Slamming Dean: The Democratic Establishment Echoes the GOP Echo Machine

Karl Rove, Ken Mehlman, and Tom DeLay don’t even have to bother attacking Howard Dean anymore; their work is being done for them by the stalwarts of what’s left of the Democratic Party establishment.

Dean says that the Republicans are essentially a party that is by, for, and of the white Christians, which we all know is fundamentally true -- though clearly not the most nuanced description of the long-standing economic, racial, and social divisions that the GOP draws its strength from -- and all of a sudden we have Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi chiding him for one reason or another. And today it’s reported that Hillary Clinton’s spokesman also thinks Dean is speaking too boldly.

However they choose to phrase it, the bottom line effect of all this sniping is to marginalize and shame Dean for speaking a truth that the Republicans do not wish spoken or given credence. Our guys are doing the work of the so-called GOP Echo Machine.

And it’s not like this is the first time this has happened. The party elite jumped on Dean when he said white guys who drive pickup trucks with Confederate flags should be voting Democrat because voting Republican was against their own interests. But Dean was right. We were letting Bush and company fool these good folk, and we turned our backs on a voting bloc that helped cost us the election.

Dean also said the US wasn’t any safer for the capture of Saddam. And he was criticized instead of supported. But he was right. Again.

Have we so bought into the ethos of the Echo Machine and the Washington press wizards and the values of Tim Russert, that we are now afraid to trust voters with the truth? Dean may not be the slickest and most media savvy speaker, but when did we agree that Democrats are the only ones required to play nice?