Re: Greg’s post on Dean, below…

Tacitus’ take on Dean is not quite as frothing as that of other anti-Deaners. He says:

I finally caught Dean’s “YARRRRRRAAGHHHHHHH” moment on the telly (yeah, I’m a bit behind things these days). In context, I didn’t find it at all the manic moment that it has been portrayed, and I think Dean is getting unnecessarily and unfairly hammered over it. My impression was of a guy standing in front of a disappointed and demoralized crowd who needed to be rallied into action. He was doing what a candidate has to do in those moments.

My failure to see the ‘weirdness’ of the pirate moment I believe is that I’ve watched Dean on the stump before. He has always had an awkward quality to him when he whips up a crowd. A sort of uncomfortable air, as if he simultaneously bathes in the adoration yet loathes the moment. If that awkwardness and agitated style is new to any commentators — they just haven’t been paying attention. To characterize this speech as it has been strikes me as disingenuous. I think that if the video were seen in New Hampshire and elsewhere without the surrounding ‘Dean has lost it’ commentary it would have had little if any influence. Color me skeptical that there wasn’t a bit of premeditated pouncing on this one by some intra-party Tigger. After all that’s what Tiggers do best.

I didn’t watch Dean speak except for a few sound bites while I was in the States. Then a couple days ago I watched a video clip (and heard an audio clip) of Dean’s “YAAAARGH” rant, and that’s all the context I’ve had concerning Dean-in-motion. To me, Dean came off as unhinged, but I grant that Tacitus may have a point: if Dean’s like this at every rally, then maybe it’s not a sign that he’s self-destructing– it’s just a sign that he’s… excitable.

Theory: Dean and I may have something in common: a “performer” side of our personality that shows up in certain circumstances but not in others. Call me crazy, but I trust Dean’s wife when she claims in the Deans’ ABC interview that Dean’s not an angry guy at home. Of course, she knows he’s running for high office and isn’t about to betray her husband by revealing his foibles, but I still think she’s sincere. So maybe Dean, like yours truly, gets a little over-the-top when it comes to public moments, and feels the urge to do things he might not otherwise do. Viewed in this way, the whole “would you trust this man as your doctor?” meme needs to be reexamined. Perhaps Dean one-on-one is nothing like Dean behind a mike.

Am I the only one who still writes “mike” instead of “mic” these days? Sorry; I hate “mic”– looks too much like an insensitive slur against those drunken, brawling, filthy Irish bastards, pissing syrupy stout and shitting boiled potatoes everywhere, God love ‘em.

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