"Oceans of White Hands"

"OCEANS OF WHITE HANDS"

the how-do express rolls on. he's up 38%-17% in new hampshire over kerry. he's in the middle of his "sleepless" tour and, according to the new york times is drawing "staggering, "protest-size" crowds. he's raised $10.3 million, more than any democrat EVER except president clinton in '95.

dr. do-little is running, literally, all over the country. he's on the cover of time, newsweek and twice this week on the front page of the new york times. boob herbert has written an op-ed column on him and even joe klein, who has his clear-headed moments, is impressed. dean's democratic opponents seem stunned, deer-in-the-headlights paralyzed. and the green mountain green is emboldened by new polls showing support for bush DOWN, support for his handling of the iraqi war--how-do's signature issue-- DOWN.

when how-do gets the nomination he will be the most unqualified major party nominee in history. he is a one-term, former governor, with no foreign policy experience, even extra-governmentally, has never served in the congress or senate or in anyone's cabinet and his day job is being a doctor.

the state he was, for one term, governor of is one of the smallest (three electoral votes) and least representative in the country. it is as homogenous (92% white) as utah, rural (largest "city" burlington: 40,000), and has the only socialist member of congress.

for the republicans this is a god-send. i heard the chariman of the republican national committee being asked what he thought of bush running against dean. he actually had to swallow a chuckle and then got his game face on and in practiced seriousness said, "i think the democrats should nominate dean. i think they need to get back to their roots."

i have mixed feelings. to the right of bush on foreign policy, i wish we had a democrat like pat moynihan or scoop jackson or jfk who had the credentials and gravitas to debate HOW aggressive we should be--not whether we should be aggressive or not. hell, even bill clinton ran to the right of bush-1 on china policy.

but on the other hand my devilish humorous side that likes to see fools made fools of wants this guy to win the nomination SO bad. just for the fun of watching the train-wreck and seeing the body parts of the birkenstock men and ladies in sensible shoes, lying about. i admit i've watched an episode or two of real tv.

and maybe some good will come of it. i'm hopeful that after the general election debacle to come, one in a string stretching from mcgovern, to carter, to mondale, to dukakis and now dean, i'm hopeful that some kind of party realignment occurs. i don't think it will actually, historically that has taken a major national trauma like a depression, not just nominating some dippety-do, but maybe something along the lines of the creation of the dlc can occur, which came into being after "mike" dukakis' razor-thin 45-5 loss in '88. it's time to dismantle the democrats "big tent." there are too many tweety birds flying around inside and they're killing the party.

the new york times, aug. 27:

"the feisty crowds were filled with birkenstock liberals..."

"the folks buying 'the doctor is in' buttons were mostly aging flower children and the tongue-studded next generation."

"there were few union members, african-americans or immigrants [at the dean rallies]..."

"holding oceans of blue dean placards at every stop were nearly all white hands, a homogeneity the campaign tried to counter with a rainbow of supporters on stage, which only drew more attention to the lack of diversity in the audience."

that's the problem of the democrats elitism in a nutshell. they don't share the values of african-americans or union members or immigrants, the values of hard work, love of country, faith and material prosperity. the tongue-studded students don't work, the aging flower children are still stoned and "work" as librarians or writers or professors, the birkenstock liberals fled the "material culture" for back-to-the-earth places like vermont, 92% white. they fled the diversity of real america for all-white vermont just as they despise and label as racist the middle class for having fled the cities for the suburbs.

elitism is exclusion. there are no african-americans at dean rallies because these "liberals" don't champion diversity, they don't want to live with african-americans, they want the "simpler" life, the all-white life of vermont. the people who support howard dean are elitists and in this sense they are racists. they are high-i.q., cultural, intellectual, or intellectual wannabes, who reject and ridicule the middle class and its values. their coin-of-the realm is being "bright," one of the least relevant characteristics for leadership. "bush is so dumb! dean is SO smart." listen to them, it won't take five minutes before they say something like that. "mike" dukakis' campaign slogan when he ran for governor was "michael dukakis SHOULD be governor." has there ever been a more elitist campaign slogan in modern history? he's ENTITLED to be governor see, because he's SO "bright" and went to harvard and is an intellectual like us!

"[dean's] not running a campaign, he's running a movement," the new york times quotes a person as saying. "but it is unclear what the movement is for."

his "movement" is about anger, frustration and hatred. his supporters are angry because they are so bright but have accomplished so little in their lives. they are frustrated at seeing themselves ignored by more sensible people. "pay attention to me! i'm smart!" and they hate, they hate the middle class, they hate those who work hard and achieve, they hate the material rewards of that hard work, and they hate america for letting it all happen. it's not about bush, it's not about iraq. it's about them. it has always been about them.

last march, as the iraqi war began, my son's 8th grade class went on a trip to spain. at a concert in madrid the tufts university choral conductor shocked the audience by turning to them before the start of the concert and saying "today, i'm ashamed to be an american."

"for the second time in my life, i'm ashamed of my nationality," said karin overbeck at a dean rally. " i was born in germany and i was ashamed; now i'm ashamed to be an american."

so run howard run. "take back america," take your delusions and your delusional supporters back to 92% white vermont and leave your membership in the democratic party behind. better yet, leave the country you despise and are, as karin is, ashamed of. go somewhere else where you won't be "ashamed."


-benjamin harris.