Howard Dean's 17-year old son : Getaway-car driver

WorldNetDaily ^ | Aug. 5, 2003 | WND

[FairOpinion]

Paul Dean, the 17-year-old son of Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean, will take part in a court diversion program for his role in the burglary of a Vermont country club.

According to the Associated Press, police have pegged Dean as the getaway driver, having questioned the teen while he sat in a car waiting for four buddies to steal beer and champagne from the Burlington Country Club on June 20.

"I think this is a good outcome for Paul and for his friends, and that's what the program is designed for," Howard Dean told reporters after meeting with an official at a Vermont District Court, along with his son and wife, Dr. Judith Dean.

None of the five teen-agers will actually appear before a judge, a typical scenario for young people who have no criminal record, Paul Dean's attorney told AP.

In a few weeks, reports the news service, Paul Dean will appear before a community board that will determine his punishment. It could include community service, making restitution or writing an apology letter. Ironically, the court diversion program began while Paul's father was governor of Vermont, reports WCAX-TV.

The boys' records will be cleared within two years if they comply with the requirements of the board.

If the teens had been formally charged, the crimes potentially could have carried a penalty of up to 15 years in prison and a $1,000 fine.

The beer bust took place just days before the presidential candidate kicked off his campaign for the White House. At the time, Dean said his son would "have to pay the price" for his crime, reports the Barre Montpelier Times Argus.

When asked today how the incident might affect his campaign, Dean declined to answer.

"I don't want to mix things," he told reporters. "We're not going to be talking about politics and family business at the same press conference."

[FairOpinion]

Note they didn't even have to appear in front of a judge. I bet if it weren't Howard Dean's son, they wouldn't have been so lenient.

"If the teens had been formally charged, the crimes potentially could have carried a penalty of up to 15 years in prison and a $1,000 fine."

[Uncle Miltie]

"his role in the burglary of a Vermont country club."

Following in daddy's footsteps, he steals from the rich. (and pretty much intends to keep it all for himself and his "buddies".)

[FairOpinion]

[Diogenesis]

B&E and no appearance. THE FIX IS IN.

It is the Democratic way.

[Howlin]

And damn quick, too. Get it out of the way before the primaries.

I bet he has to write a letter of apology. HORRORS.

Bets on how long before he's in trouble again?

[smoothsailing]

These Deans, what a trip.

Howard, Paul, and John.

[BushCountry]

I think we should leave the kids out of it. If we want to attack the idiot on so many other levels that he left himself open too, I say find. This guy creates ammo by the bushelful, we don't need to pick on his kids to take shots at him.

[FairOpinion]

"B&E and no appearance. THE FIX IS IN.
It is the Democratic way."

--

And I found only 2 news stories on it.

Can you imagine if one of Bush's daughters have been involved in something like this? The Dems would have demanded that she be locked up for 15 years and Bush resign immediately.

[agitator]

If he was only in the getaway car, he would have only been an accessory. In any event...

[Libertina]

Can't be easy for a son, with a dad whose a liberal and busy, and in the spotlight...

[FairOpinion]

"I think we should leave the kids out of it. "

--
Apparently you have a short memory.

The media had a feeding frenzy, when one of the Bush twins was caught using a fake ID to get a drink, at age 19. (She wasn't driving).

[antti tuuri]

Give him a break. He is 17 and got caught stealing beer. Does he really deserve 15 years? Get rid of the drinking age and he would probably have bought it. Besides with a dad like that he really needs to get drunk.

[FairOpinion]

"we don't need to pick on his kids to take shots at him. "

---

Except that his kids appear to receive preferential treatment, even when they are committing a crime.

Did you see that his son and the others didn't even appear in front of a judge and weren't charged? It wasn't that they did appear, were charged and got probation? They got away scott free. As I said in my other post, can you imagine what the media and the Dems would do if the exact same thing would have happened and it would have been handled the same way, if Bush's or a prominent Republican's kid were involved?

[TBall]

It all depends if the teen's parents were members of the club or had friends who were members. Swiping some booze from the grown ups is a typical teenage stunt.

[FairOpinion]

I don't know if his parents were members, but this was not a spur of the moment thing.

From another article:

"Police said the teen waited in the getaway car June 20 while four of his friends broke into a walk-in cooler at the Burlington Country Club to steal food and liquor. Police said the burglary had been planned for at least a week. "

http://www.thechamplainchannel.com/news/2383998/detail.html

[Parley Baer]

To me the interesting part of this story will be the media. That is comparing how they treat this story compared to Bush's daughters which went on for weeks. I would suspect hardly a peep. Parley

[Ann Archy]

And whose Mother, the Doctor Judy was maybe an ABSENTEE MOTHER.

[Ann Archy]

hello, Newbie, Aug. 6, 2003!!! welcome....he was the getaway DRIVER when the kidsbroke into a Country Club! Sorry...it was not aspeeding ticket. Even for a liberal, they SHOULD know that breaking and entering and robbing is an OFFENSE!@!!! geeesh...what part of Do No Covet did you not uderstand???

[TBall]

I hope the mainstream media ignores the story entirely. I want the press to be as blatantly biased as possible. As for the thieves, it would be interesting to know just how much booze and food they tried to swipe.

[WorkingClassFilth]

You got that.

This F'er is HOT in leftist circles. My communist cousin has been spilling his seed over Dean since May Day. The DNC's next boy will be Howard unless HRC steps in.

[SwinneySwitch]

"...police have pegged Dean as the getaway driver..."

"get to" driver - he gave up his buddies still inside when police questioned him in his car.

"...waiting for four buddies to steal beer and champagne..."

First time I've seen champagne mentioned. Now that's series!

[Naspino]

I wouldn't care if the kid was 18 -- but being 17 he's still Daddy's responsibility. I'll remind everyone that its liberals who believe that parents should be arrested for their kids missing public school and its liberals who tell us that kids being effected by pop-culture (movies, games, music) is not their their industries fault but rather its the parent's fault for not keeping the kid away from it.

So I have no problem laying this at Howard Dean's doorstep. His kid is a thug and he allows his kid to continue being a thug by pulling strings and preventing his kid from facing the consequences of his own actions and learning from those actions all in the vain of running a campaign.

[Shmokey]

The kid is 17 so I believe the proper label is thugette.

[FairOpinion]

"thugette."

That sounds feminine -- it's a boy.

How about "jr. thug"?

[Shmokey]

Still needs work

[xzins]

I guarantee that if it'd been the Bush girls that it would headline every paper and every news broadcast.

[tictoc]

Oh Howard Dean
oh Howard Dean

How could you be so mean

To never have repented
reproduction of your genes

[FairOpinion]

"I guarantee that if it'd been the Bush girls that it would headline every paper and every news broadcast. "

---

Exactly. The liberal hypocrisy knows no bounds. When liberal "kids" get into trouble, we are told that it's unseamly to discuss it and we should stick to the "issues", but when a Republican's kids get into any kind of trouble, liberals attack in packs like hungry wolves.

[gathersnomoss]

Oh come on. You show no faith in the media to be fair and balanced.

[jetson]

Boss Hogg...what have yo boys been up to!

[xzins]

Let's see how fair and balanced the media are:

1. Jenna Bush drank alcohol while under-aged.

2. Dean's son drove the get-away car as part of an intentional plan to burglarize a country club business establishment.

#2 is a criminal act.

Why didn't I hear about this until I read it here on Free Republic? When Jenna drank booze I heard about everywhere for weeks.

[FairOpinion]

"You show no faith in the media to be fair and balanced. "
---

Gee, I can't imagine, where I would get such an idea.

If it had been some Republican's, not to mention's Bush's kid getting off like this, without even having to appear in front of a judge, all the black so-called leaders would be screaming their heads off, that there is a different justice for Black kids and Bush's kids. I haven't heard a peep out of them over this.

Do you think if some Black kids ( also with no records, compare apples to apples) did this, they would have gotten off with nothing on their records? As I said, it wasn't even the question of appearing in front of a judge, pleading guilty and getting probation, here the charges were dropped, they didn't even have to appear in front of a judge.

You get a ticket for speeding, but B&E, which is premeditated, perpetrated by a Democrat's kid is OK.

[FairOpinion]

That is the real story -- the double standard applied by the media, not to mention the judicial branch to Republicans vs. Democrats.

What the Bush daughers did, drinking unerage at age 19, is minor, what Dean's kid did is potentially punishable for jail time, they were caught in the middle of committing a premeditated crime ( they planned it for a week, it said in another story.

Yet, the way the judical system and the media handled these, was in reverse: ignoring the more serious offense and playing up the minor one.

[mtbopfuyn]

Give him a break.

Why? The kids were burglarizing the Country Club and he was the getaway driver. Dang, Daddy already copped them a break by the Country Club (that says it all there) not pressing more charges and not having Junior appear in front of the judge. If it were anyone else's kid the judge would be putting the fear of God into him right now.

[mhking]

Let's see how fair and balanced the media are:

That's an oxymoron to begin with...

1. Jenna Bush drank alcohol while under-aged.

2. Dean's son drove the get-away car as part of an intentional plan to burglarize a country club business establishment.

Yep. And guess which one is gonna get rubbed in your face again?

Feh.

[Sloth]

The behavior of the kid -- and Dean's handling of it -- speak volumes about his character.

[Paulus Invictus]

A fix is a fix, a la Chappaquidix

It always works for democratix.

[huck von finn]

Kids should be off-limits, no matter who their parents are.

Ironically, I found this old quote from Dean:

Howard Dean is fiercely protective of his family and has criticized news organizations for reporting on incidents involving children of politicians, once even coming to the defense of George W. Bush. "I didn't think it was proper of the press to print all that stuff about the twins drinking," he said, speaking of Bush daughters Barbara and Jenna. "Those girls are just girls and the only reason they got their names in the paper is because they are daughters of the president of the United States. (It's an old quote.)

Try to criticize your political opponents on substance and policy, not on stupid stuff like some teenage hockey players attempting to steal beer from an outdoor cooler.

[Semper Paratus]

If he was only in the getaway car, he would have only been an accessory. In any event...

Except in the unlikey event somebody died.

[1Old Pro]

Following in daddy's footsteps, he steals from the rich. (and pretty much intends to keep it all for himself and his "buddies".)

LOL

[FairOpinion]

"Try to criticize your political opponents on substance and policy, not on stupid stuff like some teenage hockey players attempting to steal beer from an outdoor cooler. "

---

This was NOT a minor "crime of opportunity", as you try to portray it. See below. Also: did you say this when Bush's daughters were being dragged threw the mud for weeks by the media?

"Police said the teen waited in the getaway car June 20 while four of his friends broke into a walk-in cooler at the Burlington Country Club to steal food and liquor. Police said the burglary had been planned for at least a week. "

http://www.thechamplainchannel.com/news/2383998/detail.html

[huck von finn]

This was NOT a minor "crime of opportunity", as you try to portray it. See below. Also: did you say this when Bush's daughters were being dragged threw the mud for weeks by the media?

It was teenaged hockey players in search of beer. That doesn't excuse anything. It was stealing. The kids even brought equipment to break the padlock on the outdoor beer cooler. The kid should face the music. Also: yes, I've remained consistent all along about the media's cheap stories about politicians' kids when they get into trouble.

But what is the point of this? A tit for a tat? It's low-rent, cheap journalism, and any attention paid to it, i.e. "my favorite politician's kid is better than yours," etc., only serves to encourage more of the same behavior on the part of low-rent journalists. I thought I had made myself clear in my post to you. Don't you understand what I'm saying?

I don't even think the stench in the news about Jeb Bush's daughter, who was an adult unfortunately addicted to hard drugs, forging prescriptions and stealing drugs in rehab was a story. It was nobody's business but hers and her family's. It's just all cheap shot garbage. Any attention to pay to this kind of thing just encourages the low-life journalists to come up with more. And they don't care whose kid it is.

[Squantos]

Oh yeah.....I want a person to run the country that can't run their own household...........what a joke these polidiots have become. Kids make mistakes. Good parents hold em accounbtable for their actions. I believe even GW's daughter had to face the legal process for her "paid for " drink at a resturant in Austin.

Stay Safe !

[NittanyLion]

B&E and no appearance. THE FIX IS IN.

Actually, I think this is pretty common treatment of a minor involved in something like this.

I don't like Dean any more than most, but I see no preferential treatment here.