"Dean's Rough Ride", and the reasons behind it.

[madfloridian]

It is nothing to do with not being right, it is everything to do with not being proper politically. It is good he wasn't during the campaign, and it is good now as well. If he acquires too much political "polish", then we lose someone who speaks clearly...not sticking his finger in the wind first to see how the wind is blowing.

Greider pointed out some vital facts last year in this article, he showed the media's glee, and he told why the party felt he just had to be put out of the way then. His ideas were controversial, out of the box. Greider did a good job on this.

Dean's Rough Ride

For the record, reporters and editors deny that this occurred. Privately, they chortle over their accomplishment. At the Washington airport I ran into a bunch of them, including some old friends from long-ago campaigns, on their way to the next contest after Iowa. So, I remarked, you guys saved the Republic from the doctor. Yes, they assented with giggly pleasure, Dean was finished--though one newsmagazine correspondent confided the coverage would become more balanced once they went after Senator Kerry. Only Paul Begala of CNN demurred. "I don't know what you're talking about," Begala said, blank-faced. Nobody here but us gunslingers.

Greider points out that one problem for the party was that Dean did not properly defer to party leaders. Another was the fact that his statements were not the customary brand of politics. This is an excellent critique with some rare statements by Dean...not often heard.

The party establishment, limp as it is, was correct to target Dean with tribal vengeance. From their narrow perspective, he represented a political Antichrist. The unvarnished way he talked. The glint of unfamiliar, breakthrough ideas in his speeches. His lack of customary deference to party elders (and to the media's own cockeyed definition of reality). What the insiders loathed are the same qualities many of us found exhilarating. I already feel nostalgia for his distinctive one-liners:

"Too many of our leaders have made a devil's bargain with corporate and wealthy interests, saying 'I'll keep you in power if you keep me in power.'"

"As long as half the world's population subsists on less than two dollars a day, the US will not be secure.... A world populated by 'hostile have-nots' is not one in which US leadership can be sustained without coercion."

"Over the last thirty years, we have allowed multinational corporations and other special interests to use our nation's government to undermine our nation's promise."

"There is something about human beings that corporations can't deal with and that's our soul, our spirituality, who we are. We need to find a way in this country to understand--and to help each other understand--that there is a tremendous price to be paid for the supposed efficiency of big corporations. The price is losing the sense of who we are as human beings."

"In our nation, the people are sovereign, not the government. It is the people, not the media or the financial system or mega-corporations or the two political parties, who have the power to create change."

He ends with a few pertinent comments, giving more insight into why it was all important..and still is.

"he confirmed the existence of an energetic, informed dissent within the husk of the Democratic Party"

"As Howard Dean's rough ride reminds, established power, including the media, will resist change tenaciously. But the doctor may yet be remembered as the herald of something new."

Yes, Mr. Greider, I think so, too.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

1. K&R;K&R When Rome burned, what did nero's supporters do?

The problem with Today's America is that both parties have some entrenched, self-satisfied, fat-cats who truly believe that "public service" is defined by how much you can take from the public before they are caught.

[Cha]

2. Dean's not a politician and that's

a compliment from what I've learned about politicians in the last 5 years. He's not the only one who is honest in today's atmosphere..there are others and I greatly admire them, too.

I bet those giggly reporters just hated to see Dean rise again..it's not like he went back to Vermont and obscurity..he came back to help us get back our country.

We need to take back the media from kingmakers.

Thanks, madfloridian for this article by William Greider..it's as relevant now as then.

[MrBenchley]

37. Dean's "not a politician"? Here on earth he sure as shit is....

And not just a politican but one that leans mildly toward the right....

"Dean insisted that all Vermont lawmakers should announce their position on a flag amendment before voters went to the polls in 2002. But as the Rutland Herald explained at the time, "Dean is not apparently holding himself to that standard. He refused to reveal his position on amending the U.S. Constitution banning flag desecration, noting coyly that he would not be a candidate in 2002.""

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/850.html

While he was governor of Vermont, his record of favors for IBM and other big businesses earned him a reputation as a "Rockefeller Republican"...

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/850.html

[MaineDem]

38. Of course he's a politician

The Press (and others) still treat him as if he is a Presidential candidate though. He's one of the most high-profile DNC Chairs in my memory.

[MrBenchley]

39. Mostly because he's a loose cannon who sometimes says dumb things

"He's one of the most high-profile DNC Chairs in my memory."
But having a high profile is one of the least important requirements for the job.

[MaineDem]

40. I'm not saying it was a requirement

He brought that with him to the job, coming as he did from the Presidential campaign. A detriment, in fact, I believe.

My point is that now most Americans know who the DNC chair is. In the past only political wonks could even name the person in that position. He's going to get a lot of press because of that - good and bad.

[MrBenchley]

41. Dean has a lot of strengths that make him a good DNC chair

I just wish he would put his brain in gear before he opens his potato trap....because sometimes he doesn't.

[madfloridian]

44. Some have their brain in constant attack mode.

And they like to do it on every single thread I post. It is getting pretty obvious, like hearing little crickets...chirping.

The words Howard Dean are the trigger, and here they come.

[Name removed]

45. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[dorktv]

55. I am sure you dislike Howard Dean. You do critic him an awful lot.

That is your right as an American. But frankly I am tired of hearing it. Why? Because tearing fellow Democrats down only plays in to the hands of the right. If you dislike something Gov. Dean says, please send him an email or a letter, a private communication. This way your voice is heard by someone who should hear it (the man in question) but it does not poison the DU, the public forum and it also shows Americans that Democrats can work together.

I do not like certain people in our Party. But if I have a problem with them, I tell them personally because it is better for America. We need to stop hurting each other and start hurting the Republicans who have ripped America apart.

I am sure you will mock me and ignore what I have to say but I had to request that you please keep the vitirol away from the public sphere. Thank you.

[Straight Shooter]

3. I carry a political torch for Howard Dean.

He was crucified by the media, and damn them all for attempting to destroy a good man and ultimately, perhaps, destroying America in the name of profit.

[NoFederales]

7. I knew the corporate media was pathetic, but what they did to Dean

in the political arena shook my sensibilites. Goddamn them all.

Here's to Howard Dean and a grassroots reckoning.:toast:

NoFederales

[Andromeda]

4. It really pains me when I see...

the pundits going after Howard Dean. Almost like they want him to pay some kind of penance for the sin of being outspoken.

He doesn't play fair, they say. He's not politically correct, that's true, but when you have to wake people up wimpy words are not going to get people's attention.

It's a hierarchy and if you're low man on the totem pole you must ask permission to speak. :) Dean just dispensed with the formalities, rode roughshod over their petty sensibilities and blurted out the truth.

[AuntiBush]

6. He Commands Their Attention, Though... Doesn't he!?!

Yes, Dr. Dean does. How does the ole' adage go... "It's when they STOP talking about you..."

They do not stop now, do they. :)

Proud supporter of Dr. Dean.

[Andromeda]

28. Nobody can ignore Dean!

If they do, they do so at their own peril. :)

[Cha]

8. And on the other hand...

freakin' bush gets on and says "Bring It On."..getting soldiers killed in the process and the media and punditshitheads talk about something else.

And that's not the only thing that bush has massacred but that's probably one of the most egregious..not to mention all his pounding and lying for the invasion of Iraq.

[Andromeda]

29. Bush is a legend in his own mind.

The whole thing is madness and has gotten so out of control, historians are going to look back at the Bush years and shake their heads in wonderment that the American people could be duped so badly.

The Bush administration is a train wreck.

[chaumont58]

5. I like Gov Dean and I will continue to like Governor Dean

He is the one politician I would support for president with real glee. I don't give a shit if he isn't the smoothest talker. Harry Truman wasn't either. Governor Dean has the best heart and the best mind.

The whores don't like him and the establishment doesn't like him. But, by God, I do. For my money, that's all that counts.

[Cha]

9. Amen, chaumont!

:toast: to Dean and the New Year..2006, may it be filled with truth.

[lyonn]

20. Speaking of money, he got most his campaign $$ from us

meaning, we the people, rather than the corps. It surprised even Dean when he started campaigning that he got so much attention, crowds and dollars, after all, who knew him at that point. Word spread quickly that he had something to say.

[peacetalksforall]

10. I'll take someone who goes a little over the line than thousands who

are so politically careful that they say nothing. We all know them - words come out, but there is not much there - hackneyed bites - so afraid to offend and appear like a person whose passion parallels the crises.

And we know how many crises Dick and George have arranged for us.

The latest - an imbecile of an Attorney General whose out to jail the barn door.

[bemildred]

11. Dean speaks for me.

That's what democracy is all about.

[Capn Sunshine]

12. This is a reason Newspapers are losing readership

Those who supported Howard Dean are the same ones that read newspapers religiously, often more than one. After being personally involved in the Dean campaign, many learned some valuable lessons; one of the most telling was that we all discovered the media is unreliable, whored out to corporate interests, and rarely contains actual news any more.

We get that off the net, and if the rest are like me, we don't need the papers any more, especially since the stories that are important to us rarely see print.

[Gloria]

13. This is the reason Clark is ignored, esp. today....he says things

that the media and his own party don't want to hear. Brownstein, NPR in the last few days ...pointedly ignore Clark.

I still like Dean and hope he doesn't get taken down by "the party." However, I'd rather have him out and free to speak his mind than compromising his style....which I doubt he will do (fingers crossed he doesn't).

[Andromeda]

30. Dean is strong and does have...

very strong support from the grassroots. He's just not too popular with the establishment Dems.

It sounds like Clark is probably experiencing some of the same kind of treatment. I don't see either Clark or Dean changing their styles just to suit the powers that be.

[madfloridian]

14. Some ideas he had that I did not know about.

More from the article.

Dean's best lines--evocative suggestions rather than explicit policy pronouncements--were not widely reported. In his brisk, scattered manner, he was talking about power, inviting people to contemplate the deteriorated condition of our democracy, expressing his solidarity with their skepticism and alienation. Audiences responded, but this sort of talk was too soft and allusive to constitute "news." Dean's style was indeed "hot"--"angry," the reporters said--but they simply couldn't deal with his reflective side; it didn't fit the caricature.

Nor did they take much interest in concrete ideas, unless a rival accused him of heresy. Dean called for a labeling law for mutual funds--full disclosure on the fees they charge investors. He wanted a Fannie Mae for small business. And a national commission on how to restore democracy--no politicians allowed. He wanted to confront the concentration of oversized corporations and break up media conglomerates. In addition to full financial disclosure by corporations, Dean called for full social accounting: "Why shouldn't companies be accountable to investors and the public on other important matters like environmental standards and labor relations? Knowledge is power."

I never heard of those things, though we closely followed the campaign.

[Cha]

19. "Knowledge Is Power"!, baby! That's

why I'm glad Al Gore invented the internet ;)..otherwise all we would be is at the mercy of the corporate media 24/7/365.

[WhereThereIsFire]

52. Others conceived it, Gore nurtured it into growth ...

much overlooked during the 2000 election (can we say BURIED) was the fact that the 2 men who in fact "conceived" the fetal version of the internet did in fact DECLARE in PUBLIC that they believed Al Gore to be the "father of the internet" since he in everyway put the pieces together legislatively to make it fly for the general public. I've gone back and read ALL the hearing that Gore had on the topic, while in Congress, and they were miles ahead of anybody else. If those who developed the seeds of it can credit Al with true parenthood ... hopefully history will dig far enough (hey, NOBODY reporting looks very far these days ... but maybe in the future) to see that we can have this blog today MOSTLY thanks to the hard work of Al Gore.

[w13rd0]

15. Howard Dean is THE reason...

...I registered as a Democrat, and the reason I've not completely given up on the whole concept of my individual actions making a difference.

[Burried News]

16. Howard Dean speaks for me. Thanks for all you've done Howard.

[Lugnut]

17. I'm sick of "properly political".

I've had enough of pols who base their message on the way the wind is blowing at the time. Howard Dean speaks for me because he tells it like it is and doesn't defer to anyone. His refusal to join the business-as-usual crowd is exactly what I admire about him.

[radio4progressives]

18. Excellent Post ! K&R

:applause: :toast: :applause:

[eridani]

21. And why is is that the Repubs never have to apologize for their whackjobs?

Every time Dean criticizes a Repub, there is always some DLC hack or pundit to chime in about how "Dean doesn't really speak for the party." When the creepiest rightwing hacks mouth off about how liberals should all be shot, where are they? Why aren't they demanding that the Repub mainstream dissociate itself from that nonsense?

[Andromeda]

33. That's a good point.

A VERY good point. The Republican party sure has more than their share of whackjobs.

[dorktv]

56. Because no one demands that we back each other up.

I am tired of it. I hate some people in the party but frankly that is something that I can talk privately about. No tearing each other down in public.

[Time for change]

22. Very interesting -- This really hits a chord

I very much hope that Greider is right.

Those quotes by Dean that you display above are truly revolutionary. They are too much for even many of our Democratic leaders to stomach.

I don't understand, though, why those reporters would feel so gleeful about destroying him. Even if his message was too far left for them, at least one would think that they would have the decency to feel guilty about it.

[madfloridian]

23. 'I'll keep you in power if you keep me in power.'"

That one statement I remember, I have the source somewhere in my vast research on this. My hubby looked at me that day and said, oh, boy, the usual suspects won't be happy about that one.

And they weren't. Actually those things are not really that far left, they are just controversial because implementing ideas like that would mean change no one is ready to handle.

[Time for change]

43. But I think it realy IS very far left

Dean is talking about the great divide between our representatives doing what they need to do to keep themselves in power, vs. doing what they need to do to truly represent their constituents, including their powerless constituents. I think that that's almost the definition (in these times anyhow) of the separation between left and right.

[stickdog]

24. In the words of John Kerry: "Dean, Dean, Dean, Dean, Dean, Dean, ..."

[FogerRox]

25. DR DEAN is the new Sheriff in town

I am DFA-- my man is now chair of the DNC

its called a coup or is it coupe-- no thats a car-- well you know what I mean

[madfloridian]

26. I found the source of the "hostile 'have-nots' quote...

It was from a speech he gave before the Council of Foreign Relations on June 25, 2003.

"Third, we must recognize the importance of spreading the benefits of economic growth as widely as possible. The growth of multinational corporations and the globalization of the economy have helped create wealth and economic growth. But we must make certain that people in the developing world are full and equal beneficiaries in this growth and are not marginalized by it.

As long as half the world's population subsists on less than $2 a day, the U.S. will not be secure. Poor states and failed states provide breeding grounds for disease as well as recruits and safe havens for terrorists. A world populated by "hostile have-nots" is not one in which U.S. leadership can be sustained without coercion.

We want a trade and development policy that does not enrich the minority but will empower the majority."

I was very impressed by what he said about Bush's failed foreign policy this early in his candidacy.

In recent months, I have traveled across the country and found a nation deeply troubled about the direction of U.S. national security policy today.

Americans do not understand how we could have squandered the precious opportunity we had after September 11 to unite the world in opposition to the likes of Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda.

They are concerned that international support for the war against terror is waning and, along with it, admiration and support for the United States.

They are confused that elections in countries long allied to us such as Germany and South Korea are now being decided on the basis of which candidate is more willing to stand up to oppose American policies.

http://www.crocuta.net/Dean/Transcript_of_Foreign_Policy_Speech_at_DC_June25_2003.htm

[Wordie]

27. K&R...this post reminds me of how angry I was when the media skewered him.

I think Dean is a great benefit to the Dems. I hope he keeps speaking out.

[yurbud]

31. How can we stop the corporate take down of next Dean?

If they hadn't done it with the scream, they might have resorted to more severe methods, but that episode gave me the sickening feeling that those who don't defer to corporate interests can only climb so far up the ladder of power, regardless of how many people agree with their ideas.

I hope Howard has another shot at the presidency in him, but whether he does or not, we have to figure out how to neutralize that kind of media assassination.

I always thought the best way for Dean to deal with that scream thing would be to do as many interviews about it as possible, laugh, admit it sounded goofy--then ask the interviewer to show him how to do it right.

And it wouldn't hurt to mention that Bush was a cheerleader at Andover and Yale, and it didn't seem to help his abilities as president.

[autorank]

32. Dean kept his word. People will remember. Great quotes.

He said that the party had to pay more attention to the South. He got elected and headed south. I think he was in MS, AL and TN at least. That's what people down there remember, Dean showed up. My understanding is that he's done a lot of work around the country with the locals. Good for him. He probably knows more than the DC in-crowd.

My two sticking points are that he let the Mandarins at DNC roll him on the Ohio report. 1/2 good is not nearly good enough when you address suppression but leave out election fraud. In addition, he's got to do something about the Dem party in Ohio. They're ready for some form of "receivership." They are weak where we need a, ummm...Dean!

The in-crowd in DC is pathetic. They think that they and their progeny are the only ones who can be smart and successful. This is an odd belief, sort of eugenics lite. Yet it prevails. When Clinton showed up form Arkansas and it was ABUNDANTLY clear that he was brighter than any three beltway insiders, they had to strike. He countered the myth that the right preschool through college track would put you in the in-crowd. So they trashed him, made fun of his rural roots. He's still smarter than any three or ten of them. Dean has a very specific quality DC insiders lack. The guy can get a crowd going: it's called charisma and it's through his rhetorical gift. He just says great stuff, like these quotes. Well, most of these insiders can't get their pets excited let alone a political crowd. In addition, Dean's very bright and quick, something sorely lacking in DC on both sides of the aisle. So, they do what they always do, ask questions that are really veiled insults and create a myth about the man to marginalize him.

It won't work. The DC insiders, professional professionals, are being eviscerated by their willful neglect of the very issues discussed by Dean in the quotations.

I'm not worried about Dean and I hope he comes the other 50% to full born populism. The Mandarins, on the other hand, should be worried. What good are the handmaidens to the ruling elite when every judgment is useless because it is so idiotic.

[Kurovski]

34. Howard Dean rising above the horseshit

is one of 2005's few blessings.

[formercia]

35. Better Howard Dean than Timmy Roemer

Just think what a different world this would be if Roemer had been elected head of the DNC. My friends, that election may have been the turning point in the fight against Fearless Leader and his bunch of cronies.

If Howard Dean had been the Democratic Candidate, he would have lost, in fact anyone would have lost because the election was rigged. He would have been damaged goods, but having lost in the primaries, he comes out unsullied. The 'boys' did us a favor, now Howard is pissed, we are all pissed and there is going to be hell to pay in 2006.

[Wordie]

42. "Howard is pissed, we are all pissed...hell to pay in 2006."

That sums it up about as well as anything I've read.

And your points about the advantages of the loss are interesting ones, too. I'm glad Howard is where he is right now, I think we'll see the advantages of that in 2006.

(OMG, day after tomorrow, it will already be 2006!)

[formernaderite]

36. reading his comments brought tears to these old eyes....

I fucking hate the press...and most of all:

The status quo democratic political establishment, that called in their press dogs. The media isn't liberal....but it is part of the democratic political establishment...it's time we understand the difference.

[rniel]

46. To all Dean critics

Lead, follow, or get the fuck out of the way

[realFedUp]

47. "the herald of something new"

and much needed in this country.

God bless you and yours Doc.

[Tom Rinaldo]

48. Yes. Excellent points. Dean isn't "owned" like most of them.

I liked Howard then, I liked him when he ran for DNC Chair, and I like Howard now. I consider it a very important victory that Dean won that post, because I knew traditional Party "leaders" weren't backing him.

[pat_k]

49. Dean engaged citizens in a new way. That was the threat, not his ideas.

Greider "gets it," but he still puts too much emphasis on Dean, the man and his positions, as the entity that had to be stopped.

Dean's positions or "the issues" he raised weren't the threat. It was the way the core message of his campaign, "You Have the Power," manifested itself in his supporters.

For reasons we may never fully understand, people attracted to his campaign were inspired to DO SOMETHING. They did not just send money or respond to top down requests; they acted independently.

As loosely-connected individuals and groups acted, and saw real effects of their actions, they attracted others. People have a powerful need to be effective. Involvement in the campaign was meeting that need -- and was attracting others. People were being transformed through the "do it yourself" stance of the Dean Meetups that enabled them to internalize the "you have the power" message. The numbers were increasing exponentially.

If "the people" became more than an entity that was manipulated by the "professionals," politics as they know it would cease to exist.

That is what had to be stopped.

Amateurs/citizens could not be allowed to REALLY get involved. And the full force of the existing system came down to crush the "The Dean People."

When they crushed the Dean campaign, they believed they would crush us. But, the "do it yourself" people, whether they were Dean supporters or not, have not been crushed. Our numbers may not be growing as quickly as they did in the heat of the Presidential campaign, but they are growing.

[madfloridian]

50. That is what Greider meant by this:

"As Howard Dean's rough ride reminds, established power, including the media, will resist change tenaciously. But the doctor may yet be remembered as the herald of something new."

[HR_Pufnstuf]

51. "The glint of unfamiliar, breakthrough ideas in his speeches"

Howard listens to the people, not the corpses.

[xchrom]

53. k & r

[Kurovski]

54. Kick(nt)

[guidod]

57. The Dems need Dean right now.

He is the most honest politician I've seen. The media called it a scream, I call it a focused roar.