Sunday, August 31, 2003

The New York Times Magazine has a mini-interview with Mario Cuomo. It's mostly silly, but he knocks one question out of the ballpark:

What would you do if you were in their [the Democratic candidates'] shoes, taking on this president?

You say, you won two wars, but you won them with Clinton's armed forces, not your own. When Cheney after the war in 1991 as the secretary of defense, on behalf of President Bush, called President Reagan to say thank you for the armed forces that just defeated Saddam Hussein, that was the proper thing to do. Too bad you didn't call Clinton. Because you should have. By the rough criterion that says if you're there when they win the World Series, then you get the credit, well then, you get the credit. But when you were left all to your own in Afghanistan and Iraq to reconstitute the places by restructuring them, and building them, well, you've failed so far -- miserably. So the thing you were left to do on your own, you did poorly. And then we turn to the economy. Are we better off three years ago than we are now? Are you kidding?


Nice.

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