1.07.2004

That Club for Growth Dean ad...

As a Vermont taxpayer, let me say a few words about the couple engaging in nasty-isms in the ad.

“Howard Dean should take his tax-hiking, government-expanding, latte-drinking, sushi-eating, Volvo-driving, New York Times-reading . . .Hollywood-loving, left-wing freak show back to Vermont, where it belongs.”

Tax hiking? Oh, were you folks one of the billionaires like Dick Cheney who got a significant tax cut under Mr. Bush? Most of us have seen anything but a tax cut; in fact, more and more low-to-mid-range workers have noted that the IRS is looking much more closely at their $20-50K a year income than they do at the rich folks with all the tax shelters.

Government expanding? The only way you could expand the government more than has already been accomplished under Bush is to make every American a federal employee. No one's expanded government like this EVER. Or made all this expansion in the areas where you can see no demonstrable effect. We pay Tom Ridge an embarrassing fee for coming up with those 5 colors of terror.

Latte drinking? In Vermont, we take our coffee strong, black, from a can, and if it's been sitting on the woodstove for two days, all the better.

Sushi eating? I think not. The most common time for eating sushi in Vermont occurs when the power goes out and you can't cook the fish before you serve it for dinner.

Volvo driving? OK, there you have a point. But most Volvo drivers up here have them because a) it snows here about 200 days of the year leading to some of the more treacherous roads in the nation and b) they've got a Volvo graveyard in their dooryards from which to harvest parts. That ain't eliticism. It's practicality.

New York Times reading? Guilty, even if the addition of columnist David Brooks has plummeted the Gray Lady's standards to remarkable new depths. But believe it or not, many of us aren't proud of the fact that we have a president who can't read. That he can't seem to think is a tad scary, too.

Hollywood loving? Where? Here, we seem to prefer independent films.. some of them even with plots and sub-titles. We read books here, too. Texas should try it sometime.

Left-wing freak show back to Vermont where it belongs? Yeah, Vermont is just so left-wing. I guess that's why so many people here work 2-5 jobs to try to pay their taxes, educate their children, and pay for their own medical care. Having a brain and choosing not to use it seems pretty freaky in my book.

Do just a tad of research and you'll find that the "tough talking, Jesus loving, God appointed master stategist in the White House" created the ranch in Crawford, TX out of whole cloth, found religion only when it would help his incredibly mediocre career (even when his father's friends were very generous in bailing Neil, Marvin, and Georgie out of all the businesses they bankrupted), and probably can't articulate a single thought that requires polysyllables.

While this ad couple's children might get called up to fight, Mr. Bush's brazen twins are busy attending fashion shows and rock concerts.