July 31, 2005
Dean – stupid like a FOX!
Howard Dean made a statement the other day that just grates on anyone with a bit of knowledge about current events and politics:
He also said the president was partly responsible for a recent Supreme Court decision involving eminent domain.
“The president and his right-wing Supreme Court think it is ‘okay’ to have the government take your house if they feel like putting a hotel where your house is,” Dean said, not mentioning that until he nominated John Roberts to the Supreme Court this week, Bush had not appointed anyone to the high court.
Dean’s reference to the “right-wing” court was also erroneous. The four justices who dissented in the Kelo vs. New London case included the three most conservative members of the court – Chief Justice William Rehnquist and Associate Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas. Justice Sandra Day O’Connor was the fourth dissenter.
The court’s liberal coalition of Justices John Paul Stevens, David Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer combined with Justice Anthony Kennedy to form the majority opinion, allowing the city of New London, Conn., to use eminent domain to seize private properties for commercial development.
“We think that eminent domain does not belong in the private sector. It is for public use only,” Dean said.
My first reaction? “What a moron!” But then I stepped back and thought about it. Could it be that maybe this is actually a big ploy? As I led into this post, talking about people who have some knowledge about current events and politics, is it possible that this comment wasn’t directed at them? Anyone with a brain sees right through this, which means the average American voter might now think that the “right-wing” court approves of stealing his house.
When I heard anything that Michael Moore did, I was not so much upset about his inaccuracies and blatant lies. What upset me the most was that those lies were taken as fact by a bunch of people who didn’t know any better. When I would send them to fifty-nine deceits link, they were shocked at just how much manipulation and massaging of the facts Moore needed to present his propaganda. But I know of all the people that I tried to get to read that link, a great many never did, and went on believing what Moore said.
Is this the same thing for Dean? Are we going to see the hordes of misinformed idjits now believing that it was the right-wing court at fault, regardless of the facts? I worry that might be the case. A huge portion of the Left think Bush is a blustering moron (for the record, I concede the “blustering” part, with regards to his speech), but he did manage to get himself elected to the most powerful office in the world. Could it be that Dean, who we all think is an unhinged, ridiculous caricature, is a “Rove-in-schizophrenic’s-clothing”? After all, he did manage to get himself a medical degree, elected Governor of Vermont, almost won the Democratic nomination for President, and now is head of the DNC. You don’t get there by blind luck.
Hat tip: Patterico, via Dean’s World
Update: Over at dailykos, they’re having an internal debate over how to react. Pretty interesting, as several of them think it’s wrong to try to deliberately mislead people by pushing this, and many others thinking that if they can push this for political gain, they might as well do it.
Also, over at Liberal Avenger, they’re looking for a transcript of the speech, and not having much luck finding it. The original story comes from (right-wing?) CNSNews.com, but I’ve been unable to find a transcript or source. As such, based upon Dean’s past behavior, I don’t put this past him, but I reserve the right to be proved wrong if the transcript shows he didn’t say this or that this was pulled completely out of context.
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Well maybe but I honestly don’t think that by the time the election rolls around people will remember this or be thinking in these terms.
I think you’re right, Brad. I’m quite the cynic, which makes me think that the ‘good Dr.’ made a carefully crafted error in that statement. His is, after all, pandering to Democrat voters, as well as disaffected populist-conservatives. And considering his past behavior, there will likely be many more colorful comments between now and ’08.
Thanks for the trackback. You appear to question whether or not CNSNews is right wing or not. It is undoubtedly a very right wing operation. I linked to this Nashua Advocate post that explains the background.
Here’s the relevant section:
I suggest reading the whole thing. It’s pretty solid reporting.