Just what we need

I'm almost torn. Dean is apparently making disparaging comments about Republicans. Some part of me wants to pull out the it's-a-free-country rhetoric, yell that we shouldn't be centrists just because that's the only way to get anything done, and that I don't respect a lot of what Republicans stand for, either.

On the other hand -- what the fuck, Dean?! I'm allowed to say that kind of shit as a yelling-into-the-void blogger with an audience of two; you, as Chairman of the DNC, are most certainly not!

The quotes in question:

"The Republicans are not very friendly to different kinds of people," Dr. Dean said during a roundtable discussion in California this week. "They're a pretty monolithic party. They all behave the same, and they all look the same."

And now Dean's accusing Republicans of using this as a "smoke screen," a distraction from the issues at hand:

... Dr. Dean dismissed the consternation. "You know, I think a lot of this is exactly what the Republicans want, and that's a diversion," Dr. Dean said.

"We haven't had any discussions about what's going on in the media circus and all that stuff in the last two weeks," he said. "What we're focused on is how to have a decent Social Security system, how to have a strong national defense, how to have jobs in America again, how to deal with incredibly high gas prices and get a decent energy bill which actually will do something about gas prices."

Well, yes, the Republicans are past masters at diversions. But jesus, Dean -- when you open yourself for attack like that, you have only yourself to blame. I honestly don't think that the position of party Chairman is the platform from which to air generalized opinions about the character of your opponent.