The "swiftboating" of Howard Dean has begun. Who's next? Senators Feingold and Sanders?

[Better Believe It]

Probably. If they dare challenge Senator Leiberman and Rahm Emanuel by threatening to vote against the health insurance industry/big Pharma bill.

It's now obvious that the White House and Senate leadership are organizing a big campaign against Howard Dean. They are lining up Democratic Senators to attack Dean at every opportunity. Rahm's "sharp elbows" are working very hard on liberal Senators who don't back up "the boss".

Leiberman is critical to passing the back door sweetheart deal President Obama made with the health insurance and drug industry.

Any members of Congress or prominent public figures like Howard Dean who get in the way of "the deal" will do so at their own peril.

[DJ13]

1. This attack on Dean will backfire

It makes the WH and moderates in Congress look like Bush in the way they used to go after people that dared to disagree with them.

[Armstead]

3. At least they should "go after" those who deserve it

People like Max Baucus and Ben Nelson threaten to kill the bill if it is too "liberal" or has any hint of government involvement (in other words anything that doesn't kowtow to private insurers) and Team Obama go out of their way to placate them and kiss their ass.

Meanwhile Dean, who has been a constant supporter of the steadily weakening reforms before deciding "enough is enough," is attacked.

Something is wrong here.

[DJ13]

10. 100% agreement

But, something isnt wrong here, this is just the latest example of our government now being run by corporate interests.

[GreenPartyVoter]

31. +1000

[EFerrari]

39. Bigtime. n/t

[jgraz]

41. *Will* backfire?? It already *has* backfired.

Just look at DU's front page if you have any doubt.

[beachmom]

2. I'm sorry. Did Howard Dean fight in the Vietnam War and then have his record

completely LIED ABOUT? If not, it ain't swiftboating.

[Armstead]

4. It's a milder equivalent

[Better Believe It]

6. Do you think "character assassination" is a better and more accurate term?

If you do, I'd be glad to change it.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

11. I would if there were character assassination involved.

Instead of just arguments about the bill.

[BrklynLiberal]

9. swiftboat - To attack a politician with specious claims; To trick, scam, or swindle

Swiftboating does not apply to John Kerry only...

Like many such terms, its meaning has grown and expanded well beyond its original concept.

[BeyondGeography]

15. So how is Howard being swiftboated?

Do tell.

[beachmom]

16. That is not being done to Howard Dean. Definitely big time pushback

in blunt language. But I haven't seen a "scam". There are major disagreements going on between various blogs but I feel like everyone is having a debate, not smearing.

[Better Believe It]

24. Right .... calling Howard Dean "irrational" isn't a personal attack at all!

[rudy23]

38. Yes, grown men get accused of "throwing tantrums" all the time!

It's just debate!

[timeforpeace]

44. Who called him irrational?

[Better Believe It]

59. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs

Robert Gibbs Says Howard Dean is Irrational For Opposing LieberCare
By: Jane Hamsher Wednesday December 16, 2009 1:32 pm

White House Secretary Robert Gibbs on Howard Dean:

On Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs strongly hit back at former DNC Chairman Howard Dean for criticizing the Senate health care bill, suggesting, at one point, that Dean was being irrational and didn’t understand the contents of the legislation.

“I don’t know what piece of legislation he is reading,” said Gibbs.

“How better do you address those who don’t have insurance… passing a bill that will cover 30 million uninsured or killing a bill?” he added. “I don’t think any rational person would say killing a bill makes any sense at this point.”

Asked if Dean was acting irrationally, Gibbs replied: “I can’t tell what his motives are, to be honest with you.”

http://fdlaction.firedoglake.com/2009/12/16/robert-gibbs-says-howard-dean-is-irrational-for-opposing-liebercare/

[Sebastian Doyle]

29. Please..... Kerry was a partner in the DLC swiftboating of Dean

...long before the Bush Crime Family funded Swift Boat Liars turned on him.

[JNelson6563]

55. Sometimes it sucks to be a literalist.

So easy to miss valid points.

[BrklynLiberal]

5. I hope that somehow, we the people, do manage to come out ahead on this.

More power to Howard Dean, Thom Hartmann, Bernie Sanders, Dennis Kucinich, and every other progressive, populist who REALLY
wants what is best for the American people and not the American Corporatocracy.

I will try to remain optimistic. :(

[AndrewP]

46. You got that right

Thom Hartmann is a breath of fresh air.

[polichick]

58. I do feel more optimistic seeing this progressive uprising - the party will be forced...

...to clean up its act or become irrelevant. There aren't enough DLC to sustain it, and indies are as disgusted as progressives.

[David Zephyr]

7. Nancy Pelosi will be next.

Because her House delivered a robust public option BEFORE all the teabagging shit even began last summer.

The swiftboating will be against Pelosi.

Just watch.

[tularetom]

8. At first glance it reads like a wacky conspiracy theory but it does scare me a bit

And I'll tell you why. When I read this kind of stuff during the bush era, I usually just laughed because I knew they were too fucking stupid to pull off anything that involved planning, brains and the ability to keep ones mouth shut. And all conspiracies require these things. Bush lacked all these things. Obama has them all in abundance.

It would be very simple to imagine the WH organizing some kind of smear campaign against Dean for pissing in their mess kit on this deal.

[Better Believe It]

13. No conspiracy. It's what Rahm Emanuel does best!

That's how he developed the reputation as the enforcer with "sharp elbows".

He's historically used those sharp elbows against Democratic Party liberals in order to protect "moderates" and conservatives in the Democratic Party.

[tularetom]

19. I agree that Emanuel is a piece of shit - what I've never understood is why Obama hired him

He had to know Emanuel would piss off all the people who basically got Obama elected in the first place.

Yet not only did he hire him anyway - the guy was his first appointment.

Was there a deal? When did it occur? Was the purpose of the the deal to get support for Obama from the Clinton wing of the Democratic party?

On so many occasions Emanuel has undercut things Obama has said that he can't be unaware of it. And being aware, he can't be happy. Yet he keeps on going with the status quo even though it makes him, Obama, look ineffectual and makes it appear that this douchebag Emanuel is in charge.

I see no upside to this for Obama. So why does he allow it to continue when it makes him look so bad?

[TwilightGardener]

12. It's not swiftboating for the President and Congress to lash out a little

and defend a bill they're trying to pass. I think there's high emotions and hurt feelings, but not much beyond that. To use the term in this context is sheer hyperbole.

[Better Believe It]

14. Just a little, mild, friendly criticism from Rahm and the boys. Howard Dean's irrational!

He's a nutcase! A regular loony tune! He doesn't know what's in the bill!

Sure.

Got it.

[TwilightGardener]

17. Just a fit of pique and annoyance, and nothing more. No big conspiracy to destroy Dean, much

as DU would love to have one final satisfying excuse to turn Obama into a total villain.

[Better Believe It]

18. And how have they demonstrated their annoyance with Leiberman and company?

Oh .... they gave him, the insurance companies and big Pharma everything they wanted!

Way to go!

[TwilightGardener]

20. None of us knows what happens behind the scenes.

But the Senate is holding the cards right now, and I doubt Obama is going to call any Senator out publicly, if he wants this bill to pass.

[Better Believe It]

23. Right ..... it's a huge mystery how politics and lobbyists work in Washington.

" I doubt Obama is going to call any Senator out publicly, if he wants this bill to pass."

That's what Rahm Emanuel and other aides are for .... they do the dirty work .... that's their job.

[JNelson6563]

56. Of course he won't, that's not how it's played.

The person at the top of any political food chain should always appear to be above the fray. Shooting for that "beyond reproach" position. The "dirty work" must always be done by others.

Julie--who has been there, done that

[WeDidIt]

33. I'd actually buy that line of reasoning

had they done the same to even ONE of the Conservadems who threatened to kill the bill.

[TwilightGardener]

37. Well, Presidents don't usually publicly condemn any one member

of the Senate from their own party (or caucus, like Lieberman). Especially when there's negotiations and voting. The WH commenting on Dean was unfortunate, but I think it was just sheer annoyance at someone piping up who isn't really in this fight in a legislative sense (though I'm sure they wanted his support). Things may have happened between the WH/Rahm and Dean that we'll never know, and we're just seeing that bubble up now in these tensions. While I don't think Obama's administration is handling this all that well, I also don't ascribe automatic trustworthy-hero status to Dean. Both are decent men and POLITICIANS who are butting heads, IMO.

[AuntPatsy]

21. I don't always agree with your ops but I felt this one deserved a reccommend..curious

as to why anyone would unrecommended it? The fact is that this goes on in washington all the time, why are people pretending this is not going on? They have been going after Dean for quite some time and its more than obvious the reasons why...

He won't play ball....and it all stinks and this needs to stop! I find it ignorant that some are doing their damnedest to pretend it is not going on with dean nor that it will occur again with someone else's name popping up on the radar, one day it might be someone that they personally admire and have for some time, will they continue to ignore this fact then?

Or will they fall in line, suck it up and help to downplay this obvious pathetic practice that goes on insider our nation's capital, nice way to teach the future generation to behave, if I heard or saw my children acting out in such manners, they would have been instantly reprimanded, how is it that those that make our laws are above the very law that we are forced to follow?

The moment I recommended this it was unrecommended...does someone sit on the keyboard constantly doing that without reading anything other than the headlines of a thread? How very sad, some need to get real lives...

[Umbral]

22. They wont do anything to them, they still need their votes. The Lefties in the blogoshpere though...

[democrat2thecore]

25. I hate to say this, but....

Behind all the smiles and slick rhetoric, there is a lot of Chicago-style politics going on in this White House. It SURE AS HELL isn't any kind of Change I Can Believe In! And "Hope?" I had it and I was FOOLED - issue after issue after issue.

I posted back in September of 2007 about my excitement at attending a rally for Barack Obama while I was on a trip to Des Moines. He was wayyyy back in the polls among Democratic prospects at that time, but I saw something there that day. All I can think now is how sad it is to have felt so good about something that has turned out so wrong. In my 50 years, I have never been so disappointed in anything politically. I had such hope. Rahm and almost the ENTIRE economic team, HCR, too many issues to list here. JILTED. But just more sad than anything.

[Vidar]

26. Recommended. Bless Howard & piss on Rahm!

[Renew Deal]

27. I love it. Obama needs to both get tough and back off.

:rofl:

[PBS Poll-435]

28. Dean did look a little irrational when he was debating this one on Tweety's show last night...

Trying to talk over her and such. Kill the bill! :eyes:

[freddie mertz]

30. Obama just lost any chance of getting my vote.

That's how I feel today, anyway.

If I'd have known I was voting for Rahm and his sack of dirty tricks, I would have stayed home.

[WeDidIt]

32. They can't swiftboat Burris

January 3, 2011, he's done.

And nothing they do or say to him or about him can do anything to alter that fact.

Roland Burris is the only member of the Democratic Caucus in the Senate with that kind of power.

[DonkeyHoTay]

34. I like both Dean and Burris very much!

I'd like to ditch RahmE and JoeL, though...

[PBS Poll-435]

35. Great DU Name! Welcome to DU

[Better Believe It]

36. But if he has any skeletons in the closet they can threaten to reveal them!

That's how things work in Washington.

[WeDidIt]

42. That would be "blackmailing", NOT "swiftboating" n/t

[Better Believe It]

48. Which is even worse! You think they are up for that sort of thing?

[polichick]

40. Well, they do it at their own peril - we're not so easily fooled these days. nt

[mdmc]

43. Bernie Sanders is the real deal

DLC - dare ya to take him on!

[depakid]

45. What's been impressive is that the white house has been too timid to go after Republicans

but has no problem whatsoever hitting hard at its own base.

If this continues- and there's no reason at this point to think that it won't, I can see a primary challenge a la Jimmy Carter.

[QC]

47. Howard Dean is an enemy of the people. n/t

[JNelson6563]

57. lolz

:rofl:

[Jersey Devil]

49. I call baloney

Dean is not being "swiftboated", which as far as I am concerned, consists of a bunch of supporters of the other side politically making up lies about him to ruin his reputation.

Lots of terrible stuff is said here every day about Obama, among the mildest lately being claims that his is a "liar". So Dean speaks up and the WH answers back, so what? They aren't saying Dean is a phony or a liar or anything else that could remotely be related to "swiftboating". All they are saying is that he is wrong on the HCR bill before the Senate.

You would want Obama as president trying to get the bill passed to just turn to the other cheek for another smack? I thought the major complaint about Obama here lately is that he doesn't fight hard enough. So now he fights and he is accused of character assassination, which is totally untrue.

[TheKentuckian]

51. He is seeming like he gets tough as nails with his friends but lets his enemies roll him

and then he kills the fatted calf to greet the prodigals.

If he had just removed his foot from Lieberman's ass extracting a concession then I'd buy it but this game is bullshit. I want to believe too but these tactics are too obvious to even willingly suspend disbelief.

Even in wrestling back in the day the Hulkster took some hits from the Iron Sheik.

[Jersey Devil]

52. Well, OK, fair criticism, but it still ain't "swiftboating"

Obama and Dean disagree but I don't see either of them being disrespectful to the other. The OP for this string seems to me to be suggesting that any disagreement or criticism of Dean is not permitted. That is nonsense.

I love Howard Dean and wouldn't put up with any "swiftboating" of him, but in this case it just a fair argument, two leaders standing toe to toe and duking it out. Nothing wrong with that.

[TheKentuckian]

53. Its not swiftboating but it stinks about as bad (nt)

[Jakes Progress]

50. The DLC is more interested in preserving their power

than in passing it on to the people. If it suits their needs, they'll back lieberman before someone that challenges their power structure.

[donheld]

54. Sweety Howard Dean's been swift boated since 2004