Alright, folks, I've stood quietly by watching the feeding frenzy on Dean from the media, the GOP and many of the other Democratic candidates and their friends.
For the media and the GOP, of course, we all know that they're in bed with Bush. Put any Democrat up as a front-runner (be wary Gen. Clark!) and they will crucify him.
But for the other Democrats, they need to understand that, once they decide to take the Party and all of its members to the brink for their own personal political gain, they can't expect that those members will happily welcome them back into the fold. This is not a reindeer game where it doesn't really matter in the lives of real people, and we happily pick up the pieces and just try again in 2008.
I'm not saying people should drop out of the 2004 race before any votes are counted, or that they don't have the right to be critical of other candidates. But enough with the over-the-top crap, the inference that Dean not only cannot win against Bush but that some of the other candidates themselves would rather undergo a colonoscopy before voting for him. Enough with doing Karl Rove's job for him by not only making negative charges but contributing to larger misleading portrayals of Dean and his views that have lead to dangerous kneejerk media portrayals of Dean. Enough with going beyond Dean to attack his supporters for being too young, too new, too rich, too white, etc.
So to the other candidates, I say: Show us why you have something to offer other than you've acted in fear of George Bush and Howard Dean hasn't. Show us that you'll stand up for us even when you haven't in the past. Show us why the fact that the Party, under your "leadership," is at its lowest ebb electorally since before the Depression doesn't disqualify you from being our nominee. Show us something positive, that we can believe in.