MyDD :: Dean on PBS..how to back up other Democrats.

Dean on PBS..how to back up other Democrats.

by concerned democrat, Wed Jun 22, 2005 at 11:51:07 PM EST

He did an excellent job of not getting trapped by Gwen Ifill. He complimented Durbin, made no judgement, and started talking about the issues. Well done, Governor Dean.

From the NewsHour transcript tonight:

HOWARD DEAN: I'm not going to handicap Senator Durbin. Senator Durbin is one of the most fantastic people in the United States Senate, an honest, decent person. Whether he apologizes or not is up to him; not up to me. It's up to him. But I think he's terrific. And I think he's right at the top of my list of great people.

All I'm going to say about this stuff is the Republicans want to focus on personal attacks. What we want to focus on is making sure Social Security works and isn't wrecked by people who can't balance the budget.

What we want to focus on is a defense policy, which includes watching out for things like Iran and North Korea and not letting them -- putting them on the back burner when they're more of a danger to us than Iraq. These are fundamental national security issues and economic issues, which are not being addressed by the Republicans and it's why they attack people like me and Dick Durbin....."

Transcript of tonight's Newshour segment with Howard Dean

Audio at the link, video also up at the website.

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Permalink :: 11 Comments :: Post a Comment

I watched that as well (3.00 / 0)

And whaddya know, he refused to buy into any of the leading RNC talking point questions, and turned every one around into an attack on the Republican leadership.

Huh. I guess it really is possible. You just need to (a) be prepared, and (b) have a spine.

by paperwight on Thu Jun 23, 2005 at 01:21:01 AM EST

Dean is Smart (3.00 / 1)

And he learns quickly. The rules are changing and Dean is changing them. He will not be trapped into answering questions about spurious headlines or lured into the kind of cannibalistic attacks on other Democrats...even those who would not hesitate to attack him. And yes, Durbin IS one of the good guys.

by donna in evanston on Thu Jun 23, 2005 at 09:32:10 AM EST

It's almost as if... (none / 0)

Howard Dean reads and listens to what people say on the Internet. Now, he doesn't have any history of that sort of thing does he???
: )

BlueNC - Progressive NC Politics

by Robert P on Thu Jun 23, 2005 at 11:19:00 AM EST

Now that made me "chuckle" (none / 0)

and you are right. He seems to be right on top of the latest on the internet lately. :)

by concerned democrat on Thu Jun 23, 2005 at 02:21:22 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: It's almost as if... (none / 0)

Although, to be fair, what he did is just plain old blocking and tackling in an interview. Anyone can be trained to do it (even pre-internet), and he's getting much better.

by paperwight on Thu Jun 23, 2005 at 03:07:30 PM EST
[ Parent ]

It's So Simple (none / 0)

Which is why it's so maddening that so few Democrats have done anything like since about 1979 or so.

by Paul Rosenberg on Fri Jun 24, 2005 at 01:59:16 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: It's So Simple (none / 0)

yes sir. high entertainment value.
blocks the decoy about Rove and Durbin,
but does NOTHING about Downing street
or the Supreme Court Decision against
personal property.

China has been doing this sort of thing for
years, its much more of a fascist country
than it is a Totalitarian state -

AND ladies and gentlemen... guess which Ally
our National Allies prefer? You got it.
CHINA.

Dean gets a C+ here. WWNGD

by turnerbroadcasting on Fri Jun 24, 2005 at 05:35:54 AM EST
[ Parent ]

I love you, Howard Dean. (3.00 / 1)

I know this kind of comment adds no new info or insight.

But watching that interview just made me so proud of... my boy. Look at me... I'm getting all vek-lempt (Mike Myers? Too long ago? Am I getting too old?)

So that being said, loved the interview. Snuggled into this jem of an interview was a powerful argument to the obstructionist attack: the immorality of NOT standing up to and abstructing a destructive, immoral agenda.

He also put in there the other argument that should be standard party line among the true believers. That Democrats and progressive stand up for the core Christian value, which are also the universal values of compassion for the poor and helping others.

From a government, these values are enacted by things like social security, living minimum wages, education and health care access, as well as international issues like AIDS in Africa. (Of course, Dean didn't add all this spceific stuff)

So on a real level, the Democratic party is really the only thing working to save America's soul on these kinds of issues, where the TV culture in particular is going very much toward the everyone-for-themself view of things.

Christians in particular should think about what kind of society the Republicans are advocating. It is a cold, heartless profit-seeking Beast.

Of course, this is some interpretation of the speech. If you missed it, you should read it...

McCain sucks!

by teknofyl on Thu Jun 23, 2005 at 02:39:07 PM EST

As a Dean critic (none / 0)

I have to say that was a good job...

by donkeykong on Thu Jun 23, 2005 at 07:33:45 PM EST

Dean needs to be part of a story about Reform (none / 0)

And beating the status quo. In this case,
he's a story about trying to stop a decoy
floated up - about Karl Rove, and Durbin
and "liberals" and "progressives" and all
that happy horseshit that makes for
such a partisan environment in the united
states and of course helps to keep
the christian grassroots that hate the war
separated from the libertarian internet
that the democrats would love to be friends
with if they could.

But we're missing a key part of the narrative.
Dean can't be a part of the party of reform,
if Government is seizing private property
from individuals, such as with
yesterday's supreme misunderstanding,
or spying on them , such as with the patriot
act. And if there are no kudos to people like
McCain, and Domenici - senators that rise
up with folks like Bingaman - to fight for the
environment and intelligence reform -
then the focus and direction going into 2006
is not a winning one. Its simple.

Dean has to cut loose his Enron ties. They
were media ties, anyway. He just wanted
Vermont to be safe for insurance. And
well represented in the media.

.. bunch a camels is what I saw..

by turnerbroadcasting on Fri Jun 24, 2005 at 05:40:31 AM EST

About that Enron thing. (none / 0)

http://www.factcheck.org/article119.html
Small snip from it:

"He (Gephardt) claims Dean aided Enron at the expense of Vermont's needy. But Enron got nothing special, and the state GAINED revenue."

"the state balance sheet shows Vermont gained revenue after Dean's supposed "giveaway." After Dean signed the 1993 tax cut the total taxes and fees collected from captive insurance companies more than doubled, from less than $9 million in 1992 to more than $19 million last year, according to Dan Towle, Director of Financial Services of the Vermont Department of Economic Development. A slight drop in revenue (about 2%) in the first year or two was quickly made up by the growing volume of captive insurance business attracted to the state, which saw the total number of captives more than double from 257 at the end of 1992 to 597 at the end of last year. Some "givewaway.""

"There's nothing secret about Vermont 's desire to entice big corporations to set up tax-advantaged "captive" insurance companies in the state. In fact, the Vermont website advertises the fact and calls the idea "simply captivating."

These "captives" allow corporations to provide their own insurance rather than purchasing it elsewhere, while still getting a tax deduction for the premiums the parent pays to its own company. The world's most popular havens for these captive insurance companies are offshore - Bermuda and the Cayman Islands . But Vermont started going after this business for itself 20 years ago - long before Howard Dean became governor......"

And a friend of mine found this in Dean's book, You Have the Power:
"And from You Have the Power:
"I didn't mind the gaffe stories quite as much as the ones that were entirely made up. Newsweek's Michael Isokoff, for example, pursued a story that I had participated in insider trading, and the Boston Globe printed a story intimating that I'd had a secret meeting with Enron over a captive insurance company (which Enron didn't own until a year after the supposed meeting.")

by concerned democrat on Fri Jun 24, 2005 at 11:58:13 AM EST
[ Parent ]

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