Did Dean lie when he said the Confederate Flag comment was about race?

dsc

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Fri Nov-07-03 12:11 AM
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Did Dean lie when he said the Confederate Flag comment was about race?

I doubt it but will, unlike certain DU Dean bashers, admit the article is too poorly written to tell.

First, here is the link to the article.

http://www.dmregister.com/news/stories/c4789004/22649906.html

Here is the confederate flag quote and the paragraphs immediately after.

Start of quote

"I still want to be the candidate for guys with Confederate flags in their pickup trucks," Dean said Friday in a telephone interview from New Hampshire. "We can't beat George Bush unless we appeal to a broad cross-section of Democrats."

Dean said he answered the questionnaire while running for re-election as governor of Vermont. He has said he was never asked to sign a gun control bill during his Vermont tenure.

Dean often touts his high rating from the NRA, which he attributes to Vermont's scant gun restrictions, low crime rate and tradition as a hunting mecca.

end of quote

Clearly both the underlined quote and the italicized text come from the phone call. We know that due to it being mentioned in the first paragraph and no other citation being mentioned. But note that only the underlined is quoted material. No one believes Dean only said the underline words in that phone call (in point of fact if he did then my case would be made since not one word about guns is underlined). But we have no idea when he said the quoted words and in what manner he expressed the paraphrased idea (italics).

Equally clearly he didn't mention the bold paragraph's idea in the phone call since the word often is used. I think we can agree that the reporter isn't saying Dean often said during the phone call that Vermont has scant gun restrictions etc. So now the source is assumed to be different.

start of quote two

Dean said he wanted to protect hunters' rights to use semiautomatic hunting rifles in Vermont. But the question about the ban referred both to federal and state law.

Former Democratic state Sen. Elizabeth Ready of Vermont said Dean's position on guns was the same as the vast majority of Democrats in Vermont.

The only gun control bill introduced in Vermont during Dean's 11 years as governor died before it was debated, according to chief Vermont Legislative Counsel Bill Russell.

"People have to understand hunting is part of Vermont's cultural fabric," said Ready, a liberal Democrat who also opposed the bill.

When asked about his position on guns on the campaign trail, Dean said he supports a 1993 federal law requiring that handgun purchases be subject to a waiting period for federal background checks.

He also backs a measure that would require purchases at gun shows be accorded the same checks. Beyond that, gun control should be up to individual states, he said.

end of quote two

Paragraph one is not a quote. It also isn't directly attributed to the phone call. Given the standard rules of citation the fact the source was switched and not switched back implies a different source. Though to be fair it could be from the call as well. We simply don't know. And we certainly don't know where in relation to the first quote this came if it even is in that phone call.

Paragraphs two through four aren't Dean speaking. No mention was made of this being a conference call or joint phone interview. It is an eminately reasonable assumption that these paragraphs are completely divorced from the phone interview. And that any subsequent citations are not from that phone interview unless explicitly noted.

Paragraphs five and six are explicitly cited as coming from the campaign trail. There is no way we can assume any connection what so ever to that phone interview.

start of quote 3

"I support the assault weapons ban and the reauthorization of the assault weapons ban," Dean said. "I just don't think we should have laws over and above the existing laws. If you show me a new federal gun control law that saves lives, I'll support it. But, frankly, I'm skeptical of that."

end of quote 3

This is the last quote or paraphrase of Dean in the entire article. It is right where quote 2 leaves off. Clearly this quote comes from somewhere. Maybe it comes from the phone call. But under standard rules it is supposed to be assumed it comes from the campaign trail since that is the last source presented.

There are several problems with this piece and the style this reporter chose to write it in. He was exceedingly sloppy with his quotes and attributing them. He didn't give any description of the phone interview. Was it only about guns as some DUer's think or was it more broad ranging? Was it short, medium length, or long? These are important things to know. Was it with the reporter writing this piece? If not with whom was it? Why are we not given a link to it?

Clearly it is possilbe this was an interview only about guns and Dean used the Confederate Flag quote in it. But that leaves some pretty obvious questions. Why no mention of gun racks or hunting? Why is the first part of the quote (about the flag) broken from the second part (about the broad cross section of Democrats)? Why no mention of guns in that quote?

Clearly it is also possible this was a wide ranging interview in which Dean discussed many different things. Including guns and the confederate flag. This also leaves some questions. Why would a reporter take a Dean quote out of context for his gun article? I will let the expert take that one. www.dailyhowler.com www.mediahorseonline.com to take two expert opinions on the behavior of the press in regards to Democrats.

Of the two senarios I find the second far more likely given the fact he has used the analogy before and it has always been about race and not guns. But even conceeding them to be equally likely before we call candidates liars we should be making sure that only that option remains. Those bashing DUers didn't do that.