Natalee Holloway vs. Howard Dean

The media has been covering a story about someone who has gone missing; someone who is apparently more important now then they were a year ago. The media is also covering a story about a person who may have said the wrong thing and gotten in trouble because of it.

The problem I'm having is which of these stories is about Natalee Holloway and which is about Howard Dean.

Let me explain:

Mr. Dean, current Chairman of the Democratic Party, is accused more or less for not being who he is "supposed" to be: a quiet fundraiser who stays out of the public limelight. As head of the DNC, he isn't supposed to say or do anything that Joe Biden or John Edwards might have to defend while they're not-so-subtlety campaigning for President in '08. They have "tsk-tsked" him for joking that Republicans can afford to stand in line all day to vote and for saying that the face of the Republican Party is white Christians.

My thing is: didn't they know this was Howard Dean? Didn't the DNC realize what they were getting by making this guy their Chairman? Did they really expect him to "conform" like the Borg? It's like thinking Rasheed Wallace wasn't getting any more technical fouls because he's with the Detroit Pistons instead of the Portland Trailblazers. These "how dare he!" reactions are really silly.

[As for his two comments: I can't think of anybody who works for a living (Republican, Democrat or Independent) wanting to stand in line all day, even to vote. But people do it anyway. And considering that the President, House Majority Leader and Senate Majority Leader (who are all white) invoke religion (specifically Christianity) in their speeches and actions almost constantly, I can see why someone would make that statement. I don't see many prominent Asians, Blacks, Jews, Hindus, Muslims, Latinos or Atheists in the Republican Party. Do you?]

Then there is Ms. Holloway. The poor young lady has disappeared over the past few days. I can't help but think about what she, her family, her friends and the good people at Aruba are going though. Not too long ago there was a similar missing-person-last seen-at-the-club-incident. The difference being this particular incident happened in the US and that there aren't any answers as to how he died.

It's been suggested that in Mr. Sharma's case, he may have said the wrong thing to the wrong person because of the area he was in. Now with all respects to Aruba -a nice place by the looks of it- what makes it less dangerous than D.C.? All of our politicians work here; how dangerous can it be? Why hasn't anyone suggested that Ms. Holloway may have said the wrong thing to the wrong person? I'd like to think that if a young white woman from Alabama and a young Maryland man of Thailand descent both went missing under similar circumstances, they'd both be treated the same way. I'd like to think the same questions would be asked about their behavior and the environment they were in. I'd like to think that the officials who represent the Metropolitan area of D.C., Maryland and Virginia would come out with a statement similar to that of Aruba's Prime Minister.

So there you have it. One of these people is missing; and one may be in trouble for saying the wrong thing. But who is who? In either case, let's hope both stories end on a positive note.