Listen to what they say

Howard Dean, the Chairman of the Democratic Party, yesterday said that Kathrine Harris was like Stalin for daring to certify the vote count in Florida in 2000. He also called the Iraqi Prime Minister an anti-semite.

You have to admit that they picked the perfect person to represent and lead the Democratic Party. Just bringing people together left and right.

...it is ethically improper to be the chairman of a campaign and count the votes at the same time. This is not Russia and she is not Stalin.  ~news.yahoo

People often ask me, "What do liberals stand for? I mean, what do they really believe in?" And as the politically astute individual that I am I usually tell them that if you want to know what liberals stand for, what they truly believe in, the first thing you need to do is listen to what they say.

So what do they say?

Well, it just so happens that as the chairman of the Democratic Party, Howard Dean actually represents Democrats! What he says and also what he has said represents them because they chose him precisely to represent them and be their Chairman.

So here are a few brilliant nuggets of magniloquence from Howard Dean to help you understand what liberals believe:

National Defence, War, and the military:

On war and the military Dean has said some illuminating things. The positions of many democrats have been, shall we say, somewhat indecisive. "I voted for it before I voted against it..." Not so with Mr. Dean. He's a man who lays it on the line, tells it like it is, and says exactly what he believes.

So what is his position on the strength of the U.S. military?

"We won't always have the strongest military."

See? Simple and direct. That's what I like about the man.

Unlike many Democrats, on the Iraq war Dean has been thoroughly consistent. Even though other democrats made political calculations when they were forced to vote for or against the war, Howard Dean still opposed it even though he didn't have to go on record. Even after our troops removed Saddam Hussein, Dean still stuck to his guns.

"The idea that the United States is going to win the war in Iraq is just plain wrong."

"We've gotten rid of (Saddam Hussein), and I suppose that's a good thing."

"...The capture of Saddam has not made America safer."

"Every day it becomes clearer that this was the wrong war at the wrong time."

But is Iraq better off without the murderous (and possibly psychotic) dictator?

"We don't know that yet. We don't know that yet, Wolf. We still have a country whose city is mostly without electricity. We have tumultuous occasions in the south where there is no clear governance. We have a major city without clear governance." -- Howard Dean's reply when he was asked if he Iraq was better off without Saddam, April 23, 2003

But he did know for sure that the U.S. would have been better off without Bush. That's quite a comparison. Brutal dictator Saddam Hussein -or- gentle and compassionate conservative George W. Bush?

When it comes to Iraq, Democrats disagree with the President. I can accept that. We can agree to disagree. Howard Dean doesn't believe that Iraq was an imminent danger to us and we should never have removed the brutal dictator Saddam from power. But what about 911? Bin Laden attacked us on 911 did he not?

"I've resisted pronouncing a sentence before guilt is found. I will have this old-fashioned notion that even with people like Osama, who is very likely to be found guilty, we should do our best not to, in positions of executive power, not to prejudge jury trials."

On Religion and forcing your values on others:

Dean is pretty touchy on the whole metrosexual 'morality' thing, but he does have very strong feelings, even deeply held convictions one might say, about religion beliefs.

The governor considers himself to be "a pretty devout Christian."

"...I'm a committed Christian. I worship in my own way. That's my business. That's not the business of the pharisees who are going to preach to me about what I do and then do something else."

Religion in America is a private matter but voters generally want to know what philosophies, traditions, and deeply held convictions will inform a Presidential aspirant's decisions while in office.

"After hearing Dr Dean's observation, beginning with 'If you know much about the Bible - which I do', a reporter asked about his favourite New Testament book. Dr Dean named Job, adding, 'But I don't like the way it ends... in some of the books of the New Testament; the ending of the Book of Job is different... There's one book where there's a more optimistic ending, which we believe was tacked on later'. The candidate returned an hour later to confess error: Job was in the Old Testament, not the New. Beyond that slip, his recollection of 'one book where there's a more optimistic ending' is muddled; the Book of Job in the Old Testament has an upbeat ending, with God doubling Job's former wealth and giving him new children for having sustained his piety through all his trials." -- William Safire describes Howard Dean's difficulties with Job.

"...Dean himself moved from Episcopalian to Congregationalist "because I had a big fight with a local Episcopal church about 25 years ago over the bike path." He does not hesitate to reveal this information or to declare that he seldom goes to church." -- Robert Novak

...Asked if he would end a speech accepting the Democratic nomination for President with "God bless America," Dean sidestepped the question saying "I don't know, since not a single vote has been cast, I think it's a little presumptuous for me to be thinking about my speech just yet."

Dean has also been forthright about confronting 'right-wing hypocrisy'. Especially as it pertains to the  hypocrisy of religious conservatives trying to force their theocratic value system on others and use their so-called morality as a political weapon.

Who are they to use 'guns, gods, and gays' as a political wedge issue?

"The truth is the President of the United States used the same device that Slobodan Milosevic used in Serbia. When you appeal to homophobia, when you appeal to sexism, when you appeal to racism, that is extraordinarily damaging to the country."

"...The issue is not abortion. The issue is whether women can make up their own mind instead of some right-wing pastor, some right-wing politician telling them what to do."

"...You know, the Republicans are not very friendly to different kinds of people. They're a pretty monolithic party. Pretty much, they all behave the same, and they all look the same. ... It's pretty much a white Christian party.''

"...I will use whatever position I have in order to root out hypocrisy. Democrats have strong moral values. Frankly, my moral values are offended by some of the things I hear on programs like "Rush Limbaugh," and we don't have to put up with that."

"...This country was the moral leader of the world until George Bush became president."

"...This is a struggle of good and evil. And we're the good."

"...Republicans always divide people."

"...We are Democrats because we have moral values," Dean said.

"...From a religious point of view, if God had thought homosexuality is a sin, he would not have created gay people."

"...We have got to stop having our elections in the South based on race, guns, God and gays and start having them on jobs and health insurance and a foreign policy that's consistent with American values."

"...My view of Christianity is that the hallmark of being a Christian is to reach out to people who have been left behind. So I think there was a religious aspect to my decision to support civil unions."

"...We're going to tell all those white boys who run the Republican Party to stay out of our bedrooms."

"...I'm trying to gently call out the white population."

"...I still want to be the candidate for guys with Confederate flags in their pickup trucks."

"...Hypocrisy is a value that I think has been embraced by the Republican Party."

"...Dealing with race is about educating white folks..."

"...I've always been endorsed by the National Rifle Association."

Maybe Dean has a point here. It's sad that so many who call themselves 'devoutly religious' have to force their values on others and call those who don't believe like they do hypocrits. It's hypocritical is what it is. It's divisive, and maybe hurtful, but certainly hypocritical.

(Right-wing?) name calling, personal attacks, and hatred

And finally Dean gives us some examples of how he thinks the right-wing will descend into mudslinging and name calling in order to win elections. The use of smear tactics and completely unsupported allegations in an effort to impugn and attack opponents is pretty well documented, I thought, in the following quotes:

"...This president is not interested in being a good president. He's interested in some complicated psychological situation that he has with his father."

"...John Ashcroft is not a patriot, John Ashcroft is a descendant of Joseph McCarthy."

"...I think a library trustee is pretty important," Dean said, during "an administration that likes book burning more than reading books."

"...Well Republicans, I guess can do that. Because a lot of them have never made an honest living in their lives."

"...You think the Republican National Committee could get this many people of color in a single room? Only if they had the hotel staff in here."

"...I think with a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court, you can't play, you know, hide the salami, or whatever it's called." --urging President Bush to make public Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers's White House records

"...I don’t know. There are many theories about (9/11). The most interesting theory that I’ve heard so far—which is nothing more than a theory, it can’t be proved—is that he was warned ahead of time by the Saudis. Now who knows what the real situation is? But the trouble is, by suppressing that kind of information, you lead to those kind of theories, whether they have any truth to them or not, and eventually, they get repeated as fact. So I think the president is taking a great risk by suppressing the key information that needs to go to the Kean Commission."

"...I hate Republicans and everything they stand for."

[sources: brainyquote, Stupid Howard Dean Quotes, Men's News Daily, sptimes.com, cbsnews.com, woai, sfgate.com, boston.com, washingtontimes.com ]

[H]egemonic Word count: 1733

Powered By: BackLinkr

 

---