WORLD NEWS TRUST: Thank God for Howard Dean (Mary Lyon)

[Tace]

Mary Lyon, From The Left -- World News Trust

After watching Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama slug it out and beat each other up, there is one name that shines for me and still gives me hope. It's neither of the above. It's Howard Dean.

The Pennsylvania primary results make me nervous. I'm in the midst of weighing staying strong for one candidate versus converting to the other, because this unfortunately still looks like a long, miserable, and divisive slugfest. Anyone hoping for a once-and-for-all settlement of who will represent Democrats going into November goes hogives us at least a little somethingme bruised and disappointed. We're not any closer. On the other hand, it feels like we're farther away from that conclusion than ever. That in turn means Democrats still haven't been able to break through the starting gate and focus on the REAL business at hand: keeping John McCain out of the White House.

So, THANK YOU, Howard Dean. Thank you again. While we're stuck on hold waiting to be transferred either to Hillary or Barack, there is a voice that finally comes on the line. DNC Chairman Howard Dean steps into the void and gives us at least a little something -- something more than just canned music while we're forced to wait.

It's about time. The real enemy for the Clinton forces is not Barack Obama. The real enemy for the Obama camp is not Hillary Clinton. The common enemy is John McCain. It's the Republicans we should be railing against, in unison -- NOT EACH OTHER.

more

http://www.worldnewstrust.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2130&Itemid=10029

[midnight]

1. Repeat, Repeat, Repeat........

It's about time. The real enemy for the Clinton forces is not Barack Obama. The real enemy for the Obama camp is not Hillary Clinton. The common enemy is John McCain. It's the Republicans we should be railing against, in unison -- NOT EACH OTHER.

[calimary]

7. Sometimes putting it in capital letters just doesn't seem like enough.

I wish I could shout this directly into certain people's ears.

Sigh...

[Captain Hilts]

2. Dean's Two Mistakes

1) Not understanding the difference between what happened in Florida and what happened in Michigan.

2) Not making an introductin to these debates to remind us of what good candidates we have.

and a third:

Give the Democratic "debates" back to the League of Women Voters and away from the preening media.

[Larkspur]

6. Dean is not a dictator. It was the DNC Rules/Credentials Committee that revoked

MI's and FL's primary results.

[madfloridian]

9. I just posted about that piece of propaganda...using Fl and Mi

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/2022

[calimary]

11. Hey, madfloridian - thank you for keeping us all updated on what happens in your

state. I've read lots of your posts about the debacle in Florida - I guess the continuing debacle in Florida. For Pete's sake, WHAT is in the water down there??? I ask that only partially in gest. My son went on a biology trip there over Easter break to get extra academic credit, and came home violently ill. Literally puked his way across the country at 30-thousand feet!

I apologize to all my DU friends from Florida. I just do NOT understand the thinking that goes on in your state. It makes no sense to me whatsoever. (I suppose I ought to add - whaddo I know? I'm from California. :eyes: )

[Tace]

3. A Kick For Mary

: )

[calimary]

8. Tace! I made HuffPo again!

Yowza!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mary-lyon/thank-god-for-howard-dean_b_98121.html

[Tace]

16. Groovy Baby

Of course!

[lojasmo]

4. Thank you, Howard Dean. EOM

[calimary]

12. Yeah, my heart will always belong to "Hollerin' Howard."

I'm screaming, too!

[lojasmo]

14. I am a Dean democrat. EOM

[sonias]

5. The real enemy is John "W" McCain

Let's not forget that. And yes a big thanks to Howard Dean. :loveya:

John "W" McCain - just like a "W" bush rerun, only older and crazier.


Sonia

[Captain Hilts]

10. People keep forgetting this important point. nt

[calimary]

15. So I guess that means it's up to us to keep pushing it.

Lord, when even Helen Thomas starts wondering "where is everybody" on the "Principals Group" on torture - and only today has anybody in the White House Press Corpse even tried to ask a question about it. Guess who asked? Yep. Helen Thomas.

It really makes me wonder how deeply asleep most of America is.

[calimary]

13. We can't afford to forget that. Even now, while our two finalists are

slamming each other.

I look with envy at the conviction republi-CONS have - to obeying the so-called "11th Commandment" - "thou shalt not speak ill of another republi-CON." DAMN I wish our side took that idea to heart - regarding other Democrats. SO frustrating!!!!!

:banghead:

[Captain Hilts]

21. We've got two good candidates. The R's have one lousy one. nt

[calimary]

22. That is the bottom line, isn't it!?

And I hope we all get to the point where we realize AND accept that we can live easily and happily with EITHER candidate.

I am an Obama supporter. However, I've been playing this little game with myself, for just-in-case purposes. It's the How-I-Can-Be-Happy-Supporting-Hillary-Clinton. And there ARE ways - many ways:

1) I LOVE the idea, as a woman, of seeing that one last big glass ceiling broken.
2) I actually like the idea that it might be Hillary who does it. Gotta say I have a LOT of respect for her brains.
3) Her version of fix-the-health-insurance-crisis is widely touted as being the best one.
4) Gotta admit - I do like her balls. I recognize what she's trying to do - show the testosterone-obsessed that she's as macho as anybody they've got. We just have to make sure that when/if WE escort her into the Oval Office, WE keep leaning on her to keep this well-managed.
5) She turned richard mellon scaife of all people. If she can do THAT, I want her hunkering down with Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, Kim Jong-il, the South Americans, and anybody else with whom we're presently not on speaking terms.
6) She's widely credited with being a surprisingly excellent Senator, for all her constituents - even the assholes.
7) She is a fighter. Anyone can at least concede that. And with some of these weenies in Knuckledragger-land, that's what counts. I clearly remember one republi-CON operative boasting that what sets them apart, favorably, with so much of the electorate, is "because we fight." A lot of people like fighters.
8) She's now saying what dumbya said - that too many of the knee-jerk-reactioneers REALLY loved: "You may not agree with me but you know where I stand." Hell, even richard mellon scaife swallowed that one. Whole. And willingly. That's an asset here, whether we like it or not. More people than just bushie-boy "don't do nuance." Their unchallenged, atrophied, mouth-breather reasoning can't deal with something that takes too long to explain, especially when their litmus test is limited to "duh... can I go have a beer with that person?" Yeah, I don't like it either, but for now, that's the mindset we're stuck having to deal with. So let's deal with it then. On their Neanderthal level. And once we've got 'em, we can start nudging them up the evolutionary ladder to more modern times.
9) She's a veteran of many battles with the far-wrong. She knows who they are and what their strategies are. She knows what to expect and in this case she is indeed more experienced on a bigger, rougher playing field than Obama is.
Which means...
10) She's demonstrated a willingness and a skill for hitting below the belt. I do NOT like that she's applying that aptitude to someone on her side. But if she's our ball-carrier, I cannot wait to see her hit mcbush and pals with it. Especially since they deserve it. They're absolutely going to fight dirty, regardless what mcbush SAYS in public to sound like Mr. Nice-Guy. He's simply got a few thousand surrogates who'll do his dirty work for him so he can keep his hands allegedly clean. And whether we like it or not, THAT is the game. THAT'S the way the game is played, and THAT'S the only way to win at the moment. And we can't change ANY of that until and unless WE start winning. If that's what it takes to win, I'm all in - with bells on. I just don't like it turned on another one of OURS. Remember John Edwards' original hesitancy about Obama - how he might not be willing to fight as hard and mean as he'll need to? That's a reasonable fear to have for our Dems. And I want very badly to see Obama throw a sucker-punch or two - or two thousand. Unfortunately, THAT'S the game and THAT'S the way it's played. And we can't change that game until WE start winning and WE control the playing field again.

And again, let me just say, I'm an Obama supporter. But I'm VERY prepared to support Hillary Clinton if it comes to that. I think we ALL have to figure out a way to be okay with that, just in case that's what we're stuck with. Sitting one out in protest, or to "send a message" gets us NOWHERE except to the dead-letter office. Think Ralph Nader.

Divided we get to stay shut out of the White House.

These are things I can, and do, find rather appetizing about her and on which I would fixate if she winds up being the nominee.

[Captain Hilts]

28. I'll vote for BO or HRC with FAR more enthusiasm than I voted for Kerry or Gore...

and Clinton in '92.

[JeffR]

17. Very proud to have given this a fifth rec

It's a surgically precise piece of writing, and it says what needs to be said, just as Howard Dean did.

[calimary]

19. Thanks! That is EXACTLY what we need to do. I wish we could all just completely

hijack the whole mess and start pushing THIS instead. We're up against mcsame. NOT EACH OTHER. We have to start softening him up, instead of continuing to pummel each other. I wish we could just grab the steering wheel and lurch it off this bumpy little dirt road and back onto the big, wide interstate.

In fact, I'm wondering if maybe we all should do a guerrilla campaign, all on our own - where those of us who can, with the equipment or the means or the friends with same, to make our own campaign "commercials" and put 'em on Youtube, and WE say what needs to be said. Time to move straight through the Hillary-vs-Barack bullshit and directly to THE business at hand: messing up john mcsame. Hey, he can do it with the wacko racist Dementors in North Carolina. WHY CAN'T WE? Besides, it gives both our leaders plausible deniability while still getting the message out. Besides, we're in much better position to say what needs to be said - we're free agents and loose cannon.

The late Dr. Timothy Leary once advocated that kind of thing - do-it-yourself videos. A "People's Campaign Network." I myself happen to have a couple of ideas already.

[cooolandrew]

18. If you are maxed to Obama donate to the DNC for more McCain ads we need to get this going like now.

[calimary]

20. Yes, we do. THIS AD needs to be out there as far as possible, as widely-shown as possible,

everywhere. And there better be dozens of them ready to go, on its heels.

'Cause THIS is the message everybody needs to hear over-and-over-and-over-and-over-and-over-and-over-and-over. It needs to be EVERYWHERE.

As a matter of fact, this seems like a really good time to kick your thread on this very topic, coolandrew!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x5661178

[Samantha]

23. It appears to me that Hillary is sleeping with the political enemy

I am sorry, Mary, but I had been thinking the last two days that it seems as if Hillary and John McCain are doing a little political pillow talk about how to further weaken Barack Obama. Color me the ever-cynical inside the Beltway observer, and I will plead guilty to your charge. However, I did hear that question asked today on the MSM, so I am thinking perhaps I am not the only one who feels Hillary's friend, John McCain, has picked up the political torch from her and is running with it. Perhaps it's a coincidence he has hammered the elitist theme as if he is her political echo chamber, and I am aware he condemned the Wright ad running in North Carolina (do you think he was sincere or giving lip service to doing the right thing?) -- but I feel he has Hillary Clinton's best interests at heart in helping to wound her opponent. I suspect he would rather run against her, rather than Barack; should he lose, he, remaining a Senator, can certainly work with Hillary. After all, her true support of the Bush* foreign policy makes him comfortable with her candidacy.

I do not feel conflicted between the two, Barack and Hillary. The latter has violated my sense of political ethics for years now, so I do not support her. It has nothing to do with being stubborn and threatening if my candidate is not nominated, I will not support his Democratic opponent for POTUS. It has everything to do with conducting oneself in a manner that encourages people to say to him or herself, he or she can speak for me. I do not feel I want Hillary speaking for me as an American citizen because her credibility has been on the line for years now. It's all about her.

About Howard Dean, however, I am in total agreement with you. I love that man. His repetition of being the Democratic candidate from the Democratic wing of the party in 2004 still rings in my ears. His conduct during this debacle is beyond reproach. He not only protects his own reputation and sense of integrity, he does the same for the party. He is indeed a credit to both the party and to American politics in general.

I hope Howard Dean in the future (regardless of who wins) receives his just reward for his stellar sense of doing the right thing. Perhaps he will make another run himself; I would be thrilled to see that, and unhesitatingly support him.

Thanks for a wonderful thread. Sorry I caught it so late - but hopefully not too late to recommend it. Keep up the wonderful contributions you make here (this forum sure needs them,) and hopefully your sense of conflict between the nominees will find a natural, comfortable solution.

Best regards,

Sam

[calimary]

24. You certainly wouldn't be alone in this. Many people have been turned off by

Hillary Clinton. And dammit, she voted for the frickin' war when she shoulda known better. Which is one of the reasons why I became an Obama supporter.

But if she winds up being "It," then she's got my vote because I'm damned if I'm gonna sit back and let mcsame stroll on into Al Gore's office. About that business between him and the North Carolina CONS, my gut reaction is NOT to trust him, even though he claimed he didn't want that attack ad on the air. It comes down to one harsh reality for me: he's a republi-CON and therefore it's extremely likely that he can't be trusted. Besides, as a republi-CON, his priorities and his agenda and his pet projects are by definition adversarial to me, not to mention the type of vermin that republi-CONS tend to attract around themselves anyway. I don't care how nice he appears to be now. I already know enough to dislike what I'm seeing and hearing - AND there's the matter of his temper, too. Remember, they were all sweetness and light and kumbaya and humble-foreign-policy and let's-reach-out-and-work-with-everybody before they were selected in 2000. They baited and then they switched. And who's to say mcsame is anything different there, either - especially since kkkarl rove is unofficially "helping out" and who knows who else who's already got blood on his/her hands is in there, too.

If they're GOP, I automatically smell a rat. Can't help it. That's always my first impression. I know better, from hard and sad experience, than to give ANY of these bastards the benefit of the doubt.

[Samantha]

25. Everything you say about McCain is true - I have a real conundrum

His about-face on advocating waterboarding was astonishing to me. Additionally, he wants to privatize Social Security, which I am vehemently against. And what can I possibly say about his aggressive stance on the Iraq war -- it's unbelievable. But in that latter regard, so is Hillary's. I read all the time people remarking here they will hold their nose and vote for the party's nominee if they must; but here we have the worst of the worst running in both parties. A vote FOR someone is a signal of acquiescence of their policies. And when, for instance, their bloody political hands reach across the oceans and kill millions of innocent people as "collateral damage" -- how does one live with oneself knowing he or she has condoned the policies of that which is inconceivable.

I just can't hold my nose and vote for Hillary. I will vote for the balance of the Democratic ticket and write in the name of a Presidential candidate. I will vote for Barack Obama. But if its McCain versus Hillary, God help me, Mary, I will "abstain." I can't have the blood of either of their foreign policies on my hands.

So I agree with everything you say and certainly the majority here at DU would agree with you.

Regards,

Sam

[calimary]

27. Yeah, I know. It IS a conundrum. Especially when people of good conscience

find themselves caught in it, as you are.

But I can't stand the thought of john mcsame sliding into the Oval Office, either. So if Hillary's the nominee instead of Barack, I'm with her. Even though my heart's in a different place. Wouldn't be any different from 2004, when my head was convinced to stand solidly, even enthusiastically, with John Kerry. My heart, however, remained LAMINATED to Howard Dean. I even voted for him ANYWAY in the California primary, long after Kerry had clinched the nomination.

And I STILL think I was correct the first time.

[Samantha]

26. A kick for the night crowd

Here's a good read, in case you missed it.

Sam