Deaniac Panties in a Bunch Watch

As has become the norm, the uber sensitive Deaniacs are once again up in arms. And what has them all stroppy now you ask. Well, there is an ad put out by the group Americans for Jobs Health Care and Progressive Values that questions Dean's ability to compete with Bush. The ad, linked below, has a Time magazine cover with Osama Bin Laden's picture as the background. The ad is essentially a broadside against Dean's electability or lack thereof, as measured by his lack of foreign policy experience.

A group of Lefty/Dean bloggers have posted an open letter to the Kerry campaign imploring him to denounce the ad (there are former Kerry staffers affiliated with the Group, as well as some Gephardt folks apparently). I have watched the ad several times and still fail to grasp why they are so outraged. Maybe the photo of Bin Laden is over the top and maybe it brings back memories or Willie Horton. But, as one commenter on Atrios pointed out, if Dean cannot handle this then he certainly will not be able to take on BushCo in the fall.

But the larger point here is that on the Democratic portion of the blogosphere dissent is almost becoming forbidden. Anyone who questions Dean or his supporters is instantly attacked. And accused of forming a circular firing squad and being disloyal and ignoring the real enemy (GWB). But was it not Ho Ho Dean who lambasted Democratic members of Congress and his opponents? Clearly, Dean's attacks on other leading Democrats have been a centerpiece of his campaign. Someone needs to remind the good Doc and his followers that people who live in glass houses ought not throw stones.

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