HOWARD DEAN SHOULD APOLOGIZE TO TULSI GABBARD AND RETIRE FROM PUBLIC LIFE [OPINION]
Rob Cotton
INQUISITR
In response to Tulsi Gabbard’s very reasonable position on the recent bombing of Syria ordered by Donald Trump in which she correctly stated that a full investigation is needed into the recent chemical attack in Syria that led to the bombings, former DNC chairman and failed Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean retweeted fellow establishment mouthpiece Neera Tanden’s histrionic gaslighting of Hawaii Representative Tulsi Gabbard, adding that Gabbard, who was elected by the people of her state, “should not be in Congress.”
http://twitter.com/GovHowardDean/status/850895059771957248?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.inquisitr.com%2Fopinion%2F4135332%2Fhoward-dean-should-apologize-to-tulsi-gabbard-and-retire-from-public-life%2F
http://twitter.com/neeratanden/status/850491598517481474?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.inquisitr.com%2Fopinion%2F4135332%2Fhoward-dean-should-apologize-to-tulsi-gabbard-and-retire-from-public-life%2F
Gabbard’s position is completely reasonable, and it’s a disgrace that Dean is trying to smear the good name of a veteran who has served her country honorably in the military and in the halls of the United States Congress. Tulsi Gabbard is merely calling for some restraint and for Donald Trump, as well as the military industrial complex and political establishment that stand behind him, to not jump to conclusions and get the United States involved in another endless military quagmire with no clear goal to alleviate the dire situation in the country it’s attacking, as reported by the Hill.
“This administration has acted recklessly without care or consideration of the dire consequences of the United States attack on Syria without waiting for the collection of evidence from the scene of the chemical poisoning,” Gabbard said in a statement.
“It angers and saddens me that President Trump has taken the advice of war hawks and escalated our illegal regime change war to overthrow the Syrian government. This escalation is short-sighted and will lead to more dead civilians, more refugees, the strengthening of al-Qaeda and other terrorists, and a possible nuclear war between the United States and Russia.”
Tulsi Gabbard clearly is taking the position that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad should be prosecuted for war crimes if it is, in fact, proven that he was behind the recent chemical attacks. For Howard Dean to spin this as somehow indicative of Gabbard supporting Assad is both intellectually dishonest and borderline libelous.
The irony here is that Howard Dean is no stranger to media spin being used to discredit and defame a politician. In 2004, Dean was running to be the Democratic nominee to challenge the presidency of George W. Bush, another president who destructively got the United States involved in a war of aggression that as we all know has not turned out so great for Iraq, the United States, or the entire Mideast region. In fact, Bush’s decision to invade Iraq can easily be seen as a catalyst for the situation in Syria right now.
According to Esquire, soon after coming in a disappointing third in the 2004 Iowa Caucuses, Howard Dean gave a speech in which he got very excited and let out a somewhat strange, over-the-top scream now famously known as the “Dean Scream.” The media decided to focus on the spectacle and somehow spun it into an indication that Dean’s chances to win the nomination were over, hence derailing his campaign.
Any astute student of American political history of the 21st century knows this is an example of a carefully constructed narrative being peddled by the establishment media to derail a grassroots movement. Dean at the time was viewed as something of an outsider and was the clear favorite among the youth and more progressively-minded Democrats.
Dean went on to lose the nomination to John Kerry, who then went on to lose miserably to George W. Bush in the general election. Soon after the election, Dean was offered and accepted the role as DNC chairman, thereby securing his spot in the Democratic Party. He never looked back, and instead of choosing to be cognizant and critical of the manner in which the establishment belittles and defames populist anti-establishment voices, he has now become a vapid, soulless cheerleader for that very establishment.
Howard Dean owes veteran and Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard a sincere apology, and then he needs to retire from public life. He has absolutely nothing of value to offer the people of the United States who are tired of the blatant lies, the gaslighting, and the corporate capitulation of establishment politicians and talking heads — and he can take his friend Neera Tanden with him.
[Featured Image by Drew Angerer/Getty Images]