Last words on the Dean speech

Howard Dean supporters are fighting back, sending around a crowd’s-eye-view of the former frontrunner’s widely lampooned speech Monday night. It certainly shows the intensity that stoked Dean’s fire. But a skeptic has to counter: Dean knew he was talking to a national television audience, not just a roomful of supporters, and the war-whoop wasn’t made for primetime. I was more persuaded by Deangoesnuts.com, a site run by a self-declared Dean supporter who nonetheless catalogued the many dance-mixes his candidate’s speech has inspired. The Web giveth, the Web taketh away, and the Web can giveth back again, if Dean supporters maintain their sense of humor — and if their candidate maintains a little more control of his mouth.