As an African AMerican here in Illinois, I am deeply disturbed by Obama. As you point out, his vote for RIce was it for me, as he started his tenure in the Senate. Now this with Dean. Even more loathsome was watching COlin Powell on the Daily SHow the other night. I am reminded in the run up to the was how Powell had a live forum on BET with Africann American students to sell the war. That was it for me with him, too. Hey, I feel you.
Posted by GG at June 9, 2005 08:24 PMWell said, eriposte! Our house, our world, is indeed on fire. What a sad disappointment Obama has turned out to be.
Posted by Alan S at June 9, 2005 08:59 PMWorst of all is that if the so called moderates would just shut up the news cycle would purge itself and the damage would be minimal. By all of them saying something, they keep re-cycling the story for needless, wasted days.
No wonder Bush won last year on fear. The beltway Democrats did everything to keep fear alive.
Posted by argus at June 9, 2005 09:12 PMFrom the greatness of his speech at the convention to defeat President George W. Bush, to condemming Chrm. Dean's hatred of all Christians. Let see, two bright lights on election night, Senators Salazar and Obama are now not worth to carry any Democratic water. Wow y'all are distructing under the constant pressure of W's greatness. Even the bright lights can't light the way for y'all out of the tunnel of doom you're residing in.
Posted by peter at June 9, 2005 10:22 PMy'all are distructing under the constant pressure of W's greatness
Bwahaahaahaa.....
That was a good one. Got any more one liners like that one? You know, something about those mid-forty approval ratings, or those flame out numbers on damn near every issue? Come on, hit us with another side-splitter Peter.
Posted by Steve Soto at June 9, 2005 11:10 PMBarack Obama didn't your momma teach you better than that?
Posted by patience at June 10, 2005 04:43 AMhoward dean is one of the very few democrats left with any real guts...latest reports show fbi and cia clearly had the opportunity to stop 9/11..i ask you who was in charge on 9/11???????????????????????????? who was running national security??????????????????????????????..could it possibly be that since the invasion of iraq was already being planned (downing street memo is proof) that maybe a little act of terrorism wasn't such a bad idea to these guys ..dick cheney in particular...perhaps they never tought it would be as big as it was....but they knew something was coming..there is no doubt about that...and now the national sercurity advisor at the time is secretary of state...screw obama..screw biden....screw them all and god bless howard dean....this administation is guilty of treason....and our men and women are paying for it in blood everyday
Posted by dennis at June 10, 2005 05:01 AMFolks, this is all working out great. Dean says sort-of true, yet irresponsible things, then the politicians get to play good cop/bad cop.
But that itch--that itch that says "Wow, the Republicans just aren't a very tolerant bunch of people"--has been given a chance to irritate the electorate.
And if you think that Dean's comment didn't net him a few big checks, you've got another think coming.
Posted by Matt Davis at June 10, 2005 05:11 AMI can’t believe the display of opportunism displayed by Osama et al.
What in hell are these people trying to accomplish? After all, even if they are merely cursory sharp, what they say and how they say it has an impact in perception that, without a doubt, all of them know that can and will be used and abused by the opposition expecting the normal outcome: stirring any crap around until no one in a thousand mile radius will be able to stand the stench can, and has, given them far heftier returns than those they expect to gain by their profitable (though perhaps highly tainted in some cases) monetary adventures.
Anyway, some of us did let our feelings out in re to Dean’s remarks but, at the end, I don’t think that what any of us expresses here has far reaching repercussions. Yeah, just imagine some big political honcho saying with a straight face: well, according to what some blogger said…
Anyway, because it was so bloody close to a non-subject (if compared with the whoppers that many leaders of the opposition have been tossing around for years, and without a care), at first I’d thought that the Dean subject needed to be dropped. Yet, as things are developing this non-subject fiasco is giving Mr. Dean the opportunity to shine while he throws well-deserved TKO’s on the chins of some infamous weaklings. After all, having the attention of the media during this time of real media absenteeism cannot be anything but peachy for those who have so many important issues to address.
Being all as it may, I don’t believe that anyone here was advocating tossing the baby with the bath’s water. Indeed, if some of us let our feelings out in re to this particular subject, I think that it was done not as an all out condemnation of Dean for ever and ever more, but as a light touch on the shoulder to remind him where some of us people stand (as far as hurtful blanket statements go). That was all.
Like many others, I’m sure, I wish him extremely well, and hope to continue enjoying the fire that he usually puts under some quasi-royal ass’s that shall remain nameless for the time being.
Meantime Mr. Dean (and regardless of what some of us bloggers may have the guts to spew because we are aware that, in our case, impact on real issues is, at best, minimal), please continue spewing real truths at the faces of the notable lying bastards that are making smithereens of the standing in the world that this country deserves.
Real truths that need to be said, which apparently no one else seems willing to spew, probably more for fear of their political careers than for any other thing. So, for the good of the many, let’s hope that voters have a long memory when the time comes to stand up and be counted.
Steve,
Approval ratings are continuing to go down. Low forties now.
I don't have anything intelligent to see....just....they're all motherfuckers. DC has sucked the life from their brains.
Posted by Flamethrower at June 10, 2005 07:11 AMYeah, just imagine some big political honcho saying with a straight face: well, according to what some blogger said…
Didn't Scotty McClellan (R - Mouth of Sauron) already credit Powerline over the Dan Rather kerfluffle? Unfortunately, I'm afraid that wrongwingnuts will be the first to be quoted. Their propaganda sells - whereas the truth is a bitter pill for any Repugnicant asshole to swallow.
But more to the point: I live for the day somebody credits the amateur sleuths on the Fashionable Left Bank of Blogistan for bringing down some Repugnicant pinhead.
Posted by (: Tom :) at June 10, 2005 07:27 AMYou also are listening to the "main points" put out by the mainstream media. Go back and listen to the whole thing Obama said -- not the excerpt which sounds like he was critizing Dean. Give us a break. Do yout homework!
Posted by MB at June 10, 2005 07:55 AMas Dems squirm under the straight talk from Dean, it is worth it to again point out that these squirmers are politicians. Dem or GOP, they are still people who make their living by trying to please everyone. Dean wants to win, which is why his presidential aspirations were shot down by Rove, who then got a reluctant warrior in Kerry.
Posted by T2 at June 10, 2005 07:59 AMSteve, what were they before the election? What we the right direction/wrong direction numbers? Still the Vote happened. See those Euro numbers in the twenties? Great Anti-Americanisms, poor performance in office. Poor unemployment numbers.
Great Democratic leadership, great deal on the judges. 5-0 now, what was the deal with the filibuster of those two Michigan judges? Confirmed by 95-0 and 96-0 votes. You thought you only had 7 Senators to worry about. Look at the Cloture votes, now you've got 12. Lets talk about the Congress, House votes with GOP 20-30%, Senate votes with the GOP 20-40%. Look at all the good work getting done in Congress. OOH the pressure.
Ken Mehlman is picking off Dems one by one. See that Otto Banks story out of Pennsylvania? With Chrm. Dean's comments to fuel more turnover, he's going to be very sucessful. You're hemorrhaging support all over the place. Latinos and African-Americans are seeing the light, Dems don't represent their interest very well. Yeah the pressure is getting to your Democrats in Congress. The 2006 vote will turn more towards the GOP and where will Dems turn? Will they turn Chrm. Dean out before then or after? Vegas should start a line.
Posted by peter at June 10, 2005 08:25 AMWhy is Dean's comment an insult that the GOP is a party of white Christians? With an 82% majority, I would think that statement is pretty accurate. How can this possibly be construed as an insult? Maybe the GOP is uncomfortable with this little statistic. It is hard to attract minority votes when your organization is mostly white Christians.
Posted by Trieatalot at June 10, 2005 08:39 AMSo I guess the United States is not a white Christian nation then?
Posted by confused??? at June 10, 2005 08:40 AMYeah Peter. You are desperately spinning. The GOP is the one that has been hemorraghing moderates. The GOP is the party of fundamentalist extremist. I live in GA and you can't believe how many people now regret voting for Bush. People are screaqming that they ARE NOT REPUBLICANS, THEY ARE LIBERTARIANS! Lol, the new thing is to put down dems but then deny that you are a republican. It's a shell game thats called "i supported the idiot but now i can't admit it."
It must be nice to be part of a cult. Peter do you go to one of those churches that has W's picture in the sanctuary and where he is hailed as jesus. You certainly sound like it.
Lets refresh some things:
The GOP stands for:
Torture
Intrusion into even your most personal decisions
Embezzlement
Secrecy
Racism
Corporate welfare
I thought Dean was a white Christian?
Posted by Tex at June 10, 2005 08:47 AMTex,
Yep, he is. However, i think that the deal was that the GOP only accepts white christians.
Obama's black... Rice's black... See the connection? People tend to support their own ethnic/racial/reglious group irrespective of qualifications. Just seems to be the way the political world works. Whites also tend to support other whites.
Posted by Tibor at June 10, 2005 10:17 AMi may be a cock-eyed optimist like matt, but this looks like 4-dimensional rope-a-dope. not only do Rs go beating up on dean, diluting their attacks against any future Dem candidate, but they give him (and the "good cops") media oxygen they'd have trouble coming by any other way.
someone told me that the DNC lost a couple of old-school fundraisers in the last day or so. If you're quitting a fundraising job when the party is setting records due to dean's "tone", all i can say is: don't let the door hit you in the ass.
Posted by benjoya at June 10, 2005 03:44 PMCheck out what Bark Bark Woof Woof says:
For the record, Howard Dean was not the first politico to refer to the Republicans as being an enclave of white Christians. That honor belongs to former Sen. John Danforth, Republican and Episcopal priest.
My advice to the Democrats who are backing water on Dr. Dean: you knew what you were getting, and there's nothing in what he's said that comes close to what the Republicans said about the Democrats in the past. There's no point in playing tit-for-tat, but at least get back some short-term memory...and some balls while you're at it.
Link to this post | posted by Mustang Bobby @ 7:46 AM
Posted by MB at June 10, 2005 04:04 PM