Howard Dean is the smartest man on the face of the earth

[mtnsnake]

or pretty damn close to it!

Anyone who thinks this man was making those derogatory comments spontaneously or flippantly is sorely underestimating Howard's brilliance. Howard knows just what he's doing. He knew very well what would take place after he made those speeches, and boy did he hit the jackpot. In the last couple of days I've heard things over and over on mainstream television media like "The Republican Party is the White Christian Party, etc".

It doesn't really matter who said it....what matters is that his words are being heard all over.

When's the last time we've heard someone say such derogatory things about Republicans and have those words be repeated over and over on TV and in the newspapers? When's the last time we've seen MSM give so much attention to negative stereotyping of Repukes?

Right or wrong, Howard's words are STICKING, and it's got right wingers in a frazzle. For the first time in a long time, THEY'RE the ones on the defensive, and they really don't have anything to argue about. Hell, if they deny they're the white Christian party, they're going to turn off the backbone of their organization.

In two weeks time, average American Joe won't remember who said those things, but he'll just remember hearing all the derogatory things being said about Republicans on television and in the newspaper. Remember, folks, if you hear something over and over, sooner or later it sinks in, and whoever originally said it soon becomes irrelevant.

Thank you, Howard. Keep up the good work!

[Justitia]

1. I can't wait to see a bunch of defensive R's pointing out all their "black

non-Christian friends" - that should be a hoot.

Yes, the good doc has them on the defensive, which stops them from being on the offensive against us!

I am freaking sick and tired of "liberal" being a dirty word out there, and it's about freaking time someone pointed a bright light on the uncomfortable TRUTHS of these cockroaches.

[MemphisTiger]

15. They'll come back with JC Watts

their only black republican

[Justitia]

17. Yeah, but is he "non-Christian"?? LOL They'll have to look harder!

hee, hee

"Ah really folks, we, ah DO have some black, non-christians around here somewhere - really, we do!"

;)

[MemphisTiger]

27. Maybe condi

a single career minded woman doesn't usually fit into thier vision of Christian

[JohnnyBoots]

47. Janice Roger-Brown too

[Lone_Wolf]

33. She's still a token. Besides...

a few exceptions don't necessarily make a Dean's observation invalid. The general rule is the Repukes are a white, Christian group still holds true because that's what 99.9999% of them are.

[tavalon]

41. Or Condaleeza

Don't forget her. She's black and a woman (and a traitor to humanity, but they probably won't parade that one!).

[Fleshdancer]

39. Dean should ask for 20 examples of Republican minorities from...

each race and each major religion. We'll get our list ready and then the two parties can compare notes.

[InvisibleTouch]

2. He's certainly one of the most courageous.

I hope he never, never allows himself to be worn down and dragged under.

[paineinthearse]

3. Absolutely! Howard has shifted the momentum.

Before Dean, the Dems may have issued a position paper or a news release. Our efforts were far overshadowed by the Mehlman's spin machine.

But Howard is dynamic. He is ALIVE. Most of all, he knows what he is doing, and, as a result, the tide is turning.

NOMINATED.

[still_one]

4. Dean and Clark were the only Democrats to say the Iraq war was wrong

Dean is what is right about the Democrats, Biden is what is wrong

It is time the Democratic party had some backbone

Boxer, Feingold, and others had the courage to stand up and say the war in Iraq was wrong, and we should not invade Iraq

People who didn't support the war were called un-American, but they were NOT afraid to speak out

We need more Democrats like Dean

If a person is a liar that person should be called a liar

[stevedeshazer]

21. There was this Kucinich fellow...

You forgot Dennis!

[still_one]

70. you are absolutely right, sorry

[AmBlue]

24. Um, what about Kucinich??? n/t

[johnnyrocket]

5. Sounds good! How many times has a Republican...

'smeared' liberals and democrats with truly NEGATIVE generalizations ( evil, corrupt, etc. ) . Now 'White Christian' is a negative connotation!?!?!?! Awesome! I mean, I AM a white Christian', but I'm NOT a "White Christian", if you know what I mean, heh.

[Justitia]

11. I like it. They always ask us "are you ASHAMED to be called a liberal?"

OUR TURN now, huh?????

[patdem]

6. AND it gets HIM face time on TV to discuss what he said and THEN

he can plug in the REAL Democratic Agenda! Otherwise the 'media' would ignore him completely..

YOU ARE RIGHT...KICK AND RECOMMEND!

[pattymcq]

7. Exactly....

Yes I really believe that you are right!! My father(republican, although starting to doubt things recently) watches Oreilly all the time now and he still claims Howard Dean is crazy, nuts etc....which of course we all know he is definitely not....I think that it works to his advantage that repubs think that. He is just doing a great job!! Wonderful....something to smile about today with all the other stuff going on...Patty

[electropop]

45. Yeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh! Crazy Like a Fox!

No pun intended. Dean is the MAN!

[realFedUp]

8. and the Doc doesn't mind being the punching bag

yyyeeeeeaaaaaahhhhhhhh!

[mtnsnake]

16. That's right. In a way, he's making some deliberate personal sacrifices

to accomplish what no other Democrat has been able to accomplish in recent years.

Doesn't matter to him what anyone thinks of him; what matters is that MSM is repeating his harsh words of Repukes...and people are listening. It's sinking in to their subconsciouses. Howard Dean is one CALCULATING Dem!

[Justitia]

20. No kidding. In the words of Cassius Clay "is that all ya got?"

Thanks for taking the body blows, good doctor.

It's nice to have some tough guys with thick skin around these days.

[bunny planet]

9. I absolutely LOVE what Dean is doing.

"When the Republicans stop lying about the Democrats, we will stop telling the truth about them."

Adlai Stevenson

[Avalux]

10. I gotta admit - I'm loving Howard's tactics

Taking a page from the RW playbook. I almost spit out my coffee this morning as I heard some bimbo on MSNBC say "Howard Dean launched a verbal molotov cocktail at the Republican party this morning....etc." LOL.

Keep it up Howard.



:woohoo: :applause:

[Larkspur]

59. Great! That comment says it all. The Tide is turning in our favor and

the Repukes are now on the defensive.

Way to go Howard!!

[silver10]

12. What amazes me ...

is how many dems are criticizing him and not supporting him. He's only saying the truth. If some of these dem politicians are so offended, well they might as well be repukes anyway, so we can defeat them in 2006 and really get some strong dems to take their place, and not be the door mats that many of them seem to be. I don't see that many repukes, if any, taking such a stand when lies are being told and names being called about the liberals - hell, they love and encourage it. And again, Howard's not saying anything that isn't true.

I think Dean's great - one of the true, strong dems on our side with any balls. The repukes have not at all tried to hide their one-party selfish agenda, and they have made it very clear that they are not willing to work with the dems at all, to negotiate nor compromise. It's take everything and share nothing with them. Howard, you are great!!!!! Keep up the awesome work. You are appreciated!

[Avalux]

14. Dean is NOT attacking Dems -

those criticizing him need to understand that. He is, as you say, only speaking truths about the Republican Party - truths that are a long time coming. He's not afraid to say them and the media attention (even bad) only benefits Dems.

Welcome to DU silver10! :hi:

[mtnsnake]

18. In a way, the Dems criticizing him are only giving more attention to

his derogatory Republican truthisms. Each time MSM talks about Dems not agreeing with Howard, it's one more time they repeat what he has to say!

I wonder if maybe those particular Dems are really in on it! LOL!!

[silver10]

36. I hope you are right!

That would also be brilliant of them. But this may not apply to all, particularly Biden, who criticized Dean. Just look at some of their voting records, like Biden, who is one of those dems I am referring to. For example, even though the credit card industry has increased its profits over 200% in the last decade, he supported the bankruptcy bill, though it is known that over 50% of those consumers who declare bankruptcy do so because of uncontrollable medical debt (with annual double-digit increases in medical care), or losing their jobs (in this terrible economic environment) - this includes soldiers coming home from Iraq! He is one of those dems, I believe, who would do us better by becoming a repuke so we could vote him out, to make room for someone who is truly liberal, to help everybody, not just the very rich. There are many more.

If your a dem politician, do something about rising health care costs and jobs going away, people being slaughtered in a "useless war" (oxymoron), and people losing their rights to social benefits and the destruction of our environment - don't always help corporations, and criticize people who have the balls to tell the truth!

[mistertrickster]

49. You are correct, sir. Biden can talk tough but he votes soft. Not only

that, but he plagiarized his way out of contention for presidency a few election cycles back.

I can't imagine Howard Dean plagiarizing anything . . . he's got too many ideas of his own and too much HONOR.

There's a word that ought to be put back in the vocabulary of Washington politicians.

[tavalon]

43. We are the party of PC

and we damn well need to get over it. We are dealing with the mafia and they don't fight fair. Our fighting fair has gotten us slammed face down into the gutter.

[silver10]

48. We have sometimes been our own worst enemy -

My sister tried to attend a dem party convention to see Kerry last year in North Carolina, before the election, and was kicked out at the door for wearing a BUCKFUSH pin. She was told to take it off or leave - she then fought back with the first amendment/free speech argument and was reluctantly admitted back in. Now, firstly, isn't that taking things too far, and dragging down moral for the voters and your candidate?; and secondly, could you imagine the repukes doing the same thing? LOL

[Lone_Wolf]

13. Dean is brilliant.... he essentially called them bigots in P.C. terms

That is a brilliant way to frame them.

The Repukes have been making huge inroads with the Hispanic community over the last few election cycles. With just a few words, Dean just undid years of what the Repukes have been trying to accomplish.

[mtnsnake]

22. Man did he ever!

Your post made me laugh so hard...the part about how Howard "just undid years of what the Repukes have been trying to accomplish" with the Hispanic community....because it's true. You are so right, and the repukes deserve this shit!

[Lone_Wolf]

30. There is a method to Dean's "madness"

I'm seeing a pattern...

When Dean essentially said that "Repukes don't work for a living (which he later amended to the party leaders)," the message implied is the Repuke's party cater to uber folks who are not working class... That is great framing!

The real kicker is these memes are getting repeated in the media. Dean's using the uber rich's own institutions against them... :rofl:

[Name removed]

23. Deleted message

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

[Avalux]

25. Yes, Howard Dean has gall -

and it's great. Sorry you're having a hard time with his candor. Don't let the door hit you! :hi:

[Justitia]

26. Looks like Dean hit a nerve or two dozen. Are they ASHAMED of what they

are????

What's wrong with being a "mostly white Christian" party???

MMMMMMMMM?????

Do you have a problem with that accurate description?????

"leftist media" :rofl:

[AmBlue]

19. I'm SOOOOO lovin' this!!

Howard speaks the truth and the Pukes are acting like the sky is falling...... ABOUT DAMN TIME!!!
:bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

[Fleshdancer]

28. The timing of his latest comment is obvious to me:

Labeling the GOP as (obviously) the "white Christian male" party comes at a time when the GOP is actively courting Blacks and Hispanics. Articles about the GOP's courtship of minorities first started hitting the papers roughly 2 weeks ago. Now Dean is on the attack on the very same issue.

He gave a "no shit Sherlock" statement and the RNC is pissy now. Let them whine and defend themselves for a change. I don't know about you, but I'm tired of playing defense with these people. Dean is playing offense for a change and while it may take some time for other Democrats to adjust to the new position, we should all get use to it. We've been the underdogs since 2000 and the party needs to wake up and start acting like it. The last time I checked, politics isn't pretty. Never was, and never will be.

[Sick_of_Rethuggery]

29. Say it with a punch!

Here's the epatriots link (donate $+1cent to show the origins):

https://www.democrats.org/epatriots/give.html?sourcecode=E008977

[shifting_sands]

31. Howard Dean

"I don't care what they say about me, as long as they spell my name right."

Howard Dean has done in two weeks what the Democrats have not been able to do in over four years and that is to let people know the Democratic Party is alive and kicking. He is in the process of re-framing the dialog. That old joke about the farmer who hit the mule over the head with a two by four and when asked "why" he said "just to get his attention." Howard is getting their attention, and I am 100 percent behind him. I don't know about John Edwards, I thought he explained his position on his criticism very well. As for Joe Biden, he is and always has been playing both sides of the coin, whoever is paying him the most.

[rniel]

32. The way I'm seeing it

That's the role that Howard Dean should fill. He's not running for congress or the presidency anymore. He needs to get the base riled up and angry. Republicans do it well. But when have democratic leaders done it. They are all too worried about getting elected to say anything slightly controversial.

Besides the media actually seems to be covering what he said for a change. He's smart and playing them like a fiddle.

[Lone_Wolf]

37. I'll go out on a limb here and say that Dean is changing the dynamics of

the Democratic Party... Dean understands that the party's best bet is getting more grassroot support. You can bet this scares the hell out of the DLC who have become accustomed to corporate money.

[silver10]

42. Ironically, by playing it so safe ...

this is what is keeping the dems from being heard and elected. If you're agenda is so close to your opponents, but no one is really sure exactly what the differences are, and what you really stand for, people will vote for the known, over the unknown and merky.

I LOVE that we are finally playing the offense, and taking a stance!

[Nederland]

34. Yes, the words are sticking

and that's the problem. Howard says that the GOP is a white Christian party and people start to believe it. Here's the problem: that vast majority of American voters ARE white Christians. How exactly does THAT help us win elections?

[mtnsnake]

35. See post #5

[Fleshdancer]

38. The RNC is actively courting minorities right now

I think this is why he said what he said. Prior to this comment, Dean has been traveling to Southern states and setting up local and state level offices which he refers to as the 50 state strategy. He's also doing his part to court white Christians and I doubt he'll stop anytime soon.

[Lone_Wolf]

40. Because he is calling them what they are: bigots

The definition of bigot is:

"One who is strongly partial to one's own group, religion, race, or politics and is intolerant of those who differ."

Don't you think this sounds like the Republicans? Who would want to identify themselves with a party like that?

[silver10]

44. True, most American voters are white Christians, but ...

Now that we have the country's ear, it's about time that somebody explains to America's White Christian Party that Bush's administration, contrary to what they say, is NOT helping most of America's White Christian Party (only a few).

[Rainscents]

46. I have many white Christians democrats, they all see no diversity in GOP

except for the photo-ops... All my white Friends says the same things as Howard Dean is saying!

You go Howard Dean!!! I love you and please don't stop telling the truth!! Truth will PREVAIL and set us free from these EVILS!

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot:

[Jackpine Radical]

52. Well, he pretty much said (combining the last 2 messages)

Rich white ((bigoted)) Christians that don't work for a living.

That's exactly the image we want for them

[Lone_Wolf]

64. I hope he refines the message somewhat into bigots who leech off the

labors of the working class.

[ihaveaquestion]

60. Genius! n/t

[stickdog]

73. Let's see. Because not all white Christians are asshole xenophobe

nutbags?

[tinrobot]

50. He's our beautiful meme-machine!

If he had been 'polite' at that conference, who would have heard his remarks? Nobody outside the conference.

Now everyone is talking about the "White Christian" GOP. It's so beautiful, because it's so true and everyone is finally calling these repukes on it. All Governor Dean had to do was say a few words and now everyone is repeating those words.

The meme will stick.

[Cha]

51. Then let's show cnn

what we think..

This poll needs our help from "Royalwickedness"'s thread..

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x1838316

[bluedog]

53. As far as being the VOICE

of the Democratic Party.....he has his voice and others have theirs........thats what is great about our party.....

We do Not have ONE voice to speak for us..as the Republicans do.they follow "lock step" to what bush and El Quacko administration say..

Our party has many voices...we can speak our minds.share our opinions...some in our own party may not like it..but our party is full of different voices...somehow though we manage to meet in the middle and make this country proper.we try to divert a needless war.we try to save lives......we let a woman have the choice ........why have an unwanted child: to be born ..stuffed in a garbage can.::starve.....::abused.......:: murdered.........thats why we call it CHOICE........

if you notice.in the Schiavio case....the groups were all white.I know.my grandson had to be moved from his school because of these groups.......the same protesters don't want a choice for abortion.but after birth allow the children to be killed on lies from this administration..whats wrong with that picture.

so all I can say is.Dean has the right to speak and I know he speaks for many of us.....thats where our party comes to the front.we all have views.opinions.not always the same.but at least we dare to state ours.where the republicans are scared to death of retaliation from bush and his goon gang.

[sadiesworld]

54. I hope this plays out the way you suggest, but I just don't see it.

I thought Dean wanted to go after the vote in the south, i.e., white Christians? How does this statement appeal to those southern voters? When *'s numbers are tanking within the republican party, how does it help to say that some republican voters don't make an honest living?

Look, I think his comments were understandable in the context of a dem fundraiser (I shudder to think what repubs are saying at their fundraisers and I'm sure we won't know unless MM makes another movie) but it's difficult to see the "political brillance" of these statements.

I guess according to your analysis we should hope that the coverage of these statements intensifies?

[stickdog]

74. So you think the bigot vote is the key to future Democratic victories?

Do you think bigots like to called on their bigotry?

Because I'm just wondering how a verifiably true statement about Repuke and Dem demographics can hurt Dems with anybody but a bigot.

[4_TN_TITANS]

55. I like his tactics...

and they've worked like a charm for the Repubs. Make an attention grabbing comment, then earn a chance to clarify yourself to the talking heads.
I'm not completely comfortable with his brazen attacks, but they've been needed for a long time. It's great to see the other party get the smack down!

[Cats Against Frist]

56. Yes

At first, I didn't like it -- but it's a good start, actually. He just needs to make sure that the context is quite a bit clearer. I like the attacking, though. I also think there needs to be a full court press to do this exact same "rules of discourse" smearing, to the Repukes. They say stupid shit all the time, and there are abortion shooter-favorers, Eugenics supporters and women who want to repeal universal suffrage. Crackpots to high heaven.

Also, somebody ask them when they started to be so "PC."

[Tommymac]

57. Brilliant! nt

[dooner]

58. Exploit the media opening...!!!

Dean has opened a media window to talk about our issues. For example, a KGO (am radio San Francisco) is spending this hour talking about Howard Dean. Haven't heard this guy spend *one second* on DSM.

Gives us a chance to call, email, etc. to say that it takes a "howard dean" to get the brainndead media's attention... and bring the discussion back to the Republican's behavior.. rather than Dean's behavior.

I say thanks, and love you Howard.

[Singular73]

61. Heh, I was thinking the same thing....

In true populist fashion, Dean managed to have the MSM repeat his class-division tactics :)

Love it.

[Singular73]

62. Heh, I was thinking the same thing....

In true populist fashion, Dean managed to have the MSM repeat his class-division tactics :)

Love it.

[Ksec]

63. I agree. Deans responses were made for a reason

and if I was to make a stab at the reasons why I would go with him testing the air of who is who in the DNC. Who can we trust?

[killbotfactory]

65. I find it funny that repubs are so worried about political correctness

Back in the day, they mocked being PC as an excuse to be bigotted assholes.

Now they're mocking Dean for not being PC because he actually told the truth.

[stickdog]

75. Dean hit them in their sore spot is why. Bigots don't like to be called on

their bigotry.

[leyton]

66. "White Christian" is derogatory?

Explain that one to me, please.

Dean's recent comments make me think that rather than being the smartest man, he may be the dumbest. Where does he think a Democratic majority will come from if he thinks that we don't need White Christians?

[stickdog]

76. Dean is counting on the fact that most white Christians are not bigots.

And most white Christian bigots are lost causes anyway.

Do you have any reason to feel otherwise? I mean, I'm a white Christian, but I sure wouldn't join any country club (or any other organization, for that matter) that had only white Christian members other than a tiny percentage of obvious tokens. Would you?

[mtnsnake]

77. It's derogatory when it's exclusive, commanding, or catering. n/t

[BigBearJohn]

67. Republican: "Waaa, Waaa, Waaa, Dean hurt my feelings! Waah"

[BigBearJohn]

68. "You're absolutely right Tweedy. Dean said the Repubs are lyings sacks of

shit and never worked a day in their lives. What's worse is, everybody believes this."

Everytime one of the media talking heads repeats Dean's slander
against the Republicans, THE WORD GETS OUT. Free publicity
of the truth.

[Triana]

69. My sentiments exactly...I hope he keeps talking

This is what I liked about him before and it's still what I like about him. We need a pit bull out there who is NOT meek and does NOT follow the status quo rules and who WILL BE HEARD. I could care less how peeved the whiney little Repugnicans get every time HD opens his mouth.

As far as the Democrat Lites who are criticizing him, they need to shut the f*ck up and show some support and let him be. UNITY is paramount now and I don't have a lot of use for any Dems who cannot grok that concept.

We HAVE to focus like lasers on the criminal cabal and their crimes and we can't afford petty distractions or to NOT be unified or visible and HEARD in this goal.

[pat_k]

71. When will they learn to fight back effectively?

There is no need to say anything in defense. It's time to go on the attack and shift attention from the nonsense to the substance of his remarks.

The point is the immorality of the lines.

Hours-long poll-tax-lines for poor, minority voters AND none for affluent, white voters is intolerable and threatens our very foundation. What is more important? A remark that some Republicans found offensive, or the fact that Americans do not have confidence in the results of the last two Presidential elections?

His remarks in context:

"We need to be the party of election reform. We ought to do everything we can to make it easier for more Americans to vote. The Republicans are all about suppressing votes; two voting machines if you live in a black district, 10 voting machines if you live in a white district. I think every single American ought to be able to vote! I used to say in the campaign -- I meant this sincerely -- I would rather have you go out and vote, even if you vote Republican, than stay home. I really would…"

"You -- you know, the idea that you have to wait on line for eight hours to cast your ballot in Florida -- there's something the matter with that. You think people can work all day and then pick up their kids at child care or wherever, and get home and then have a -- still manage to sandwich in an eight-hour vote? Well, Republicans, I guess, can do that, because a lot of them have never made an honeI am hoping that youwill help shift attention to the REAL scandal.st living in their lives. <b>But for ordinary working people, who have to work eight hours a day, they have kids, they got to get home to those kids, the idea of making them stand for eight hours to cast their ballot for democracy is wrong."


Dean's remarks were right on. The attack on him give us an opportunity to shift the focus to the real scandal: the Republican policy of systematic vote suppression. Mehlman even told us that he planned to employ suppression part of an all out effort to "do whatever we can to help make sure Jerry Kilgore becomes the next governor of the state” (see http://www.democrats.org/news/200505310003.html ).

Dean is standing up for free and fair elections. Mehlman seeks to undermine democracy by selectively challenging voters who intend to cast their vote for an opponent.

Over and over again, Mehlman plays by the Norquist playbook, where the ends justify the means. We saw it when he violated the law as Bush-Cheney campaign manager (http://eqs.sdrdc.com/eqsdocs/00002BFD.pdf ), and more recently, when he attempted to use deceit to conceal deceit on Meet the press. (His demonstrably false claim that disclosures in the Downing Street Memo "have been totally discredited by everyone who's looked at it. See http://mediamatters.org/items/200506060008).

There is no need to defend it, but Dean's remark about "making an honest living" does bring a truth to light. Are people who identify themselves as Republicans more likely to be able to afford a long wait to vote? Of course! You just need to look at the data. For example, see "Political Polarization and Income Inequality" (http://www.princeton.edu/~rosentha/MPR2003.pdf ):

----
"In the two presidential election years of the 1990s, respondents in the highest quintile were more than twice as likely to identify as a Republican than were those in the lowest. We summarize how partisanship has acquired an income basis through an index of party income stratification. Our index is simply the proportion of Republican identifiers (strong and weak) in the top income quintile divided by the proportion of Republican identifiers in the bottom quintile.8 As seen in figure 2, the stratification of partisanship by income has steadily increased over the past 40 years, leading to an increasing rich-poor cleavage between the parties."
----

It is inarguable that many in the top quintile did not earn their wealth at a 9 to 5 job. Many rely largely on unearned income or inherited wealth. Like it or not, in the American vernacular, earning your income is "making an honest living." Unearned income simply doesn't quality. Given the "increasing rich-poor cleavage between the parties," it is not a stretch to assert that "Republicans, I guess, can , because a lot of them have never made an honest living in their lives."

That said, the best defense is a good offense. They want to talk about his remarks? I say, bring it on! Let's talk about how the extent of the suppression in the last election renders the results invalid. Let's talk about the Republicans' obstruction of legislation that would make trustworthy elections a reality.

[Dr Fate]

72. Great. Now he needs to do that with the UK memo.

He could say somthing wild and crazy like:

"The memo shows that Bush LIED about the Iraq war. I wonder what all those hypocrite republicans who impeached Clinton for lying are going to do about it?"