However, in an embarrassing moment for Dean earlier this year, he was caught exaggerating one story in an attempt to talk down the need for notification. During his speech to the annual NARAL dinner this January, Dean related a story about his days as a doctor:
“As many of you know I'm a doctor. I'm an internist, and I take care of all ages…one time a young lady came into my office who was 12 years old and she thought she might be pregnant. And we did the tests and did the exam and she was pregnant. She didn't know what to do. And after I had talked to her for a while I came to the conclusion that the likely father of her child was her own father. You explain that to the American people who think that parental notification is a good idea.”
Dean's problem? The story is false.
In an appearance on MSNBC's "Meet the Press" on June 22nd, host Tim Russert confronted Dean with the falsehood.
Russert: There's this article in USA Today: “Dean told a powerful story but left out a key fact. What Dean didn't say was that he knew the father was not responsible, someone else was convicted.” That's a pretty big omission.
Dean: I don't think it's -- omission. A pretty big omission, you mean?
Russert: Yeah. That’s a pretty -- to say that...
Dean: I don’t think it is at all.
Russert: To suggest her father may have been...
Dean: I thought it was. At the time, I thought it was.
Russert: But when you told that story, you knew otherwise.
Dean: That’s right.
Russert: Why didn’t you say that?
Dean: Because it didn’t make any difference.
Joanne Ciulla, a leadership and ethics professor at the University of Richmond, says Dean gave "the appearance of lying because he didn't reveal all the information."
I've been thinking about this Dean's Fable which you related. If he thought that a 12 year old was pregnant by her father, shouldn't it have been reported to authorities and shouldn't that girl been placed in foster care until it was determined that she could safely go home?
Wouldn't failure to follow through on his suspicions (of the time) have been criminal? So, he either never believed the story, even at the time, or he put that girl in what he would've thought was a harmful situation.
All of those nanny-government types who think he's the Messiah should be outraged.