Advertisement

Why I still support Howard Dean

By Elizabeth Birch

As some know, after completing my tenure as head of the Human Rights Campaign, within days I volunteered for the Howard Dean campaign.
I count most of the other candidates as not just professional associates, but valued friends. In fact, I have warm personal regard and deep respect for all of the Democrats who have set out on this monumental journey to represent our party against George W. Bush. We all must enthusiastically and unequivocally support whoever wins. This is among the reasons I hope that person will be Howard Dean.
On December 29, 2003 the new U.S.-backed Iraqi Governing Council voted to wipe put the voting, property and civil rights for the women of Iraq. (See the Washington Post, Friday January 16, 2004, Page A12.) Under a Howard Dean Presidency, the United States would have not just assessed the relative cost and benefit of lumbering headlong into a near unilateral invasion, but a Dean Administration would have engaged in post war planning to ward off unintended consequences.
I happened to be born in the United States but raised in Canada. As a high school senior I lived in ten countries in Europe, North Africa and the United States. Throughout my life, I have been attuned to how the United States in viewed around the world. We all know that we live in a highly complex time with regard to our planet. Concepts of war and peace are relative — and probably always have been given the complex nature of human kind.
A great international leader (like Bill Clinton, for example) understands that there was enormous value in moving around the globe and through the diplomatic/mediation process allowing steam to be let off. He did this artfully in settings like the Middle East and Ireland. This process is ongoing and definitive peace is rarely delivered on a permanent basis. This is true not just because of the gestation period of even a two term Presidency, but because many of these nations are steeped in ancient bias that is not fully absorbed by the average American.
Bill Clinton understood the art of international high stakes mediation. But he also knew when to use force as he did in the former Yugoslavia and when he ordered Osama Bin Laden killed in a training camp in the late 1990s. The U.S. forces missed Bin Laden by minutes.
I say all this because there should never be a rush to war except in the presence of imminent danger to America and/or international cooperation. Let s face it: Iraq was NOT a threat when the U.S. invaded. The Bush Administration stretched tidbits of information beyond all recognition to lure our nation into war. Do I believe in a strong defense? You bet. Having a strong defense is an essential ingredient to maintaining the relative peace around the world. But you also have to have the upper hand morally. Otherwise, we will act on revenge rather than wisdom. Even revenge is sometimes justified, but not 12 years later.
We would have been better served as a nation to stay focused on rebuilding Afghanistan while also doing everything necessary to surface the Taliban forces. Instead, in a massive bait and switch, we invaded Iraq.
I like Howard Dean, not only because he ascertained the facts correctly, but because he told the truth at the time. I have had the opportunity to be with Governor Dean many times (and mostly at Human Rights Campaign events) over the last two years. He has always had the exactly same stand on this and all issues. He doesn t change with the wind. Rather, he arrives at his very best diagnosis of a problem and only in the presence of new facts does he alter his position.
I admire this. It also helps that I agree with almost every stand, and the analysis that accompanies his position.
To eliminate the legal protections enjoyed by Iraqi women now threatened by the Iraqi General Council will put women in a worse position than under Saddam Hussein. Am I thrilled that cruel, evil soul was brought out of his hole of course. But, we became an autocratic, unilateral bully in the process. And, Iraqi women will be the unintended victims of this invasion. Perhaps in addition to the over 500 American dead, the $200B price tag to the U.S. treasury, it will be the Iraqi women who bear the heaviest long term burden.
President Bush and his administration grossly misled the American people. Howard Dean ascertained the facts and then told the truth. I find that incredibly appealing in a President.
Finally, as a gay American, Howard Dean has NEVER ONCE left us out of a speech. Let me repeat that. I have never witnessed Howard Dean leave our community out of a speech not even after the hard days of Iowa. He is a man who authentically regards us as an indivisible part of the American Family. Just as he has delivered more than words in terms of health care, education, and the environment while reducing the deficit and balancing the budget, he will deliver for GLBT Americans. That would also be a refreshing trait in a President.
I believe the GLBT community of America is worthy of results. I believe Howard Dean is the best person to take us to higher ground, both domestically and internationally. I trust him to stand up for the rights of every American, and have the courage to execute and stand by his decisions. As I have said, in our community, we face a constitutional amendment that would be devastating to our community for a generation or more. Howard Dean would battle that amendment because it would never occur to him to do anything else.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth Birch

Advertisement
Advertisement

From the Pride Source Marketplace

Go to the Marketplace
Directory default
Detroit Regional LGBT Chamber of Commerce MemberWe are a full-service communications agency with…
Learn More
Directory default
Creating positive social change supporting all forms of gender identity and expression through…
Learn More
Advertisement