Liberalism: Run By the Same People Who Gave You Howard Dean Matt Harrison
Howard Dean, whose facial resemblance to the Grinch is politically apropos, hit the stump circuit armed with a toolkit of illogic and sophistry, hoping to "energize" the Democratic base that apparently shuns the concept of intelligent political discussion.
Indeed, this abjuration was heeded by Mr. Dean, who (apparently missing our memo) recycled the same argument he apparently has been using for months . After calling Social Security reform itself "nutty," the Grinch went nutty himself, showing that you just can't teach an old dog to think rationally.
"Americans do not want to privatize social security," he proclaimed with the unjustified omniscience one now expects to spew from his diabolical grin. "They're too smart to turn Social Security over to the people who ran Enron."
Concerning the premise, what our friend Howard Dean didn't mention was that the other thing Americans don't want to do is elect Democrats to the presidency, which should be the entire purpose of his sojourn. Mr. Dean may be able to frame Social Security reform deceptively and sufficiently so to delude 1,000 telephone respondents to oppose it, but his party has lost three national elections in a row. Funny, you'd think that conspicuous datum might lead him to the conclusion that public opinion is an unreliable wingman. Guess not.
He's left some lingering questions, though. If these Americans are so "smart," why are they happy with Social Security, a purveyor of economic illusions that has created (at last count, but likely to rise soon) a $26 trillion unfunded liability? Indeed, are they so smart that they want to leave Social Security to the people who run Social Security - and run it into the ground?
Also, if Mr. Dean's supporters are so smart, why must he speak to them like they are children? Why must he represent the opposition party in the most powerful nation in the world with false prophesies? Can't he at least regurgitate policy analyses from the Brookings Institution? Can't he at least find a reputed economist to cite? With all of the resources he has as DNC chair, he comes to a fundraiser to compare Social Security and Enron?
No one with a political science degree from an accredited institution of higher learning will tell you that "Social Security is run by the people who ran Enron" is a cogent argument. I'm not even sure if that would be accepted as satire.
First, it's not run by the people who ran Enron. The people who ran Enron are in prison. Why does Mr. Dean not know this? Did Air America not report it?
Second, as mentioned before, does Mr. Dean lack a factually-based argument so severely that the Enron argument is the best he can come up with? As the Democratic chairman, why not at least raise yourself to the already-low level of Ted Kennedy, or even Joe Conason? Their arguments are quite bad - but at least they are derived from a relevant premise.
Where is your pride, Mr. Dean?
Social Security is in crisis, and the chairman of the Democratic party ignores the nature of the issue and spouts drivel about unrelated current events from three years ago. Perhaps the Clintonites were on to something when they virulently opposed Mr. Dean's promotion to chairman.
Below is a secret transcript from Mr. Dean's interview for the position of DNC chair:
Interviewer: Mr. Dean, if we hire you as party chairman, what's the first argument you'll use against Social Security reform? Dean: I've got a great one! I'll say that Social Security reform is run by the same people who ran Enron! Interviewer: What the hell are you talking about? No it's not. Dean: What are you, a nutty, Jesus-obsessed, fascist Republican? Yes it is, and everyone will believe me when I tell them it is. It'll be great! I can make all the voters so afraid of reform that they won't even consider it! Interviewer: For the love of God, you are a grave danger to the already-dire state of public discourse. Dean: Yeaaaarrrrrrrrrggggggghh!
[end transcript]
It is close to a truism that politicians with nothing good to say gain support out of fear. These claims by Mr. Dean are nothing but the disgusting intention to delude uninformed, if not completely stupid, voters into being so scared of Social Security reform based off of a completely erroneous and misleading argument that they don't even consider the merits of being able to control their own money, among other things.
Mr. Dean speaks often of the Democrats offering moral values. Yet Mr. Dean is such a nauseating example of shameless trafficking in mendacity that anyone with an abecedarian understanding of politics should rise up and reject this deviant and fraudulent behavior. While they're at it, they should indict its disturbing promoter - better to have him practicing medicine in Vermont than demagogy in Washington.
The above work is the opinion of the author,
and not necessarily that of the Prometheus Institute.
