Broder Bumbles Again

By Scott Horton

The Washington Post's David Broder is called the “dean” of the Washington punditry. More recently, he seems to sum up everything that's wrong with the class who brought you weapons of mass destruction, the Iraq war and the ever “resurgent” President Bush. He is the vessel of a received wisdom which keeps the war-president in place, cautioning against criticism and validating war- and fear-mongering at every turn. Rather than provide pearls of wisdom based on a lifetime in Washington politics, Broder dishes out naïve, uncritical appraisals of Bush which often have a sycophantic twist—by contrast, he strings administration critics with malicious attacks which reflect faulty reasoning and imaginary facts. True, every columnist makes a mistake or two under the pressure of an imminent deadline. But Broder's recent streak is a growing embarrassment for the Washington Post. A few of Broder's more spectacular inanities:

Like President Bill Clinton after the Democrats lost control of Congress in 1994, Bush has gone through a period of wrenching adjustment to his reduced status. But just as Clinton did in the winter of 1995, Bush now shows signs of renewed energy and is regaining the initiative on several fronts. (Feb. 16, 2007)

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One of the losers in the weekend oratorical marathon was retired Gen. Wesley Clark, who repeatedly invoked the West Point motto of "Duty, Honor, Country," forgetting that few in this particular audience have much experience with, or sympathy for, the military. (Feb. 6, 2007)

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Inaugural speech echoes Bush's conviction that the quest for freedom is a universal truth

In his brief but eloquent inaugural address, President Bush dedicated the balance of his time in office to the same sweeping goals he set forth at the start of his first term -- the worldwide realization of the ideals of freedom and democracy. . . (Jan. 23, 2005)

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George Bush was re-elected by 51 percent of the people. His first significant action following Election Day was to retain Andrew Card, a Massachusetts-based business moderate, as his chief of staff.

His second was to accept the resignation of John Ashcroft, the hero of the religious right and the favorite bogeyman of civil libertarians, as attorney general. Ashcroft's replacement, White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales, will receive close scrutiny from Democratic senators but almost all of them who commented said they welcomed the choice. . . (Nov. 14, 2004)

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But that does not account for either the emotional or the inertial forces that shape politics. At the personal level, it was clear in 2000 that more Americans liked Bush than his opponent, Al Gore.

The same is true in Bush versus Kerry, reinforced this time by the powerful emotional bond formed between millions of Americans and their president in those scary days after the terrorists struck New York and Washington. . . . (Nov. 1, 2004)

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Bush and Roosevelt were very much alike. In both of them, self-confidence was overflowing. 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. (Aug. 7, 2003)

Let me disclose my own bias in this matter. I like Karl Rove. In the days when he was operating from Austin, we had many long and rewarding conversations. I have eaten quail at his table and admired the splendid Hill Country landscape from the porch of the historic cabin Karl and his wife Darby found miles away and had carted to its present site on their land. (May 18, 2003)

On top of this impressive heap, we have a series of pure idiocies uttered today on an interview with XM radio:

BRODER: Democrats by and large wish that Harry Reid would learn to engage mind before mouth opens. This has become kind of a pattern for him. I think at some point down the road the Democrats are going to have to have a little caucus to decide how much further they want to carry Harry Reid. They've got able people on the Senate side and they don't have to put up with this kind of bumbling performance forever.

EDWARDS: You think Harry Reid is an embarrassment to the Democrats?

BRODER: I think so. I mean, he has been a pretty effective leader but he is verbally just a real loose cannon and it seems to me, Bob, that about every six weeks or so there's another episode where he has to apologize for the way in which he has bungled the Democratic case.

What exactly did Harry Reid say that provoked these remarks? The Associated Press reports his comments:

“I believe myself that the secretary of state, secretary of defense and—you have to make your own decisions as to what the president knows—(know) this war is lost and the surge is not accomplishing anything as indicated by the extreme violence in Iraq yesterday.”

This is a view Reid shares with Henry Kissinger and any number of generals, doubtless including some of the four who have turned down the albatross of being the White House's “war czar.” It's also the view of a clear majority of the American public according to recent polls (51% in a poll published on April 16 in a newspaper that Broder evidently doesn't read, the Washington Post.) Of course as these comments reflect, Broder has a sense of public opinion that is consistently at odds with reality. He knows, for instance, that Americans love their “heroic” president Bush, and that the Democrats hate the military. Don't bother him with the facts. David Broder is a creature of the alternate universe of inside-the-Beltway punditry.

Broder states that Reid would have to recant this position and suggests he has done so in the past. Greg Sargeant checked to see how many times Reid has been forced to recant his positions, as Broder implies. The answer: zero.

But the most offensive part of this Broder bumbling is its brainlessness. Broder is not exercising independent judgment. Indeed, he hasn't even taken the time to get his basic facts straight. He is joining in with a series of White House talking points. Compare his comments with what was offered up on Sunday by Bill Kristol, for instance.

Clearly David Broder has earned retirement. It's time for him to get to work on a rich set of recollections that will educate us all without doing more damage to the public debate over important issues that Broder is no longer intellectually capable of tracking.