The Moose praises the Democratic National Chairman.
The Moose has not always seen eye to eye with Dr. Dean. But on one big issue, the DNC Chairman is absolutely on target - Washington corruption has got to go. And if D.C. Democrats do not join this effort - they are definitely part of the problem and Dean represents the solution.
The Atlanta Journal Constitution reported,
"Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean is trying to get voters to hold the Republican Party responsible for the "culture of corruption" he sees in Washington, but Dean is getting virtually no help from fellow Democrats in the House of Representatives.
"In the year since then-Rep. Chris Bell (D-Texas) filed a complaint that triggered the current ethics investigation of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas), not one Democrat has initiated another complaint despite the pleas of outside watchdog groups.
House Democrats are victims of "a kind of mindset that too often creeps in in Washington - to get along, go along," Bell said in a telephone interview from his law office in Houston. "There's not a more adversarial act you can take in the House than an ethics complaint, and some people just don't have the stomach for it."
Back in the early nineties, the Moose witnessed a similar squeamishness from some Congressional Republicans about Newt's revolutionary rhetoric to transform the culture of Washington. However, Newt correctly understood that the voters would not overthrow the entrenched Washington establishment solely on partisan grounds. It was critical for the Gingrichians to communicate that they wanted to overturn the old order even if it threatened some Republican interests.
Now, the task of the Democrats is to challenge the Delayican Reaction. That will require transforming the "culture of corruption" as Chairman Dean correctly describes it. The current issue of Blueprint magazine has a must-read piece by Bruce Reed that outlines a program to radically reform the city. Reed writes,
"Washington, like Las Vegas, has never been entirely on the level. But today, an unfortunate series of events -- the polarization of American politics, the explosive growth of the lobbying industry, and the prolonged reign of one-party government -- has combined to give private interests their strongest grip on the nation's capital since the Gilded Age. Without sweeping changes in the way Washington works, the interests of ordinary people don't stand a chance."
Mr. Chairman, on this one, the Moose has got your back. Keep on stepping on K Street and D.C. toes! -- | 
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