Give Bigotry a Chance
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We almost mentioned Howard Dean’s take yesterday on the Not Ground Zero Not Mosque. We ultimately didn’t, because we found more pressing amusements to attend to. Then, having closed the posting day with Christopher Walken performing the Lady Gaga songbook, we sat down to the Keith Olbermann Dinnertime Rant Hour.
And, well, lost it.
Rather than churn out Yet Another Yard of Profound Discourse on Significant Issues of the Day — dear gawd, we’ve been a chatterbox this week — we’ll just throw you to the wolves with this clip of Mr. Dean immolating himself on basic cable last night.
Yes, we know he’s a private citizen now, with no official or party responsibilities, and only speaks for himself. But it’s not that OMG Howard Dean Said Something Stupid!!!, it’s that what he said is so reflective of what Democrats with official responsibilities do.
They cave.
For all the right reasons, of course.
It’s a stunningly disgraceful performance, made more so by being masked in gentle words of amelioration. Mr. Dean, you do not negotiate with bigots. You defend to the death their right to impassioned demagoguery, and then go down and meet them with baseball bats.
Why I back a mosque compromise [Howard Dean/Salon]
Worse than the Scream.
I can’t even be bothered to watch the clip because I can see this coming any time they ask a nominal Democrat anything about the community center.
What’s clear from it is that none of these people: the politicians, nor the TV producers who book them, appear to know any actual Muslims.
If he really wanted to sing in key with Newt, he should have gone off on the rant, blaming the ‘fucking frogs, who could have cleaned this up at the battle of Tours and chased these fuckers back to the peninsula and slit all their fucking throats before they got the fuck out of hand’
Oh dear. Is he turning into Jesse Jackson? He also compared this ‘compromise’ with deciding on civil unions for Vermont. Proving once again that the gays are as dangerous as the terrorists.
@Signal to Noise: The big disappointment, for me at least, is that Howard Dean was always the guy who would seemingly speak truth to power. Even as head of the DNC. Even when he was breaking with Hopey.
And as for what real Muslins think, Ma Nabisco is one, and thinks (a) it is a stoopid idea to try and build a community center so close to GZ simply because it is like poking the monster in the eye with a stick, and (b) there are many many more important stories the press should be covering. Like the Clements indictment not-withdrawal of troops from Eye-Rak.
Infuriating. Absolutely infuriating.
The terrorists hate us for our values, so we’re going to throw our values aside?
Nice fucking country we have here.
When you’re over at the Book of Faces, stop by Dean’s page and bitch slap him, please.
P.S. That an ad for Michele Bachmann comes up w/ this post tells you all you need to know about how fucking stupid this is.
I put all my political capital as a former state Democratic Party official on the line for this guy back in 2004. I saw him in a little coffee shop off the Plaza here and connected with his message. I later introduced him at an appearance in Santa Fe the day before our state caucuses and served on his national Native American advisory team. His failed campaign drove me out of politics, yet I still admired him greatly. I got him to autograph a yard sign for me in the summer of 2008, which along with seeing Hope and Change live in a community college basketball gym were the high points of the campaign.
I am so disappointed.
@redmanlaw: Hard to explain.
@Dodgerblue: On a somewhat different cultural axis, it reminds me of when Neil Young had good things to say about President Raygun.
@Walking Still: I attributed that to drug use.
@redmanlaw: I bet you are.
@redmanlaw: I am so disappointed too. I thought he was one of the few who (a) had a spine and (b) spoke truth to power like Manchu said.
Can’t believe that Michael Bloomberg is becoming about the only person with any character and honesty on this.
The only good thing I can see coming out of this mess is that *maybe* it will remind the whinier progressives that the alternative to Black Eagle is a gang of howling fascists.
But even that’s not for sure…
@al2o3cr: It would help if the “alternative” to the fascists would stop behaving like Good Germans.
@SanFranLefty: Michael Bloomberg and Ted Olsen, of all people. Olsen, who lost his wife on 9/11, was a hell of a lot stronger in support of the Bill of Rights than the entire Democratic leadership and Dr. Dean, whom I also once admired. Odd that two people who have been far more directly affected by the terrorist attacks are more open-minded and tolerant than those who watched at a distance and now feel they have to cowboy up.
@al2o3cr: @Walking Still: Exactly. If all you’re going to do is buckle and kowtow to the fascists, what the hell good are you?
It’s called a spine, people. Look into it.
I was one of those guys who called themselves Deaniacs back in the 2004 campaign.
It saddened me to see him last night. Not much to add.
I saw this last night and found my self screaming at the screen. again.
“YES, 60-70% ARE OPPOSED TO IT BECAUSE THE HAVE BEEN SPOON FED MISINFORMATION”
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