Howard Dean on the same subject

This excerpt from a HuffingtonPost essay by Howard Dean, "No More Apologies: It's Time to Stand Up for Our Convictions." It seems appropriate to the discussion in my prior posting. He begins by criticizing Fox News for "failing to report the full story or relevant facts, instead indulging in race baiting in order to exploit people's fears and crank up the fringe of their audience." He begins with Fox News and the Shirley Sherrod debacle, but broadens it to the conservative opposition in general:

There are lessons to be learned here. Tom Vilsack stated the first one best: don't make decisions without all the facts. To that I would add: consider the source. If it is a group of individuals or a corporation that has chronically ignored the facts and engaged in race baiting in the past, they are likely to do it again. A report by Fox News, Breitbart or Matt Drudge, ought to have -- as it does in most people's minds -- little credibility.

The second lesson is harder. Stand up for what you believe in. I admire Nancy Pelosi because she is tough, gets things done, and doesn't take crap from the right wing or any one else. After the year and a half this country has just been through, it is pretty obvious that the right-wing has no intention of cooperating with anyone, and that they will do anything to regain power, just as they were willing to do anything to hold on to it. The only reasonable approach is to stand up to them as you would any group of bullies. Call them out for what they do- or don't do as the case may be. If the Tea Party can call out some of their own members, surely we can call out a group of people who have put their party ahead of their country.

I have often said the biggest problem with the Democrats is that we are not tough enough. Now is the time to be tough. The fact is that the stimulus package has reduced unemployment from where it would have otherwise been in this Bush-induced recession (based on policies most of the Republicans now in Congress voted for). The fact is, as 60 members of the House and the CBO showed last week, the Public Option, or Medicare Buy-in, as it should more correctly be called, would have reduced the deficit over ten years by an additional $68 million dollars. The fact is that President Obama -- despite Republicans killing the climate change bill -- has done more in 18 months to change America's approach to the environment and green jobs than any president in memory.

The fact is that if we are going to tackle the deficit, it makes no sense to cut taxes for people with plenty of money while we tell people who depend on Social Security and Medicare that they have to do with less, or to play games with unemployment insurance for those who need it most.

The fact is that the Democrats won the election in 2008. The Republicans refuse to do anything for the country except say "no". That means we have to work hard and do what we believe is right. And we have to stop apologizing for it. We have to stand up for what we believe in and stop trying to make deals with people who cannot be trusted to make deals for the good of our country. It's not too late to win in 2010. Conviction politics works. Just ask the right wing!

Howard Dean was my original choice as presidential candidate in 2004 until he bowed out after his infamous "scream" at a post-election rally -- which was itself an early example of this sort of selective, viral circulation of a story that is distorted and misleading. He was screaming into the mike, not because he had lost his marbles but because he was trying to be heard over a screaming crowd. Unfortunately, the video clip that was circulated was made with a mike that blocked out crowd noise, so it seemed that he was deranged. Ergo, it lent itself to those who wanted to tarnish him as too fiery and unstable.

Howard Dean never had trouble standing up for his principles or calling out those who distorted them. Would he have been a better president for us right now? Adding up all the pluses and minuses, I don't think so. Would it help Obama if he could incorporate some of Howard Dean's talents and characteristics: his self-assuredness, his aggressive cockiness? Probably.

But there is no perfect choice for the job of president. It simply demands too much of any one individual, and there is no perfect candidate for the job. We don't construct one, Frankenstein-like, to incorporate the best of every characteristic. We have to accept that Obama is not all we want him to be and try to give him the public and visible support that makes it possible for him to do what is hard for him.

Remember what FDR asked of civil rights activist John Hope Franklin. After Franklin had outlined what he would like for FDR to achieve for black people, FDR said to him that he would like to do much of that. Then added, "Now go out there and make me do it." Meaning -- give me the public support that allows me to persuade others that we must do it.

I think this is what's happening right now with the groundswell support for Elizabeth Warren's appointment. Let's hope it works and is a turning point.

Ralph