Gephardt's 16 Words

Washington Post ^ | 07/24/03 | William Kristol

[Pokey78]

"George Bush has left us less safe and less secure than we were four years ago."

-- Rep. Richard A. Gephardt

(D-Mo.), July 22

President Bush's 16 words on uranium and Africa in his January State of the Union address -- "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa" -- have become famous, or infamous. But Dick Gephardt's 16 words, spoken in the course of a major foreign policy speech this past Tuesday, are the ones that matter.

Bush's words, though probably a mistake, didn't change anything. The vote to authorize war had taken place months before. The arguments for and against war had all been made and re-made. The October 2002 National Intelligence Estimate -- even if one accepts the State Department's modest dissent to one of its findings -- shows that the president acted in good faith in making his case about the danger of Hussein's quest for weapons of mass destruction.

Dick Gephardt's 16 words, by contrast, change everything. They reflect the considered judgment of a centrist Democratic presidential candidate, one who voted to authorize the war, that his party must stand in fundamental opposition to the Bush foreign policy. They indicate the capture of the Democratic Party by the pace-setter in the presidential race, former Vermont governor Howard Dean.

[Congressman Billybob]

It is true that Bush's sixteen words are an immaterial tempest in a teapot, and will be so shown in a month or so. Much more fortunately, no set of words spoken by Gephardt, sixteen or otherwise, will evr be relevant at any time. Gephardt is no longer a leader in Congress and he will never be the leader of the Free World.

Therefore, no matter how false or hypocritical any comment he makes happens to be, when viewed objectively, it doesn't matter. Gephardt's comments can be taken like subway grafitti, interesting and perhaps amusing in a bizarre way, but of no consequence in the real world.

Congressman Billybob

Latest article, now up FR, "Sixteen Little Words."

[CyberAnt]

I don't know how many words the statement was - but I loved the one where Dickie said he would write an Executive Order and fix anything the Supreme Court did.

If he doesn't know any more about the Constitution than that - why on earth would I want him for a president.

[Coop]

When we were unaware that North Korea, still receiving U.S. food aid, had covertly started a second nuclear program?

My apologies to Bill, but our intel agencies were well aware of what N. Korea was doing.

[CyberAnt]

Excuse me .. I think you have the wrong person. I don't know what you're talking about.

[Coop]

My comment was directed at the italicized ref from the article. You just happened to have been the last poster at the time.