves our respect. He is a hero and a speaker of truth - there are few Democrats, and no Republicans, that you can make those statements about today.

[ShortnFiery]

4. I admire George McGovern more than words can reveal. Both McGovern and Carter

humbly served their country in the US Military. These Chickenhawks and their cheering squads don't know the horrors of war OR they think it's only for us "peasant classes" to kill and die for our Country.

It's time to "take charge" and inform our fellow Americans that WE ARE BEING MISLED AND LIED TO BY OUR MAIN STREAM CORPORATE MEDIA SHILLS. As our economy tanks, more and more Americans will be listening to alternative sources. The M$M with all it's "status quo" political elite pundits are NOT LOYAL TO AMERICA, but to their Corporate Masters. Is it just me or is there a distinct lack of diversity ... and not just with regard to the TV news outlets? :shrug:

The M$M CONSTANTLY trashed George McGovern as a pinko leftist liberal. Without a fair media, good candidates do NOT stand a chance. I remember that my right wing parents would soak up all the propaganda and would seethe with hatred for McGovern. The media's influence over those easily led is seemingly all-powerful when they use FEAR as a tactic. :(

Since it's onset, the *establishment* M$M has been all too willing to paint liberals as unpatriotic because we support a progressive tax, regulated business practices (no monopolies) and continue estate taxation (no more royal families or dynasties): IMO If the Democrats ever gain a lion's share of the Congress, one of the first orders of business should be to BREAK UP THE CABLE TV AND RADIO MEDIA CONGLOMERATES.

[Dhalgren]

6. I agree with you!

And I fully support your entire last paragraph! That is what I am talkin' about! :hi:

[ShortnFiery]

8. Yes, persistence and determination are the keys to making it happen.

Thank you for your kind comments. :hi:

[Jim__]

5. Go George McGovern! Smack that punk down! - n/t

[DavidDvorkin]

7. Terrific response

I'm proud of my vote for McGovern in 1972.

[Old and In the Way]

9. Another McGovern Democrat here.

The choice couldn't have been clearer in '72. He was right then...he's right now.George McGovern epitomizes all that is right with America. A real war hero who had his country's best interests at heart. Dick Cheney is nothing but a war-mongering, war-profiteering coward who ought to be in jail. The contrast couldn't be more starker between these two.

[Ikonoklast]

10. My first ever vote cast was for George McGovern

A REAL American hero. His war record is a shame to these neocon cowards that found ways to stay out of harms' way, but would send my children to die for their vision of an American Empire.

[JohnnyLib2]

11. I'm another McG fan and voter.

And damn it all, remembering leaders like him make it all the harder to put up with the chickenhawks and swiftboaters now. Sighhhh.

[frogcycle]

12. indeed n/t