It's pretty hysterical how the left wants to set the rules for civil discourse over presidential candidates' health and habits.
To them, it's really bad to talk, and virtually evil to speculate, about Hillary Clinton's demonstrations of frailty and other possible illnesses seen during the campaign, which are certainly not limited to her "medical situation" at the 9/11 anniversary ceremony two weeks ago. They think that responsible adults shouldn't engage in that ... with Democrats. But let Donald Trump show up at the first of the three presidential debates with some sniffling, and Howard Dean — former 12-year Governor of Vermont, 2004 Democratic Party presidential candidate, and former chairman of the Democratic National Committee — couldn't resist speculating that the GOP nominee was "on coke."
Here's the tweet:
The tweeted question was so far out of bounds that even the tabloid site TMZ.com characterized it as a "low blow."
Dean is a frequent guest on MSNBC and CNN, appearing to push liberal talking points. Will these networks continue to promote Dean after such a remark?
Perhaps it would be worth reminding the former DNC chair that he has opened up the opportunity for us to remember that current President Barack Obama admitted that "he used cocaine and marijuana in high school and college." Use of the former drug was then and still remains an illegal act. More to the point, Trump doesn't even drink alcoholic beverages, so presenting the idea that he would be using cocaine without any evidence is an obviously reckless smear. Speaking of people who don't drink, the press engaged in all kinds of speculation during the late-1990s, with no proof, about whether or not George W. Bush used cocaine when he was younger.
If a Republican with a similar resume tweeted such a reckless speculation about a Democratic presidential candidate, the press would obsess about it for days, and would be out asking every Republican down to the Podunk town clerk to denounce the action. There will be no such rush in the press for comments from Democratic Party officials, let alone Hillary Clinton, and there will be very little media coverage. It's the way things are.
Perhaps because its Lester Holt hosted the debate last night, NBC News has at least posted a story on Dean's tweet. True to form, NBC isn't asking Democrats for comment. Instead, they reported that "There was no immediate response from the Trump campaign to the question Dean posed." Of course there wasn't, you ninnies. Dean's tweet doesn't deserve the dignity of a response from the candidate. If the campaign did respond, the headlines would read, "Trump denies accusation that he's a coke user." No thanks, guys.
If form holds, Dean's current employer, the global law firm, Dentons, won't have a problem with Dean's reckless speculation. If a Republican with a similar resume did this, the likelihood that he or she would hang on to his current employment would be prohibitively low.
The best response to Dean came from Fox News White House correspondent Kevin Corke:
... unbecoming Governor. Americans expect better from you.
Well, I get Kevin's point that we should expect better from reasonable people, but we know better to actually expect better from the unreasonable Howard "The Scream" Dean.
Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.
