One of the things that drives me bananas about our idiotic political culture is its absolutely cockeyed view of ethics, where fake controversies and phony outrage are endlessly squawked over but genuine travesties are seen as too dull for the cool kids to care about.
The ridiculous Katherine Harris is upset that Howard Dean compared her to Stalin. No, not because they both liked pointing their racks at TV cameras. What he said was:
Dean, in a speech to Democratic business leaders in West Palm Beach, made the remark in reference to Harris' handling of the 2000 presidential election recount when she was Florida secretary of state and an honorary chairwoman of George W. Bush's Florida campaign.
Harris certified Bush's 537-vote win in Florida over Democrat Al Gore, putting him in the White House.
Dean said in Wednesday's speech that Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson is "going to beat the pants off Katherine Harris, who didn't understand that it is ethically improper to be the chairman of a campaign and count the votes at the same time. This is not Russia and she is not Stalin."
Oh that crazy Howard. Harris's campaign (or what's left of it) responded with obvious delight at the prospect of trying to portray someone else as loony, saying
Dean's comments comparing her to a communist dictator responsible for millions of deaths "reflect a lack of understanding and basic decency."
Whatever. Dean's remark, though, is entirely to the point. That Harris was head of Bush's 2000 Florida campaign and at the same time responsible for running the state's election machinery is indeed appalling. That this was allowed to happen is indeed a fairly damning indictment of the American political system.
If you don't enjoy being likened to a dictator, give up the banana Republicanism.