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Journal pudge's Journal: Howard Dean 15

Journal by pudge

It amazes me that anyone respects this guy.

He can't keep his story straight on any major issue. He was for NAFTA, now he's against it. Against Medicare, now for it. For tax cuts, now against them. Against death penalty, now for it.

He's not a thinker, he's a dullard. His views on the death penalty are adequate proof. He was against the death penalty because it is possible to make mistakes in convictions, and because people can be rehabilitated. But now he is for the death penalty in cases of terrorism and child abuse. Does he actually believe that in such cases, mistakes cannot be made? If he does, he is a dullard; if he doesn't, then he is pandering. Neither option is attractive to me. And who says terrorists and child abusers can't be rehabilitated, but serial killers can? Who decides this, and based on what?

His view on gay marriage is similarly obtuse. He supports civil unions because it is the right of all people to have such rights, yadda yadda yadda. But he opposes gay marriage, because "it's the church's business to decide who they can marry and who they can't marry." The interviewer replies, but the government decides who they can marry and who they can't marry. Dean responds, "We have civil unions in Vermont," his equivalent to, "this one goes to 11."

And he's a jackass to boot. In the recent debate, Dick Gephardt (quite correctly) said that Dean sided with Newt Gingrich's plan in regard to Medicare. Dean's response? "Don't compare me to Newt Gingrich. No one deserves to be compared to Newt Gingrich."

First off, regardless of what you think of Gingrich, he's not Hitler, and a comparison, when linked to a specific issue, is not an affront to a reasonable person. Second, Gephardt didn't compare Dean to Gingrich. Third, Dean sounds like a whiny little baby. Dude, grow up. Who frelling cares who he compared you to? You might as well say, "Dick's touching me! Stop touching me! I'm telling! MOM!"

I have to think that most of the people who like Dean haven't seen him in one-on-one interviews (such as two on Meet the Press and one on This Week) and the debates, where he just sounds horrible. He denies he ever said things he said, he is constantly explaining away things he admits he said and did, and he is constantly reversing himself.

Howard Dean, you're a dull-witted and freaky little monkey, and I dislike you.

This discussion was created by pudge (3605) for no Foes, but now has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

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Howard Dean

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  • Yeah. I totally agree.

    Except for the civil unions thing. I *would* have agreed, but then I spoke to someone who was opposed to gay marriage, and now I understand.

    Me: "Dude. How can you possibly be a Libertarian leaning conservative and be opposed to gay marriage. What on Earth would lead you to interfere in someone's life like that?"

    Dude: "But my church says it isn't ok for two men to marry each other."

    Me: "That's fine. Your church doesn't have to marry them. What the fuck does that have to do with th
    • Oh, I totally understand how someone can be against gay marriage. But that doesn't mean the view is logical.

      And it is not that everyone who is against gay marriage has an illogical view, either. I am against gay marriage, not because I disagree with "it's the church's business to decide who they can marry and who they can't marry," but because I agree strongly with it. The government should not be deciding marriage at all, and should offer no marriage licenses.

      No, it is not disingenuous to distinguish
      • My impression of Dean is this -- he's basically a left-leaning centrist who has suddenly found himself running as a leftist.

        The perception of him as a leftist comes from two things: 1) The same-sex civil unions, which he had only supported grudgingly in the first place but which has now become a flashy policy to have and 2) that he was overtly against the Iraq war from the begining, in contrast to all the other Democrat candidates who I'm sure felt the same way but were afraid to be open about their stance.

        • Yes, I don't think Dean is stupid, I think he is pandering. I think he feels forced to say things he doesn't agree with and that he can't explain it us, since he can't even convince himself. And yes, Bush is not stupid either. And the lesson of Bush -- underestimate him at your own peril -- is one that Dean's opponents would do well to learn.
      • Dean has made no such statements, so I can't assume he has a similar belief. All I know is he wants equal rights, but the fact is that being able to call yourself married, and have that marriage recognized equally throughout the Union, is a right: one he favors denying to gay couples.

        Gosh. The quote you showed us sounds like his opinions mirror yours (and mine) exactly. I don't follow. He says it's up to the church to decide who can get married. So, I take my boyfriend to my queer friendly church, get mar
        • I am not sure which part you are missing, could be one of two (that I can see).

          One is that Dean is in favor of state-sanctioned marriage. I am not. I am in favor of abolishing state-sanctioned marriage, replacing with civil unions.

          The other is that "marriage" is considered a right. Civil unions do not, for example, enjoy 14th Amendment protections, as marriages do. And even if they enjoyed ALL the same rights as married people, many people will still look on civil unions as second-class unions, not th
          • Well, I agree with you on your positions on the matter. However, I think that Dean's position on the matter is the only one that is going to even begin to fly in our current political landscape.

            If the Republicans think they have a shot at popular support for an amendment abolishing even same-sex civil unions, then it seems any step towards your solution would die a horrible flaming political death, painted as the destruction of the American family by the pinko commie homosexual child molesters.

            Ok, that se
            • Yes, I can understand the need to walk the line, because going too much to either side is politically impossible. But to present stupid reasons for WHY he is walking the line is what bugs me.
  • Howard Dean, you're a dull-witted and freaky little monkey, and I dislike you.

    He sounds like most other politicians, but just a little worse at his job.

    (That was brought to you by my cynical side).
  • But would he make a better president then Bush Jr?

    I'm no Bush fan, I think he is a complete idiot. And while I agree with Pudge about Dean, I think he may just make a better president then Bush.

    So pudge what do you think of Clark?
    • Well, I doubt Dean will win the nomination, in large part because of the things I've outlined, so I don't think he will have the opportunity. And while I have bever been a fan of Bush, I agree with Bush a ton more than I agree with Dean. Dean would -- if he is to be believed, which I realize may not be reasonable -- raise taxes, slash the military far too much, balloon the deficit/debt even more with huge programs like universal health care (sorry Dean, the U.S. is not Vermont), etc. On other issues, lik
  • Pudge, I'm confused. How is Dean's backpedaling and such any different from the actions of any of the other mainstream candidates?

    Of course he is going to say that he's for one thing to one group of people and against it to another group. This is one of the ways that politicians get votes. Show me a politician who doesn't do this. I'll bet that they are either a MAJOR longshot for their main stream party (D or R) or, more likely, they're a "third party" candidate. Or it may be impossible to show me th
    • The point is that Dean is seen by many -- if not most -- of his supporters as someone different, someone who is honest with them, someone who has convictions and stands up to the establishment, blah blah blah. And I am here to tell them that they are wrong. :-)
      • And props to you for doing so.

        I've had discussions with people who support him, and I get the feeling that they're in for a major letdown. I got to the point where I was starting to wonder if I was the only one that got the impression that he's being somewhat disingenuous (and perhaps starting to waver a bit, given some of the folks we're comparing him to), but it's painfully clear he's trying to be all things to all people.

        I strongly suspect he's a centrist in liberal clothing. Many of his supporters

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