David Broder’s Continuing Embarrassment
Following up on his comments from Tuesday, the Washington Post’s David Broder today publishes a factually inaccurate screed aimed at Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV).
Titled “The Democrats’ Gonzales,” Broder begins the column tarring Reid as a “continuing embarrassment” whose “amateurish performance” is an “exhibition of ineptitude.”
Broder baselessly claims that a “long list of senators of both parties…are ready” for Reid’s tenure “to end.” Both parties? Here’s Broder’s own paper on Tuesday: “In a closed-door meeting, Reid acknowledged that he had a [White House] target on his back, and Democratic senators responded with a standing ovation.”
Broder criticizes Reid for making a series of supposed verbal “gaffes” — such as calling President Bush “a loser” — which Broder mocks as “displaced aggressiveness on the part of the onetime amateur boxer.” But despite his claim earlier this week that “every six weeks or so there’s another episode where [Reid] has to apologize,” Broder’s most recent example of a “gaffe” is 16 months old.
Broder then turns to Reid’s “consequential” gaffe, that the war in Iraq “is lost” (a view Reid happens to share with the majority of Americans). To highlight Harry Reid’s “inept discussion” of Iraq, Broder quotes…Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY):
On “Fox News Sunday,” Schumer offered this clarification of Reid’s off-the-cuff comment. “What Harry Reid is saying is that this war is lost — in other words, a war where we mainly spend our time policing a civil war between Shiites and Sunnis. We are not going to solve that problem. … The war is not lost. And Harry Reid believes this — we Democrats believe it. … So the bottom line is if the war continues on this path, if we continue to try to police and settle a civil war that’s been going on for hundreds of years in Iraq, we can’t win. But on the other hand, if we change the mission and have that mission focus on the more narrow goal of counterterrorism, we sure can win.”
Everyone got that? This war is lost. But the war can be won. Not since Bill Clinton famously pondered the meaning of the word “is” has a Democratic leader confused things as much as Harry Reid did with his inept discussion of the alternatives in Iraq.
It’s unclear why Reid is attacked for someone else’s remarks. But more importantly, Schumer’s argument (however impromptu) is perfectly clear when one isn’t simply trying to make fun of it. There are multiple wars in Iraq. Echoing the latest National Intelligence Estimate, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said in February, “I believe that there are essentially four wars going on in Iraq.” The two most significant are Sunni-Shiite sectarian violence and al Qaeda terrorism. Reid and Schumer are saying that the U.S. military cannot possibly “win” Iraq’s sectarian civil war, but that we can still be victorious over the terrorists.
Broder concludes with his most aggressive attack, that Reid “has sent conflicting signals about his readiness” to lead the U.S. Senate in a time of war because of his views on Iraq:
Instead of reinforcing the important proposition — defined by the Iraq Study Group — that a military strategy for Iraq is necessary but not sufficient to solve the myriad political problems of that country, Reid has mistakenly argued that the military effort is lost but a diplomatic-political strategy can still succeed.
In fact, the Iraq Study Group recommended a withdrawal of U.S. combat forces by March 2008, a goal the Senate has adopted in its Iraq legislation. The ISG also states that President Bush’s current strategy of “[s]ustained increases in U.S. troop levels [will] not solve the fundamental cause of violence in Iraq.”
Broder’s column today truly backfires, showing himself — the “dean” of Washington journalism — not Harry Reid, to be an amateurish embarrassment.
Sort Comments By: Top Rated | Date
78 Responses to “David Broder’s Continuing Embarrassment”
Register
RSSLogin
Topic Cloud
ArchivesBlog RollAbout Think ProgressContact Us
Donate
Ignore all the republicans like Kissinger who said the same thing, of course.. again… “there are no good guys to turb the country over to” would have been a better way to phrase it. these idiots are destined to keep killing each other no matter what we do….
waiting for trolls… “YOU SHUT UP.. AMERICA CAN DO ANYTHING…ANYTHING! NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR AMERICA!!!.. BECAUSE JESUS HAS ANNOINTED US WITH THE HOLY CODPIECE OF GOD”!!!!
April 26th, 2007 at 7:16 amThis is just a distraction against the Republican’s long list of failures.
April 26th, 2007 at 7:17 amI live near the Washington Post building and more than once I have seen David Broder leaving the parking lot across the street from his office and turn the wrong way into traffic. I always thought he was confused, but now I know exactly just how confused he really is. Time to retire David.
April 26th, 2007 at 7:22 amDont you just love watching the Repignicans and their cheerleaders imploding? It took too long for it to happen, but thank God/Allah its happening. Keep it up Dave. You’re as far out of touch with the mainstream of America as your man-child hero in the White House.
April 26th, 2007 at 7:27 amBroder is a right-wing nut. Enough said.
April 26th, 2007 at 7:38 am“Both Parties” to this beltwat hack means the Republicans AND Connecticut for Lieberman.
-GSD
April 26th, 2007 at 7:45 amBroder is a senile old fart.
April 26th, 2007 at 7:54 amCome on guys and gals…Broder is right. Harry ought to pass the baton to somebody who can make our case with passion, wit and intelligence. Somebody like Jim Web, who speaks with authority. Reid’s whiney rants do little to make our case, even to the converted; they provide only amusement to the right, and a forum for Cheney to actually look relevant by comparison. He should go. We are not wedded to this man, and deserve somebody in the Senate as competent appealing as Pelosi has been in the House.
April 26th, 2007 at 8:00 am#3 Keith,
April 26th, 2007 at 8:03 amThanks for information we might never find elsewhere. You have confirmed my suspicion that Broder is getting senile.
Cheney’s only relevant by comparison if you don’t hold all the falsehoods Cheney has said in the past four years against him. Good grief - honestly, what has Harry Reid done that has earned him a comparison now to two men generally suspected to be liars - Gonzales and Cheney?
April 26th, 2007 at 8:07 amIn short, the story isn’t what they’ve said wrong, it’s what they done wrong.
Gonzalez: Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, US Attorneys, habeas corpus, warantless wiretapping, Texas Youth Commission….
Reid once got some free tickets to a boxing match. so there you go.
April 26th, 2007 at 8:11 amThis Gates guy is turning out to be a pretty decent appointment. I’m sure Bush is upset by that.
April 26th, 2007 at 8:17 am#8 - I agree there are more erudite politicians than Reid. I agree there are politicians who are more effective communicators. Pelosi isn’t perfect either in public, but most importantly, both are marshalling their caucuses reasonably well when you look at the breadth of their Congressional agenda.
The people who laugh at Reid are the dead-enders, the Fox bobbleheads, the Cheney groupies, the Malkin meatheads (they laugh just as much at Pelosi). They will NEVER agree with Reid (or Pelosi). So let them laugh at him, they only betray their own insularity.
Harry Reid for a while reached across to GOP colleagues to build a consensus. But his patience has been exhausted, the Iraq War is being inexorably drawn out, and he’s evidently decided to take Bush head on. Don’t know about you, but I’m behind him. He doesn’t want a compromise with Bush, neither do I.
April 26th, 2007 at 8:18 amMoyers. Watch Moyers.
Tim Russert had the audacity to say he was not obliged to do proper investigating of the government because there was not an “opposition party”.
These smut peddlers, including Broder, have to go.
THEY HAVE TO GO.
April 26th, 2007 at 8:20 amGonzales is doing the job he was chosen to do. He is doing his part to turn the DoJ into a weapon the RNC can use against its political enemies.
Broder and the others are just trying to hide that, pushing the incompetence meme so they can sacrifice Gonzales somewhere down the line and declare victory, while nothing actually changes. In the aftermath, U.S. attorneys will continue to gin up investigations of non-Republican candidates that disappear after election day and bury legitimate cases that could make trouble for “the party”. After the dust settles, if Gonzales has resigned without being impeached and barred from holding “any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States”, he could be a Supreme Court Justice someday.
Reid and Gonzales are both doing what they were hired to do. Gonzales is being a rodeo clown for Congress and Reid is (currently) standing on his hind legs and pushing back against the Bush administration.
April 26th, 2007 at 8:27 amIf you hang around too long you may get to be called “the dean”.. whatever that means. What’s amazing is that people like Broder, Kristol, etc, etc.,,, that they were absolutely wrong regarding the war, when they carried the propaganda of the White House’s hoax about the WMD, etc, and when they failed miserably in their duty to be skeptical JOURNALISTS, they are still show their faces in public and the media calls on them as “experts”!!!!
This is offensive, and at some point you have to call someone a liar and a sycophant. I like politeness, but when someone is repeatedly offensive you have to respond. It does matter–as we’ve found out many times in the past–that if we don’t respond immediately and forcefully, those misconceptions are embedded in people’s minds.
April 26th, 2007 at 8:27 amNothing here, move along….
April 26th, 2007 at 8:29 am# 14. Yes, I watched Bill’s piece on PBS last night. A most excellent reporting of how, why this war was sold to the American public. So much for the “liberal media”…
April 26th, 2007 at 8:30 amWhy did these republicans make secret deals with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan in the days after 911? What did the republicans get out of it?
April 26th, 2007 at 8:31 amI think Mr. Broder is a universal symbol of the pedantic nature of the aging class in america. They see the old way of confronting evil and because they can’t bomb anyone or anything to effect, they become paranoid and can only resort to scolding and smarmy sarcasm. Jeff’s point about Moyers is dead on. Glenn Greenwald has brought up some great points lately, one being if the post and other news agencies were lied to and ran their stories because they trusted their sources, WHY haven’t they called out their sources on misleading them? Namely Sue Schmidt and Vernon Loeb. Here is a quote from his article yesterday in Salon” Second, I defy anyone to go back and read the April and May, 2003 tongue-wagging, mindless American press accounts of Jessica Lynch’s epic firefight against the Enemy; the severe gun shot and stabbing wounds she suffered; the torture to which she was subjected while in the Iraqi hospital; and the daring, gun-blazing rescue of her by our Special Forces, and then try to claim that we have a functioning, healthy political press in this country that serves as a check on government deceit and corruption. It is impossible for any minimally honest person to make that claim in light of those stories.” End Quote Here is the link, enjoy.
April 26th, 2007 at 8:36 amhttp://www.salon.com/ opinion/ greenwald/ 2007/ 04/ 25/ tillman_lynch/ index.html
I can never decide if I should laugh or get angry when I hear the argument about Clinton’s “is” focus. Clinton’s statement at the time was intelligent, correct, and an attempt to give accurate testimony. He was refining a question given to him which provided him an opportunity to dodge and weasel, but instead he clarified the issue and answered. The Clinton-bashers have never accepted, or maybe even understood, his response and continue to mock it. Now, they similarly mock Reid, Schumer, Pelosi, Kerry, or any other Democrat who tries to address nuanced, complex issues with nuanced, complex thinking. If only the current neocons in power would be as willing to try to give accurate answers and information perhaps we wouldn’t be in such a mess as we are in the Middle East.
April 26th, 2007 at 8:38 ami’d like to see Broder step into the ring with Reid. Give’em Hell Harry!
April 26th, 2007 at 8:50 amIt’s time for WaPo to send this old nag to the glue factory. He’s the worst kind of CW-peddler there is and gets plenty o’ screen time.
April 26th, 2007 at 8:54 amThis is just another smear tactic by the reichwing neonazis. Anticipated? Absolutely! The GOP and this white house is today’s SS Titanic…..and sinking fast. Expect many more character assasination attempts by the whoring rightwing media. After Moyer’s show last evening and his endictment of the mainstream media, look for this kind of activity to increase as the media suddenly realizes that it’s been complicit in the lies to the american people and the american people will reject them by no longer trusting anything they say.
April 26th, 2007 at 8:58 amDidn’t Broder write almost exactly the same column about what an embarrassment Pelosi was, with all of her “gaffes” and her “amateurish” leadership?
Actually, didn’t he write a couple of those - one when she was deciding who would chair in the intel committee and one when she went to Syria?
Seen Pelosi’s and Congress’s approval ratings laterly, Dean?
April 26th, 2007 at 9:08 amCome on guys and gals…Broder is right. Harry ought to pass the baton to somebody who can make our case with passion, wit and intelligence.
Comment by Joeinbcs — April 26, 2007 @ 8:00 am
You must not have read Broder’s column. Broder didn’t argue that Reid wasn’t the best possible choice for speaker. Instead he called Reid an amateur and compared him to Gonzales. Do you think he is right?
April 26th, 2007 at 9:08 amIt’s time for Broder to retire . He made his bones in the 70’s and 80’s and hasn’t really been relevant since. Now he wastes ink and air time spouting neocon talking points. It must be hard to have helped the GOP descend into an abyss.
April 26th, 2007 at 9:10 amBroder is not a wingnut, he is a Beltway centrist, which means that he is committed to the belief that both sides are always equally bad, and only enlightened sages like himself can rise above reflexive partisanship.
The fact that the Republicans are collapsing so dramatically before his eyes - the fact the Democrats are so plainly superior right now in terms of decency, honesty, competence, and intelligence - is a real problem for people like him. Their entire belief system and public persona requires them to adhere to a “pox on both their houses” pose.
So he has to come up with this empty Democrat-bashing, just so his world and that of his social set won’t be turned upside down.
April 26th, 2007 at 9:15 amThe most profound message in Moyer’s report was that it’s pretty astounding that the people who lied-people like Kristol-still have jobs in the media. In prime time.
Knight Ridder-now McClatchy-were the only ones who knew we were being lied to. And they have never been invited on the cable news shows.
April 26th, 2007 at 9:17 amMaybe I give the dean too little credit for his cognitive abilities, but I understood Schumer perfectly: The war in Iraq is a lost cause. However, just because that war is lost doesn’t mean that the ‘War on Terror’ (as dumb a name as it is) is lost. THE war, the BIG war is not lost, but we have to accept that Iraq is never going to be ‘won’.
And Broder…if you want gaffes…look in the mirror. No, seriously. You are a gaffe. Anyone that can equate Reid’s on and off switch between fecklessness and principled contentiousness with Gonzales’ embarassing self-serving, mealy mouthed selective memory loss is the ‘dean’ of apologists and rank journalistic pretenders only.
April 26th, 2007 at 9:20 amComment by joe — April 26, 2007 @ 9:15 am
You give Broder too much credit. How many times have you actually seen him take the other side of the aisle to task.
No matter what he contends, what he does trumps what he says (…you know what I mean). He calls himself a centrist, but when one seems to be utterly unwilling to take one side to task while all too eagerly pilnig on the criticism and scorn on the other side, you have little right to be called ‘centrist’.
April 26th, 2007 at 9:25 amBroder is 100% in bed with the Bush Regime, so the Washington Post must fire him!
April 26th, 2007 at 9:33 amit’s sad when a reporter doesn’t have to be sane, or use factual information.
April 26th, 2007 at 9:39 amperhaps it is auditioning for pox?
get used to sheep like Broder. this is but a prelude to the next 30 years of Republicans claiming that Democrats are to blame for failure in Iraq.
April 26th, 2007 at 9:39 amBroder observes: “It has been impossible for his own members, let alone the White House, to sort out for more than 24 hours at a time what ground Reid is prepared to defend.”
I imagine the troops are having the same problem.
April 26th, 2007 at 9:41 amI wish Bill Moyers would have spent a bit more time last night showing what a cheerleader for the current corrupt administration that Broder was at the time of the build up to the invasion and still is!
Broder has a lot of people fooled into thinking that he is nonpartisan. Not me.
April 26th, 2007 at 10:19 amSadly, Broder will now go the way of David Brinkley, who, after years of exemplary professionalism, allowed his personal feelings to erupt into his own gaff - telling the truth about Reid being a disgrace. I do believe many Democrats are seeking a better Majority Leader, one interested in useful compromise over useless posturing leading to inevitable vetoes. All this Brownian motion serves one purpose, to let liberal nutrooters and their candidates appear like they are doing something.
April 26th, 2007 at 10:22 amComment by Jason M. Hendler — April 26, 2007 @ 10:22 am
HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!!
April 26th, 2007 at 10:29 amHey Jason, go read the comments posted at WaPo to see how alone you and Broder have become.
April 26th, 2007 at 10:33 amKeith comment # 3, I agree with you completely. I wrote him a letter telling him he has gone senile and he should retire.
April 26th, 2007 at 10:54 amMy letter to the Dean:
Thank you for writing this article. At long last, America now has an answer to the question, “Who is the Washington Post’s Gonzales?” (I’ll give you hint: Krauthammer is the Post’s Douglas Feith).
Thank you,
April 26th, 2007 at 11:01 amNordy
God, and to think I thought Broder was one of the good ones.
April 26th, 2007 at 11:02 amI think we should start referring to the inside the beltway people like broder as “Urinalists”.
April 26th, 2007 at 11:07 am#39 VerbalKint
I know you were addressing Hendler, nut I followed your suggestion.
Broder’s getting slaughtered in the comments. Here’s a nice sample:
-lcrider
That last sentence brings us back to Bill Moyers report “Buying the War”.
April 26th, 2007 at 11:11 amHarry Reid and Chuck Schumer are thrilled the way the war has paid off for them politically. Oh yeah, and they’re REALLLLLY sorry about all those dead people…..
April 26th, 2007 at 11:20 amWell, it sure sounds like David “Ol’ Hellzapopin” Broder’s is finally going to strap on his six-shooter, saddle up, and charge to the defense of the country. Clearly, the spineless Defeatocrats are giving up, like pantywaist lily-livered cowards they truly are. Somewhere, Michael Moore and Osama Bin Laden are clinking wine glasses in a toast as they gleefully anticipate the final destruction of Amercia.
April 26th, 2007 at 11:26 amPointless reply, Valient Venus. No way related to topic, can’t be proven or defended. Typical clueless right wing attack. Chage the subject, change the subjuect, quick, quick, we’re losing.
April 26th, 2007 at 11:29 am“It’s unclear why Reid is attacked for someone else’s remarks. But more importantly, Schumer’s argument (however impromptu) is perfectly clear when one isn’t simply trying to make fun of it.”
It’s good to see that liberals now share the view that it is better to address the intent of a speaker, even when he doesn’t use the best choice of words, than to avoid the issue by making fun of the misstatement. It’s very annoying to have to go back and clarify something that you know the critic understood, but was trying to gain advantage by, isn’t it Nico? Since TP posters have heard this from you, I’m sure we won’t see that happening on TP from here on out.
Reid once got some free tickets to a boxing match. so there you go.
Comment by clb72 — April 26, 2007 @ 8:11 am
If you are going to mention it, please make it totally clear what Reaid actually did:
“Senate Democratic Leader Harry M. Reid (Nev.) accepted free ringside tickets from the Nevada Athletic Commission to three professional boxing matches while that state agency was trying to influence him on federal regulation of boxing.
Reid took the free seats for Las Vegas fights between 2003 and 2005 as he was pressing legislation to increase government oversight of the sport, including the creation of a federal boxing commission that Nevada’s agency feared might usurp its authority.”
He defended the gifts, saying that they would never influence his position on the bill and he was simply trying to learn how his legislation might affect an important home state industry. “Anyone from Nevada would say I’m glad he is there taking care of the state’s number one businesses,” he said. “I love the fights anyways, so it wasn’t like being punished,” added the senator, a former boxer and boxing judge.” (Violates Senate ethics rules)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ wp-dyn/ content/ article/ 2006/ 05/ 29/ AR2006052900913.html
Liberals would never have accepted that explanation from a conservative. Do as I say not as I do? Hypocrisy? By the way, McCain went with him to one of the fights and, lo and behold, McCain paid $1400.00 for his tickets (same tickets Reid had). You can read the rest of the article if you need a refresher on Reid’s little involvement with Abramoff and his clients and how Reid didn’t feel the need to refund contributions received from them even after that scandal broke.
April 26th, 2007 at 11:34 amNice try, Nico. But, as it turns out, Broder is correct. Democrats were embarrassed by Reid’s rhetorical blunder last week. Other publications have also noted the Democrats’ discomfiture with Reid:
Dems fail to back Reid’s ‘Iraq war lost’
By: John Bresnahan and Carrie Budoff
April 25, 2007 03:09 PM EST
Several leading Democrats said this week that they did not agree with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s recent statement that “the war is lost” in Iraq, even while they support his broader message.
But they did agree that Reid’s wording was clumsy and potentially damaging. Even the Nevada Democrat himself appeared to be backing away from his remark …. None of almost a dozen Democrats contacted by The Politico said they agreed with Reid’s statement …
“I do not agree that the war is lost,” [Sen. Mary] Landrieu (D-La.) said in a statement. “It clearly has yet to be won, which is why we need new benchmarks and goals to measure a path to success. The administration’s mismanagement of the situation in Iraq has been a great tragedy. But when American troops are in the field, we must never — ever — accept defeat as an option.”
http://dyn.politico.com/ printstory.cfm?uuid=25B154C7-3048-5C12-00E50D3C37E0A880
April 26th, 2007 at 11:38 amAll this Brownian motion serves one purpose, to let liberal nutrooters and their candidates appear like they are doing something.
Comment by Jason M. Hendler — April 26, 2007 @ 10:22 am
And to reveal, once again, the incompetence of the Chimp in Chief in running this abortion he calls a war…the meatgrinder clusterfuck in Iraq. It is nothing but a ploy for the profits of the military industrial complex and oil companies and idiot trolls like you should go serve. GOP trolls are typically chickenshit chickenhawk cowards like Dubya and Cheney. Good day.
April 26th, 2007 at 11:50 amBroder is clearly growing senile. It’s time for the Post to pull the plug before he becomes an even greater figure of ridicule. They’d be doing him a favor.
April 26th, 2007 at 11:54 amWhy all of a sudden is the perception of defeat such an easy strategy to get your arms around but winning is always evasive and just around the corner? It seems like the right sure knows what will happen if we leave in definitive terms but not a single clue of progress if we stay.
April 26th, 2007 at 12:07 pm#48 Wow, Exley, I don’t believe you have the chutzpah to defend Broder, especially on such a thin basis. “Broder is correct” you say. About what? That Reid has to correct a gaffe “every six weeks”? Wrong. That Reid’s statement, agreed to by a majority of Americans, is somehow hurting the Democratic party? Wrong again. That Reid has disgraced himself the way Gonzales did in his congressional testimony? Wrong again.
April 26th, 2007 at 12:09 pmExley, check out the comments posted at WaPo in response to Broder pooping all over himself. Hard beating does not begin to describe the righteous pounding he is taking on this column.
April 26th, 2007 at 12:12 pmBroder,
April 26th, 2007 at 12:12 pmYou have to get out and about.Try having lunch at a Denny’s or McDonald’s outside the beltway and ask the PEOPLE about their feelings and thoughts about this clusterfuck. Lunching with Kristol and Krauthammer only gives you one thought. Yours.
Capitulators never prosper!
April 26th, 2007 at 12:14 pmSenator Harry Reid is to Marshall Pétain as the Democratic Party is to the Vichy Regime.
They are getting desperate if they need to unleash the Dean to carry the Republicans water. Karl must be leaning on him pretty heavy. It’s about time all the major Washington pundits drop their pretenses and show their true allegiances. These wise, serious pundits need to show their boarding passes for the GOP Titannic and ride it down with the rest of the lost souls.
April 26th, 2007 at 12:21 pmSenility is so embarrassing when exposed for the whole world to see. Take the keys, WaPo! It’s past time!
April 26th, 2007 at 1:26 pmSenator Harry Reid is to Marshall Pétain as the Democratic Party is to the Vichy Regime.
Which only goes to show that your high school history teacher should be fired. I thought Reid was Neville Chamberlain, no?
Clearly someone taught you to say those names, since you clearly don’t understand the history from which those names arose, and only grasp that their use will make your comments incendiary and give you the appearance of some book lernin’.
Fact is, the Vichy regime capitulated with their nazi invaders, helping persecute (or execute) their fellow citizens under the command of a foreign occupation. I know you’d love to say that the same thing is happening here with Reid, but it would only show how utterly divorced from reality you and your fellow 30%eres are. We get examples of that every day now, and it’s getting a bit old. Couldn’t you republicans surprise us once in a while, and refer to a reality that other people can also see?
April 26th, 2007 at 1:29 pmSorry, folks, but I cringe everytime Reid appears on Sunday’s political programs or interview on the radio but, I do cheer for him. He’s not the one, folks, to speak forcefully. I agree with an earlier comment about Webb. Actually, Reid should find some other outlet.
April 26th, 2007 at 1:30 pmBroder once had a rep as a moderate, sober centrist. It was always exaggerated, as his naked perceptions were pretty right-wing. But the Bush implosion has revealed his heart, which is right there with Savage and Limbaugh and all the rest. A tired old lying hack.
April 26th, 2007 at 2:41 pmI think THIS article says it all…
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ paul-begala/ david-broder-is-a-gasbag_b_46923.html
April 26th, 2007 at 2:41 pmI’ve always believed that if you just
realize everything that the Republicans
say is a lie, you’ll be much better off.
I find this has great predictive value.
April 26th, 2007 at 2:52 pmNo. 57 Comment by Hopelessly Redistricted — April 26, 2007 @ 1:30 pm
You sorrowfully said:
“Sorry, folks, but I cringe everytime Reid appears”
I doubt you would recognize a strong, and extremely politically sharp man, if he was standing on your foot. You either don’t pay close attention to what is going on, or your simply another republic troll subtly trying to cause trouble.
Either do your homework, or come out of the troll closet…er locker room. So, which is it?
April 26th, 2007 at 3:12 pmJust wanted to point out that it is not a coincidence that “Broder” and “senile” are both six letter words
April 26th, 2007 at 3:33 pm#61. Look, you mad dog, I’m a yellow dog that has their own opinion! Everything I said above I meant. Sen. Reid does not speak forcefully in the manner of other Democrats such as Pelosi and Webb. I wish the Democrats would choose a new leader who shows real confidence and ability to think quickly.
April 26th, 2007 at 3:39 pmPaul Begala’s column, helpfully linked to by cc above, really clarifies everything — and blows me away. How in the world does Broder keep the reputation of being a “centrist” when he is one of the few human beings left on Earth who think well of Bush and (this is most amazing) Karl Rove?
April 26th, 2007 at 3:56 pmI am sick of WaPo. I buy it because I live in the D.C. area, but it makes me crazy. Just because they include Dionne, Cohen and Meyerson on their list of regular columnists, they think they’re “balanced.” If they want to know why more and more people simply don’t read the newspaper, they should stop attacking everybody’s illiteracy and stupidity and start asking themselves whether their POV is more in keeping with the smarmy millionaires who have taken over Washington than with normal people who have to work hard to pay the mortgage. Guess what, WaPo — the more you have courtiers like Broder, Will and Krauthammer “gracing” your editorial page, the more the average person thinks you’re irrelevant. No, worse than irrelevant — sycophants pretending to be sages.
Reid is a spineless fool, and he needs to go.
Also, Broder bashes Bush in that same column.
April 26th, 2007 at 5:47 pm“Harry Reid and Chuck Schumer are thrilled the way the war has paid off for them politically. Oh yeah, and they’re REALLLLLY sorry about all those dead people…..”
- valiant venus
Well not too worry, I am sure Cheney and Bush are REALLLLLY, REALLLLLY, REALLLLLY trying to get more and more people killed faster and faster until Iraq finally turns into a political payoff for them, just like Rove promised.
April 26th, 2007 at 5:49 pmHarry Reid and Chuck Schumer are thrilled the way the war has paid off for them politically. Oh yeah, and they’re REALLLLLY sorry about all those dead people…..
Comment by vermin venus
Oh, yeah, vermin-v, as if Reid and Schumer were the ones promoting this war in the first place! Your message would have a ring of truth if a few names were changed, “Cheney, Bush and their cronies in Halliburton, Bechtel, etc. are thrilled the way the war has paid off for them financially. Oh yeah, and they’re not at all sorry about all those dead people…..After all, they’re not from the “haves” and the “have mores”–Bush’s admitted base.
April 26th, 2007 at 5:53 pmToo funny, all the name-calling going on here (even by the ever-lovable “Ben Dover” who farts frequently on Salon.com, too), but no one has addressed the substance of Broder’s remarks. I would add that no one here has as much access to Washington insiders of both parties as Broder has, so, basically, STFU, since none of you really has any idea what you’re talking about.
April 26th, 2007 at 7:00 pmIndeed it is time for Broder and those like him to go, although I suppose he is of little consequence. If one believes he is, then make a point of boycotting the W Post’s advertisers.
April 26th, 2007 at 10:42 pmMr. Broder served well in the past. He has accepted the folly of going beyond thew issues to attack motives. This distorts truth to the writers benefit. Karl Rove has taqught a whole nation that truth is subservient to personal goals. Too bad as he had been a competent journalist. Do not be angry or fall into his trap of guessing as to his motives, or to judge his intent. HHE IS,SADLY, JUST WRONG.
April 27th, 2007 at 12:13 amUm, no, that would be Hillary Clinton. Remember how the lifelong Cubs fan suddenly became a lifelong Yankees fan when it was time to run for Senator to a state she’d never lived in? Or witness her ever changing accent these days; if it’s in front of a black audience, she adopts a sounthern twang interspersed with plenty of “y’alls.” (How condescending!) Other times, she has her normal Midwest accent.
I’d laugh if it wasn’t so tragic.
April 27th, 2007 at 10:35 amNot only should Harry Reid state the obvious, he should have been more blunter if that’s possible.
It’s time to quit being polite with people who only understand when you hit them full face with the truth. Politeness to these people is perceived as weakness. Only when you stand up, tell the truth and stop backing down every time they holler traitor, unpatriotic or whatever their talking point of the day is, will most Americans begin to respect you.
Shouldn’t we have learned our lesson from John Kerry who tried to “above it all” and was solidly kicked in the ass, not for being polite but for not standing up to the bullies. This is how you have to play with people like this, they only understand a swift kick in the ASS!
Harry Reid, don’t you dare apologize.
April 27th, 2007 at 11:01 amSeveral comments above refer to Broder’s online discussion yesterday but I cannot find the link to the actual transcript of this.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ wp-dyn/ content/ discussion/ 2007/ 04/ 23/ DI2007042301230.html
is billed as the link, but the page does not include the transcript, whereas similar links for every WaPo discussions other than Broder’s have transcripts. Did he get hammered so heavily that WaPo decided to send the discussion down the memory hole? That would be quite lame. I know it is late on this thread, but does anyone have a link I could follow? Thank you.
April 28th, 2007 at 10:44 am‘“In a closed-door meeting, Reid acknowledged that he had a [White House] target on his back, and Democratic senators responded with a standing ovation.‒
Is it possible they were clapping in the hopes the target is hit?
May 3rd, 2007 at 9:28 amNaked Girls Naked Black Men Girls Naked
I can not agree with you in 100% regarding some thoughts, but you got good point of view
April 4th, 2008 at 10:24 pm