FNS Follies I: Dean Slanders Burns?

It's always a merry morning when Howard Dean shows up on a Sunday morning talk show. Front and center during his appearance on "Fox News Sunday" was a remarkable statement in which he pretty clearly accused a Republican senator of being a criminal. If Senator Conrad Burns (R-MT)isn't convicted of taking bribes, it seems to me that Howard Dean could have some 'splaining to do, in light of these comments:

The problem the Republicans have with this [the Abramoff scandal] is that they actually did things. Senator Burns did a number of things for Jack Abramoff in exchange for a contribution. And the proximity of those contributions to the actual act of doing something for the lobbyist -- that's what's illegal and that's what's going to get them in trouble.

There's not one shred of evidence that any Democrat (a) knew that he was getting a contribution from Jack Abramoff and (b) did anything in exchange for it.

It will be interesting to see if the facts match up to Dean's assertions -- and how he'll handle it when they don't. In the meantime, he might want to cool it with the potential slander.