Dean Takes OBL over Delay

James Taranto points out some interesting quotes from Howard Dean that would make a great story for the N&O:

It seems Howard Dean, chairman of the Democratic National Committee is impervious even to criticism from Rep. Barney Frank. Today's Arizona Republic reports:

Dean, national chairman of the Democratic Party, said Tuesday that he thinks House Majority Leader Tom DeLay has committed crimes that could put the Republican in jail.
DeLay's office fought back with Dean's own words from the 2004 presidential campaign. The former Vermont governor had maintained that even terrorist leader Osama bin Laden should not be pre-judged if captured.

We had forgotten about the bin Laden remark, but we checked and sure enough, we noted it back in December 2003:

"I've resisted pronouncing a sentence before guilt is found," Dean said. "I still 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. . . ."

It gives a whole new meaning to "politics stops at the water's edge."