DNC Chairman Howard Dean yesterday called for the party's superdelegates to make up their mind on the presidential candidates. Said the politico: “I need them to say who they’re for, starting now… [We] cannot give up three months of campaigning and active healing time." Dean would like to have things set by June 3rd, the last primary, thus giving Democrats enough time to lick their wounds before August's convention and the general election season. Barney Frank made a similar remark earlier this week.

Dean also took some time to say that John McCain's not doing as well as he should be considering he's the only Republican nominee. Nice to know at least one Democrat's working against the GOP.

Howard Dean's memory continues to fail him. The Democratic National Committee Chairman claims his organization fired Gay & Lesbian Leadership Council director Donald Hitchcock for "poor job performance," not as retaliation for his boyfriend, Paul Yandura's open letter criticizing the party's lackluster gay politics.

Taking a look at Dean's sworn deposition, however, one has to wonder whether his shady recollection says more his parsed replies. And gay Democrats should be wondering how they can stand up and save their party.

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The Democratic National Committee's ugly insides are spilling out. Howard Dean's testimony in the Donald Hitchcock discrimination suit reveals more about the organization than just their gay politics.

And it's unsettling, to say the least.

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It was only a matter of time, but the mainstream media picked up on the DNC's gay drama.

Washington Post today ran a piece on Donald Hitchcock's discrimination suit against the Democratic National Committee, particularly with regard to Howard Dean's testimony.

The article largely catches readers up with the suit, but also offers a view of the conflict between Dean, who's Chairman of the DNC, and Hitchcock's lawyer, Lynne Bernabei:

…Dean's infamous short temper was on full display toward the end of the second day of his deposition during a testy exchange with Lynne Bernabei, the plaintiff's attorney who deposed him.

Bernabei grilled Dean about why, as governor of Vermont, he didn't hold a public ceremony when he signed the state's civil union bill into law. "You don't get to put words in my mouth," Dean fumed. "If you want the truth and whole truth and nothing but the truth…You have to let me answer your question."

"You can say anything you want. You are a politician, Mr. Dean," Bernabei said. (He's also a doctor, Ms. Bernabei.)

"You are not behaving in a manner which is professionally competent or qualifying," Dean said, adding, "You are an embarrassment to this profession, counselor."

"Well, it is not your profession. Thank you," Bernabei snapped.

"It is my daughter's profession," Dean shot back. "I am going to show her this tape so she never behaves like this."

Who knew Dean had such an inner bitch? We love it!

Duck and cover! The claws are definitely coming out in the DNC v. Washington Blade battle.

Tensions have been building for months, ever since the Blade began writing unflattering pieces regarding Donald Hitchcock's discrimination suit against the Democratic National Committee. Things only got worse last week when a testifying Howard Dean took some swipes at the paper and compared its reporting to that of Fox News. Ouch.

Blade editor Kevin Naff says he didn't want to get personal, but Dean's left him no option:

It is irresponsible of Dean to question the paper’s credibility without offering any specific claims of inaccurate reporting. I challenge him to produce examples of how the paper was “incorrect” in its reporting… Why are party officials, including Dean, so dismissive and critical of the gay press? It’s unfortunate that Dean and his staff have avoided responding to questions that are so important to such a loyal party constituency.

Oh, please, what else are we homos going to do? Vote Republican? Some would rather die - and the Demmies know it.

They say the camera adds ten pounds, but Howard Dean's looking pretty gaunt in this video from his discrimination discovery deposition.

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Drag collective The House of LeMay sent out a "press release" earlier today distancing themselves from the Eliot Spitzer whore scandal. (Just like Hillary Clinton, minus the dignity of an actual press release!)

The LeMay were worried their past political associations, like this meeting with DNC Chairman Howard Dean, may lead people to assume a Spitzer connection. Thanks for clearing that up.

Meanwhie, we're convinced that Amber LeMay (right) is actually John Kerry.

Howard Dean's most certainly got a headache today.

As the Democratic party veers toward complete and utter madness, the politico had to take some time to defend the Democratic National Committee against Donald Hitchcock's discrimination allegations. Dean's one of many DNC officials and insiderS who have been deposed in the suit, which may pave the way for a trial.

Hitchcock's legal team sent out a press release this week in which they give the nitty-gritty details of the case - some less-than-kind words about the DNC's post-scandal behavior:

The DNC's inconsistent and unsupported reasons for Mr. Hitchcock's firing keep evolving and changing over time including "not the best fit," "spiral of bad publicity," "willful misconduct," "lack of access to senior DNC staff," "not doing enough outreach," and "insufficient fundraising".

"With over one year of discovery and depositions of every senior DNC official involved, the DNC and defendants have failed to produce any documentation or facts supporting their assertions of Mr. Hitchcock's alleged misconduct or bad performance," stated lead attorney, Lynne Bernabei.

We're getting bits and pieces about Dean's testimony today, but we hear that he took some time to trash Washington Blade's coverage of the discrimination discovery and equated the weekly paper's picking with Fox News' anti-Democratic coverage. This gossip isn't surprising, of course - the DNC and gay press have a rocky relationship.

Dean's drama continues tomorrow.

Read the aforementioned release, after the jump…

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The National Stonewall Democrats aren't alone in defending the DNC against The Washington Blade's "race riot" emails. The International Federation of Black Prides released a statement last Friday defending Howard Dean, Leah Daughtry and the Democratic National Committee's gay policies. Read what they wrote, after the jump.

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Democratic National Committee Chief of Staff Leah Daughtry may not have been entirely honest with Washington DC.

The New York-born Pentecostal minister turned politico allegedly exploited DC's property tax exemptions. That's not a scandal, of course. Countless citizens use the Homestead Deduction to cut their tax rates nearly in half. The district's law states, however, that to take advantage of the deduction, you must vote in DC. Some say Daughtry didn't get the memo, because she's been registered to vote in New York City since February 21, 1996. The original deduction law said nothing about voting in DC, but lawmakers changed the rule back in 2002.

If this story sounds familiar, it should: Bush henchman Karl Rove played the same game back in 2005 until the Washington Post exposed his illegal exploitation.

One would think that an insider such as Daughtry would have noted Rove's outing, but the DNC staffer must have been distracted - she's voted in New York four times since the new law went into effect. Daughtry's property is currently valued at $239,250. That price doesn't include the land, which boosts the total to $341,780.

Daughtry isn't alone, either. As The Washington Blade reported, Gay and Lesbian Leadership Council chair Claire Lucas also stands accused of manipulating DC's laws to her financial advantage.

Ms. Daughtry did not reply to our comment inquiries by press time. We'll definitely let you know if and when she offers a statement. In the meantime, you can pour over all the evidence, which we've included below.

Update: The DNC just sent over this statement. They claim Daughtry had no knowledge of the deduction:

Rev. Daughtry has made clear that her legal residence is in New York, that she did not believe she was entitled to the Homestead Deduction, and that her accountant is correcting the error. Once again, while the DNC has consistently refused to comment on this case out of respect for the legal process and to protect the interests of everyone involved, the plaintiffs continue to use dishonest and increasingly desperate smear tactics to try their case outside the courtroom.

We wonder if she'll be paying DC the money she owes…

Daughtry's Homestead Deduction Record PDF