Howard Dean on Comey

[ProSense]

HOWARD DEAN, FORMER DNC CHAIRMAN: This is actually a great test for the Republicans. I served with John Ashcroft for a long time and he`s very conservative, and I didn`t agree with very much that John Ashcroft believed...There is some evidence of that. Evidently, James Comey is similarly principled.

So, here appear to be two principled Republicans. And now, we`re going to see how small the Republican Party is, because if they go after these guys, because they stood up, with honor and principle, for what they believed was right. Then this party doesn`t deserve to exist anymore.

<...>

DEAN: Another important point. This is a ten-year term. So the next president doesn`t necessarily get to fill this slot. Depending how long they serve. This is a very important appointment.

This is the kind of guy or gal, if there were a woman heading the FBI. This is what you want. Somebody who is principled, who is not going to say yes or no to any president based on politics. That`s what you have to have now as a director of the FBI.

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/52058484/ns/msnbc/

Video: http://www.nbcnews.com/id/45755883/ns/msnbc-the_last_word/vp/52051513#52051513

[babylonsister]

1. Oh, the horror! Dean didn't bash Comey!

Whatever will people think?! Rec'd.

[graham4anything]

2. I am going to bookmark, favorite, record and save this for the future to quote it.

[11 Bravo]

3. Hmmm. Howard Dean or a bunch of anonymous, hipper-than-thou, keyboard commandos?

I believe I'll go along with Dr. Dean.

[Life Long Dem]

4. Strong words

Then this party doesn`t deserve to exist anymore.

[Bluenorthwest]

5. I talked to Dean once after he went on TV and insisted the Party platform had plank

opposing marriage equality, which it certainly did not. He thought it was funny. Now he's telling us how principled John Ashcroft is?
This is John Ashcroft, who heard the warnings about bin Laden and instantly stopped flying commercial himself, took only government planes from that day forward, but he said nothing, he took no action to protect or warn the American people, thousands of whom died within weeks of Ashcroft's principled stand that he should not risk flying the friendly skies, but the rest of us should. He took action to protect himself and his wife, the rest was silence.
Ashcroft's principles are like that anti equality plank in the DNC platform, figments of Howard's fever dreams.

Today we see John Ashcroft praised on DU. What fresh hell is next?

[sabrina 1]

11. Lol, 'now he's telling us how principled John Ashcroft was'. I think he just lost a lot of

credibility on that one. Ashcroft, principled?? He took ONE stand, ONE, on an issue which seemed to be more about not wanting to be a fall guy than on principle due to the fact that he was being asked to blatantly break the law. Other than that, do we have such short memories now that we are calling Ashcroft 'principled??

Omg, sometimes lately I feel like I am in Wonderland!

It's not the first time Dean has surprised us by being this wrong about something though.

It just goes to show that people in politics really don't live in the stratosphere as normal people. The more I observe all of this, the more I wonder why we are asked to 'vote for Democrats' when as soon as we do, they become bosom buddies with Republicans and put them back into power AGAINST the wishes of the people who elected them.

I really think they believe we are stupid.

[bvar22]

6. LOL.

I gotta hand it to the Good Doctor.
I have never seen a better case of Damning with Faint Praise.


When all you can say about an Obama appointment is,
"Well, the Republicans should like him,
but probably won't".

Then there is THIS, slightly rearranged:
He is similarly principled as the very conservative John Ashcroft,
with whom I disagreed !!!!!

This stuff from Dr Dean is SOLID GOLD!!!
Dean's Momma should LOVE him:
If you can't find something nice to say...yadda...yadda...yadda

I always admired Former DNC Chair Howard Dean and his brilliant 50 state plan.
He has been a wonderful foot soldier for the Democratic Party,
ALWAYS doing his duty, even after they banished him to the wilderness.
THAT is Sucking It Up, BIG TIME.
I'm glad I don't have to be that diplomatic.


A Translation of Dr Dean's statement :
If you liked Ashcroft,
you will like James Comey.

What...There ain't no DEMOCRATS qualified for this job??!!!
If I wanted Republicans in positions of POWER,
I would VOTE for them!

---bvar22
hardcore, loyal, Working Class, Middle-of-the-Road FDR DEMOCRAT




You will know them by their WORKS,
not by their promises or excuses.

[ProSense]

7. Yup,

"I gotta hand it to the Good Doctor. I have never seen a better case of Damning with Faint Praise. "


...that's exactly what this is:

This is what you want. Somebody who is principled, who is not going to say yes or no to any president based on politics.

Do you think that maybe Dean just likes the guy?

[bvar22]

9. You want to know what I think?

OK.
Howard Dean DOES respect people who are consistent and honest in pursuing their agenda. People who do NOT Flip/Flop depending on whatever [font color=blue]WhiteHouse.gov[/font] is Hard Selling that particular day,
or which "team" is sitting in the Oval Office.

I do too.
I gave Ashcroft points for this incident:

" President Bush sent his White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales and Chief of Staff Andrew Card Jr. to Ashcroft's hospital bed. They wanted him to sign a document reversing the Justice Department's ruling. But the semi-conscious Ashcroft refused to sign; Acting Attorney General James Comey and Jack Goldsmith, head of the Office of Legal Counsel for DOJ, were there to back him up.[14] Bush reauthorized the operation by executive decision, over formal Justice Department objections."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Ashcroft

But I don't have to guess what Howard Dean thinks of his politics,
because he outright TELLS us.
He is another Hardcore Conservative who will pursue a Conservative hardcore Agenda in his new post.


Apparently YOU are just Peachy OK with THIS kind of stuff...only THIS time under the cloak of secrecy in the FBI:

"Ashcroft has been a proponent of the War on Drugs. In a 2001 interview on Larry King Live, Ashcroft announced his intention to escalate efforts in this area. In 2003, Ashcroft and John B. Brown, the acting DEA Administrator, announced a series of indictments resulting from two nationwide investigations code-named Operation Pipe Dream and Operation Headhunter. The investigations targeted businesses selling drug paraphernalia, mostly for marijuana use, under a little-used statute (Title 21, Section 863(a) of the U.S. Code)."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Ashcroft

Oh, and lets have MORE of THIS:

"Ashcroft's policy positions on privacy and civil liberties issues generally attracted views aligned with people's political backgrounds: conservatives were pleased and liberals had criticism. Critics included the American Civil Liberties Union and pro-choice groups.

In July 2002, Ashcroft proposed the creation of Operation TIPS, a domestic program in which workers and government employees would inform law enforcement agencies about suspicious behavior they encounter while performing their duties. The media criticized the program as an encroachment upon the First and Fourth amendments. The United States Postal Service refused to be a party to it. Ashcroft defended the program as a necessary component of the ongoing War on Terrorism, but the proposal was eventually abandoned.

Ashcroft proposed a draft of the Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003, legislation to expand the powers of the U.S. government to fight crime and terrorism, while simultaneously eliminating or curtailing judicial review of these powers for incidents related to domestic terrorism. The bill was leaked and posted to the Internet on February 7, 2003.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Ashcroft

WOOHOO.
Can I come to your Mission Accomplished Party tonight?



Like I said above,
I would prefer a DEMOCRAT with a LIBERAL view of life in these United States,
and a Liberal view of our Constitutional protections.

Apparently, our government hasn't lurched far enough to the Conservative Right
for some people, and they are just peachy OK with even MORE Hard Core Conservatives in positions of Power.

CLEAR?


[font color=firebrick][center]"There are forces within the Democratic Party who want us to sound like kinder, gentler Republicans.
I want a party that will STAND UP for Working Americans."
---Paul Wellstone [/font][/center]
[center][/font]
[font size=1]photo by bvar22
Shortly before Sen Wellstone was killed[/center][/font]

[ProSense]

10. "I gave Ashcroft points for this incident: "

Good for you.

[sabrina 1]

12. Why do we vote for Democrats if there are no Democrats who are qualified to be

appointed to cabinet positions? If only Republicans are qualified, why would anyone vote for a party that can't find one of its members qualified to be head of the FBI? How many Republicans has Obama appointed to powerful positions now?? Do we not have any Democrats who are capable of doing these jobs?

All these Republican appointees are making a whole lot of people question what the point is in voting for a Democrat. If we wanted Republicans we would have voted for them.

What do you think of Ashcroft btw? What did you think of him during the Bush era? I know what most Democrats I know thought of him. Just wondering how you seem to be able to 'look kindly' now on some of Bush's worst puppets IF the president likes them. I don't recall Ashcroft having a single position that any Democrat would support. Anti-gay, anti-women, pro-war, pro-torture, pro-drug war etc.

At least Ron Paul was anti-war and anti-drug war, and anti-torture. Yet, if someone mentions those facts they are attacked by a few people here who apparently have no problem with Republicans being returned to power, not by the people, but by a democratic president.

[forestpath]

8. I watched the video & find it gross that they care more about how REPUBLICANS are

going to react to Obama picking a pro-torture Republican than that Obama CHOSE a pro-torture Republican in the first place.

Lawrence O'Donnell and Howard Dean both came across like snail oil salesmen to me.