The Democratic Party of today loves to take credit for all of the progress that the civil rights movement had to offer. They count John F. Kennedy and his brother Bobby among those who spearheaded the movement as well as Lyndon Johnson and his welfare initiatives. Seldom do they mention George Wallace and Lester Maddox, both of whom were Democratic Governors from the South, one from Georgia and one from Alabama. They seldom mention them because they were bumps in the road for the civil rights movement, big, bigoted, pointy-hat wearing bumps in the road. Wallace later "saw the light” but that was only after he survived an assassination attempt. Now Howard Dean wants to appeal to the "guys with Confederate flags in their pickup trucks." It will be interesting to see if the alphabet media jumps on Dean the way that they jumped on Trent Lott for a comment far less offensive or whether they will forget about it as quickly as they forgot that it was Abraham Lincoln, a Republican, who championed the initiative, albeit political in its nature, that freed the slaves all those years ago.

This is not the first time Dean has alluded to the "most divisive, hurtful symbol in American history,” as Joe Lieberman and John Kerry described the Confederate Flag. He has brought it up before and is actively courting the southern male vote, a demographic that has been more prone to vote conservatively in recent elections. At the DNC Convention earlier this year Dean said, "White folks in the South who drive pickup trucks with Confederate flag decals on the back ought to be voting with us, and not [Republicans], because their kids don't have health insurance either, and their kids need better schools too."

Dean has also come under fire for his support of a National Rifle Association initiative that would allow private citizens to own assault rifles. He told the NRA in a 1992 questionnaire that he opposed restrictions on private ownership of assault weapons, and received the NRA's highest ratings when he was governor. This statement has been resurrected to help his image appeal to what he considers "southern males voters.” Howard Dean and his handlers seem to believe that the typical southern male voter is the stereotype depicted in movies like Deliverance and not the productive, essential members of our citizenship that helps our nation continue to be the most efficient and progressive in the world. To Dean it’s pickup trucks, gun racks and running moonshine, it is Ernest T. Bass, Goober and Ernest Goes To Vote rather than cutting edge industrialists, corporate innovators, technological trendsetters and cultural philanthropists. It does shed a lot of light on what kind of vision Dean has, that’s for sure.

Howard Dean is proving to be less of a thoughtful and calculating politician than his first impression made him out to be. Statements such as the ones above are hypocritical to the beliefs his support base holds dear. Ultra-Liberal Democrats by nature are very pro-civil rights to the point they have championed the banishment of the Confederate Flag outright in many state capitols of the south including the removal of all depiction from many state flags. Further, ultra-liberal Democrats are amazingly pro gun control and Dean’s statements, although intended to highlight his support of state’s rights over federal laws, are directly opposed to what his supporters advocate.

So, if Dean sits on the opposite side of the fence on two subject matters that are at the heart of the radically liberal Democratic movement why would so many ultra-liberals be supporting Dean? The answer is simple; they aren’t listening to anything he is saying except for the message that "Bush is bad.”

Howard Dean supporters are primarily anti-Bush. This can be said for the blind followers, the lemmings if you will, that follow many of the Narcissistic Nine, especially Dean, Dennis Kucinich and Wesley Clark. To be sure, the followers and supporters of these two candidates are the same ones that protest in the streets without having the wherewithal to have looked at the issues from all sides and contemplate the situations through to their fruition. They have no vision and are reactionaries. I am sure that Columbia University Professor Nicholas De Genova would have tears of joy in his eyes at the outpouring of ultra-liberal discontent that follows Dean, Kucinich and Clark around. They are his kind of people.

While Howard Dean, one of the ultra-liberal candidates of the Narcissistic Nine, bashes George W. Bush on just about every topic that seems to hold the attention of the American public on a daily basis it would seem that he is forgetting to write down what it is he is saying so that he doesn’t contradict himself. Asking an ultra-liberal to support state’s rights over federal legislation and to embrace among their brethren of the voter base those who adorn their vehicles with Confederate Flags while believing all along that he can insult the male population of the south with a less than flattering depiction of their demeanor would normally be akin to committing political suicide. It would be political suicide but for the fact that the ultra-liberal voter is only hearing what they want to hear, that "Bush is bad.”

Of course there is still time enough for them to actually pay attention to what is being said but I wouldn’t bet on that happening anytime soon. The Democratic propaganda machine is already too far into their game plan and as everyone who is aware knows, the Democrats are good at pointing the finger of blame, not confessing to their own mistakes. That would mean that they make them and we all know that ultra-liberals are perfect, right? Right…and Bush is bad…NOT!

Frank Salvato is a political media consultant and the managing editor for The New Media Journal.us. He is a contributing writer for The Washington Dispatch, GOPUSA, OpinionEditorials, Men’s News Daily, Canada Free Press & AmericanDaily. His pieces are regularly featured in Townhall.com. He has appeared as a guest on The O’Reilly Factor, The Kevin Matthews Radio Show (Chicago) and The Brad Messer Radio Show (San Antonio). His pieces have been recognized by the Japan Center for Conflict Prevention and are occasionally featured in The Washington Times and The London Morning Paper as well as other national and international publications.