Labor Day in America is when the political gloves come off and the pseudo-pugilism begins in scripted earnest. What do you think the chances are that the corporate media will do any better job covering this election cycle than it did during the last? Decidedly non-corporate CounterPunch has published a pretty good takedown of Howard Dean, the illusory progressive populist, written by three Vermonters.
David Weinberger, an author and thinker for whom I have immense respect, has disappointed with his overly-eager endorsement of Dean. This morning, Weinberger stoops to a rhetorical gimmick to press his point. Referring to CounterPunch as a “self-styled progressive site” (what does that mean? Cockburn and St. Clair have strong progressive cred), Weinberger admits that Dean’s Vermont gubernatorial record “was news to me,” and defends the candidate’s record as “either mainstream or compromises.”
Weinberger insists real differences exist between Bush and Dean and that politics is about compromise, yet fails to rebut a single point of the CounterPunch article or outline even one real difference between the major party candidates. Instead, he singles out the presidential non-voting record of one of the three authors of the article. The Dean campaign, of which Weinberger is a part, has made a big deal out of its alleged mobilization of these non-voters, so this is especially puzzling. But then, perhaps it’s not puzzling at all in light of Dean prematurely starting his sprint to the political right. How far right can a candidate go between now and next Labor Day? Watch Dean and find out.
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