Why is what any of my concern? Dean's debt? In a strict sense, it's not. It's his. And yours.

My concern is with the irony, as discussed elsewhere in the thread.

Why be concerned with irony? It's, uh, ironic. And that's reason in itself.

I have been consistently hostile to Dean supporters on certain issues, yes. Those issues almost always centered on whether or not the Dean campaign really, truly, cross-your-heart-and-hope-to-die was "the one," whatever that may be. Because I didn't believe it was.

There was more messianic fervor for Dean than I've seen for any other candidate for a long time, and while this was not the case with all Dean supporters, neither was I hostile with all Dean supporters. The issues that consistently drew me out were the ones that were being spun as proof that Dean's campaign was unlike any other. And I came out to spin it back, to show that seen in another light (and there always is another one), it was in fact quite like every other.

And here's another one.

I never expected the Dean supporters who thought the man could do no wrong to see it my way. But my way was my way, and I said so. That doesn't make it right, and it doesn't make it wrong. But it is what it is, and I felt I should say it. Which ironically (there's that word again) is remarkably similar to what attracted so many people to a certain person's campaign.

So, no, I quite like your question. I've answered ones like it before. It gives me another opportunity to say that I liked Howard Dean a lot more than I liked a good number of his supporters (and his consultants), which is something a lot of people have said since. And which is a tremendous shame both for the candidate himself as well as the substantial numbers of his supporters I still respect.