I need a response to this piece of slimy propaganda. Re: Dean

This showed up in my email from an acquaintance on a soap opera list. What do I say to her about it. I'm frothing at the mouth and not likely to be polite (that's how I got kicked off the list, come to think) but I need hard facts and quotable position.

I know this garbage has surfaced before. Does anyone know its source and is there a complete refutation I can use?

The garbage:

Abby,
What do you make of this?

Audra
Sent: Sunday, December 28, 2003 10:19 PM

Subject: Howard Dean


I got this from a friend and thought you might find it interesting. I don’t know how accurate it is but it may be something to consider.



PLEASE READ!!!!!!!!!!!




HOWARD DEAN PROMISED THAT IF HE IS ELECTED PRESIDENT, THE UNITED STATES
WILL NO LONGER SUPPORT ISRAEL THE WAY IT HAS IN THE PAST UNDER BOTH
DEMOCRATIC AND REPU BLICAN PRESIDENTS. IN HIS OWN WORDS HE WILL INSIST THAT
THE UNITED STATES BE "EVEN HANDED" .. THIS IS A TERM REGULARLY EMPLOYED BY
ARAFAT AND HIS COTERIE OF ADHERENTS THAT MEANS TO BE ANTI-ISRAEL!! GOVERNOR
DEAN MADE THESE COMMENTS ON CNN ON SEPTEMBER 10,2003 ON THE WOLF BLITZER
SHOW. HE HAS REPEATED THOSE WORDS SINCE.
IN THIS WERE NOT ENOUGH, GOVERNOR DEAN ON THAT SAME SHOW CHARACTERIZED THE
HAMAS TERRORISTS AS "SOLDIERS". FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 9/11 WE HAVE
SOMEONE RUNNING FOR THE OFFICE OF PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES CALLING
TERRORISTS SOLDIERS.
I URGE YOU THAT IF YOU HAVE ANY LOVE FOR AMERICA AND ISRAEL YOU SHOULD NOT
AND CANNOT VOTE FOR HOWARD DEAN FOR THE OFFICE OF PRESIDENT.
THIS COMING ELECTION MAY VERY WELL BE ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT IN DECADES.

"...the former Vermont governor declared that, while the United States should become more engaged, he did not have any fundamental objections with President George W. Bush’s policies...

When asked by the Jewish newspaper Forward late last year as to whether he supported APN’s perspective, Governor Dean replied "No, my view is closer to AIPAC's view."..

He also rejects calls by APN and other liberal Zionist groups that Israel’s requested $12 billion loan guarantee be linked to an Israeli freeze on constructing additional illegal settlements on confiscated Palestinian land, arguing that such aid should instead be unconditional...

http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0226-04.htm

n/t

If you are suggesting that Dean's interview in the Forward is fake, you should present your case to both Dean and the Forward.

This is one of Dean's biggest selling points.

I saw this in another thread
http://www.adl.org/rumors/dean_rumors.asp

Snopes also has a page about it
http://www.snopes.com/politics/israel/dean.asp

...

It addresses the problem directly.

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Bush administration must push harder - and be evenhanded - to revive sagging peace hopes in the Middle East, former President Carter said Monday.

In an Associated Press interview 25 years after the Camp David accords, Carter said Israel and the Palestinians had not only abandoned the U.S.-backed road map for peace but had violated it - Israel by threatening the "removal" of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. He suggested the Bush administration was tilted toward Israel.
…
Twenty-five years ago, Carter negotiated between Israel and Egypt to help produce their breakthrough peace treaty. The occasion will be marked on Wednesday by a gathering in Washington of former American, Israeli and Egyptian delegates.

"As I know from bitter experience at Camp David, the likelihood the two sides are going to come together voluntarily and make very troubling concessions is nil," the former president said of Israel and the Palestinians today.

"The only way this can be done is by the extreme, concerted commitment of the president of the United States or his top representatives - preferably himself - and a balanced approach between the two adversarial groups," Carter said.

"You have to let the Palestinians know we are representing their key interests," and you have to let the Israelis know the same, Carter said.

"The United States is not being evenhanded," Carter said by telephone from his home in Plains, Ga. "You have to have a mediator, willing to negotiate freely with both sides, and equally firmly with both sides."
…
Carter negotiated over 13 days in 1978 at the presidential retreat with the late Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat to come up with the Camp David accords. Sadat was assassinated by Muslim fundamentalists in 1981. Begin died in 1992.
…
Arafat could be a stronger leader, and more forceful in his condemnation of the violent attacks on Israel by Hamas and other groups, Carter said.

"But I don't think he has ever had control over Hamas," the extremist Palestinian group that has struck Israel with terror attacks, Carter said of Arafat. "And I presume Hamas leaders will not accept his authority."

Arafat is sealed off by Israel in his battered West Bank headquarters, Carter noted. "I don't think he is in charge of everything among the Palestinians," he said.
http://www1.chinadaily.com.cn/en/doc/2003-09/16/content_264528.htm

Uh, no...I guess you're using that as an honest attempt to glorify Dean. Too bad Dean backed off his remark and said it was a mistake to use the term "evenhanded"...ah well, typical, thoughtless Dean and his attempts to swim in the deep end.

He signed their letter asking Bush to refuse to hold talks with the PA until all terror attacks stop. At least Dean realizes that you can't halt talks until terror attacks stop because there will never be peace if you do that. And here I though Kerry knew what he is doing about foreign policy. His positions are just more of the same old, same old. :shrug:

BLITZER: You've caused quite a stir when you suggested that the U.S. should -- quote -- "not take sides in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict." A lot of supporters of Israel think you're backing away from America's traditional support.

DEAN: Well, that simply isn't the fact. The fact is this is mostly a -- an attempt by supporters of both President Bush and Senator Lieberman to try to inject some controversy where there is none. The fact is that American policy has been the same for 54 years. We do have a special relationship with Israel. We would defend Israel, if necessary. I think that's well-known.

However, we are also the only country capable of bringing peace to the Middle East, and when we sit at the negotiating table, we do have to have the trust of both sides, or we will never succeed. And I think this president, who put the Middle East on hold for 18 month, has a problem here, which is one of the reasons his supports and Joe's supporters are trying to make this into an issue that it is not.

I think it's unfortunate that Senator Lieberman is trying to divide the Democratic Party. The Democratic Party, under Harry Truman, recognized Israel. We were the first country to that. But, let me just say this -- having spent some time there, I can tell you that it is incredibly traumatic, both for Israeli mothers to let their children go to school without knowing if they're going to come home, and for Palestinians, 80 percent of whom now live below the poverty line. I believe that people on both sides of the Green Line want peace and I think they would happily settle for a two-state solution if the security of their borders could be guaranteed.

http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0309/10/wbr.00.html

everything that comes to her via email without checking it out first.

I show no mercy when people send me internet crap of any kind. I refer them directly to the debunking information (usually snopes) and tell them not to be so gullible in the future. As a result, I no longer receive very many of those kinds of things.

I also simply don't respond to the sickeningly sweet "inspirational" garbage that some people like to send out as a mass mailing, other than to occasionally point out what a stupid idea a mass mailing is.

We once pointed out to a financial adviser that we now had the emails of several very prominent people in our city. He never again sent out a mass email like that.

And saved it to my hard drive for the next time it shows up.

Just kidding, but I know a few people who could have.
The best way to counter that is to send it back and request they never send you such garbage again. Send it to the whole list.