EARLY CONTENDER FOR '03'S "MOST SHAMEFUL EVENTS": At last week's National Abortion Rights Action League fundraiser that was attended by every one of the Democratic candidates for president in 2004, former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean got up and stated that if President Bush is re-elected, "next thing, girls won’t be able to go to school in America. You watch.” Dean did not explain why, if Bush is so intent on imposing a Taliban-like system in which the education of women is banned, he would wait until after the 2004 election; I eagerly await Dean's next major policy speech, in which he details the president's thus-far unhinted-at plans to bring back slavery.
Dean's statement is just as stupid, though not quite as offensive, as Trent Lott's pro-segregation comments. At one point I thought perhaps Dean, as a governor and outsider, could be a breath of fresh air for the '04 field. Not anymore.