Howard Dean is toast and that's too bad

Well, Howard Dean is toast.  Yup.  And that's too bad, because it would have been nice to have a professional, a doctor, running the White House.  He tells the truth as he sees it, is decisive and bases his conclusions about things on facts.  Being a doctor means that he's used to doing whatever it takes to know the answer and then speaking his mind.  How refreshing!

Unfortunately, running for President of the United States has become like getting elected high school class president.  It's a popularity contest based on appearances and image, not substance.  Even worse, this contest is run by the media, who comment ceaselessly about the campaign without ever telling us anything about the candidates.  So they tell us that Dean is angry, they tell us Gore is a liar, they tell us George Bush is a "Compassionate Conservative", they tell us Edwards is too young (um, he's 50).  And it's all so much bullshit.

Nonetheless, after the spin on the Dean concession speech in Iowa (and if you hear the whole thing, he was shouting to be heard over the crowd and you can hear, a week later, that his voice is still completely shot from all the non-stop campaigning), he's completely toast.  The press is making fun of him.  You can survive attacks, but you can't survive derision.

The press has effectively dumped Dean headfirst into the trash can in the cafeteria in front of the whole school.  That makes him unelectable.  Done in by basic psychology.  Very sad.  In fact it's the guarantee that democracy is over in the U.S.  Last one out, please turn out the lights.