That Mean Howard Dean

That Mean Howard Dean
by Jennifer King, Managing Editor

January 20, 2004

"The Heretical Housewife"

Managing Editor Jennifer King Former Governor Howard Dean M.D. (D-VT) (AP) Howard Dean is one Angry White Male. When Iowan Dale Ungerer dared to suggest that Dr. Dean should tone down his fiery, anti-Bushism and treat his rival more “like a neighbor”, Dr. Dean immediately shot back, “George Bush is not my neighbor.” Dean went on, pointing his finger accusingly at Mr. Underer. “You sit down! You sit down! You’ve had your say and now I’m going to have mine.” Dean then continued with his riff on Bush, which clearly motivated his appreciative audience.

Has there ever been a candidate for President who was so un-Presidential, in mien and temper? Dr. Dean missed a real opportunity here. Instead of thanking Ungerer for his comments, and calmly reciting a litany of what a President Dean would do for America, Dean once again capitulated to the siren song of rage which has enticed his party onto the rocks.

These folks are the Livid Left and boy, are they furious. Dean gets the biggest huzzahs from invoking the twin demons of Rush Limbaugh and Jerry Falwell and then shouting, “I want my country back!” Al Franken and Michael Moore have similarly sold books based on little more than a bitter lashing out at conservatives in general and President Bush in particular. George Soros’ group, leftwing extremists Move On.org produced the most egregious effort in an ad which morphed the face of Bush into Adolph Hitler.

Such efforts - wildly hailed by proponents as clever, witty and biting - are clearly sophomoric and trite. The level of discourse has dropped so far that “reasoned debate” resembles nothing so much as a high school food fight. The Left’s obsession with George W. Bush, and its visceral loathing of him border almost on the psychotic.

Dr. Dean, capitalizing shrewdly on this emotion cum quasi-religion, has morphed from a self-described “economic moderate” into a duly crazed member of the anti-American Vichy Left. He has made insane statements, saying that “America is not safer just because Saddam Hussein was caught”, “Usama bin Laden is innocent until proven guilty”, and insinuating that George W. Bush “knew” beforehand about 9/11.

Other candidates running for the Democratic nomination are following eagerly in the footsteps of Dean. General Wesley Clark recently posited that there was no evidence that “Al-Qaeda was behind 9/11”, despite Usama’s frank admission that they were. Clark further opined that the Bush Administration was the “most closed, imperialistic, nastiest administration in living memory.” Clark further asserted that “they put Richard Nixon to shame.” Red meat for the conspiracy kooks, but it is worth noting that the Arab news media giant al-Jazeera uncritically repeated Clark’s remarks.

Also not to be missed was Move On’s recent banquet held to honor the winner of their anti-Bush ad contest. As reported by Matt Drudge, the banquet “entertainment” consisted mostly of foul mouthed Bush bashing. Margaret Cho, a lesbian “comedian” lashed out at Republicans and their outing of the Bush/Hitler ad. “I mean, George Bush is not Hitler” Cho spouted. “He would be if he f***ing applied himself” Cho continued, to wild applause. The audience also found favor with comments such as “Republicans are f***ing stupid” and rapper Chucky D’s insight that “We don’t want eight years run by a Colon, a Bush and a Dick.”

The inanity of these statements, and the appreciation of the audience reveals a great deal about the mindset of the liberal Left. Rank immaturity, childishness even, coupled with a appalling lack of intellectual depth. Are these people insane? They appear to live in some sort of parallel universe, where harsh reality never need intrude. To the fevered mind of the paranoid and schizophrenic Left, Bush, Ashcroft and the Patriot Act pose more of a danger than Saddam Hussein with a nuclear bomb. Instead of delivering freedom to beleaguered Iraqis, we are conspiratorially colonizing them for their oil. The patently absurd nature of their hysterical claims appears not to faze them. Neither do they appear to be aware of the well-documented historical record of American actions in battle. Marxism, cultural relativism, postmodernism and historical revisionism have accomplished their intended goal - the result is the muddled gobbledygook and sheer nonsense which emanates from the mouths of those on the Left.

As the war of words continues, expect the charges to balloon to new heights of absurdity and shrill rhetoric. When the sensible American voters return the grownups to office, expect more tortured tantrums from the juveniles - thwarted again. Mr. Dean’s rage notwithstanding, few want to live in his inverted version of America. ***

Photo of Jennifer King courtesy of staff files
Photo of Howard Dean courtesy of the Associated Press