I have a new theory about David Broder. He's made a bet.

[Bucky]

I don't know with who--possibly Thomas Friedman--to see who can cram the most number of factually incorrect statements into a single sentence. It's kind of exciting to see the master at work, frankly.

Obama in Command


Some adaptation is necessary for almost every president because few experiences can really prepare them for the challenges Obama described to Meacham. George W. Bush went through it after Sept. 11, 2001, subordinating his domestic agenda to focus on the terrorist threat -- and never changing.

Whoa, George Bush subordinated his domestic agenda and focused solely on terrorism? Talk about a scoop! Who could have known that stuffing the judiciary with 30-something wingnut judges, force feeding ineffective abstinence-only, anti-choice policies into all domestic and overseas health programs, stripping the EPA of enforcement funding, dismantling basic civil rights protections, passing reckless revenue cuts to bankrupt the treasury in a time of prosperity, politicizing the Justice Department, and privatizing a multitude of public services into the uncontrollable hands of large corporations to pay off his millionaire buddies was all part of George Bush watering down his true agenda?

If all that is Bushism Lights, I'm almost tempted to thank al-Qaeda for the distraction! (Almost--in fact it's entirely phony of Broder to say Bush subordinated his agenda; Bush used the threats by terrorists to camouflage his agenda. What he subordinated was the hunt for the architects of 9/11.

Dave continues...

Ever since Vietnam, the prevailing ideology of grass-roots Democratic activists has been hostile to American military actions and skeptical of the military itself. Iowa, where the Democratic nomination process begins, is famously tilted toward a pacifist view of war. Throughout the primaries, the pressures push forward candidates who do not challenge that mind-set.

Liberals haven't been hostile to American military actions--we've been hostile to military adventurism and abusing the military to muscle in on other country's economies. Liberals supported use of the military when it advanced American values--as with Haiti and Kosovo in the 1990s. When American blood is shed to advance the profits multinational corporations, we resist. That's opposition to gunboat diplomacy. If anything, it shows a greater loyalty to the troops than what you get from Republicans who cavalierly toss our thin red line into harm's way and then turn around a gut funding to the VA and neglect the maintenance of our military hospitals.

In Broder's universe, sending troops in to prop up profits is supporting the military and increasing funding for veterans' programs is knee-jerk pacifism. Thanks for the reality check, Broder.

And a third reason {that Democrats struggle more than Republicans with becoming commanders-in-chief} is that today's Democrats really are isolated from the military. Harry Truman had been an artillery captain; John Kennedy and Carter, Navy officers. But Bill Clinton did everything possible to avoid the draft, and Obama, motivated as he was to public service, never gave a thought to volunteering for the military.

This stands in such stark contrast to the fine military service offered to America by the likes of Ronald Reagan, Li'l Dubya, and Dick Cheney.

Someday David Broder is gonna drop his guard and accidentally bump into reality. I suspect they'll both say "Excuse me" and move quickly along their separate ways, as perfect strangers always do.

[Enrique]

1. I heard Obama say he did consider volunteering for the military

but I guess Broder knows better, what Obama "never gave a thought" to.

[Uzybone]

2. Was this column written in 1988 or 2009?

has Broder been asleeep since the 80's? What kind of tripe is this. From the "dean" of the punditry no less.

[Jennicut]

3. Most people who grew up after Vietnam have no military service. Duh.

Anyone born after a certain date had no draft, no pending wars. I was born in 1975. The majority of Gen X has never come close to serving time. Obama was a generation before mine, in between the boomers and Gen X. They were children during Vietnam.
I detest Broder. I support the troops as a Democrat. My girls go to preschool with a boy whose father just came back from Afghanistan and we welcomed him home. But the idiots sending him to war are the ones we dislike.

[Time for change]

4. I can't stand Broder -- He's emblematic of everything that is wrong with our corporate media

[MilesColtrane]

5. "Someday...Broder is gonna...bump into reality."

He's 79 years old.

That better happen soon.

[DFW]

6. Poor old Dave

He really is a nice guy, although he is a little too sure of himself in situations where he doesn't
know which way is up. After the decision in the 2000 election, he said "it won't be THAT bad." A year
and half later, at my mom's funeral, he admitted, "boy was I wrong about THAT!"

But unless you're like Fox, and are only interested in creating a parallel version of the real world,
especially in a town like D.C., you have to aggressively go out and talk to the right people, and bust
your ass. I just don't see him doing that any more, and although he's a few years younger than Helen
Thomas, in fact, he's acting like he's older by a century. Helen still commands a following and great
respect. Dave seems to have neither these days, and I get the impression he's looking everywhere
to see where they went.

He's not evil, just confused and looking desperately to be wise about something, and missing the mark
a LOT. When my daughter entered college in D.C., he gave us a private tour of the Washington Post,
showed us where Herbert Block worked (Toles admitted the shoes were a little big to fill). He is not
a total right wing tool like Bob Novak (who is deathly ill at the moment) or Charles Krauthammer. But
I do think many things have passed him by, reality being one of them, as the OP noted.

[defendandprotect]

7. Who would possibly pay any attention to this idiot . . . ???

[BobTheSubgenius]

8. The last para. alone is worth my K&R.

Nice turn of phrase. :)

[Wetzelbill]

9. He's been embarrassing for years

Broder is well past the stage where he should have retired. His whole philosophy is to suck up to power and promote the status quo and conventional wisdom lines of thinking, which has been framed by the Right for about 30 years now. It's a tired line of thinking, filled with inaccurate presumptions, out of touch with most of the country and world and totally devoid of reality.

[Bucky]

14. Right. He didn't used to be so craven. Back in the Reagan years he staked out the middle ground

Sadly, in the years since he's become a windsock, blowing in whatever direction the hot air from the rightwing noise machine tells him to. It's kind of sad.

[Senator]

10. Clinton was an amateur in the "did everything possible to avoid..." department.

He did in the end enter the lottery and just drew a lucky number.

The bushkid committed a hanging offense by deserting his champagne-unit post in time of war.

And when Deferment Dick couldn't string out his permanent-college-boy scam any longer, he did the unthinkable.

He had sex with Lynne.

---

[JeffR]

11. Allow me to advance an alternate theory.

He's an asshat of the lowest order, and despite the fact that he's spent a lifetime covering politics, the two dogs snoozing at my feet right now have a better understanding of things than Broder could aspire to in 10,000 lifetimes.

I'm eagerly awaiting any evidence to prove my unified-field theory of Broder incorrect.

[struggle4progress]

12. David Broder Is a Gasbag (Begala | HuffPo 2007)

... at the end of a career of sucking up to warmongers and Republicans, Mr. Broder has found his true hero in George W. Bush. Where others see a mush-mouthed semi-literate, Broder sees FDR: "As a counterpuncher to criticism and as a doubt-free exponent of his own beliefs, the current president is right up there with the inventor of the New Deal."

While others were shocked at Bush's callous disregard for the lives of his fellow Americans during Hurricane Katrina, Broder wrote Katrina, "opens new opportunities for <Bush> to regain his standing with the public." (Or at least those members of the public who did not drown due to Bush's incompetence and inaction.)

In February of this year, when the Bush collapse was evident for all to see, the visionary Mr. Broder saw something else. "President Bush is poised for a political comeback," he wrote.

When asked recently if Bush was the worst President in history - a view shared by many eminent historians, including Sean Wilentz of Princeton, Broder replied, "I would not venture at this point whether President Bush will leave the country in better or worse shape than he found it. Internationally, the U.S. suffered setbacks during the Carter administration...." Jimmy Carter, of course, started no wars, invaded no countries, and got our hostages out of Iran alive. But this winner of the Nobel Peace Prize is compared to George W. Bush ... http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-begala/david-broder-is-a-gasbag_b_46923.html

[Joe Bacon]

13. Broder is the King of the Press Whores

Nobody has kissed more Republican ass than Broder. Nobody has lied more for the Republican Party than Broder. And no paper had been filled with press whores than the worthless piece of shit called the Washington Post.