Give 'em hell, Howie!

Dean Drubs Gramps Groin

Oelwien, Iowa - Taking issue with a voter's request that he be "more neighborly" with President Bush, Howard Dean kneed the elderly man in the nards at a Town Hall meeting here Sunday.

Dale Ungerer, a retiree from nearby Hawkeye, Iowa, had berated the former Vermont governor for nearly three minutes during a voter information forum at the Oelwein Rotary Club, accusing Dean of "negative mean mouthing," "anger" and "tearing down his neighbor."

"Well now I've got a question for you -- shut the fuck up," said Dean, tearing off his apron and hurling a pancake skillet as he rushed the unsuspecting man.

Protesting that "nobody accuses me of that shit and gets away with it," Dean cornered the man against a shuffleboard table, kneed his groin, and then hit him with his walker.

"Welcome to MY neighborhood," he said as the retiree slumped to the floor.

"What's that? You wanted to say something else?" asked Dean. "I didn't think so."

Campaign spokesman Emily Reese expressed hope that the episode would help silence further questions about Dean's emotional fitness for office, "at least in public."