Dean Pulls a Frist

[NashVegas]

.. and then forgets to stick around for the photo op/press gaggle.

"This has happened to me a few times in my career," Dr. Dean told the crowd, interrupting the ovation. A woman had fainted in the hallway, he said, adding: `I'll be right back for the rope line but I've got to go take care of her. I'm the only doctor in the house."

So Dr. Dean raced out, followed by his closest aides, who were followed by the traveling press corps. He went into the conference room where the young woman had been carried. The cameras rolled through the window. A beefy aide tried to block their view.

After a few minutes, Dr. Dean headed back to work the crowd, the largest he has seen in days.

"Governor, is she O.K.?" a reporter called after him.

"Yes," he said, and scurried off.

Damn, he coulda gotten a lot more mileage out of that if he'd wanted.

[rucky]

1. link, plz

[NashVegas]

5. oopsie

http://www.nytimes.com/pages/politics/trail/index.html

[gWbush is Mabus]

2. I respect Dean so much

Kerry would have stuck around for the next 5 hours getting his picture taken.

[Zynx]

4. And then gone on prime time and said "Look at what a good person I am."

[kaitykaity]

7. And then had her family pose for pictures and cry and tell

everybody what a great man he is.

rotflmao.

[killbotfactory]

47. And then jump them in a Harley Evel Kineval style...

With a battleship for a backdrop

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

67. Don't forget the flaming hoop!

[seaglass]

8. Guess it makes up for Dean skiing and pouring cement

while Kerry put his life on the line, huh?

[chocolateeater]

9. Pettiness lives. n/t

[seaglass]

12. Talk to your fellow Dean supporter above.

I'm not taking this petty bullshit anymore, the gloves are off.

[EXE619K]

13. Oh! Very Skerry!

Indeed!

[polpilot]

24. Somebody's been watching too much war tv!

Blam!! Blam!!! Blam!!!
Blam!! Boom!! Boom!!!


Dean '04...Skiing not shooting...the intelligent choice.

[Mass_Liberal]

18. you

mean metaphorical online gloves right?

[seaglass]

50. my white gloves. n/t

[GumboYaYa]

15. Dean helps woman who fainted.....

what a schmuck answers DU.

[mitchum]

49. Certainly does in 5 posts before the one which apparently disgusted you

beams and motes

[chocolateeater]

59. And it certainly does in the one

that disgusted me as well.

[mitchum]

61. Forgive me for being intrigued by selective disgust

[chocolateeater]

65. What part of "as well" do you not understand?

[EXE619K]

11. You're right!

Think of all the lives that Dr. Dean saved while others were taking lives in an unjust war...wow!

I'm so glad that Dr. Dean never went to Vietnam.

All the goodness that he did to make the world a better place for all.

Yes....you're right on the mark!

[northzax]

36. uh, according to his own website

Dean did not graduate from Medical School until 1978. So, unless he was the world's slowest med student (which I am sure he was not) he certainly was not saving lives "while others were taking lives in an unjust war" since the evacuation of Saigon was on April 30, 1975.

He was not actually a practicing physician until 1981, so I guess you could say he was saving lives while others were fighting the unjust war in Grenada or Lebanon, but not really any other wars.

[mitchum]

51. LOL!!!

Excellent!

[Zynx]

14. Okay that does it.

I want you to give me one good reason why Kerry's Vietnam service should have any effect on why I should support him and why I should think he would make a good president.

[seaglass]

16. I don't think his Vietnam service should have any effect

on why you should support him. It's part of him but not a deciding factor, at least not for me.

[NashVegas]

21. Ah .. nevermind

Well, it was *supposed* to be about Frist ...

[kaitykaity]

30. Tad defensive, eh?

Did we hit too close to the bone?

Gee. Sorry.

[edzontar]

32. This is neither charitable nor fair....

And Sen. Kerry would be the first to agree wtih me on this.

But thanks for proving my point about the uniquely vicious nature of the Dean attacks on DU.

I wonder: Were you alive and of draft age during the Vietnam conflct?

[northzax]

39. uniquely vicious?

as opposed to the following:

blackmail that voters will only vote for Dean, and would rather see Bush relected than vote for Kerry?

Suggestions that people should not support Kerry financially becaue he happen to have a wealthy wife?

one word: cockroaches

physician, heal thyself.

[kaitykaity]

40. Oh, nevermind. nt

nt

[seaglass]

55. It was neither charitable nor fair, I'll agree with you on that.

But then the slurs and smears against Kerry by many Dean supporters - for the past 6 months - have been neither charitable nor fair, and they carry their own brand of viciousness.

I opened this thread to see what Dean had done. I thought it was a good thing. Why did someone have to take a cheap shot at Kerry?

Get it, that's how all this infighting starts.

Not usually a civil disagreement on issues but cheap shots.

[damnraddem]

10. He was treating someone ...

and the press tried to put it on camera. Medical procedures are not supposed to be televised, unless arranged for beforehand with full informed consent. Any camera person trying to do so should have been arrested. This IS NOT something that a candidate should use for PR, and good for Dean for avoiding that.

[politick]

29. Didn't Kerry do that

at a rally in NH? A young boy who was standing on stage with him fainted, and he rushed over the calm the vapors, as they used to say. I don't have the link, but I recall reading something like, "Kerry shooed away the cameras for a moment, but then seemed more receptive to a good photo op" or something.

Whatever. Most anyone would do the same. You're trained to do it, for Pete's sake.

And if Dean HAD gone on and on about it, he would have been criticized as a media whore.

[EXE619K]

3. Dammit Howard!

What the hell were ya thunkin'?

[BL_Zebub]

6. NOT sticking around for the photo op was a great move

For the very reasons Smirky already mentioned. Dean performed the neccessary medical procedures because he was a doctor and bound by the Hippocratic Oath to save a life. Other candidates would have been bound by the Hypocrite Oath to milk it for all it was worth. Thank Hell that Dean isn't like that :)

[THUNDER HANDS]

17. man, do you think Dean can do ANYTHING right?

He's fighting for his political life and just has a blessing drop in his lap.

OF COURSE you stand around and do a photo op.

OF COURSE you take questions and milk it for all it's worth.

I mean, Dean is a doctor, right? Shouldn't he be reminding America of this?

I mean, yeah it's good that he's humble about helping people. But sometimes humility has to fly out the window when you're trying to win a popularity contest.

[BL_Zebub]

19. Yeah, that's what he gets for being a doctor

Should have been thinking about milking a photo op instead of saving a woman's life. Damn, what nerve :eyes:

[GumboYaYa]

20. So true if you do things to gain political advantage, and not

because you truly believe something is right.

I'm sure Dean did not try to make political hay from this because it would have caused the poor woman who fainted to become a prop in the campaign. That is just not right and conflicts with the oath Dean took as a doctor. Despite the political expediency of the moment Dean chose to do what was right and in the best interest of the lady he had just helped. That sure does seem analagous to the way Dean acted in the run up to war in Iraq and contrasts nicely with the actions of Edwards and Kerry at the same time.

[THUNDER HANDS]

34. she wouldn't have been a prop

Becuase she wasn't supposed to faint. That was purely by happenstance and Dean would have been well within his rights to help her and then make some political hay out of it.

[GumboYaYa]

60. She would have become a prop if Dean had paraded her around

for photographers as the girls I just saved. He has more respect for her than to do that. You may ask why he respects someone he does not even know. Well, that's just the way the good Doctor is.

[Eloriel]

22. That's just disgusting

Maybe YOUR candidate is an opportunist, but mine isn't. There actually are more important thing than taking advantage of every conceivable "photo op."

Further, if he HAD, he's be excoriated for that (and rightly so, IMO).

[Mairead]

28. Right on, Eloriel. Dean did exactly the right thing: he's a doc.

(Plus I don't understand why people think he'll lose anything by it--the very fact that he DIDN'T make any attempt to exploit it will get him full marks from everyone with any feeling for the fitness of things)

[THUNDER HANDS]

33. look, politically speaking

it was a missed opportunity.

Dean's not going to have many more chances to make headlines.

That's the point.

Would it be opportunistic? Sure. But it's not like it was planned that the woman would faint.

But what would be so wrong about using it to your advantage? You NEED attention right now.

You NEED some positive news.

Dean just is so politically blind he can't see the breaks he gets.

[Mairead]

63. I think you're missing Eloriel's point, Rat.

People aren't stupid. Had he tried to exploit the situation for political gain, he'd have got raked over the coals. Doing the right thing and leaving it was exactly the best thing to do politically too.

[EXE619K]

26. Like for example.....

An old Army buddy, who Kerry hasn't seen for 20+ years, showing up at just the "opportune" time before a rally?

You're right!

John Kerry is one helluva politician!

[Padraig18]

27. I've lost count of how many times Howard's done this exact same thing!

What has it been, 10, 12 times now, over the course of the campaign?

[GumboYaYa]

35. I don't recall it happening ever in the campaign until now.

Do you have any support for those allegations?

[Anwen]

38. It's happened at least 2 times before this...

I will try to find some links!

[Padraig18]

44. It happened in Iowa this summer, and it happened at Navy Pier in Chicago.

No, I didn't bookmark the occurences against the day someone would demand 'proof' of the 'allegations'. :eyes: I know about both, however, because I saw the Iowa one on CNN and I saw the one at Navy Pier personally.

[GumboYaYa]

46. Sorry, I'm so used to being attacked for supporting Dean

and listening to unfounded allegations, that I was getting ready for the "Dean plants fainters" meme to start being bandied about.

You do have to admit that twice over the course of more than a year is a far cry from 10 or 12 times. In fact, a few fainters in that many speeches is to be expected.

[Padraig18]

48. Those are tyhe two that came immediately to mind.

I remember when we were attacked on that very thing --- 'planting' fainters--- this fall, and everyone was chiming in about the different times that they each recalled where he had tended to someone ill or injured at a campaign event. My impression (and I'll concede that it IS an impression) was that there were some 10-odd separate occurences. :)

[NashVegas]

62. Well It's Like the Beatles, Ya Know?

:D

[mitchum]

53. It has happened a number of times and I admire Dean for it

I think that it speaks well of Dean. And God knows, I'm not a supporter...

[Zynx]

66. Spoken like it would come out of John Kerry's mouth.

It doesn't matter about principles, all that matters is electability. Make sure you are the biggest whore you can be.

[corporatewhore]

23. lets give him props for not making it a shameless photo-op

[Anwen]

25. He is so real!

What a perfect photo op!!!

And yet he completely disregards the reporters.

Just one of the many, many, many reasons why I support Dr. Dean for President! :loveya:

[DU GrovelBot]

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[MGKrebs]

37. Please try to stay on topic.

A bot? Jeez, they'll let anybody in here.

Heehee.

edit: are we allowed to verbally attack bots?

[Career Prole]

56. Might I follow you off-topic, GrovelBot?

I just finished reading the following for the second time:

Rules for the General Discussion: 2004 Primary forum
In our continuing efforts to provide place where progressives can discuss issues in an atmosphere of mutual respect, we have instituted a few rules for the General Discussion: 2004 Primary forum.

I opted not to turn off the rules because being a hot-tempered rascal I figured I could use the reminder. Maybe you should consider removing that option...it appears that I don't own the only temper on the board. :)

[killbotfactory]

41. He actually cares about sick people and doesn't use them as a prop

He'll never get anywhere in the beltway.

[Uzybone]

42. Man I though this was a thread about the good Dr Dean

but his followers once again cant resist slamming the opposition. Just hope they have bullets left when we are facing Bush.

[Padraig18]

45. Don't make such a ridiculous blanket statement about Dean supporters.

Not ALL of us have 'slammed' the opposition in this thread; in fact, I'm not sure even MOST of us have.

[northzax]

43. yes, he's a doctor

good for him for doing his duty and helping someone in need. but this qualifies him to be president...how?

[Padraig18]

52. He's 35, native-born and under no legal disability.

That's all the Constitution requires. :eyes:

[GumboYaYa]

58. LOL

There's a smart ass in every crowd and I mean that in the most kind and friendly way possible.

[Padraig18]

64. *grin* As my Granny says...

"Ask a silly question and you'll get a silly answer, every time!" :P

[killbotfactory]

54. About as much as Kerry being a vet qualifies him to be president

[Anwen]

57. What qualifies anybody to be president?

Obviously not much, considering who currently resides in the White House.

I'm pretty sure this thread was not intended to prove that he is presidential material -- it's merely shedding light on an incident that happened during a speech.