I can't begin to say how annoying these "gotcha" quotes have gotten. Dean said the Iowa caucuses are controlled by special interests! Gotcha! Kerry said we should abolish the agriculture department! Gotcha! Clark testified before the Senate that we should go to war! Gotcha!
And so on. The problem with those quotes is that they don't allow for context. They don't allow for humor. They don't allow for opinions to evolve. I've changed my mind on any number of issues over the past ten years. Do we want someone whose beliefs are completely static over time? I don't. I want people who reevaluate their beliefs on the basis of new evidence. Yet any opinion shift is met with cries of "waffler!"
Ridiculous.
We expect this shit from the Republicans, but it's tragic to see it happening within our own ranks. And it's tragic seeing the rest of the field pile on and take advantage of these so-called "gaffes". When Dean's caucus comments surfaced, Gephardt and Kerry (and perhaps the others) ran around chortling that "Dean hates Iowa democracy". Problem is, they'll get their turn. Kerry is now in the hot seat, and he won't be the last. Every single one of them will get their turn. One of their past statements will be taken out of context, and the others will pile on.
So perhaps it's all karmic and they all deserve this crap.
But it doesn't mean we have to play along. So this is also directed to you jerks who further these "gotcha" themes in the message boards. If you have written a diary about Dean's "lost tapes", Kerry's statements about the agriculture department, Clark's Senate testimony "flip flop", or any of these other out-of-context gotcha quotes floating around, then I have nothing but contempt for you.
