quick thing on howard dean
Sep. 22nd, 2003 09:43 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mercifulserpentThe Buzzwords of Howard Dean
How he spins the issues.
By William Saletan
Posted Wednesday, June 18, 2003, at 12:47 PM PT
Slate is running several series of short features explaining who the 2004 presidential candidates are, what they're saying, and where they propose to take the country. The first series summarized their personal and professional backgrounds. This series analyzes their pet phrases, candidate by candidate. Today's subject is Howard Dean.
Democratic wing
Example: "I'm here to represent the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party" (standard stump speech).
Origin: Allegedly coined by the late Sen. Paul Wellstone, D-Minn.
What it means: I'm not afraid to say I'm liberal.
What it hides: I'm using this as code for liberal.
Subtext: Any candidate to my right is a sellout.
Bush recessions
Example: "I was governor for so long that I got to serve through not one but two Bush recessions" (address to California State Democratic Convention, March 15, 2003).
What it means: Every time you elect a Bush, you'll get a recession.
What it hides: The only recessions scientifically linked to heredity involve hairlines. And even those don't come from your father.
Subtext: Remember which party oversaw the boom between the recessions?
Small, rural state
Example: "Ninety-nine percent of all Vermont children are eligible for health insurance, and 96 percent have it. … If we can do this in a small rural state which ranks 26th in income in the country, surely the most powerful and wealthy society on the face of this earth can … make sure that all its citizens have health insurance" (speech at Columbia University, May 13, 2003).
What it means: Anything a small, poor state can do, a big, rich country can do.
What it hides: Vermont is well above average in education, homeownership, and percentage of population above the poverty line. It also has a lower percentage of kids. And why is it easier to create universal health care on a big scale than on a small scale?
Subtext: Governing Vermont wasn't all a bowl of Ben & Jerry's.
Civil unions
Example: "[I signed] the civil unions bill. And it said that marriage is between a man and a woman, but same-sex couples are entitled to the exact same legal rights as I have: hospital visitation, insurance, and inheritance rights" (address to Democratic National Committee winter meeting, Feb. 21, 2003).
What it means: I'm not afraid to support gay marriage.
What it hides: I'm using this as code for gay marriage.
Subtext: If a euphemism will make you homophobes feel better, who am I to judge?
http://slate.msn.com/id/2084562/
How he spins the issues.
By William Saletan
Posted Wednesday, June 18, 2003, at 12:47 PM PT
Slate is running several series of short features explaining who the 2004 presidential candidates are, what they're saying, and where they propose to take the country. The first series summarized their personal and professional backgrounds. This series analyzes their pet phrases, candidate by candidate. Today's subject is Howard Dean.
Democratic wing
Example: "I'm here to represent the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party" (standard stump speech).
Origin: Allegedly coined by the late Sen. Paul Wellstone, D-Minn.
What it means: I'm not afraid to say I'm liberal.
What it hides: I'm using this as code for liberal.
Subtext: Any candidate to my right is a sellout.
Bush recessions
Example: "I was governor for so long that I got to serve through not one but two Bush recessions" (address to California State Democratic Convention, March 15, 2003).
What it means: Every time you elect a Bush, you'll get a recession.
What it hides: The only recessions scientifically linked to heredity involve hairlines. And even those don't come from your father.
Subtext: Remember which party oversaw the boom between the recessions?
Small, rural state
Example: "Ninety-nine percent of all Vermont children are eligible for health insurance, and 96 percent have it. … If we can do this in a small rural state which ranks 26th in income in the country, surely the most powerful and wealthy society on the face of this earth can … make sure that all its citizens have health insurance" (speech at Columbia University, May 13, 2003).
What it means: Anything a small, poor state can do, a big, rich country can do.
What it hides: Vermont is well above average in education, homeownership, and percentage of population above the poverty line. It also has a lower percentage of kids. And why is it easier to create universal health care on a big scale than on a small scale?
Subtext: Governing Vermont wasn't all a bowl of Ben & Jerry's.
Civil unions
Example: "[I signed] the civil unions bill. And it said that marriage is between a man and a woman, but same-sex couples are entitled to the exact same legal rights as I have: hospital visitation, insurance, and inheritance rights" (address to Democratic National Committee winter meeting, Feb. 21, 2003).
What it means: I'm not afraid to support gay marriage.
What it hides: I'm using this as code for gay marriage.
Subtext: If a euphemism will make you homophobes feel better, who am I to judge?
http://slate.msn.com/id/2084562/
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wait a sec...
Date: 2003-09-22 07:35 am (UTC)1. Democratic wing -- it's political jargon, not neessarily hiding anything. it seems that it's what the people in-the-know would be looking to hear.
2. recessions -- it's not that they're related, but that they're part of the same faction. and i many cases, it seems that junior is trying to mop up for pop. if that is the case, then of course the same ignorance of economic issues and massive overspending would be prominent. seems that the writer of that article wants to gloss over that to use it as an attack on Dean
3. vermont -- vermont is actually not that economically well-off. yes, the lower part of the state is fairly well-to-do, but take a look at the "northeast kingdom" (or was it northwest?) -- masive poverty issues for an entire rural county. i'd like to see some more facts on this issue, because everything i've ever seen about vermont points toward it being in some pretty well-entrenched economic trouble in some places. but instead of doing some foolish party-politicking that benefits nobody but their own good-old-boy clique (texas, california, anyone?), the state leaders have focused on things like education to help the citizens, and keep doing similar beneficial things to try to make their state better. the difference isn't that they're better off than other states, but that the people in the more affluent parts of the state seem to actually give a shit about the big picture. they're unlike the rest of this wonderful country where a large vocal core of people talk a lot about "christian valuse" when they really could care less about compassion for their neighbors if their leaders don't want to stop harping on issues like abortion and same-sex marriage to concentrate on real issues.
4. civil unions -- he explains what it means, why is that hiding anything? there is so much homophobia rampant in this country (defense of marriage act anyone?) that even admitting that he has supported such a think is setting himself up for huge attacks from the holier-than-thou opposition. it's not a code, again, it's common parlance in the political world.
in other words, the writer of this article is either showing their bias against dean, or their lack of knowledge. if it's the first, then this is a willful misrepresentation of the truth (was it written by a Bush?). if it's not, then they just seem foolish.
Re: wait a sec...
Date: 2003-09-22 08:27 am (UTC)i don't know the politics of the writer, but now i wish i did. :(
it makes me sad that i am not excited to vote. :(!
Re: wait a sec...
Date: 2003-09-22 11:47 am (UTC)Gephard and Graham are both two-faced (way more than Dean), Kerry's an android, Lieberman is secretly a Republican, etc. and so on. The only two Democrats that I would want to vote for would be Clark or Dean, and Dean's ahead in my mind (mostly because Clark just started and I know next to nothing about him).
Re: wait a sec...
Date: 2003-09-22 11:58 am (UTC)but then you have to think about what's the best use your vote can be put to, right? not necessarily who you'd actually want to vote for, but who wouldn't be a wasted vote. hrrm.
Re: wait a sec...
Date: 2003-09-22 02:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-09-22 03:43 pm (UTC)Besides that, Dean and the mainstream press have never gotten along. I think that makes me like him even better, you know? I can't stand anybody but Dan Rather and Peter Jennings, and when the either of them get rolling on the airwaves you can almost see their networks whipping the clown out on them.
Dean's got my vote. If I had better transportation, I'd go on campaign for him.