Alright, everyone, it's time to get over Dean's banshee act.

Howard Dean is a fiery guy. Did we not already know this? I'm not buying the ultra-liberal tag that so many have given him, but even I know that Dean isn't afraid to get pissed. I can understand peoples' reservations about that, and how that might make him unsuitable to be president. I can see the desire for someone who's even-tempered. I mean, you wouldn't want me being president, for myriad reasons. Like Denis Leary once said: "... And now you see why I could never be president. I'd snap like this eighteen times a day. Go get Air Force One; I wanna blow some shit up."

It's just going to be really sad if this one incident destroys Dean, whether he deserves to be destroyed or not. It'll show what simple-minded, short-sighted assholes we are.

You know Team Dean is worried though, especially if they managed to drag Dean's ever-reclusive wife out of hiding. It was mentioned in that article that Dean has a college-age daughter, and we all know that could have a big impact on who I endorse for the D nomination. Considering the gene pool Dean's daughter is coming from, though, I don't hold out a ton of hope. Sorry, Howard. I know how badly everyone wants my endorsement.

While we're talking about Dean, one thing I do like about him is that even though he's bullshitting us like any politician would, he's at least giving it to us straight in some regards. He's willing to say "I'd like to put A, B, and C into place, which are things we all want, and that's going to cost money." Of course, the payment is going to come in the form of taxes. Naturally, everyone's bowels release when they hear the evil word "taxes."

Look, everyone hates paying taxes. I've made no secret of being a greedy fuck, and yeah, it's irritating to have a sizable chunk of my paycheck jacked. I've been warming to the idea of a flat tax in the past few years. But still, I'm not all that pissed about taxes because I know that taxes pay for shit... Like roads, and schools, and other shit that we're all pretty fond of. Everyone wants the moon, but they don't want to have to give anything to get the moon.

In the end, it's not taxes that piss me off so much, it's how those tax dollars are often used. Obviously, it's never going to be 100% efficient, but it'd be nice to see some more effort towards that end. And either way, if someone is going to cost me money in the long run, the least they can do is fucking tell me about it.