The master of flip-flops impresses everyone this week by issuing conflicting statements in the same day:

Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean will not pronounce Osama bin Laden guilty before a trial, he said in an interview published Friday. New Hampshire's Concord Monitor reported that Dean said he would not state his preference on a punishment for bin Laden before the al Qaeda leader was captured and put before a jury.

"I've resisted pronouncing a sentence before guilt is found," Dean said in the interview. "I will have this old-fashioned notion that even with people like Osama, who is very likely to be found guilty, we should do our best not to, in positions of executive power, not to prejudge jury trials." ...

Later, Dean released a statement clarifying, "I share the outrage of all Americans. Osama bin Laden has admitted that he is responsible for killing 3,000 Americans as well as scores of men, women and children around the world. This is the exactly the kind of case that the death penalty is meant for.["]

Was there a trial today that I missed? Did Osama hire a lawyer? No, Dean's campaign just went into damage control after its tone-deaf candidate managed to shoot himself in the foot that was stuck solidly within his mouth. Left unanswered is Dean's difference between his second Osama position of the day and his prior assertion that Osama should be tried by the World Court at the Hague, which has no death penalty. How does he explain that? Perhaps Dean's changed his mind -- again -- and discovered that he now will insist that Osama be tried in the US. Just like the vast majority of Americans, as I'm sure his campaign has also discovered after his disastrous interview on Hardball earlier this month.

Can someone remind me why this guy is running away with the Democratic nomination? Oh, yeah, that's right ... it's because he's so truthful and consistent. (via Blogs for Bush)

UPDATE: Power Line has two excellent posts on this subject, matching Dean's different positions of the day. Plus, Hindrocket notes that Dean has picked up the presitigious Pravda endorsement. Really.

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» camera one, camera two from Sophoristically Speaking
Would the real Howard Dean please stand up so we know who is running? In one day, Dean changed his position from: Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean will not pronounce Osama bin Laden guilty before a trial, he said in an interview published ... [Read More]

Tracked on December 28, 2003 10:09 PM