The Nation simply uses the old, nasty tried and true journalistic trick of using selected quotes...if the quotes are at all true. But even if they are, you can prove anyone an idiot if you could use everything one says. Because everyone says something stupid or inane at one time or another.
I'm sure if we followed Ari Berman around for oh..say about five minutes, he'd give us a Jupiter-sized treasure trove of stupid quotes. Remember folks, we're talking about socialists here.
Given the leftwing penchant for making it up as they go along, I would be very skeptical of any quote attributed to a conservative/Republican by a socialista crackpot like Berman.
You forgot George Herman Walker Bush. The left never called him dumb. They just called him a wimp.