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January 15, 2004
In Defense of Dean
"Wife Abuse Stunner" is the article's headline in today's NYPost....in which Howard Dean is, unfairly I think, criticized for writing a positive affidavit for an employee involved in a custody battle.
ABC News reported that in 1997, Dean took the highly unusual step as Vermont governor of intervening in a custody case for state trooper Dennis Madore, who headed his security detail for nine years.
At the behest of Madore's lawyer, a close friend, Dean filed an affidavit claiming the cop was "a firm but gentle disciplinarian" and "a wonderful parent," the report said.
However, the trooper apparently wasn't the nice guy he appeared to be.
The cop later admitted five separate instances of abuse, and his wife's lawyer said she suffers posttraumatic stress after "years of abuse in which she had been struck, had been pushed, shoved in front of the children."
Dean has said he didn't know about the abuse, which has caused some to question his judgment in signing the affidavit. I disagree. The cop had worked for him for 9 yrs., I'm sure Dean thought he knew him fairly well. And it's not likely that, in public, the family appeared to be anything other than a normal family.
I mean, seriously. I doubt that the cop ever smacked the shit out of his wife at some social gathering and then said to Dean, "Sorry, Guv'n'r. I saw that look she gave you and it won't happen again." That's not how it usually works. Most spousal abusers are those from whom "Just wait until I get you home" is no idle threat. They usually go to great lengths to keep their behavior hidden from society...and some of them are pretty damn good at it. Just think about how many times you've found out something similiar about someone you thought you knew well. This could've happened to you. Maybe it already has.
Now some of my regular readers may find it strange that I'm backing Dean on this one....I am not a Dean enthusiast, to put it mildly. But fair is fair....and this ain't fair.
Besides, it's not like there's not plenty of material for legitimate criticism of Howard Dean.
This isn't one of them.
Posted by Rita at January 15, 2004 07:47 AM