Recently Howard Dean made an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press” with Tim Russert and did his best impression of the Scarecrow from “The Wizard of Oz”. I usually don’t get up that early on a Sunday morning but through the wonder of DVR technology I was able to watch the show at my leisure and boy was it entertaining. Here is the link to the transcript so everyone can follow along while I have some fun with Howie’s statements.
The first topic was the current issue of the Democrats using filibusters to block judicial nominees. Dr. Dean stuck to the party line of how the Republicans were messing with 200 years of history and what a dangerous move it was, bah, bah, bah. I personally tuned him out after the first 15 seconds of his opening statement since he had nothing new to add to the same sad story that the Democrats have been preaching for the last two months. I did find it interesting that in addition to the many Democrats who once supported a straight up or down vote, such as Harry Reid, Robert Byrd, Barbra Boxer, we can now add Patrick Leahy to the list with this recent quote of his, “I have stated over and over again on this floor that I would object and fight against any filibuster on a judge, whether it is somebody I opposed or supported; that I felt the Senate should do its duty. If we don't like somebody the president nominates, vote him or her down. But don't hold them in this anonymous unconscionable limbo, because in doing that, the minority of Senators really shame all Senators.”
Now that sounds like the thoughts of a reasonable man, too bad the quote is from when the Democrats controlled Congress and Leahy has now also changed his mind and sound more like Howard Dean. One last point on the judicial filibustering since the point is now moot. I have to give Tim Russert credit for pointing out that the fact that number of judicial appointees that were blocked by Republicans and the way they were blocked in committee is almost exactly the same for what the Democrats are currently doing. So this continual bullshit that Harry Reid, reinforced by our buddy Howie, is putting out there about how the Republicans blocked more of Clinton’s appointees is just that, bullshit.
The conversation then turned to the entertaining comments made by Howard Dean in regards to House Majority Leader Tom DeLay. Russert played a collection of Dean’s quotes and he got quite pale and seemed to be quite put out. Especially when Russert brought up that in December of 2003 Mr. Dean made the statement that we should not prejudge Osama Bin Laden. Below is the section of the transcript, please read on and we will discuss on the other side.
MR. RUSSERT: You said in December of 2003 that we shouldn't prejudge Osama bin Laden. How can you sit here and have a different standard for Tom DeLay and prejudge him?
DR. DEAN: To be honest with you, Tim, I don't think I'm prejudging him. The things that I just read off--offering the congressman's son campaign money, providing Westar, the energy company, with a seat at the table in exchange for contributions, using the Department of Homeland Security to track down the private plane of political enemies--those are things that he has already been adjudicated for. Now, the question is: Where is this going to end up? I think there's a reasonable chance that this may end up in jail. And I don't think people ought to do these kinds of things in public service. I do not think they ought to do these kinds of things in public service. And I don't think Democrats should, either.
MR. RUSSERT: But shouldn't that be for a jury to decide and not you?
DR. DEAN: A jury will decide that.
MR. RUSSERT: Barney Frank, a liberal Democrat, said, "That's just wrong. I think Howard Dean was out of line talking about DeLay. The man has not been indicted. I don't like him, I disagree with some of what he does, but I don't think you, in a political speech, talk about a man as a criminal or his jail sentence."
DR. DEAN: As I said before, we're not speculating here. Three of the things I've mentioned he has already done and been admonished for by the House Ethics Committee. Look, Harry Truman was campaigning in 1948, and a guy went up and said, "Give 'em hell, Harry!" And Harry Truman said, "I don't give 'em hell. I just tell the truth and the Republicans think it's hell."
So Mr. Dean wants to basically give OBL the benefit of the doubt, a known terrorist and NOT a US citizen who is subject to due process, and yet he has already tried, convicted, and sentenced Tom DeLay. Does Howard Dean have a secret admiration for OBL or he is just pandering to the Islamic world by not being critical of their de facto leader? I don’t think so but perhaps he really believes that we should not prejudge OBL and he just was being honest when he said he hated all Republicans. Here’s some more from Dean on DeLay.
MR. RUSSERT: So you will not retract or apologize your comments about Tom DeLay?
DR. DEAN: Absolutely not.
MR. RUSSERT: This is what you told The Philadelphia Inquirer. "[Dean] said Democrats need `message discipline.' He said they should for the present forego the satisfaction of attacking House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's ethics problems ... and focus on attacking Bush's plan to create private Social Security accounts."
You're not taking your own advice.
DR. DEAN: Well, I am in this sense. That was a couple of months ago, and this has been an issue that's been in the news with the Jack Abramoff scandals, and it's been so in the news that you can't not comment on it. Again, another scandal that's going on, the Republicans, Jack Abramoff, one of the president's leading fund-raisers, now being investigated for essentially selling influence to get into the White House and a variety of things like that.
Now what Howie fails to mention and what Tim Russert did not call him on was the fact that Abramoff is a leading fundraiser for both parties including Patrick Kennedy. He contributed $115,000 to the son of Edward Kennedy. Jack Abramoff was and still is a lobbyist, he is not an operative of the Republican Party as Dean would like everyone to believe. While it is true that Abramoff did raise a $100,000 for Bush/Cheney 2004, he was not the only person who did so, according to this list, he is quite a ways down the list so how influence could he really have? In my humble opinion, his sphere of influence was strictly members of Congress but Dean is once again spreading misinformation, perhaps he has rehired Daily Kos to do his speech and appearance preparation.
I have just a couple of other points of Dean’s lunacy, it’s hard to limit myself since he provides so many good ways to show what an idiot he is. I do really feel sorry for all of the moderate and centrist Democrats who have had their party hijacked by this guy and his far left lackeys. In the quotes below, Dean talks about being misquoted but turns the table of Russert and launches into his regular tirade about Iraq.
MR. RUSSERT: Let me talk about some of the things you have said about the Republicans. Here's Howard Dean in January: "I hate the Republicans and everything they stand for..."
Howard Dean in February: "This is a struggle between good and evil and we're the good?"
Do you really hate Republicans? Do you consider them evil?
DR. DEAN: I don't--well, actually that was a little out of context. But I don't hate Republicans as individuals. But I hate what the Republicans are doing to this country. I really do. I hate deficits, as you know. When I was governor, I really was very tough on fiscal responsibility. Deficits in the long run aren't good for the country, and they do lower our standard of living. Every American family knows that you have to pay your bills. I hate the dishonesty, you know, the idea that you'd put a program through Congress without telling people what it costs, I think that's wrong. Some of the things that the president said on our way into Iraq, they just weren't true, and I don't think that's right. So...
MR. RUSSERT: Such as?
DR. DEAN: Such as the weapons of mass destruction, which we have all known about, but the...
MR. RUSSERT: Well, you said there were weapons of mass destruction.
DR. DEAN: I said I wasn't sure, but I said I thought there probably were.
That last statement of his goes on and on and on and on so if you want to read his standard Iraq rant by all means visit the online transcript with this link. Ok, I admit that last quote really has no point other then I wanted to show how he is just out pandering to the party faithful with that type of rhetoric and does not stand behind what he says hence the conclusion that he does not really stand for anything. Hmmm, sounds a lot like a certain Senator from Massachusetts. Call me crazy but I prefer my leaders to actually believe what they say and stand for. This next and last quote from Dean’s television appearance last Sunday serves to illustrate the internal split of the Democratic Party and how far left they are moving. In fact as the following statements by Dean just show that the Democrats are so far left that they can’t even support a Socialist. I say good luck and God bless but I don’t see them winning too many elections.
MR. RUSSERT: In your home state of Vermont, there's a vacancy for the United States Senate about to occur. Bernie Sanders, the congressman from Vermont, wants to run for that seat. He is a self- described avowed socialist.
DR. DEAN: Well, that's what he says. He's really a populist.
MR. RUSSERT: But is there room in the Democratic Party for a socialist?
DR. DEAN: Well, first of all, he's not a socialist, really.
MR. RUSSERT: He...
DR. DEAN: He hasn't said that for a while.
MR. RUSSERT: Oh, he has a--he wrote in his book: "Outside or in the House, I am a Democratic socialist."
DR. DEAN: Well, a Democratic socialist--all right, we're talking about words here. And Bernie can call himself anything he wants. He is basically a liberal Democrat, and he is a Democrat that--he runs as an Independent because he doesn't like the structure and the money that gets involved. And he actually has, I think, some good points about campaign finance reform. The bottom line is that Bernie Sanders votes with the Democrats 98 percent of the time. And that is a candidate that we think...
MR. RUSSERT: So you'd support him?
DR. DEAN: We may very well end up supporting him. We need to work some things out because it's very important for us not to split the votes in some of the other offices as well.
MR. RUSSERT: In 1996 you said you would never have voted for Bernie Sanders. Instead, you opted in recent years to leave the ballot blank.
DR. DEAN: Bernie and I have had our difficulties over the years. We've had our strong disagreements. He's a strong personality. We're fighting for the future of America, and a Bernie Sanders in the United States Senate is going to be a whole lot better than somebody who will vote to confirm right-wing judges, somebody who will vote to undo minority rights, somebody who will vote to kill Social Security. This is a battle where personalities and differences have to be put aside, and we have to do what's right for America.
MR. RUSSERT: You describe...
DR. DEAN: And Bernie Sanders will be a strong candidate.
Wow, I mean wow. Finally a Democrat comes clean and admits that really all Liberal Democrats are just Democrat Socialists and they just call themselves Liberals so as too not scare the American people by being placed in the same mold as other Socialists. That is fantastic and I plan on using it quite a bit in the future, thanks Howie. Sorry about the length but sometimes you just have to go long. Have a great day everyone.
