posted June 09, 2005 12:14 PM              

On Republicans
"...a lot of them have never made an honest living in their lives.''
-- June 2 speech in Washington, D.C., at Campaign for America's Future conference

On Tom DeLay, House GOP Leader
"I think Tom DeLay ought to go back to Houston where he can serve his jail sentence."
-- May speech to Massachusetts Democratic Convention

Sources: AP, CNN


''Listen. Any one of us at any given time will make a statement that we may, in retrospect, say maybe that was a little over-enthusiastic,'' she said. ''And I can put that statement in that category for Governor Dean.''

Biden, asked about Dean Wednesday during an interview on the Don Imus radio show, also said the chairman is doing a good job.

''A lot of things he does say, I agree with,'' Biden said. But he also said that Dean ''has views that are slightly different than mine .. .But look, he's a lightning rod. ... It's probably good that there's a guy out there that's a lightning rod ... .''

Biden, however, added that he thinks ''the rhetoric is counterproductive.''

''I think this country has a purple heart, not a red heart or a blue heart,'' Biden said. ''If we can't bring this (country) together, man, boy, we're really in deep trouble.''

posted June 12, 2005 01:59 PM              

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posted June 13, 2005 12:02 AM            

Assuming you're not dwelling in a cave with Osama, you've heard that Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean said that many Republicans "never made an honest living in their lives," and that the Republican Party is "pretty much a white, Christian party."

(As to the former, remember when Democrats, in their post-election, grief-born introspection, promised to redouble their efforts to reach out to the Christian right and "values" voters? As to the latter, I haven't heard whether Howard cynically attempted this time to pepper his remarks with scriptural passages, as he is wont to do.)

Most of the Democrats who are even bothering to dissociate themselves from Dean's remarks are ones who aspire to the presidency, such as Sen. Joseph Biden and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who said, variously, that Dean doesn't speak for all Democrats.

Oh? That's news to me, since he is occupying precisely the position of one who does speak for Democrats. Indeed, Democrat honchos were well aware of Dean's proclivity for GOP villification when they deliberately placed him in his current position. And need I remind you that Dean is a perfectly logical successor to Terry McAuliffe, who character-assassinated Republicans for sport?

Democrats knew what they were getting with Dean, and they chose him with malice aforethought. They either affirmatively support his endless defamations or have concluded it's the price they have to pay to mollify their antiwar, anti-Bush base. Either way, Dean's words were entirely foreseeable, even predictable.

Which is why it is a little hard to take Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid's disingenuous suggestion that Dean's comments were a mistake. Reid said, "Well, I think, as all of you know, that there isn't a single person that hasn't misspoken."

How true, but don't insult us by trying to pass this off as a misstatement. Did the faux mild-mannered Reid misspeak when he called President Bush a loser to school kids and a liar? As far as I know, he didn't retract the latter.

Did Hillary Clinton – also, by the way, a Democrat presidential hopeful, who to this point has been coated with a newly acquired Teflon that has immunized her from serious criticism for her intermittent, intemperate remarks – misspeak when she charged, about the Bush administration, that "There has never been an administration, I don't believe, in our history more intent upon consolidating and abusing power"?

Or did someone fail to deliver the memo to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who said Dean had "energized the base of the party. He has a plan for building the infrastructure of the party. People feel very involved in terms of issues, organization and communication"?

So, which is it? Did Mad Howard misspeak, or are his remarks calculated to "energize the base"? (That was a rhetorical question.)

No less a paragon of verbal restraint than Sen. Ted Kennedy said that though some of Dean's phrases have been "inartful," he has been an effective party chairman. One has to ask what criteria Kennedy has in mind, given that Dean is reputedly having difficulty raising funds for his party, which one would assume would be the chairman's primary duty. Or is it to incite the loony Left base, which apparently gets a little antsy between Michael Moore mocumentaries?

And since we're debating whether Howard Dean said what he meant to say, perhaps we should consider his own reflections after he had a couple of days to ponder the uproar his remarks generated.

Well, in full-throated Bill Clinton mode (attacking his accusers), Dean said, "You know, I think a lot of this is exactly what the Republicans want, and that's a diversion." He elaborated that Republicans are feigning outrage to divert the public's attention away from their problems on Social Security, gas prices and the war in Iraq.

Does this sound repentant to you? Next time I get caught robbing a bank, I'm going to accuse the police of diverting attention away from their failure to bring white-collar crime under control.

I agree with House Majority Whip Roy Blunt, who properly noted that "Democrats, while quick to publicly distance themselves from Dean, can't hide the fact that their national party chairman remains a sought-after presence in closed-door strategy sessions."

posted June 13, 2005 12:07 AM            

Vice President Dick Cheney says, calling the Democrats' chairman "not the kind of individual you want to have representing your political party."

"I've never been able to understand his appeal. Maybe his mother loved him, but I've never met anybody who does. He's never won anything, as best I can tell," Cheney said in an interview to be aired Monday on Fox News Channel's "Hannity & Colmes."

Dean was elected governor of Vermont five times between 1992 and 2000. He ran for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination but closed down his campaign after poor showings in early primaries.
In recent weeks, Dean has described the GOP as "pretty much a white, Christian party" and said many Republicans have "never made an honest living." Republican leaders have called on him to apologize, and even some Democrats have distanced themselves from his remarks.

"So far, I think he's probably helped us more than he has them," Cheney said in the interview taped Friday. "That's not the kind of individual you want to have representing your political party."

The vice president added: "I really think Howard Dean's over the top. And more important ... I think many of his fellow Democrats feel the same way."

Karen Finney, a spokeswoman for the Democratic National Committee, objected to Cheney's characterization of Dean.

"Governor Dean must be doing something right if the vice president of the United States would stoop so low as to use the governor's mother as a way to deflect from answering the concerns of the American people," Finney said Sunday. "It's no wonder President Bush's approval ratings are at an all-time low."

Dean said Saturday that positive responses from influential supporters have reinforced his determination to keep talking tough.

"People want us to fight," Dean told the national party's executive committee. "We are here to fight."

posted June 13, 2005 12:18 AM              

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posted June 13, 2005 12:26 AM            

In the scheme of things, who will Dean Be or ever hope to become

JW, hows things going ?

love,