Howard Dean

DemocracyFest

Deaniac — Wed, 13 May 2009 21:59:08 -0400

DemocracyFest is a political festival for liberal/progressive activists which features trainings, speakers and entertainment; teaching people how to make a difference and have fun doing it! Prior DemocracyFests have been held in Massachusetts, Texas, California, New Hampshire and Virginia. Over 4,000 activists have been trained to help on campaigns and make a difference in their communities.

The 6th Annual DemocracyFest will be held this summer, July 17-19, 2009 at the Sheraton Hotel and Conference Center in Burlington, VT!

More information about the event can be found at http://www.DemocracyFest.net

Howard Dean for Health and Human Services

RDillon — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 16:59:31 -0500

Now that Tom Daschle has dropped out of the running for the Health and Human Services position, in my opinion the next choice should be a no-brainer. Howard Dean is a Physician, as is his wife. Howard Dean has been an effective leader of our party, using his 50-state strategy at the DNC to help propel our huge victory last year when Blue-Dogs such as Rahm Emanuel called for his head on a platter.

This position is perfect for Howard Dean. The never-ending parade of Blue-Dogs, and even REPUBLICANS that are taking over in this new Administration we all fought so hard for are quite frankly starting to make me sick at my stomach.

So, why Howard Dean you ask?? Howard Dean has the GUTS and MOXY to stand up and fight the Republicans, the Insurance companies, and anyone else who will get in his way in taking us to Universal Healthcare. Howard Dean is a proud Progressive who doesn't shy away from what he believes, and actually thinks that when Democrats act like Democrats, and not cowards trying to be more Republican they can win on their ideas in the arena of public opinion.

But mainly, Howard Dean is a FIGHTER!! He knows bi-partisanship and all these warm and fuzzy feelings about it will only take us so far. As he showed at the DNC, he knows that eventually we will have to roll up our sleeves and FIGHT LIKE HELL for something millions of Americans desperately need.

Personally, as a Progressive it is getting very demoralizing watching the never-ending stream of Blue-Dogs and Republicans take over this government. We need a real Progressive with guts to let us know all our efforts last year were not in vain, and haven't been cast aside now that victory is attained. Howard Dean has demonstrated how effective he can be when fighting for our party, and those who need it most.

As an added bonus, I am sure he paid his taxes.

Howard Dean's Departure Marks a Sad Day for Our Party

RDillon — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 21:38:47 -0500

I remember after the loss of 04, listening to Howard Dean talking about his vision for the future of our party and vehemently supporting him for the Chair of the DNC. His message was quite different than the strategies that were used by the DLC in the Clinton years. Dr. Dean believed that we should fight in every state in the union and if we showed up to fight, we win. As DNC chair, he fought for that strategy and netted huge results despite constant critisizm and calls for his removal.

With the Edwards scandal and Dean's hasty departure, it seems that the Progressive wing once again has lost its chance to retake our party. Worse yet, it seems the DLC detested Dean and the Progressive wing he so successfully led:

The conspicuous absence of Howard Dean from Thursday’s press conference announcing Tim Kaine’s appointment as Democratic National Committee chairman was no accident, according to Dean loyalists.

Despite leading the party in consecutive triumphant election cycles — as well as through off-year races such as when Kaine was elected Virginia governor in 2005 — Dean has become all but invisible since Election Day, passed over for the Cabinet position he coveted and apparently not in line for another administration post.

Dean’s reward for the party recapturing the White House, House and Senate, as well as taking control of seven governor’s mansions and eight state legislatures on his watch?

So far, nothing.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0109/17254.html

Unfortunately for our party it appears that it is more about ideology than successes as a leader:

Joe Trippi, who was Dean’s presidential campaign manager in 2004 but has not been shy about criticizing his former candidate, praised Dean for his DNC stewardship and willingness to take on the status quo.

“He was never afraid to challenge the way party establishment in Washington did business, and that doesn’t win you friends in either party,” Trippi said by way of explaining the friction.

Which is where Howard Dean doomed himself besides his successes. He departed from the failed DLC model of only trying to win in certain states and flying over huge swaths of the country. As we all remember, he came to blows with Rahm Emanuel over that very thing:

Getting closer to the point, Trippi added: “You don’t have to look any further than Rahm Emanuel.”

Emanuel served as chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and battled repeatedly with Dean over party priorities in 2006. Emanuel, then an Illinois congressman, wanted to focus resources on competitive House races while Dean was more focused on expanding the party’s reach into red America as part of his “50-state strategy.”

“Now one of them is the chief of staff to the president of the United States, and one of them is the outgoing party chair,” Trippi wryly observed.

I happened to agree with Howard Dean on that one. I had purchased a Democracy Bond to build a 50-state strategy as he had stated to begin with. I had sent seperate money to the DCCC to fight for Congressional seats. I think the fruits of that labor are there for all to see.

I think also it is a sad day for our party that Dean has not a position within it now. I fear that it signals the final DLC take-over of our newly elected Democratic majority, and Administration. Why else would Dean be roundly disrespected for doing such successful work for our party? Has his message of true reform been rejected??

True to form, Dean appeared to fire a parting shot at his own detractors that he himself had outsmarted as leader of the DNC:

"You gotta hand it to Blagojevich," said Dean of the embattled Illinois governor’s brazen appointment of Roland Burris to succeed Obama in the Senate. "What a maneuver! What a maneuver! When his back was against the wall, he outsmarted a lot of people.”

So I would just like to say to Howard Dean, Thanks so much for giving our party a soul for four years. I think you should pop some champagne, take a deep breath and scream just as damn loud as you feel like screaming. You gave the Progressive movement hope. Now, I fear your departure once again cuts that movement's leadership off at the head.

Howard Dean, the Unsung Hero

Bob Fertik — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 15:31:52 -0500

Four years ago, after George Bush stole a second term in Ohio and Republicans held both houses of Congress, Democrats were in the dumps. Now, four years later, Democrats control the White House and Congress. Who gets the credit?

Top credit goes to Bush's staunchest critics - led by the members of Democrats.com since 2000 and our few allies in Congress like Rep. Dennis Kucinich - who challenged White House lies and propaganda every step of the way.

But Howard Dean deserves enormous credit as well, first for energizing young activists during his 2004 campaign, and then for bringing an aggressive political strategy to the Democratic Party during his four years as Democratic Party chairman.

Dean doesn't like to toot his own horn, but Chris Matthews gave him a tiny bit of the praise he deserves on Hardball.

american job loses and BUSH

alex papp — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 06:36:26 -0400

the job loses in america have grown to the millions since bushy-boy was illigally elected in 2000!! the democrats need to start telling the voters how they are going to straighten out the economy and bring good paying jobs back to this country!!! people loosing their homes and jobs want to know when will things start to get better????? the democratic party has a ship load of ammunition to sink the republicans in november,but they are not using it!!!eighty-five percent of workers polled said they join a union if the act to join one was available.there was a bill that passed the house that would let workers join a union without a secret ballot but the senate voted the bill down. the democrats need to champion causes like this to win the whitehouse in november!!!the middle class is dieing in a sea of red ink brought on by bush-cheney ,the iraq war, the mortgage melt-down,fuel-prices,ect!!! Let me tell the democrats that this election is critical for the party,loose i8n november and life long democrats lke myself will abandan the party FORGOOD !!!!!!! alex papp NORTH CAROLINA....

Democratic House Officials Recruited Wealthy Conservatives

Chip — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 15:24:16 -0400

According to Democratic candidates who ran for House of Representative seats in 2006, Rahm Emanuel, then head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, took sides during the Democratic primary elections, favoring conservative candidates, including former Republicans, and sidelining candidates who were running in favor of withdrawal from Iraq....

...According to Doug Thornell, spokesperson for the DCCC, "The policy of the DCCC is not to get involved in primaries, unless there is an unusual circumstance that demands it. I cannot speculate on what those circumstances might be. The majority of these cases [2008 primaries] will be left up to the voters on the ground. Meddling hasn't taken place this cycle, and for the most part last cycle. That isn't an accurate way to describe what happened. We are cognizant of having local support for our candidates."...

However, a source close to the DNC indicated that there was disagreement between Dean and Emanuel over election tactics. In his recent book, "The Thumpin'," Naftali Bendavid, a journalist who spent months inside the DCCC operation and at Emanuel's side, reported a heated conversation between Dean, Emanuel and Senator Charles Schumer (D-New York) regarding election strategies of the DCCC and the DNC. At the time, Dean was focusing on helping local organizations across the country to mobilize their communities to support Democrats. Emanuel wanted to focus the resources of the national party on specific races that were the most likely to be competitive for Democrats. According to Bendavid, Emanuel said to Dean, "You're nowhere, Howard. Your field plan is not a field plan. That's fucking bullshit ... I know your field plan - it doesn't exist. I've gone around the country with these races. I've seen your people. There is no plan, Howard."

How Emanuel came to his decisions about which candidates to support against Democratic opponents is known only to Emanuel and his staff. Emanuel declined direct comment on this story. But an examination of individual races reveals a pattern of financial and political support for wealthy conservative candidates and an assault on their grassroots-supported opponents who were running on platforms that included a full withdrawal of US forces from Iraq.

Read the whole report on the DCCC's smarmy "We're Not in Kansas anymore" tactics.

The Swiftboating of Governor Kathleen Sebelius

theBlueHighwayman — Fri, 11 May 2007 01:32:13 -0400

New sign on the Highways!

Dispatch from a Hotel in Normal, IL - 12:15A CST

Karl Rove and the gang are at it again, this time it is to destroy the Democratic Governor of Kansas. Her mortal sin was to tell the truth about the Kansas National Guard equipment.

Tony Snow, living up to his name, started the snowball rolling by stating "Governor Sebelius never requested anything from the Federal Government." Today that ball was picked up by none other than Sean Hannity. He interviewed two idiots from Pittsburgh, PA, who have a morning show on 104.7 FM (a Clearchannel station) and XM Radio named Quinn and Rose, and accused Howard Dean of orchestrating the Governor's statement for political gain.

The story goes like this:

Quinn and Rose say they have a "Confidential Source" who somehow managed to hear a conversation between the Senator and the Governor. It seems the Senator was displeased with Governor Sebelius's statements concerning the National Guard. In response she repents and claims that Howard Dean got her to do it. Presumably Howard Dean planned with Speaker Pelosi, Senator Reid, Senator Durbin and Senator Leahy to use the tragedy in Kansas to launch a political attack against Bush concerning the National Guard issue.

Here is the interview on Sean Hannity (It's an MP3 file about 6 minutes long)
INTERVIEW

After listening to these morons I called the radio station in Pittsburgh and left a message for Quinn and Rose's producer Jay Bahanon who returned my call and said:

We do have a confidential source on our report about the conversation between the governor of Kansas and Senator Brownback. I'm not going to give you any names if that's what you want, that's not going to happen. But we do have a good credible source on it.

If you would like to contact Quinn and Rose:
quinn@warroom.com
rose@warroom.com

Let them know how appreciative you are that they are busy carrying out Rove's dirty work! While you're at it maybe Jay Bahanon, their producer, would like to hear from you: 412-920-2796

I also think it would be a great idea to contact Senator Brownback to let him know how disgusting it is for a Presidential Candidate to be involved in this sort of thing.

Washington Office:
303 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510-1604
Phone: (202) 224-6521
Fax: (202) 228-1265

Main District Office:
612 S. Kansas Ave
Topeka, KS 66603
Phone: (785) 233-2503
Fax: (785) 233-2616

If you'd like to contact Governor Kathleen Sebelius just to let her know she has your support and that this despicable lie will never stand.

Website: http://www.governor.ks.gov

Contact the Governor
Office of the Governor
Capitol, 300 SW 10th Ave., Ste. 212S
Topeka, KS 66612-1590

Voice 1-877-KSWORKS (1-877-579-6757)
Local 785-296-3232
For the Hearing Impaired 1-800-766-3777

It is truly pathetic how desperate the Republicans have gotten. Don't let them get away with these grotesque attacks on Democratic politicians. This will probably not play big in NYC but out in Kansas Governor Sebelius is going to have to deal with the Rove machine.

Update 1: Media Matters has a transcript of the Hannity show and full documentation on the national guard equipment shortage.

Update 2: On Thursday, the DNC's lawyer, Joseph Sandler, sent cease and desist letters to XM Radio and FreeRepublic.com adamantly denying Gov. Dean had any such conversation with Gov. Sebelius. The letter to XM Vice President Dara Altman demands they:

immediately cease and desist, and instruct Messrs. Quinn and Rose to cease and desist, from further dissemination of the above-quoted statements or any statements similar in substance and
immediately - on tomorrow morning's show or the next morning's show, at the latest - broadcast on the Quinn & Rose show an express retraction of these statements.

The letter to FreeRepublic's James Robinson demands they:

immediately cease and desist from further dissemination of the above-quoted statements or any statements similar in substance and
immediately post a retraction of these statements in a location on its web page a[t] least as prominent as that on which the story appeared.

Update 3: Several rightwing blogs jumped on the story. HotAir published flat denials from Dean, Sebelius, and Brownback. GatewayPundit published a denial from Brownback. Wizbang has not published the denials.

Tell Congress To Support The Kucinich IMPERATIVE For Impeachment

thepen — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 20:59:24 -0400

Minutes ago the U.S. Senate AGAIN failed to exercise meaningful oversight for the national suicide which is our policy in Iraq. It is by now abundantly clear that the Republican caucus is determined to go down with the Bush presidency, and take our military and our country with them while they do nothing. Instead, a bipartisan cattle stampede of senators approved two "we don't hate the troops" resolutions, nothing but vain puffery, swearing to take "no action" about this or that. We don't in the slightest care about what action Congress is NOT going to take, we want to know is what they ARE going to do to reverse the insanity of current policy.

ACTION PAGE: http://www.peaceteam.net/impeachment_now3.php

On the occasion of the guilty verdicts against Scooter Libby, Howard Dean was quoted as saying we would have a new president "soon enough." If he is talking about the 2008 election that is NOT soon enough, not even close. Day by day, ever more outrageous scandals and abuses of power spew forth from the White House, as we now learn that they have been so corrupted beyond redemption by their power grabs, that they even used the U.S. attorneys themselves for nakedly partisan witch hunts, to try to influence our elections, and fired all who would not bend under their political dictate.

And what was Bush's response when called on this monumental affront not just to the checks in our government, but also to the independency of our very justice system? "What was mishandled was the explanation of the cases to the Congress," he said. In Bush's mind there are no policy mistakes, let alone policy crimes. In his world there are only SPIN mistakes, when we the people aren't quite stupid enough to buy their criminal hypocrisies. We hear admissions that "mistakes were made," as if mistakes somehow made themselves. But even where there is verbal responsibility taken, there is NEVER actual accountability. The sacrificial fall guys will reluctantly resign, but NEVER is there a price paid by the core perpetrators for their conduct.

The Bush presidency is one of false appearances, phony and disingenuous words of compassion and democracy, while the true underlying agenda is the embezzlement of our national treasury, and even those of other sovereign countries, on behalf of their biggest campaign contributors, who then remorselessly relocate to evade taxes on their ill-gotten profits. The Bush presidency is to create wars out of whole cloth, to demonize not only their critics but entire innocent populations, first Iraq, then Lebanon, now Iran. It is a mission to exacerbate terrorism to the maximum extent possible, while ignoring its actual roots causes and laying off pursuing its ringleaders, at the mortal peril of our true national security. And it is not going to STOP in any respect until the day that Bush is lawfully removed from office.

It was not enough that president Bush should pack our courts with radical ideologue judges, one of whom just this week presumed to overturn two centuries of 2nd amendment case law, to let the NRA rewrite our very Constitution. No, even the choice of cases to bring to court they must warp so that only Democrats could ever be prosecuted for any crime, despite the fact that most of the wrongdoing they were actually finding was by Republicans. How their talking head cronies howled after the Libby verdicts that it was just a political prosecution. Their new rule of law is that it's against the law to prosecute Republicans, no matter what the crime, and that any attempt to do so is by definition a political vendetta. And if the Libby trial exposed anything, it was that Cheney was the king culprit.

And hanging over everything is the preemptively declared threat of a presidential veto of any attempt, no matter how timid, to confront these high crimes. And that is why we have concluded that Dennis Kucinich is speaking the essential truth. We have long known that Bush was planning an illegal war of aggression against Iran. Shame on the leadership of the House for the sudden demise, without even a vote, of the provision in the war supplemental appropriations bill to preclude an attack on Iran without express congressional consent. Let there be a vote so we can know which members of Congress think it's OK for the president to launch horrific and disastrous new wars without even a peep from them.

What Kucinich so clearly understands in his call for impeachment is that all these things are mere symptoms of the foundational problem, the cowardice of members of Congress as they run away from actually restraining the abuse of executive power. What are non-binding resolutions except avoidance of actually challenging the policy issue? What are bills that write into themselves exceptions if the president takes "responsibility" for them? Is the role of Congress to be relegated to courteously writing the president's signing statements for him?

ACTION PAGE: http://www.peaceteam.net/impeachment_now3.php

Bush loves to lecture the American people on the lessons of 9/11. There was only one lesson to be learned from 9/11 . . . that we had the WRONG president.

And in five years since there are still too many who have not learned that critical lesson, which failure is the reason New Orleans was left to sink by a guitar strumming photo-op president, which failure is the reason even the administration drafted Patriot Act has been abused to conduct massive illegal surveillance of innocent American citizens. That failure is the reason torture of those even suspected of being our enemies has become official U.S. policy, in utter defiance of all norms of international law and civilized decency.

That failure is the reason our entire intelligence operation against weapons of mass destruction, the life long specialty of Valerie Plame, was sabotaged and jeopardized to try to gain cheap political advantage. Or was it to keep concealed even more heinous acts of treason. That failure is the reason our military is still pursuing a fool's mission in Iraq, chasing an enemy who is not there in any significant numbers. We face nothing but two more years of such disasters and outrages every minute that George Bush, Dick Cheney and their pod people remain in any office of authority.

So what if Gonzales bites the dust. He is just one more water-carrier. He would already have been long gone had not Bush PERSONALLY intervened to quash investigation into the abuse of administration's warrantless domestic eavesdropping program, when that first came to partial light. We have a president and vice president for whom obstruction of justice is just another burglar tool in their black bag, as they rob the balance of powers in our Constitution. Let the subpoenas now issuing in the U.S. attorney scandal lead to door of the oval office, where the trail surely does directly lead.

ACTION PAGE: http://www.peaceteam.net/impeachment_now3.php

And let us renew again and again our call for Congress to impeach ALL those who have harmed we the people so grievously, and to prosecute those impeachments at the most mercifully swift speed.

Dr. Dean's Diagnosis on the Libby Verdict

CactusPat — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 05:25:50 -0500

The DNC's callin' it a video note, my security software is blocking the akamai server the DNC's using so I snagged it from someone kind enuff to upload it to YouTube...

(bonus video)

Dr. Dean's reaction to the Libby verdict on MSNBC...

Howard Dean Lays the Curse of Nixon On John McCain

CactusPat — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 06:06:42 -0500

The Doctor delivers the smackdown., layin' the curse of Nixon on John McCain...

OUCH!

That had to hurt...