Wednesday, February 16, 2005

Dean's Day Three News (UPDATED)

Bulldog Conversion: Yesterday it was Harvard, today it's an editorial in the Yale Daily News welcoming Dean with "As chairman, Dean is ideal cure for DNC's woes." Here are the words of someone who had a higher SAT score, better grades, wrote a better essay and also possessed a more impressive extracurricular resume than you or me: "During the primary season last year, many of my pieces in these pages emphasized the perils of nominating Howard Dean for the presidency, and I still retain my belief that Dean would have been a poor choice for Democrats to put at the top of their 2004 ticket. However, for the job of DNC chairman, I believe Dean -- with his conviction, outspokenness and credibility on deficit issues -- to be an excellent choice for the Democrats. In fact (forgive the pun), he's just what the doctor ordered. Democrats now need a bold leader to provide credibility and a coherent message. I think they've found him in Howard Dean." AlterNet's Media Culture column provides this view, "Dean DNC hoedown." Their summary statement: "Much of the coverage amounts to another chapter in the media's Schroedinger's Cat coverage: Media misrepresents person/issue; provides unflattering coverage; comments on the fact that "the public" is skeptical of said person/issue. As if their peeping had no effect. Still they've been as remarkably restrained as the Republicans (for now) whose official comment was: "Howard Dean's energy and passion will add to the political discourse in this country, and he will be a strong leader for his party." Just wait." I'm not a cat person so will somebody tell me about "Schroedinger's Cat," please? The Nation has this combo-plate of ideas and quotes, "Zephyr Teachout to Howard Dean" by their editor, Katrina vanden Heuvel. She's far more gentle on Zeph than I. Update: "As RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman praised the election of his new counterpart Howard Dean, influential Republican front groups were already planning a mendacious offensive against the new DNC chair,"-from The Nation's "the daily Outrage" column today. Bob Shields sends along a link to The Straight Dope that explains the reference to Schroedinger's Cat, above. Unfortunately, I am too feeble-minded to deduce the meaning of this information.

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