More Ironic than Ray-yain on Your Wedding Day

Good ol' Howard Dean...don't think I've told this story before, back in May '05 I was changing planes at the madhouse called Dulles International Airport and found myself standing next to Howard Dean. I noticed three things:

1. He's short!
   
2. He has this quality, this Howard Dean-ness that you can kind of sense on TV...it's real strong in Real Life (TM)...really makes a conservative want to punch the nearest source of Howard Dean-ness.
   
3. That I didn't punch the nearest source--further proof of progressive sanctification.

Anyway, author of Nanny State and blogger over at the Denver Post Editorial Page blog, David Harsanyi noted a couple of quotations from everyone's favorite former Vermont governor.

Howard Dean in 2005:

Someday, the Democrats will be back in charge again. Do we want a Democratic Party that’s in charge of everything? Well, you know, I suppose it’s my job to say yes. But the truth is, as an American, it’s better when parties share power....

[There] is a culture of corruption and abuse of power in Washington. This is what happens when one party is in charge of everything.

My inner-idealogue bristles at this notion, but my inner-pragmatist (when I let him speak) sees the wisdom in this--and it seems most Americans agree with this. But here's where it gets fun.

Howard Dean in 2008:

Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean said Monday that he’s looking forward to one party controlling all aspects of government, despite GOP charges that it would be a disastrous Nov. 4 outcome. "Republicans had a chance to rule. They failed miserably. I think it’s time to give the other party a chance," Dean said on MSNBC.

This is gonna be a really long four (eight?) years--unless the mid-term elections in '10 shake things up.