"Since his election as chairman of the Democratic National Committee on Feb. 12, Dean has studiously avoided most national television exposure. But he has been talking to party gatherings across the country, and his intemperate language at these outings contradicts the notion that he has been kept under control. . . .
"He was not. He has described the Republican leadership, in various venues, as 'evil,' 'corrupt' and 'brain-dead.' He has called Sen. Rick Santorum, chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, a 'liar.'
"What he said last weekend differed from this invective only in that it was presented to an urban forum and so became public knowledge. Addressing the Massachusetts Democratic convention in Lowell, Dean declared: '' think DeLay ought to go back to Houston where he can serve his jail sentence down there courtesy of the Texas taxpayers.' Dean would jail DeLay without trial, without indictment and without accusation of any crime.
"National chairmen are supposed to fire up the troops, but Dean's rhetoric crosses a line."
I'd love to hear what Dean has to say about Novak and, say, the outing of Valerie Plame.
Captain's Quarters makes the contrast that is echoing around the blog world:
"Howard Dean has a well-known problem of foot chewing, and he indulged himself again yesterday on his new favorite subject, Tom DeLay. Despite the lack of any criminal investigation into DeLay -- and the bogged-down ethics allegations that have now enveloped a host of Democrats along with the GOP House whip -- Dean just can't stop declaring DeLay guilty before even being indicted. . . .
"The DNC chairman sang a completely different tune in the winter of 2003, when asked if he supported the death penalty for Osama bin Laden. As the Arizona Republic and Tom DeLay's office recalls, not only did Dean evade that question, he scolded people for assuming bin Laden's guilt before a jury reached a verdict.
"'I've resisted pronouncing a sentence before guilt is found,' Dean said during the 2004 Democratic primary campaign. 'I still have this old-fashioned notion that even with people like Osama, who is very likely to be found guilty, we should do our best not to, in positions of executive power, not to prejudge jury trials.'
"So what the chair of the Democratic National Committee has pronounced is a dual standard of jurisprudence, one in which Republicans have less due process than Islamofascist terrorists that have declared war on America and murdered thousands of Americans. In the World According To Howard Dean, we must not presume the guilt of bin Laden for mass murder -- but Tom DeLay, as an eeeeevil Republican, deserves no presumption of innocence for campaign-finance and ethics violations."
Jay Nordlinger says the press is giving the Doctor a pass:
"Can you believe DNC chairman Howard Dean? Of course you can -- because you know him, after these two or three years. He can't stop popping off, saying Tom DeLay belongs in jail, that the Republicans are 'evil' (while the Democrats represent 'good'), that 'George Bush is not my neighbor,' etc., etc. He must have learned some weird stuff when he was reading Job, his favorite New Testament book. (Remember that?) Of course, if Ken Mehlman, the RNC chief, talked like Dean . . . he would be run out on a rail. Or at least run out of his job.
