Chatting with Keith Olbermann on MSNBC's "Countdown" about the Florida pastor that wants to burn Korans on the upcoming ninth anniversary of 9/11, Dean said, "I think the Republican Party has become the party, this really started back with Richard Nixon's Southern strategy, that appeals to hatred."
He continued, "I don't think the majority of Republicans are haters, but there is a significant hate wing of the Republican Party, including the talk show hosts like Glenn Beck and Laura Ingraham and Rush Limbaugh and people like that and they don't dare cross them" (video follows with transcript and commentary):
KEITH OLBERMANN, HOST: Governor, good evening.
HOWARD DEAN: And the guy with the longest introduction on television.
OLBERMANN: General Petraeus wants this Pastor Jones to cancel the Koran burning. Why aren't people like Sarah Palin and John Boehner and McConnell and company helping to cut to the nut of this, General Petraeus protect our men and women in uniform?
DEAN: Unfortunately, I think the Republican Party has become the party, this really started back with Richard Nixon's Southern strategy, that appeals to hatred. And I don't think the majority of Republicans are haters, but there is a significant hate wing of the Republican Party, including the talk show hosts like Glenn Beck and Laura Ingraham and Rush Limbaugh and people like that and they don't dare cross them. For a long time we've thought that Fox worked for the Republican Party. Now we know that Fox really runs the Republican Party.
Exit question: when people like Dean, Olbermann, and their ilk spew hate, do they have the slightest understanding of how hypocritical it is to accuse others of being haters, or does their seemingly limitless antipathy for their opponents make this impossible?
