Patterico's Pontifications

7/31/2005

Oh, That Liberal Media (Part 83,284)

Filed under: Judiciary,Media Bias,Morons — Patterico @ 11:31 am



The other day, Howard Dean condemned President Bush’s “right-wing Supreme Court” for the Kelo decision:

[Dean] also said the president was partly responsible for a recent Supreme Court decision involving eminent domain.

The president and his right-wing Supreme Court think it is ‘okay’ to have the government take your house if they feel like putting a hotel where your house is,” Dean said, not mentioning that until he nominated John Roberts to the Supreme Court this week, Bush had not appointed anyone to the high court.

The Townhall.com news item I quote here made it clear why Dean’s statement was so ridiculous:

Dean’s reference to the “right-wing” court was also erroneous. The four justices who dissented in the Kelo vs. New London case included the three most conservative members of the court – Chief Justice William Rehnquist and Associate Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas. Justice Sandra Day O’Connor was the fourth dissenter.

The court’s liberal coalition of Justices John Paul Stevens, David Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer combined with Justice Anthony Kennedy to form the majority opinion, allowing the city of New London, Conn., to use eminent domain to seize private properties for commercial development.

“We think that eminent domain does not belong in the private sector. It is for public use only,” Dean said.

(Via John Cole.)

So, at a time when the nomination of a Supreme Court Justice is one of the hottest stories in the news, the head of the Democrat party makes an impassioned speech that (though he doesn’t realize it) is an argument for more conservative Justices in the mold of Scalia and Thomas.

Does that sound like news to you?

In the days since Dean made this statement, it has been reported in exactly one Big Media outlet: the “Political Grapevine” segment of Fox News’s “Special Report with Brit Hume.” Nothing in the New York Times. Nothing in the Washington Post. Nothing in the Los Angeles Times or the Chicago Tribune. Nothing on CBS, NBC, ABC, or CNN.

Nothing.

Meanwhile, Dean’s words have reverberated throughout the Internet. Blogs like John Cole’s Balloon Juice, Protein Wisdom, Q&O, Say Anything, RightWingNews, Lifelike Pundits, and many others have noted Dean’s gaffe. A poster at Kos was stunned, saying: “There’s simply no way that Dean’s comments can be spun to make them even remotely defensible.”

Will Big Media ask Howard Dean about this? The next time Howard Dean is on a Sunday talk show, will the host ask him if he is more likely to support a conservative like John Roberts because he would likely be a vote for property rights?

Time will tell . . . but I doubt it.

UPDATE: Thanks to Instapundit for linking this post. I’d encourage new readers to do two things (after bookmarking my main page, of course):

1) Go visit one of the fine blogs listed in this post, all of which had this story days ago; and

2) Write your local newspaper and ask them why they haven’t run this story.

P.S. I’m not including Kos in suggestion #1 . . . unless you’re a masochist.

39 Responses to “Oh, That Liberal Media (Part 83,284)”

  1. Y’all act like Howard Dean tasting his toes is something new. We might be mildly surprised on which particular topic he’ll make a stupid statement on any given day, but the fact that he has made a stupid statement has long ago ceased being news.

    Dana R. Pico (8d0335)

  2. What a moron. Slate should have a daily Dean-quote feature. But why wait? Maybe the BFL could run such a page….

    Kevin Murphy (6a7945)

  3. Great blog! How did Howard Dean ever graduate from Medical school? Oh well, at least he quit seeing patients in order to pursue his political ambitions. I guess we can say America’s loss has been American medicine’s gain.

    Stephen (8d0335)

  4. Howard Dean’s Right Turn

    From lawblogger Patterico comes this gem:

    “The president and his right-wing Supreme Court think it is ‘okay’ to have the government take your house if they feel like putting a hotel where your house is,” Dean said, not mention…

    Outside The Beltway (d881ce)

  5. One of my commenters, Ted Karol, said, “Howard Dean. The gift that keeps on giving – to us Republicans.”

    It is interesting that almost no one in the mainstream press thought to question this though.

    Dean Esmay (86944b)

  6. Howard Dean (D-Mars)

    I used to despite Howard Dean. Now I just consider him the biggest floppy-shoed, bright ball-nosed clown in Washington.

    Case in point: he recently blamed Bush and the right-wing ideologues on the Supreme Court for the hig…

    Dean's World (f03b36)

  7. […] Patterico points out… So, at a time when the nomination of a Supreme Court Justice is one of the hottest stories in the news, the head of the Democrat party makes an impassioned speech that (though he doesn’t realize it) is an argument for more conservative Justices in the mold of Scalia and Thomas. […]

    StrangeThingsAfoot.com » Howard Dean just won’t shut his trap… (7cf3ce)

  8. There’s a term for this – it’s called cognitive dissonance.

    Jeff Burton (8549d9)

  9. Dafydd: Flipper the Duck

    Patterico has noticed an astonishing claim by Howard Dean — no, I mean astonishing even on the Dean Scale — a few days ago (I can’t find the exact date). Here comes Mr. Chairman: The president and his right-wing Supreme…

    Captain's Quarters (9bd2a3)

  10. Dean – stupid like a FOX!

    Could it be that Dean, who we all think is an unhinged, ridiculous caricature, is a “Rove-in-schizophrenic’s-clothing”?

    The Unrepentant Individual (59ce3a)

  11. Karl Rove’s Jedi mind trick/mental domination always works on the most weak minded liberals. Lucky for him, an exceptionally weak minded liberal is now leading the dnc.

    Josh (822231)

  12. Had it on Tuesday; CNS picked it up Monday.

    Brainster (82ec91)

  13. What is funny is to read the comments below the Kos comment. The comments read, 1) who cares if its true, the Republicans lie all the time, 2) since the Supreme Court appointed Bush in Bush v. Gore its his court regardless of whether he actually appointed any justices (I wonder if Justices Ginsburg and Breyer know that they are a part of the vast neocon conspiracy), 3) Dean captured the “spirit” of the arument since all the Republicans care about is big business anyway.

    I almost feel sorry for anyone with a brain still stuck in the Democratic Party.

    John (0f372e)

  14. Dean: A Weapon of Self Destruction-Flashback

    Here’s an ST flashback of some, shall we say, Notable Quotables from the Doctor of Disology and the D’s who’ve criticized him

    Sister Toldjah (59ce3a)

  15. Howard Dean: “Right Wing” Supreme Court

    Patterico exposes Howard Dean for the MORON he really is with Oh, That Liberal Media (Part 83,284).
    The other day, Howard Dean condemned President Bush’s “right-wing Supreme Court” for the Kelo decision:
    [Dean] also said the president was p…

    FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog (baa0b4)

  16. John said:”I almost feel sorry for anyone with a brain still stuck in the Democratic Party.”

    If they have a brain they’ve already abanoned ship; anyone still there is strictly of the raving moonbat variety. It’s ironic that the dhimmicrats have been working toward a one-party system for years, but the party that ends up with total control of the government won’t be theirs!

    Improbulus Maximus (73e44c)

  17. I write about this last week, following up on a post on Daily Pundit, and not only does no one notice, the freaking trackback doesn’t go through either.

    Patterico is has an MSM-syle-late-to-the-party post, and all of a sudden everyone’s all over it.

    I’m starting to feel like the Rodney of the Blogosphere….

    ***sigh***

    Brian Epps (b62152)

  18. Welcome to the party, pal!

    Last week I wrote of Howard Dean’s advancing BDS (Bush Derangement Syndrome).
    No one noticed.
    But Patterico, a freakin’ week later, as late to the party as the MSM,
    finally
    notices, and all of a sudden EVERYONE’s talking about i…

    Random Numbers (180ac2)

  19. Dean is like the jelly of the month….the gift that keeps on giving

    Via Patterico:
    “The president and his right-wing Supreme Court think it is ‘okay’ to have the government take your house if they feel like putting a hotel where your house is”
    Now this statment is wrong on many points.

    The Conservative Watch (495d2d)

  20. Dean’s absurd statement

    Howard Dean condemned President Bush’s “right-wing Supreme Court” for the Kelo decision:

    [Dean] also said the president was partly responsible for a recent Supreme Court decision involving eminent domain.

    “The president and his ri…

    Cao's Blog (a936fc)

  21. if Howard Dean did not exist already, the Republicans would have to find a way to create him. It’s just surreal the nonsense that emanates from his mouth….

    Chris (833a09)

  22. […] Over at Patterico’s Pontifications I see that Howard Dean is blaming Kelo on Bush’s “right-wing Supreme Court”. “The president and his right-wing Supreme Court think it is ‘okay’ to have the government take your house if they feel like putting a hotel where your house is,” Dean said, not mentioning that until he nominated John Roberts to the Supreme Court this week, Bush had not appointed anyone to the high court. Only Bush hasn’t had anyone appointed to the Supreme Court yet. […]

    LostOkies » Howard Dean, Double-Agent for the Right? (b181f2)

  23. Brainster and Random Numbers:

    As I noted in my post, the blogosphere has been all over this. The real point of my post was that Big Media hasn’t noticed.

    Patterico (756436)

  24. HEY! Lay off Howard Dean! What a GreatRepublican ally! The last thing we need to do is have him kicked out of his job.

    Dave Owen (178dd8)

  25. You know, Dean has nothing on W when it comes to foot in mouth disease.

    “See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda.”—”W” Greece, N.Y., May 24, 2005

    aw, but when Bush does it, it’s cute..

    Mirror (3c8f81)

  26. Howard Dean Lies about Kelo

    Kelo is the one recent Supreme Court decision that everyone either opposes or pretends to oppose. The five most liberal Supreme Court justices – Stevens, Breyer, Ginsburg, Kennedy and Souter – stand alone. Yet the MSM/DNC has begun a subtle campaign …

    The Cassandra Page (59ce3a)

  27. […] Over at Patterico’s Pontifications, we discover that DNC Chairman and former Presidential candidate Howard Dean actually supports conservative judges. […]

    WMET Talk Back Blog » Blog Archive » Around the Blogosphere (512c58)

  28. […] SOURCES: H/T: CNSNews.com H/T: Townhall.com H/T: Ankle Biting Pundits H/T: Patterico’s Pontifications Trackback: http://www.laughtergenealogy.com/blog/archives/664/trackback/ […]

    Common Sense Junction » Blog Archive » Forget Ebonics — Deanisms Are ‘In’ (9f4d0e)

  29. Dean’s comments prove one of two things:
    1) He will do anything, including telling blatant lies, in order to attack and defame conservatives
    2) He is simply incompetent and is not aware of the facts about current events.

    I don’t know which is true, but either way, Dean’s statements are one more reason that he has no place leading a political party. If the Dems don’t realize that quickly, they are going to continue to lose more and more offices. But, then again, that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

    PolitaKid (a071ac)

  30. Oh my,

    If our President said a comment on the scale of this blunder I wonder how many times we would need to put up with it on every MSM media outlet.

    As it is, we need to look on the blogs not only for the original “whopper”, but the twisted illogic of those who try to defend it.

    Is there no one with money that can put out a big-shadow newspaper or broadcast-TV?
    (What about Patterico on an Internet-fed show?)

    By the way, if I’m not mistaken, I just heard a clip of Sen. Biden saying, “When they say things, they mean it, they’re not like us…”

    MD in Philly (b3202e)

  31. So, I go to KOS and I find them saying things like, “I don’t think this is true because only right wingnuts are talking about it.”
    And then there was the guy who said it’s o.k. to lie if it’s for a good cause.
    They’ve all got hoof-in-mouth disease.

    Boman (c7255d)

  32. […] “The president and his right-wing Supreme Court think it is ‘okay’ to have the government take your house if they feel like putting a hotel where your house is.” […]

    Beautiful Feet » Howard Dean is such a moron it makes me laugh (6cadba)

  33. Howard Dean: I Think I’m A Republican! Wheee!

    Howard Dean speaking to the College Democrats of America:
    “The president and his right-wing Supreme Court think it is ‘okay’ to have the government take your house if they feel like putting a hotel where your house is.”
    Angry…

    Independent Sources (4f7430)

  34. All of my extended family are ‘lefties’, save for a few. Thanks for keeping me on the right track and in the know. How can we hold the MSM accountable for not playing Dean’s gaffes?

    How much longer can Justice John Paul Stevens hang on? It’s going to get very interesting pretty soon. Aren’t politics & politicos fun!?!

    Geoff Hupp (75640b)

  35. I’m mostly liberal in my views, but I’m capable of looking at things objectively. The reason this hasn’t gotten play is that it’s really not news. Dean can’t vote on the Roberts nomination, and he really has no role in the confirmation process at all. Other than its appeal to partisans, there’s no story there.

    Sure, it was a dumb thing to say, and it has you all howling with glee, but newsworthy? Not a bit. You’re seeing media bias where none exists.

    Jon Parker (2bafd5)

  36. I appreciate your comments. Intellectual honesty is something more important to me than being conservative or liberal.

    Two things:
    1) Do you not think it is telling when a person makes a broad statement of political opinion with obvious prejudice and disregard for the facts? (Not just any person, but one who should be invested in having his political facts straight?)
    2)

    MD in Philly (b3202e)

  37. 2) Media bias where none exists? Even if you think this was not newsworthy, do you think it wouldbe as easily ignored by the Mainstream Press if President Bush made such a blunder? I think not. (Had Dean’s statement been a “slip of the tongue”, as President Bush is prone to make, I would agree it would not be newsworthy. But it was a statement revealing mere political bias where a thougtful response was appropriate.)

    MD in Philly (b3202e)

  38. This was no Dean Blunder He knows very well who voted for what in Kelo. He is hoping the electorate is dumb enough to buy his lie and he knows the left wing media will not call him on his lies.

    Dennis D (ae900a)


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