YEEEEEEAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!
Posted on 05/24/2005 6:04:02 PM PDT by CHARLITE
On Sunday, May 22nd, 2005, Howard Dean was interviewed by Tim Russert on NBC's 'Meet The Press.' The following is a collection of Dean quotes (*) taken from the transcript of that broadcast, interlaced with my rebuttals to the DNC Chairman's statements.
* "If the filibuster is gotten rid of, the extended debate is gotten rid of in the Senate"
A filibuster is not a debate, in fact, it's the antithesis of debate. Debating occurs when two or more parties argue the merits of their positions with respect to a particular subject or group of subjects. During a filibuster, one side talks endlessly, while the other side is barred from speaking entirely. Heck, it's not even required that these filibastards stick to the subject over which they're filibustering!
* "The president has a Social Security plan, which is kind of out there."
And if anyone would know about being "out there", it would be Howard (here's my impression of a banshee) Dean. But the good doctor's personality quirks aside, at least Bush HAS a plan, unlike the Democrats.
* "He basically wants to turn over Social Security to the same kind of people who gave us Enron."
Allowing people to voluntarily invest a small percentage of their own money into the stock market, does not equate to turning over the entire Social Security system to anyone. It's more than a little hypocritical of Dr. Dean to complain about giving people a choice to do with their money what the Democrat lawmakers for which he speaks have been doing for nearly 20 years... investing in personal retirement accounts. (see federal Thrift Savings Plan - http://www.tsp.gov)
* "Privatization is something the America people don't support by a very large margin."
Actually, since the early '90s, upwards of 80 percent of people under the age of 35 (who have the most to gain by investing in personal retirement accounts) have consistently supported the partial privatization of Social Security. In addition, polls that involved people of every age group have exhibited that between 60 and 70 percent of all Americans support some form of partial privatization.
* "The problem with this, frankly, for the Republicans, is, first of all, Congress is at its lowest popularity rating since - actually since 1993 when we were in power."
Of course Congress is unpopular. People tend to dislike obstructionist weasels who mindlessly oppose everything the majority party proposes.
* "But the truth is, as an American, it's better when parties share power."
Funny how the Democrats didn't think that way when they controlled Congress.
* "When the Republicans were in power, they kept a much larger percentage of President Clinton's nominees to the bench."
Uh, the Republicans are STILL IN POWER, schmuck! That's why they get to decide who who gets voted on and who doesn't.
* "You can't cut the minority, especially if the minority is a very large one like 48 percent, totally out of everything."
But apparently it's ok for that same 48 percent to cut the majority out whenever they feel like it.
* "It's a matter of checks and balances."
No, it's a matter of winners versus losers... or should I say winners versus whiners?
* "Right now the Republicans control everything except for this group of Democrats in the Senate who do raise issues about these particular 10 judges who we don't think are qualified to sit on the bench."
It just so happens that these particular 10 judges are up for positions on the highest federal courts in the land, short of the Supreme Court itself. That is exactly why Democrats won't allow any of them to get a vote on the Senate floor. They know that all of them would be confirmed if voted on, and that the left-wing's hold on these courts would be jeopardized. The excuse they are using to defend their filibusters can be compared to that of a chess player who takes an extra turn every time his opponent gets close to checkmating him... well, I only do it when my king is threatened. Otherwise I play by the same rules as the other guy. Now the Republicans have decided that it's about time they took an extra turn themselves, and the Democrats are absolutely livid over the prospect.
* "He [Tom Delay] hasn't been convicted yet, but he is also, in addition to the things that I just mentioned, under investigation in Texas by a district attorney down there for violating the campaign finance laws of Texas by funneling corporate donations, which is illegal, into certain campaign activities. This gentleman is not an ethical person, and he ought not to be leading Congress, period."
So even though Delay hasn't been convicted of anything, he should be thrown out of office? This from the man who once proclaimed that Osama Bin Laden should not be presumed guilty until his complicity in the atrocities of 9/11 has been proved in a court of law.
* "The last president - the only president in the last 35 years to balance the budget was Bill Clinton, a Democrat. You can't trust Republicans with your money."
Bill Clinton had little to do with balancing the federal budget. The Republican-controlled Congress, lead by Newt Gingrich, was responsible for that. Before Newt and company came along, Democrats ran the show, and for 30 years they failed to balance a single budget.
* "There are also some other things that people have, including Democrats, have put forward [regarding Social Security] that the president has rejected out of hand... Such as raising the cap. Right now the Social Security tax is only on the first, I think, about $85,000 worth of wages."
Again we see that the only solution liberals can come up with is raising taxes.
* "Well, the president has said that he only - that's why we don't come up with a plan, because whatever plan we come up with, the president is just going to say, 'Oh, we're not going to do that, we're not going to do this.'"
So Democrats haven't come up with a plan, other than to raise taxes, because the president will be against their plan, even though he hasn't heard it... because it doesn't exist.
* "But I don't hate Republicans as individuals."
Gee, he didn't seem to feel that way last January, when he remarked "I hate the Republicans and everything they stand for."
* "But the thing that really bothered me the most, which the 9-11 Commission said also wasn't true, is the insinuation that the president continues to make to this day that Osama bin Laden had something to do with supporting terrorists that attacked the United States. That is false. The 9-11 Commission, chaired by a Republican, said it was false. Is it wrong to send people to war without telling them the truth. And the truth was Osama bin Laden was a very bad person who was doing terrible things, but that Iraq was never a threat to the United States."
Assuming that Dean is actually talking about Saddam Hussein, and not the Al-Qaeda leader who masterminded the worst terrorist attacks in history, what the members of the 9/11 Commission said was that they had found no evidence of the former Iraqi dictator being involved in the planning or financing of the atrocities of that September morning in 2001. Bush has never stated that Saddam Hussein was involved in that conspiracy. What he has said, which is undeniably true, is that Saddam was a supporter of terrorists for many years, and that Al-Qaeda operatives were living in Iraq prior to 9/11. Furthermore, just because we haven't found evidence that Saddam was involved in the infamous plot to kill thousands of innocent Americans, doesn't mean he wasn't.
* "The Rush Limbaugh comment was one that I made about Rush Limbaugh, and I also said something about Bill O'Reilly. The problem is not that these folks have problems. They do, and they have problems in the case of a drug addiction. That's a medical problem. And I respect those who clearly, in my profession, who are trying to overcome their problems."
Just to give you an idea of how much respect Dr. Dean has for people with addiction problems, here's what he said at an ACLU event in Minnesota. "I can see that quote coming out already - hey, did you see what Dean said - Rush Limbaugh - bla bla bla... pardon me - bla bla bla - sniff (Dean pantomimes snorting drugs) - bla bla bla - not very dignified, but I'm not running for president anymore."
NOTE: Clicking on the following link opens a video clip of the Fox News television program 'The O'Reilly Factor', which includes audio of Dean's remarks. http://treyjackson.net/files/rldean.wmv
* "Hypocrisy is a value that I think has been embraced by the Republican Party. We get lectured by people all day long about moral values by people who have their own moral shortcomings."
So by Howard Dean's way of thinking, anyone who is imperfect should never speak out about immorality. Well, since everyone in the world is imperfect, I guess no one has the right to condemn things like lying and adultery. I'm sure Bill Clinton will be glad to hear that.
* "Everybody has ethical shortcomings. We ought not to lecture each other about our ethical shortcomings."
Unless, of course, we're lecturing people about the ethical shortcomings of Tom Delay.
* "I'm not going to be lectured as a Democrat - we've got some pretty strong moral values in my party..."
Yes, like the values underlying abortion on demand, the appeasement of vicious dictators and terrorists, and the relentless denigration of Christianity.
* "I'm not advocating we change our position [on abortion]. I believe that a woman has a right to make up her own mind about what kind of health care she gets, and I think Democrats believe that in general."
Health care? What does that have to do with killing an unborn child?
* "I don't know anybody in either party who is pro-abortion."
I guess he's never met Nancy Pelosi then. She, like the majority of Democrats in Congress, has voted no on criminalizing the harming of a fetus during the commission of another crime, on banning partial-birth abortions, on funding doctors who don't provide abortion information to their patients, and on outlawing the act of transporting minors across state lines for the purpose of getting an abortion.
http://www.ontheissues.org/CA/Nancy_Pelosi.htm
* "You know that abortions have gone up 25 percent since George Bush was president?"
So has the price of gasoline, and that's not his fault either.
* "There is common ground between us and pro-life Democrats, and we ought to find that common ground."
And just what would that common ground be? Here's a compromise position for you... liberals get to kill unborn babies, but only the ones they think will grow up to be evil Republicans!
* "The Democrats, one of our biggest faults is that we want to tell you everything. We want to tell you every last detail about everything we know."
I have a feeling that if someone were to write a book titled "Everything Democrats Know", it would be about as thick as the one titled "Michael Moore's Guide To Permanent Weight Loss."
* "As it turns out the Schiavo case will probably be the turning point about our ability to make our case to Americans about the incredible invasiveness of Republicans when it comes to making personal private decisions."
The Schiavo case wasn't about a personal, private choice, it was about the judicial branch of government deciding that the disputed testimony of an adulterous husband was somehow evidence enough to justify starving a disabled woman to death.
* "My philosophy is actually there's no such thing as a red state and a blue state. There are purple states."
Tell that to the people of states like Utah, Idaho or Nebraska. They haven't voted for a Democratic presidential candidate in over 40 years.
* "Well, first of all, he's [Representative Bernie Sanders] not a socialist, really."
Bernie Sanders has stated on more than one occasion that he is a socialist.
* "He is basically a liberal Democrat..."
Right... a SOCIALIST!
* "I think the difference between me and John Bolton - I don't know John Bolton personally, but from what I've read in the newspapers, he doesn't seem to respect anybody who disagrees with him."
Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. Is this guy seriously suggesting that HE respects people who disagree with him? If contempt for Republicans was an Olympic event, Howard Dean would have more gold medals than Mark Spitz! I don't know what planet doctor deference here thinks he's on, but speaking on behalf of Earth people everywhere, I strongly suggest that he seek psychotherapy for his current state of mental delusion as soon as possible. Edward Daley
Edward L. Daley is the Editor of the Daley Times-Post.com
I saw him and agree with both yours and Morris's assessments. However, even with his serious (And almost laughable) liabilities I would still rather deal with him on the talk show circuit than his predecessor, McAuliffe. He was just insufferable IMO.
It's amazing that Thing could ever get into power.
The word that best applies to self aggrandizing loons like Dean is "unhinged," a polite way of saying "completely off his rocker."
It is the same as using the word "eccentric" for crazy rich people.
Apparently, his crushing defeat in the primaries by loser Kerry has caused him to flip out.
Maybe Rush can reuse the "they're coming to take me away, ha ha" song parody that he used for Perot and apply it to Dean.
I think Rush is right. Early onset of altzheimers, we need to see your medical records Dr Dean!
So the Democrats have Dean and the Republicans have McCain. Guess there is balance in there somewhere.
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