On Wednesday, Dean made a stop in Minnesota that drew huge crowds and a pretty poor article from the
Star Tribune (free subscription required). The stop has already
been discussed but I think the diary missed a key point (which is not, contrary to what the Strib thinks, that Dean did not scream): Dean apparently made fun of Limbaugh by pretending to snort drugs:
Dean regaled an appreciative audience for nearly 90 minutes without once raising his voice, as he did after last year's Iowa primary election. But he did draw howls of laughter by mimicking a drug-snorting Rush Limbaugh.
(BTW that is the second time the scream is mentioned in the article! Aren't you supposed to rotate your scripts every 20,000 miles?.) It should not be a big deal, but my Wingnut Hissy Fit sense is tingling. To find out why, race me to the other side...
Beat ya!
The incident has already made its way to the
National Ledger:
What does that mean? Was Dean actually speaking at the podium and mimicking that he was snorting coke and calling himself Rush Limbaugh? Is he trying to say that Limbaugh is a cokehead?
Lack of dignity is the least of Dean's problems.
Plus, I was listening to a Minnesota sports radio station and several callers called in to talk about it. So I get the sense this is going to be another big non-story story. All it needs now is for Drudge to link it and bingo, full blown Hissy Fit. Hopefully there is no video tape. The Right could use a distraction right now, and Kerry hasn't mentioned Mary Cheney in awhile, so this may have to do. I hope I am wrong, but if not, here will be the talking points:
Dean is the official head of the Democratic Party, whereas Rush is an entertainer.
Making fun of people with drug problems is wrong.
Dean is not dignified enough to be in a position of power.
There may be a pattern here with Dean going over the edge. Its kind of scary.
Democrats are mean and hateful. Rush is good natured and funny.