Sometimes I Don't Like TNR

In general, I am a pretty big fan of The New Republic, there are times when it just pisses me off. This is one of those times. In the latest issue, the Editors cheer the capture of Saddam, which is understandable, but then out of nowhere attack Howard Dean. Even worse, TNR place Dean's reaction right after a few paragraphs that were critical of the reaction to Saddam's arrest in Muslim capitols (where people were quoted saying things like Saddam "is still a member of the family", thereby implying some pretty nasty things. Read this excerpt and tell me that this couldn't have been written by a huh-huhing hack at the Wall Street Journal:

And then there was the lukewarmness of the Democratic front-runner. About the capture of Saddam Hussein, Howard Dean was churlish and puny. He did not include a joyful adjective or an excited adverb in his response to the event. "The capture of Saddam is a good thing, which I hope very much will keep our soldiers ... safer," he told the Pacific Council in Los Angeles. "But the capture of Saddam has not made America safer." A good thing? TiVo is a good thing. The incarceration of Saddam Hussein is a great thing. If Dean does not believe that America is safer if Saddam is no longer at large, then he has a highly unimaginative notion of American safety. His concern for the security of American soldiers is very affecting, but it is not a national security policy. Dean insisted that Saddam's capture will not "move us toward defeating enemies who pose an even greater danger: Al Qaeda and its terrorist allies." Well, maybe it won't. But neither will it move us toward campaign finance reform. Dean's remarks reflect not only his historical incompetence, but also his resentment that the president caught a lucky break. If George W. Bush were to discover a cure for cancer, Howard Dean would demand to know what he is doing about aids.

Damn it, why did they do this? You know, even the President cautioned us against excess enthusiasm in the wake of Saddam's capture. This editorial is nothing but a cheap and transparently politically motivated pot shot at Dean and it pisses me off to that the New Republic prints this kind of nonsense.