1,000 Posts to Applaud Howard Dean
Last edited Tue Dec 13, 2011, 06:00 AM - Edit history (1)
How is it that our leaders have forgotten and abandoned our communities and repudiated our idealism and our principles?
When confronted with the President's ideologues, too many Americans have stopped participating, stopped voting, stopped believing that they can change America.
And we in politics have not given people a reason to vote or a reason to participate. We have slavishly spewed sound bites, copying each other while saying little. We raise millions of dollars and each year make lofty promises, while every year the struggle of ordinary Americans increases and fewer Americans vote. And our politicians, many of them good people, have been paralyzed by their fear of losing office. This leadership has developed a vocabulary which has become meaningless to the American people....
...Martin Luther King, Jr. said that, "Our lives begin to end on the day we become silent about the things that matter."
The history of our nation is clear: At every turn when there has been an imbalance of power, the truth questioned, or our beliefs and values distorted, the change required to restore our nationhood has always come from the bottom up, from our people.
http://www.crocuta.net/Dean/Transcript_of_Deans_Candidacy_Announcement_June23_2003.htm
Please feel free to post your appreciation for the great work Dr. Dean, your Howard stories, your favorite Howard quotes or moments, yourfavorite Howard pictures, and anything else you feel the need to add. As Howard said in his formal announcement, "change comes from the people."
When we did this in 2007 we got to 149 replies with about 25 different posters: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x3054937 - We can make this the most discussed and most recommend thread of all DU3! C'mon Dean People, Post Away!
= new reply since forum marked as read
YEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAARRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHH!
He was really the first to successfully say get up from the couch or dinner table, get to a meetup, and let's all do something about it. I thought it was a real testament to that call that the organization he spurred the construction of has continued, and under his brother Jim Dean is still carrying out the mission of taking back politics from the grassroots up.
I do have to admit, getting him confirmed to any major nomination required post would have been a real challenge with the Republican hatred of him and a senior adviser post isn't exactly his style; he could definitely be more welcoming though . Mitch McConnell is still scared:
"Think about that," McConnell said on the Senate floor Tuesday, according to The Hill. "We have 14 million people out of work… and the president is out there doing his best Howard Dean impersonation."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/19/mitch-mcconnell-barack-obama-howard-dean_n_1019901.html
I was just looking for more class Howard Dean images in yahoo and came across the flickr album of a certain special couple I knew in 2003 and 2004. I haven't seen them in almost 8 years, but for a moment it felt like yesterday. Now I miss those days intensely when we thought we were going to take on the system and change it perhaps, ever so desperately, in one foul sweep of the temple of democracy. As foolishly optimistic as it may have been, I now sincerely believe that without those heady days, without the almost childishly gleeful enthusiasm that Howard Dean inspired in us by taking on the big issue directly, we would not be as far along as we are today. I am grateful for these memories.
Has anyone else had this kind of experience?
)
Austin, TX, July 14, 2003
What I want to know is why the Republicans think they deserve the Latino vote when they haven't done anything for your community.
What I want to know is why we don't have health care for every man, woman and child- including the children of immigrants.
What I want to know is why some people for years can work hard, pay their taxes, and contribute to American society -and still not be recognized as American citizens.
What I want to know is why this President who ran as a uniter, not a divider, has spent his entire administration trying to divide us by race by ethnicity, by gender, by income.
I'm Howard Dean - and I represent the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party - and I'm going to devote my presidency to bringing us together - Latinos, blacks, whites, men, women - everyone, because that is what this country is all about.
http://www.crocuta.net/Dean/Transcript_of_Speech_at_LaRaza_Conference_July14_2003.htm
Dean in Storm Lake; An Extensive Report
Sat Jan 3rd, 2004 at 22:12:10 UTC
I went to the pancake breakfast with Howard Dean today in Storm Lake, Iowa.
I've prepared a report of his remarks, not a transcript per se.
Of course everything that is in quote marks are his quotes and the other stuff is my paraphrase of the basic points he was making.
One thing I really notice in going through these remarks word-for-word is he's really saying a lot more than my ear picks up the first time through. He offers common sense leadership for America. The old words "liberal" and "conservative" aren't even relevant anymore. Bush has perverted conservatism to the point that it's meaningless when his supporters say they're conservatives and support him at the same time! Dean, though, has the best of progressive liberalism filtered through what I'd call true conservatism, i.e., common sense, full of values, something that about 95% of the people of the country would support if they knew about it. And the only reason the remaining 5% would support Bush is because they're wackos.
http://www.crocuta.net/Dean/Summary_of_Dean_Storm_Lake_IA_Remarks.htm
Voting ensures every American an opportunity to participate in our democracy. We should never impose obstacles to voting without a fair and compelling reason for doing so that actually enhances our democracy.
Yet, across the nation, Republicans have launched a campaign to impose extremely restrictive voter identification requirements. While they say they are seeking to prevent voter fraud, nothing could be further from the truth.
In Indiana, they passed a law that is virtually identical to one struck down by a federal district court in Georgia. In fact, Democratic governors in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania vetoed similar legislation.
We are committed to fighting these and other Republican efforts to suppress voter turnout anywhere and everywhere Republicans propose them.
Republicans believe that it is better for them if fewer people vote. Democrats understand that America is better when as many people as possible can vote.
http://www.crocuta.net/Dean/Dean_Speech_Voting_Rights_May17_2006.htm
President of the United States
The White House
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear Mr. President:
After long and careful thought, and after several years of watching the gross atrocities committed by the Bosnian Serbs, I have reluctantly concluded that the efforts of the United Nations and NATO in Bosnia are a complete failure.
I think your policy up to this date has been absolutely correct. We must give, and have given, this policy with our allies and with the United Nations every opportunity to work. It is evident, however, that the cost in human lives in allowing this policy to continue is too great. In addition, and perhaps more importantly for the United States, we are now in a position of ignoring, as many did in the 1940s, one of the worst crimes committed in history. If we ignore these behaviors, no matter where they occur, our moral fiber as a people becomes weakened. As the Catholic Church and others lost credibility during the Holocaust for not speaking out, so will the United States lose credibility and our people lose confidence in themselves as moral beings if the United States does not take action.
Since it is clearly no longer possible to take action in conjunction with NATO and the United Nations, I have reluctantly concluded that we must take unilateral action. While I completely agree with you that no ground troops should be committed for other than humanitarian purposes in Bosnia, I would ask that you take the following steps in Bosnia. First, lift the arms embargo as it applies to the Bosnian government. Second, enforce a full embargo of the sort that is now in effect in Iraq on the Bosnian Serbs and upon Yugoslavia. Third, break off diplomatic relations with Yugoslavia. Fourth, commit American air power to support the Bosnian government until the situation is stabilized and the civilian murders and atrocities by the Bosnian Serbs have been stopped.
I understand the risks of this policy and their implications for the NATO Alliance and the future success of the United Nations. Surely, however, as you watch and read about the huge amount of unwarranted human suffering, particularly of children, you would agree that our current course must now be changed.
I urge you to make these changes as soon as possible, and I look forward to supporting your policy fully to the best of my ability.
Sincerely,
Howard Dean, M.D.
Governor of Vermont
http://www.crocuta.net/Dean/Dean_Letter_to_Clinton_July19_1995.htm
Right to Protect? I don't think that anyone who reads this letter couldn't conclude that he would have been a ready, intelligent, and capable Commander-in-Chief
Published on Saturday, January 17, 2004 by the Madison Capital Times (Wisconsin)
Fictional President Bartlett Stumps to Help Make Dean a Real One
by John Nichols
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - President Josiah "Jed" Bartlet's name cannot be found on the list of candidates contending on Monday for votes at Iowa's first-in-the-nation Democratic presidential caucuses. But he is the star of this campaign season.
Everywhere Bartlet goes in Iowa, he draws the biggest crowds. When he steps onto a stage, people start chanting "Bartlet!" Reporters hang on his every word. Children ask for his autograph. Adults want to know his thoughts about the war in Iraq, the Patriot Act and religion in politics.
-------
"President Bartlet is a fantasy," explains actor Martin Sheen, who plays Bartlet on the NBC political drama, "The West Wing." "Howard Dean is a reality."
--------
Sheen announced his support for Dean a year ago, when the Vermonter barely rated an asterisk in most polls. Like the vast majority of Dean's early backers, he was attracted by the candidate's outspoken opposition to President Bush's preparations for war with Iraq.
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0117-07.htm
My daughter, in the picture, is now 22. Our little guy is now 13. Thanks for the memories ellison...
PLAINS, GA - JANUARY 18: (L-R) Democratic presidential hopeful and former Vermont Governor Howard Dean walks with former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and former first lady Rosalynn Carter at Carter's home January 18, 2004 in Plains, Georgia. Dean flew from Iowa to Georgia to meet with former President Jimmy Carter.
In this photo: Howard Dean, Jimmy Carter, Rosalynn Carter
Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Jan 18, 2004
Dean skipped a precious 24 hours on the ground in Iowa to attend Carter’s church in Georgia, where the 39th president offered kind words but no endorsement.
The two men joined worshippers at the 131-member Marantha Baptist Church, where Carter teaches Sunday school most weeks, and afterward the former president introduced Dean as “my friend, our visitor and a fellow Christian.”
Carter thanked Dean for opposing the war, which the Georgian called “unnecessary and unjust,” and expressed his appreciation for the work Dean did on Carter’s losing bid for re-election in 1980, although Dean said it only amounted to licking envelopes and answering telephones.
“I made an announcement in advance that I’m not going to endorse any particular candidate, but I have been particularly grateful at the courageous and outspoken posture and position that Governor Dean has taken from the very beginning,” Carter said during their eight-minute appearance together after the Sunday services.
More: http://www.redorbit.com/news/general/39287/carter_backs_dean_on_eve_of_iowa_caucus/
i wonder just how much better things would be if the media hadn't virtually assassinated him over the "dean scream" back in 2004. He was my first choice out of everyone running.
I wonder too how different things might be if he had taken Dubya on in 2004 for a strong anti-war perspective. I think one thing is certain. Dean had his warts, but no one would accuse of him of being weak or flip-flopping. Dean would have punched the GOP machine in the mouth, and that prospect terrified the Democratic establishment.
(it was overdue) 
I remember PassingFair showing me his "What I Wanna Know" speech at her house. Never before have I been so motivated by a candidate. My beloved MrG even plunked down the big bucks ($100/person) so that we could see him at a luncheon. Got to shake his hand and had our picture taken. I can't post it because I won't post it without PF's permission. I remember the Super Bowl Party in Roseville, MI...where Dean made his infamous botox comments that made it onto CNN. Our kids were giddy because their decorating prowess and a few of their faces got on national television. The pure exhilaration of supporting this candidate will never be matched for me. Whenever we would meet him, we'd get that giddy, meeting your favorite rockstar look... Ashamed to admit (but not really). I miss those days.
Howard Dean will always speak for me.
...I thought I wasn't going to be giddy, at that point it was past the primaries and into the general, and I still felt giddy. There's a real power to having a sincere belief in the power to change. There was a lot of fun made of people like you and I, that we had an irrational belief, but the truth is that what we really have is true hope that we can "stand up for what we believe in again" and take the country back from those who would do their fellow Americans harm. We are truly optimistic, and that is important!
Response to ellisonz (Original post)
-Puzzler