There was an episode of King of the Hill a year or so ago in which, for various reasons, Hank gets sent unfairly to “anger management” classes, which he deeply resents. While he’s in the classes, he meets a “kindred spirit” who really does have an anger problem: later on, when he’s hanging out with Hank and the boys, this guy loses his temper and starts screaming and gyrating and just boiling-over almost instantly. His voice goes higher and higher and higher, until he finally can do no more than utter an unintelligible gurgle of sound — and then he drops dead of a heart attack.
I’ve been thinking of that episode ever since I heard Howard Dean’s post-Iowa caucuses speech. I’ve been having trouble making up my mind about Dean, and that did not help. I think that Dean needs to realize that the idea of “Mild gaffes are OK because they result in press coverage” has probably run its course.
