Howard Dean

Howard Dean: Jesus Probably to Left of Democratic Party
By Mark Finkelstein | May 14, 2015 | 7:57 AM EDT

Is Jesus a Bernie Sanders fan?  Could be, if you believe Howard Dean.  On today's Morning Joe, Dean claimed that "if you look at the red-letter version of the Bible, Jesus was probably to the left of the Democratic party."

Dean's declaration came in the context of a discussion of yesterday's forum on poverty in which President Obama and AEI President Arthur Brooks participated.  Question: is Dean confusing the establishment of faceless government bureaucracies that can entrap people in dependency with the kind of personal caring for the downtrodden that Christ commanded?

Scarborough Calls Hillary Defender Howard Dean 'New England Version of James Carville'
By Mark Finkelstein | April 30, 2015 | 9:13 AM EDT

How did Howard Dean go from vivid voice of the New Left to political hack defending Hillary Clinton at all costs? Joe Scarborough called Dean on it today, telling Howard he had become the "New England version of James Carville."

Dean, on today's Morning Joe, dismissed the latest Washington Post story suggesting possible financial improprieties at the Clinton Foundation as "a breathless piece of hot air" and, incredibly, Dean said he'd advise Hillary not to address the rising tide of questions. 

Howard Dean: Daily Mail Might Have 'Made Up' Story of Hillary Handpicking Coffee Klatchers
By Mark Finkelstein | April 17, 2015 | 8:29 AM EDT

Howard Dean can't handle the truth.  Rather than discussing the implications of Hillary Clinton kicking off her campaign by handpicking the "everyday Americans" she spoke with at her first event in Iowa, Dean dissed the Daily Mail, the source of the story.

On today's Morning Joe, the volatile former Vermont governor scoffed "it's the Daily Mail. Why would you believe this?" Why, Howard? Well, for starters, the Mail quotes one of the participants by name and at length about the vetting process he underwent prior to being ushered into Hillary's presence. And if the story were inaccurate, don't you think Hillary's minions would be screaming bloody murder and trotting the attendees to refute the claims?  Crickets, anyone?

Howard Dean Compares Tom Cotton's Iran Letter to Jane Fonda Visiting Vietnam
By Curtis Houck | March 13, 2015 | 5:03 PM EDT

Appearing on the Thursday edition of MSNBC’s The Last Word, former Vermont Democratic Governor and MSNBC contributor Howard Dean put forth the analogy that the author of the letter sent to Iran in Republican Senator Tom Cotton (Ark.) is like to far-left actress and activist Jane Fonda visiting North Vietnam during the Vietnam War.

Howard Dean: Scott Walker Says Obama Born In Kenya
By Mark Finkelstein | February 23, 2015 | 9:07 PM EST

How unhinged has Howard Dean become? So bad that an MSNBC host had to gently walk him back off the ledge.

On Chris Hayes' MSNBC show tonight, Dean claimed that Scott Walker says Barack Obama was "born in Kenya."  It took Hayes two attempts to break through Dean's blather, but eventually he was able to politely point out: "I should note, you mention the Kenya thing, he has not been asked that."

CNN's Mike Rowe Takes Howard Dean to Task for Calling Scott Walker 'Unknowledgeable'
By Kyle Drennen | February 18, 2015 | 10:10 AM EST

Responding to a question on Facebook Tuesday about left-wing pundit Howard Dean attacking Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker as "unknowledgeable" for not graduating college, Mike Rowe, host of CNN's Somebody's Gotta Do It, dismantled Dean's assertion and wondered if America had "confused qualifications with competency."

'Unknowledgeable': Howard Dean Disses Scott Walker For Lack of College Degree
By Mark Finkelstein | February 12, 2015 | 7:15 AM EST

What a snob!  On today's Morning Joe, Howard Dean, a product of fancy prep schools and Yale, suggested that Scott Walker was unfit to be president because his lack of a college degree rendered him "unknowledgeable."

Dean's disdain for the un-diplomaed came during a discussion of Walker having declined, during his recent trip to the UK, to state whether he believes in evolution.  Joe Scarborough was incredulous at Dean's diss, pointing out that people such as Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg never finished college.  To which list might be added super-successful and knowledgeable people from Rush Limbaugh to Steve Jobs.

MSNBC's Matthews Fails to Mention Obama Skeptical of Vaccines in 2008
By Ken Shepherd | February 2, 2015 | 9:22 PM EST

MSNBC host Chris Matthews took Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Gov. Chris Christie (R-N.J.) to task on his February 2 Hardball program for statements which he argued gave succor to so-called anti-vaxxers, parents who refuse to vaccinate their children out of unfounded or overblown safety concerns, often related to the development of autism. Matthews suggested both politicians were cynically angling for anti-vaxxer votes in the 2016 primaries at the cost of public health. But left out of his segment was any acknowledgement that in 2008, then-Sen. Barack Obama stated at a campaign event that the science on a vaccine link to autism was inconclusive.

Networks Continue to Show No Interest in Covering Senate’s Passage of Keystone Pipeline
By Curtis Houck | January 30, 2015 | 1:49 PM EST

The nation’s major broadcast networks continued their blackout on Friday morning of not covering the U.S. Senate’s passage of the Keystone XL oil pipeline with zero mentions on their morning newscasts.

Following the Senate’s passage of the bill on Thursday by a bipartisan margin of 62-to-36, the networks passed on even devoting a news brief to the topic during their Thursday evening news programs. When it came to their no coverage on Friday, plenty of other things seemed to capture their attention.

On 'Hardball,' Howard Dean Issues Quasi-Apology Regarding 'American Sniper' Slam
By Ken Shepherd | January 27, 2015 | 8:50 PM EST

On the January 27 edition of Hardball, former DNC chairman Howard Dean issued a tepid half-apology regarding his recent ill-advised statement on Real Time with Bill Maher wherein he blasted as "angry" the moviehouse audiences that have made American Sniper a runaway hit. 

Howard Dean Declares New GOP Congress ‘Intellectually Challenged’
By Jeffrey Meyer | January 7, 2015 | 10:35 AM EST

On Tuesday, the Republican Party officially took control of both houses of Congress, which made it the perfect opportunity for MSNBC to blast the new GOP majority as eager to push dangerous policies on the American people. During an appearance on MSNBC’s All In with Chris Hayes on Tuesday night, Howard Dean, former Governor of Vermont and current MSNBC contributor, eagerly slammed the GOP as “intellectually challenged on that side of the aisle. I wish I could be more nice about it. But that’s like [an] odd group of people.” 

Howard Dean: Don't Call Paris Shooters 'Muslim Terrorists'
By Mark Finkelstein | January 7, 2015 | 8:25 AM EST

Howard Dean—that celebrated scholar of Islam—has weighed in on today's murderous rampage in Paris, declaring that he refuses to call the shooters in this and similar cases "Muslim terrorists."

According to Dean, the disregard for the lives of others that these terrorists display "is not what the Koran says." Dean's denial of the obvious puts him in the company of many liberals, most notably including President Obama, who after the beheading of James Foley declared that ISIS "speaks for no religion."