corrente

The real question in last night's dustup between Gephardt and Dean was whether Gephardt's charge that Dean "stood with Newt" on Medicare cuts was accurate, so of course the press stayed away from answering it in favor of thumbsucking about Dean's temper.

Luckily Liberal Oasis has a seemingly fair rundown of the evidence pro and con here. Whether you think Dean's 1995 Medicare remarks merit criticism, it's no violation of The Pledge to note that there has to be sanctions on a candidate who tries to personally slime another Dem by comparing him to the loathesome Gingrich. Overlooked in the thumbsucking about Dean's (rather restrained, in my opinion) "outburst" was that he carefully finished it by reminding his comrades of the need to fight the common enemy: Bush. More of that, please.