One Father For Dean
A Father and His Politics....

Saturday, June 28, 2003

Mojo Ho-Ho 

For the week:
- Meet the Press: not so bad, actually....
- Official Announcement: a truly great day in Burlington, VT....
- MoveOn.org Win by plurality: by almost 2:1, and a high preference number too....
- 40K+ at Meetup: news brings more recruits....
- $1.5 million+ in Internet donations this cycle: ring the bell by June 30th....
- ...and someone in the Major Media is listening....


Indy VT 

A small taste of the VT I know and love....Makes one a little homesick.


Thursday, June 26, 2003

June 23rd Event in San Francisco 

...because I went to this one....


June 23rd Event in Santa Cruz 

Hometown, but I missed this one...
June 23rd Dean Event - Santa Cruz For Dean


Tuesday, June 24, 2003

"...And If I Might Follow-Up On The Previous Question?...." 

Adding more fuel to the fire regarding my last post is a new and interesting twist on the political/media interface: Liberal Oasis seconding a report that the Treasury Department providing NBC and Tim Russert with data in preparation for Howard Dean's "Meet The Press" interview on Sunday that conveniently spun Dean's statement on a tax cut repeal in wholly Republican terms.

The only hitch? No reality check from the NBC team on the framing of the data, which the Washington Post had to decode for itself....The Left Coaster actually initiated this analysis Monday afternoon (give credit where it's due)...

Tom Daschle, Nancy Pelosi and Ralph Nader: have you checked your answering machines lately? Condi Rice, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld are on the show this week....

Over at the Howard Dean 2004 Blog, they're taking equivalent questions for George Bush's next serious one-on-one interview....

Well,...it could happen, couldn't it?


Cognitive Dissonance Disorder 

From the talking heads to the Ditto-heads, everyone seems to be talking about Howard Dean. And that they're talking is a good thing, despite the sometimes less than positive comments. They may sound dismissive, but there's a lot of fear underneath that loathing.

It's amazing to me that the insular Beltway / Conservative / Major Media echo chamber has been ceded our communal conscience and destroyed our common sense, abdicated as the downward spiraling life of politics in America has split cause from effect for many of us.

We sheep are shorn of our political right to think and know for ourselves....and are none the wiser for it.

But, maybe we are just now beginning to ignore and/or pull out the men from behind the curtain. And I think Howard Dean may be playing both Toto and the Wizard in this 2004 scenario: opening the curtain on himself and his beliefs yet playing the part of Oz for the Emerald City when the need arises. We, his supporters and soon-to-be-supporters, appreciate that, more than we know.

I, for one, devour mass media. Much of what I sit down to consume is often less than palatable, but I do so to find out who the presentation chef is; how s/he sifted the menu of thought, comments and questions together; and what spices were used either to accent or cover the taste of the underlying pablum.

It seems that the ground rules for being taken seriously in this country as a national candidate by the "political class" and the major media are to walk the walk and talk the talk like every other cookie cutter politician. But when this "normal" mode seemingly flies in the face of our Governors' connection and plain talk outside of Meet the Press, there is cognitive dissonance in the self-styled media elite: "something is different here, therefore you are, Governor, are not being honest"....

...While those who play the game so well, completely within the confines of the current political box of orthodoxy (fully defined by the conservative wail for over 3 decades and counting), constantly equivocating in interview, on stage and in chambers, are given praise, high marks and many contributions for doing so.

Distasteful? No: just ignore the men behind the curtains....and keep on connecting with the rest of the us who know in our heart and soul that this is one of the precise reasons why Governor Dean is exactly the right person for the job of President of the United States.


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