Dean castigated for saying ... nothing

Dean castigated for saying … nothing

One of the oddities of the Howard Dean/Confederate flag flap is that Gov. Dean didn’t actually say anything to or about Southern guys with Confederate flags in their trucks. He just said, sounding more like a consultant than a candidate, that he wanted to appeal to them. It was the rough equivalent of Bush 41 saying “Message: I care.”

Modern politicians do things like this all the time. They self-importantly declare: “We’ve got to talk more about x, y, or z.” Instead of actually saying something about x, y, or z, they talk about the urgent need to say something about it. There’s no reality here, just empty politicians looking for a rhetorical button to press, and (somewhat in the post-modern manner of Bob Dole) telling us about their search for a politically effective message even as they’re engaged in it.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at November 06, 2003 12:53 PM | Send

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It matters little at this point anyway, since Mr. Dean has issued the mandatory apology and shown his contrite repentence.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20031106/ap_on_el_pr/democrats_2004_9

As one person has paraphrased Mr. Dean: “I am so very, very sorry for making comments that were not previously sanctioned and approved by the DNC, NAACP, ADL, ACLU, BIA, NCAA, FDIC, AT&T, BYOB or the A&P … The rumors of my backbone were greatly exaggerated…”

Posted by: Joel LeFevre on November 6, 2003 2:08 PM

This is amazing. What did the man say that caused such an uproar? That he wanted “to be the candidate for guys with Confederate flags in their pickup trucks.” He was saying, like any presidential candidate, that there are all kind of people in America, and that he wants to appeal to all kinds. Now, as we know, there are people in America who have the Confederate flag on their cars. There are also several states, as best I remember, that officially fly the Confederate flag in some fashion. Obviously the Confederate flag, and people who like that flag, are a part of America. So now it it illegitimate even to mention people that like the Confderate flag as among the groups whose votes one wants to win?

The funny thing is, Dean was not saying anything in _favor_ of pro-Confederates; he was seeking their _votes_. Yet that is not allowed now.

I can see that the Democratic party, given its stand against the Confederate flag being flown in Southern states, would not be inconsistent in condemning any positive reference to the flag (not that I agree with that position, but that it would be consistent and not an instance of arbitrary PC). But _was_ it a positive reference to the flag? I don’t think so. Dean was saying that he wants to win people like that to his side, not that he’s going over to their side. As for Edward’s claim that the comment “stereotyped” working-class white Southerners, Dean wasn’t saying that all Southerners fly the flag. He was speaking about a particular subgroup whom he feels the Democrats have alienated and whom he wants to win back.

Posted by: Lawrence Auster on November 6, 2003 2:56 PM

One conservative commentator, Goldberg, says: “Dean wanted it both ways, he wanted to say the flag is a badge of bigotry while at the same he wanted those who wear that badge to vote for him. This allowed Sharpton to—rightly—condemn him for wanting racists in his column and Edwards to—rightly—condemn him for claiming that Southerners are nothing but a bung of ignorant redneck bigots. Dean can claim this was an attempt at starting a ‘discussion.’ But that’s all nonsense. He messed up and now he’s trying to spin it away.”

As indicated above, I disagree with this logic. Even if one assumes that Confederate flag owners have racially bad attitudes, to say that one wants to win those people back to the Democratic party is not to endorse their bad attitudes. Similarly, to say that Southern flag wavers are bigots is not to say that all Southerners are bigots. Edwards himself assumes that flag wavers are in fact bigots, that’s why he finds the supposed suggestion that all Southerners are flag wavers offensive. But if Edwards believes that at least some of his fellow Southerners are bigots, how can he attack Dean for saying the same thing?

Posted by: Lawrence Auster on November 6, 2003 4:11 PM