Ace of Spades HQ

« Ahhh... Caught Up | Main | Robert "Nightrider" Byrd: Silent on Filibusters over Anti-Lynching Laws »

June 14, 2005

Howard Dean: Physician, Heal Thyself [Ace]

Okay, so he hates the 52.5% of the public that voted Republican last election. Not too smart; he's going to need at least 3% of those Republicans he "hates" to win an election.

More asinine by far is his contemptuous dismissal of white Christians. White Christians make up 66% of the country (and a plurality in the Democratic party as well), so it's probably not a good idea to kiss them off.

PS, Howard Dean is a white Christian. Moron.

It's not just that Howard Dean's comments are counter-productive. He's an egotistical and angry and arrogant and stupid son of a bitch, always a bad combination, and that turns people off.

But this jackass is addicted to the spotlight more than John McCain. Say what you want about McCain, but McCain is actually involved in substantive policy-making. Howard Dean grabs the camera almost as much as McCain, but unlike McCain, he offers no legislative proposals, only venom and spleen.

As has been repeatedly noted, there's only so much media oxygen in the national room. This jackass is taking up an awful lot of it, and taking away that oxygen from those who might wish to run for president in 2008 as well as those who are simply trying to be good (as liberals define it) legislators and policy-makers and hence define the Democratic Party as idea-driven and results-driven.

Will Dean's Don Rickles act play? I doubt it. The man has proven his ability to positively electrify the American public... or at least 13% or so it. If he's so f'n' smart, one would think he's capable or realizing 13% is less than 51%. (Remember, Dr. Dean, the alligator goes after the bigger number, 'cuzzin' it's hungry.)

A few weeks ago I spoke to a very liberal girl at a very liberal bar in NYC. (Well, it was a NYU student/local gay bar, so that's pretty liberal. Hey-- they had cheap beer.) She was praising Arnold Schwarzenegger's speech at the RNC in 2004, and how that speech made her almost think she was a Republican after all. That speech emphasized the broad goals of the Republican Party-- its positive agenda.

Dean seems incapable of announcing such an agenda, contenting himself to deliver nasty red meat to true believers (half of whom are voting for Nader anyhow!).

If Dean is smart, he'll start emulating Arnold Schwarzenegger more than Triumph the Insult Comic Dog. Yeah, it's kind of funny to say that George Bush is a great president -- for me to poop on! -- but I just don't see any stone-cold conservatives sitting outside a bar smoking cigarettes and talking about how persuasive such a speech might be.

The man is an idiot, and a disaster for the party. I'm quite happy about that. The Democrats are hedged in by what they can actually offer their constituents -- they have their hands on fewer and fewer of the levers of power -- and it's only natural to give the faithful what they want, i.e., bile and hatred.

But you've got to reach some of those who voted against you last time, too, unless you're satisfied with garnering 46-48% of the vote every two years.

I can live with that. Can the Democrats?

And do they mind that Howard Dean seems perfectly content with keeping that 46-48%, so long as he's admired as a hero by a large fraction of that minority?

posted by Ace at 07:17 PM

Comments

I heard some pundit say that once in the position of head of DNC you can't get them out without a hell of a fight. That's not going to happen.

Posted by: on June 14, 2005 08:09 PM

Dean might be in the lates stages of some degenerative disease contracted at a Vermont co-op. Or he might have some other disorder similar to the ravages of inbreeding among European aristocracies and habitues of The Hamptons. Something's wrong. Or, he could just be posturing shithead, which is probably the case..

The pejorative implications of "White Christians" places Dean somewhere nears the worst punks and assholes of Kristallnacht.

Someone in the news (who?) opined that Dean is acting out a strategy for the DNC, to wit, Crazy Dean animating the base. Two problems here:

The first is that a strategy which requires a major party leader to behave like Krazy Klown is insane on its face. The second is that a leader willing to do it is probably crazier than the personality he's imitating.

Psychologically he seems to be living in a land of soft watches, winding staircases going nowhere, grotesque perspectives and hellish creatures picking at his skin. The man is nuts.

Posted by: Rhod on June 14, 2005 08:23 PM

> conservatives sitting outside a bar smoking cigarettes

Nitpick: in the states where their votes would be likely to make a difference, they'd be sitting *inside* bars smoking cigarettes. For now, anyway...

Posted by: Guy T. on June 14, 2005 08:38 PM

Funny, the Dems put up with Terence McAuliffe's rhetoric cause he brought home ze bucks. Buckets o' bucks.

Dr. Dean, he sounds just as silly as Terry.

But he brings no bucks.

Posted by: White Christian on June 14, 2005 09:47 PM

Maybe I'm really, really oversimplifying this...

BUT

Does a lunatic like Dean really effect, say, Hillary's chances in 2008? It seems to me that if she's nominated, money will come in no matter who the DNC chair is or what he's saying. Plus, is it possible a 'swing voter' will walk into the voting booth, see Hillary's name and Allen's name and decide to hit the Allen lever because Dean made some jackass remark about White Christians?

I honestly have no idea. I'm asking sincerely.

I just wonder if Dean's negative impact is being overstated. Hell, he makes Hillary look moderate. Isn't that a good thing if you're a Democrat?

Posted by: Jason on June 14, 2005 09:52 PM

I'm telling you guys, this is all a set-up. He's there to stoke the fires of the true believers while simultaneously creating a false choice for Hillary (or whomever). The nominee will end up looking like a moderate no matter what views they espouse, simply because they aren't screaming it.

And if Hillary gets nominated, there are enough Southern white males who will go absolutely apeshit at the very idea of the woman (see also: MoveOn vs. Dubya). And suddenly, you have Hillary looking like a moderate AND who is being picked on by mean bullies.

Just watch.

Posted by: Steve in Houston on June 14, 2005 11:11 PM

What, Howard Dean is still a white Christian? Not from the last I've heard; this is the fool, remember, that abandoned the Episcopal Church over a dispute involving a bike path.

And now he presumes to lecture the rest of us on religion and its place in public life.

Oh, please.

Next, he'll be telling us to seek anger management counseling...

Posted by: Wes S. on June 15, 2005 01:20 AM

I think Dean's doing a great job and should keep it up. :)

Posted by: Jenny on June 15, 2005 10:26 AM

Nobody pick on my boy Howie.
He is my super-special-secret-boyfriend-dreamboat.

Sigh
That's a lot of man, baby.

Posted by: lauraw on June 15, 2005 11:37 AM

lauraw,

YEARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

(and ewwww!)

Posted by: BrewFan on June 15, 2005 11:44 AM

Kerry's a putz. Dean is Putz-lite.

Posted by: Claire on June 16, 2005 10:34 PM

Amazon.com Widgets

Now Available!
The Deplorable Gourmet
A Horde-sourced Cookbook
[All profits go to charity]

Top Headlines

Funniest thing I've read about the Virginia mess. Back when they were hustling the referendum through the assembly both Senators, Warner and Kaine, advised them to go slow and play by the rules. Louise Lucas said she respected them but didn't need advice from the "cuck chair" in the corner. The gerrymandering was overturned and Louise is heading for the big house. Edward G. Robinson voice "where's your cuck now?"
Posted by: Smell the Glove

I posted his post on twitter and it's gotten 25K views so far. Thanks, Smell the Glove

Chris
@chriswithans

"Ahhhhh ahh I put my career on the line for Louise Lucas and Jay Jones thinking they'd vault me into presidential contention and we ended up costing Democrats 20 House seats and unleashing a Reverse Dobbs ahhhhh ahhh"

Forgotten 80s Mystery Click That Sums Up the Democrat Communist Party Today
Something is wrong as I hold you near
Somebody else holds your heart, yeah
You turn to me with your icy tears
And then it's raining, feels like it's raining

TJM wonders about world building in stories, mostly The Hunger Games

"It's f**king f**ked."
-- reportedly a genuine comment offered by a "senior Labour source"
Correction: I wrote that Labour is losing 88% (now 87%) of the seats it is "defending." I think that's wrong. The right way to say it is the seats they are contesting -- that is, they don't necessarily already hold these seats, but they have put up a candidate to run for the seat. It's still very bad but not as bad as losing 87% of the seats they already held.

Basil the Great
@BasilTheGreat

🚨ED MILIBAND [a Minister in Starmer's government] SAYS KEIR STARMER WILL RESIGN AS PRIME MINISTER

He has reportedly reassured Labour MP's that Starmer will be resigning following the disastrous results tonight

It's over

"The end of the two party system in the UK" as first the Fake Conservatives and now Labour chooses political suicide rather than simply STOPPING THE INVASION
Incidentally, the only reason this didn't already happen in the US is because of the Very Bad Orange Man (who is right on 85% of all policy calls and extremely, existentially right on 15% of them)

No political party that is NOT also a doomsday religious cult would EVER choose a cataclysmic loss -- and possible extinction as a party -- to support a toxically unpopular favoritism of NON-CITIZEN ILLEGAL MIGRANTS over actual citizen voters.

Only a cult does this.

Now they've lost 84%.

Annunziata Rees-Mogg
@zatzi
If this continues Labour loses 2,148 seats tonight.

That is much worse than the worst case predictions I’ve seen.

Cataclysmic

Update: They've now lost 88% of the seats they're defending. As I mentioned earlier, I think I heard that London will not bail them out, as many of those Labour seats will probably flip to "Muslim Independent" or Green. Detroit's 5am vote will not save them.

Yup, Labour is losing 80% of its seats...

The British Patriot
@TheBritLad

🚨 BREAKING: Labour have lost 80% of all seats contested as of 2:25 AM.<
br> If this continues, Keir Starmer will be out of office next week.

Reform has surged and projected to pick up between 1700-2100 seats.

Wow, up to 1700-2100 seats. It's not incredible that this is happening. It's incredible that the Davos crowd is so absolutely determined to privilege Muslim "migrants" over the actual native population who elects them, no matter how loudly the natives scream that they want to be prioritized, that they will gladly self-extinguish as a party rather than simply representing the interests of their own voters. Astonishing.
Remember, when they call other people "cultists" -- they are the ones so imprisoned in their social reinforcement and discipline bubbles that they will choose political death rather than dare upset the Karen Enforcement Officers of their cult.
Update: Now they've lost 83% of the seats they were defending.

(((Dan Hodges)))
@DPJHodges

Reform are basically wiping Labour out in the North. It's not a defeat. It's not even a rout. Labour are simply ceasing to exist.

Nick Lowles
@lowles_nick

Tonight’s results are calamitous for Labour. Not just for Keir Starmer's leadership, but for the very future of the party

STARMERGEDDON: In early returns, Reform gains 135 seats, Labour loses 90, the Fake Conservatives lose 36 (and I didn't even know they could fall any further), the Lib Dems lose 4, and the Greens gain 6. Note that the only other party gaining seats is the Greens and they're only gaining a handful of seats.
Update: Reform now up 145, Labour down 98.
Labour projected to lose Wales -- where they've ruled for 27 years.
Fulton County Georgia just discovered 400 boxes of ballots for Labour
Update: REF +156, LAB -107, CON -45
Brutal: In four out of five council seats where Labour is defending, they've lost. 80%.
I'm sure it's not this simple, but Reform is straight taking Labour's and the "Conservatives'" seats. They've lost almost exactly what Reform gained. If understand this right (and warning, I probably don't), all of London's council seats are up for election, and Labour might lose hugely there, as their old voters abandon them for Reform, Muslim Indenpendents, and the Greens.
REF +190, LAB -134, CON -56.

Updates on the Labour collapse in council elections -- which wags are calling #Starmergeddon -- from Beege Welborne. There are about 5000 seats up for grabs, Labour is expected to lose 1,800, Reform will probably gain 1,580, up from... zero. So this would be more than that.
People claim that while Labour has adopted the Sharia Agenda to appeal to the million Muslims it allowed to migrate to the country, those voters are ditching Labour to vote for the Muslim Independent Party or the Greens. Delicious. This shadenfreude is going straight to my thighs.
Oh, and if Starmer loses about as badly as expected, Labour will toss him out of a window Braveheart style and replace him. He will announce he is resigning to spend more time with his Gay Ukrainian Male Prostitutes.

Media bias and senationalism are as old as, well, the media:

That was written by Denny O'Neill and illustrated by, get this, Frank Miller. Editor to the Stars Jim Shooter was in charge at the time.
I always thought the gag was original to the comic book, but in fact the "Threat or Menace" headline was a satirical joke about media bias and sensationalism for a long while. The Harvard Lampoon used it in a parody of Life magazine: "Flying Saucers: Threat or Menace?"

Hamas is Humiliating Trump's 'Board of Peace'
[Hat Tip: TC] [CBD]

Tucker Carlson is pretty sure Trump is a wizard

Ted Turner Dies At 87 [CBD]

Podcast: Starting a new season, CBD and Sefton discuss their personal journeys to conservative principles, is Nick Shirley the beginning of a trend?, Iran trying to reignite the war, the Left attacks itself, even on "Best Guitarist" lists, and more!

TJM definitively ranks the films of Billy Wilder, like Some Like It Hot

TJM talks about Billy Wilder