Nixon aide: Kerry not too swift (John Dean: '23% of America is Protofascist')

The Boston Herald ^ | July 23, 2006 | Dave Wedge

[new yorker 77]

Sen. John Kerry’s 2004 presidential hopes were sunk when he buckled under to “authoritarian” conservatives hellbent on smearing his military record as part of a larger “proto-facist” movement, says a former top White House aide whose testimony helped sink Richard Nixon during the Watergate scandal.

John Dean, a Republican who served as Nixon’s top counsel, said Kerry slipped up during the 2004 campaign against President Bush by not suing the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth when they published a book calling into question the Bay State senator’s Vietnam service.

“What most surprised me is that Kerry never did anything with the Swift boat attacks,” Dean said. “He waited so long, it was shocking. I thought he should have brought a defamation action against them and he would have succeeded.”

Dean compared the situation to a suit brought by the late Sen. Barry Goldwater following his failed 1964 run for president. Goldwater won a lawsuit against a magazine that published a poll of psychiatrists who said he was “crazy.”

Dean was in Boston this week promoting his new book, “Conservatives Without Conscience,” a harsh indictment of the current GOP power structure that paints Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and other top party leaders as dangerous “authoritarians” who have ignored the ideology’s founding tenets.

“About 23 percent of the American people are authoritarian conservatives,” Dean said. “It’s proto-fascist behavior. While we’re not a fascist nation, we’re too close (for) comfort. I’m trying to warn people.”

Dean, who fired his first salvo at the Bush White House with his last book, “Worse Than Watergate,” slams the administration on the war in Iraq, accuses officials of fear-mongering and criticizes Cheney’s opposition to a congressional measure to ban torture.

Asked what he thinks the president would have to say about his book, Dean said: “He doesn’t read books. He has trouble reading his one-sheet summary papers.”

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

I think he has a point as the source for much of the Swift Boat Veterans information was a complete liar named John Kerry. However I don't think you can sue someone for repeating or exposing your lies so Kerry didn't have much of a case.

[goldstategop]

I read his book. He describes himself as a conservative who wants to rescue his party from the ultra-right wing, power-hungry sociopaths masquerading as conservatives who've taken it over. I don't see myself as such an individual. Does any one else on this thread buy his self-characterization and his depiction of us? Me thinks Dean doth protest too much.

(Go Israel, Go! Slap 'Em, Down Hezbullies.)

[coon2000]

I wish Kerry would just shut the eff up.

[Moby Grape]

Dean is not a proto-moron...he is a complete 100% moron.

[TruthShallSetYouFree]

“What most surprised me is that Kerry never did anything with the Swift boat attacks,” Dean said. “He waited so long, it was shocking. I thought he should have brought a defamation action against them and he would have succeeded.”

IT ISN'T DEFAMATION IF IT'S TRUE!

[bboop]

Another protofascist checking in. Sling the mud, you libs. It's your only weapon.

[GeorgefromGeorgia]

WHINE ALERT! Dean had is 15 minutes of fame, and he's going for 30.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

'23% of America is Protofascist'

I would agree. I think we would disagree on who they were as I would include Dean, the other Dean, Kerry, the other Kerry and all the Kennedy's under that banner.

[CaptRon]

Hey John, how's Mo doing? Didn't I see her in PLayboy?

[Brilliant]

John Dean is a felon.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Apparently he relies on writing books for a living.

Actually I think it came out during the lawsuit between him and G. Gordon Liddy that he does not even write the books that appear under his name.

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

So if you are for truth, integrity, freedom, personal responsibility, lawfulness, and limited government you are a "proto-fascist"? Actually, it is Dean and the others who believe in the reverse of these values who are the fascists.

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

Ditto. My fave steaming pile of his had to be Kerry's hilarious back pedaling when his story about how President Elect Nixon sent him into Cambodia on Christmas unraveled. After all it was seared into his memory.

[Always Right]

John Dean, a Republican who served as Nixon’s top counsel, said Kerry slipped up during the 2004 campaign against President Bush by not suing the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth when they published a book calling into question the Bay State senator’s Vietnam service.

One word....Disclosure.

[Just A Nobody]

Kerry slipped up during the 2004 campaign against President Bush by not suing the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth

PING!

[norwaypinesavage]

"Apparently he relies on writing books for a living."

Not very good at it, is he.

[Always Right]

One word....Disclosure.

Kerry still hasn't signed and submitted his SF-180.

[Congressman Billybob]

It is not just Democrats who can go politically senile in the twilight of their careers. Jack Murtha is Exhibit A. John Dean is Exhibit B.

In both instances, the individual became publicly irrelevant, not in the abstract, but markedly less than he thought he was entitled to. Both discovered, probably by accident because neither is the sharpest tool in the shed, that if they said bizarre things contrary to the tenets of their party, the press would start paying attention to them.

Then, they made the classic error of mistaking attention (and ridicule) for agreement. They thought they were "somebody" again. And so they were -- but as sideshow freaks.

Did I miss anything?

P.S. Interested in a Freeper in Congress? Keep in touch with me.

Congressman Billybob

Latest article: "Stupidity about WW III: 'Here's your Sign' "

Please see a new statement on running for Congress, here.

[goldstategop]

It ocurred to me on reading his book, that the very things he accuses conservatives of, liberals are guilty of to a T. They are the true authoritarian protofascists in this country. But you'll never see John Dean write a book exposing them for who they really are. But I forgot; Michelle Malkin has already covered ground here Dean has overlooked.

(Go Israel, Go! Slap 'Em, Down Hezbullies.)

[stevem]

Is a proto-fascist similar to a metro-sexual?

Worse Than Watergate

Something tells me this book hasn't and won't sell like an Ann Coulter book.