Dean Goes Nuts, And It Is The Media’s Fault?

Though I am not blogging nearly as much as I would like to, I still keep up with the news. I still see my regular blog sites, and I still visit my regular news sites. Today’s Washington Times ran a story of how the Democrats are running damage control on their nutty-as-a-fruitcake chairman, Howard Dean.

The No. 2 Democrat in the Senate yesterday blamed "the right wing" and elements of the press "in service to it" for repeating Howard Dean's remarks about Republicans and inflating them out of proportion.

"I think we all understand what's happening with you all," said Senate Minority Whip Richard J. Durbin, in remarks echoing Hillary Rodham Clinton's blaming a "vast right-wing conspiracy" for her husband's legal-ethical woes.

"The right wing has got the agenda moving. Fox [News Channel] and everybody's got the agenda. It's all about Howard Dean. You've bought into it," Mr. Durbin said.

"You can't let up on it. You ought to be ashamed of yourselves."

Excuse me, Sen. Durbin, but we should be ashamed of ourselves? Your party is the one that’s sitting on the Titanic as it sinks, and your Daffy-Duck-like "captain" is still gunning for icebergs.

Mr. Dean, who took over as chairman of the Democratic National Committee four months ago, has caused a stir with a string of public statements that he "hates the Republican Party and everything it stands for" and that its members are "liars," "evil," "corrupt" and "brain-dead."

This would be the "gunning for icebergs" part of his insanity. Rather than engaging us on an intellectual, adult level, he spews insults and allegations he cannot back up.

Senate Democrats emerged from a Capitol Hill meeting with Mr. Dean, a former Vermont governor, yesterday touting their message of the day: Change the subject.

"As all of you know, there isn't a single person, whether it's any of us in this room or Governor Dean or [Republican National Committee chairman Ken] Mehlman, that haven't misspoken," Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, said at a photo opportunity with Mr. Dean in his Senate office before that meeting.

But Dean seems to misspeak every time he addresses people. As the Times below will point out. He cannot simply put aside his blind hatred for our side of the aisle long enough to present a rousing speech to energize his base. That is his job as the DNC chairman. And he cannot even do that, as contributions to the DNC are vastly below that of the RNC right now.

"We're here today to talk about the American people," he said. "We're talking about common-sense reforms for the issues that they care about."

We went through this on the obstruction of judges; an issue America cared about by a whopping sixty percent. And those same people are absolutely incensed over the deal that was made. Social Security is also on the minds of Americans, and before "negotiations" have even begun, their side is already demanding that things be removed from the table.

Mr. Dean echoed both Mr. Reid's and Mr. Durbin's complaints, telling reporters before the meeting: "We're not going to let the Republicans set the agenda, and to be quite honest, we aren't going to let you set the agenda."

Whoops. Mistake! Red Alert! Dean took a swipe at the press. Did someone forget to tell him that it is not wise to bite the hand that feeds you? Or was this an orchestrated comment to tell the press to back off of this man’s gaffes?

He called the fallout over his comments "a media circus" and "exactly what the Republicans want."

"The truth is that we need to focus on exactly the issues that Harry Reid just talked about, and we're going to," he said.

Yes, they sure are. As Sen. Durbin promised today that judges that don’t believe in the Griswold decision of the USSC will be filibustered. Yes, yes. Time to get back to doing what the Democrats do best: Unconstitutional obstruction.

On the other side of the Capitol, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat, sought to distance herself from Mr. Dean's comments.

"Any one of us at any given time may say something that might not be acceptable to another part of the party," Mrs. Pelosi said. "I don't associate myself with what he said. I think that it probably was said in the exuberance of the moment."

Dean has had a lot of "exuberant" moments in his short tenure as the DNC chair. But this was the man that the Democrats were all for prior to his election to the Chairman’s position, so I am wondering where all the enthusiasm went to? Where did it go? This was the man that people like Reid and Boxer proclaimed would "lead their party" into the future. If it’s future is the ash-heap of history, he has already accomplished much of that prediction.

Nearly every high-profile speech that Mr. Dean has delivered in his brief tenure as chairman of the Democratic National Committee has caused a stir.

In February, he told the Congressional Black Caucus that the Republican Party "couldn't get this many people of color in a single room" unless "they had the hotel staff in here." And on Monday told a gathering of California journalists that the Republican "party is basically a white, Christian party," a remark he defended on NBC's "Today" show Tuesday morning.

I had a friend once that was similar to Dean when he spoke. We referred to it as a "lack of tact", but Dean goes further than that. It is almost like he is trying to whip up our base, rather than his own. And plenty of people are getting whipped up, and they are standing against him. We know that his comments along cannot sink a candidate, but his comments will reinforce us to make sure that the Democrats faced in elections are engaged, and hopefully beaten.

Sen. Barbara Boxer, California Democrat, said Republicans are out to "destroy" Mr. Dean, whose comments were "taken out of context."

Taken out of context? I have read these statements. There is no contextual problem with what this man has said. And this is a typical retort/dodge by the Left to avoid the issue.

"Let's talk about what we really need to do -- to rebuild our party all over the country, which he is committed to do," Mrs. Boxer said, admitting that Mr. Dean's statements have put "a burden on all of us to make sure we don't step on the message we are putting forward."

America can see the message he is putting forth, and it is alienating much of the base. People—you know, us little people out here—do not like the man. Despite my displeasure with Terry McAuliffe, at least he did not make an @$$ of himself every time he opened his mouth.

"The media wants to have some kind of a controversy, so they don't give the message of Howard Dean," she said. "We all know that the other side is bound and determined to hurt Howard Dean and destroy him, as they usually do with leaders of our party."

The media does not already have controversy? Have they reached their quota of trumped-up-Bad-News-From-Iraq? Is the Jackson trial over? There is enough controversy and stories on the nightly news already; Howard Dean does not need to fill in the blanks.

Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, Connecticut Democrat, said members of his own party are talking about Mr. Dean too much and keeping the story alive.

"Members of Congress who sit there and kind of parse it for a week on end don't help," Mr. Dodd said. "With all due respect, you don't hear our friends on the other side engaging in this sort of thing. They'll get back to the issues that people really care about."

Now there is some wisdom I have been waiting to see out of the Democrats for quite some time. Just shut up already and let us move on. No one cares about this petty garbage coming from the head of a political party. Sure, it is great for comic relief, but it is not helping solve any issues in the political arena.

In the past few days, former Democratic vice-presidential candidate John Edwards, Democratic Sens. Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware, Joe Lieberman of Connecticut and House Minority Whip Steny H. Hoyer have publicly criticized Mr. Dean's remarks.

Good! There should be people in the party he represents that hold him accountable, and call him on mistakes. He has made plenty of them; more than I am sure the party itself expected.

After the luncheon meeting, Mr. Dean moved quickly past reporters waiting for him and wouldn't answer questions as he made his way across the Capitol and out of the building.

Mrs. Clinton, who polls show as a front-runner for her party's presidential nomination in 2008, left the luncheon through a door away from reporters yesterday.

Republicans are enjoying the spectacle. "Howard Dean continues to throw some of the most below-the-belt political punches in recent memory," said House Majority Whip Roy Blunt, Missouri Republican. "Leading Democrats tell the American people that they don't agree with the nasty rhetoric after each Dean cheap shot. John Edwards says Howard Dean is just one voice. Unfortunately for Democrats, Howard Dean is the loudest."

Too true. He is but one voice in the party, but when he shouts, yells, or "screams", people listen. And people are turned off by this. People are turned off by this sort of attack-based rhetoric whether it is an election cycle or not. People decide on intelligent, calm debate, not ranting diatribes from people that can’t get past their prejudices. Howard Dean wasted no time in blasting the GOP during the primaries, and maybe that is what the Democrats were hoping to get, only a bit more toned down. Dean knows the power he has, and he is using it to it’s fullest potential; he is just not delivering it’s fullest return.

Ron Bonjean, a spokesman for House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, Illinois Republican, said: "Last week's scandal was Deep Throat. This week's scandal is Dean's Throat. And, apparently, Dean likes the taste of his own foot."

The Democrats have no one to blame but themselves for trusting someone like Dean to run their party, and set their message. But then again, they did not have much of a choice. None of the other candidates had the high-profile that Dean did. None of them had the "spine" like Dean does. The Democrats were looking for a new millenium leader that could match Ken Mehlman, Karl Rove, and the rest of the GOP.

And they failed miserably. The Democrats cannot bring up their message because Dean has already stomped on it. The question is no longer "what is the party going to do?"; it has become "what did Howard do now?" He is sucking all the oxygen out of the room, and it’s leaving nothing for the leaders of the party. Boxer, Kennedy, Clinton...They do not have room to maneuver as long as Dean is dancing.

But this is not our doing. Nor is it the fault of the MSM. Dean naturally attracts cameras, tape recorders, and TV cameras. As long as he continues his long, slow public meltdown, the MSM will be there to record it. And the more that people see, the darker the future is for the Democrats.

The Bunny ;)