Wednesday, April 25, 2007

An Octogenarian Takes Off the Gloves

After yesterday’s feeble verbal match between the VP and Sen. Harry Reid, it’s heartening to see 84-year-old George McGovern, who lost the 1972 Presidential election to Nixon and his dirty tricksters, demonstrate how to have a good go at Bush and Cheney.

In today’s Los Angeles Times, former Sen. McGovern, at times criticized for being too reasonable and mild-mannered, is anything but:

“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...By contrast, Cheney and his team have run the national debt to an all-time high...

”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...

“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...Does Cheney believe that it's better to go to war rather than talk with countries with which we have differences?

”We, of course, already know that when Cheney endorses a war, he exempts himself from participation. On second thought, maybe it's wise to keep Cheney off the battlefield--he might end up shooting his comrades rather than the enemy.”

If McGovern had been this pugnacious in 1972, he might have beaten Nixon and spared us Watergate.

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