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Broder and the Bizarro Beltway World

David Broder is the Dean of the Washington Press Corps and a leader in the strange musings that pass for thinking inside the Beltway. Consider his hilarious column today and how Broder sees Senator Reid playing with political fire. You see, in Broderland, Democrats will suffer for NOT passing the immigration bill and for fighting too hard against the Iraq War. I kid you not:

All this, from a Senate that had spent most of the past five months battling futilely with President Bush over a timetable for American withdrawal from Iraq -- and that then closed down for three days over last weekend and used Monday for a debate on a purely symbolic vote of no confidence in Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

. . . He may be playing with fire. A poll that Andy Kohut completed for the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press four days before the Senate fiasco on the immigration bill found a striking increase in disapproval of Democratic congressional leaders. . . .

Reid may think that Bush will suffer if immigration reform is killed. But the public is likely to put the blame where it principally belongs -- on the leader of the party that runs the Senate.

I hope Democrats can now see that their cocktail party buddies like David Broder are the most clueless, disconnected people on the Earth. Broder thinks the American People wanted the immigration bill and are tired of Democrats trying to end the Iraq War. Please remember this when you worry about being criticized by David Broder.

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    Does he just let Rove write the columns now? (5.00 / 1) (#1)
    by andgarden on Thu Jun 14, 2007 at 08:11:58 AM EST
    That's just astonishingly inept. Does he even for a second consider why the Congressional numbers have dropped?

    just smart math ! when your ideas (5.00 / 1) (#2)
    by seabos84 on Thu Jun 14, 2007 at 08:26:15 AM EST
    represent the interests of 1/2 of 1% of the country, AND

    you need to get elected, THEN

    you gotta convince over 50% of the population that your ideas represent

    puke gag , choke ...

    ha ha ha ha ha

    'the middle'.

    I am ALWAYS disappointed when I hear some doctor / teacher / bartender / store clerk tell me the conventional wisdom a la broder, BUT

    given that they have a job other than politics 24*7*365, AND

    the MSM bombards them with this lie about 'the middle' 24*7*365

    I am not surprised.

    However, WTF is broder's excuse?

    I can accept that he wants to go on the best junkets and fly in the front of the big plane with the big bosses - ya know - it is called being crooked, being corrupt ... HOWEVER

    does he REALLY believe this crap?  he's smart enought to string words to sentences to paragraphs BUT he's too stupid to see the blatant lies?

    in my NOT humble opinion, to understand broderism, look no further than

    Orwell, George - 1984 - see 'doublethink'.

    rmm.

    The bill was supported by only 14% of the Repubs, (5.00 / 1) (#3)
    by kindness on Thu Jun 14, 2007 at 09:58:47 AM EST
    and 80% of the Democrats.

    Who is holding up the bill?

    What I really LOVE about blogs is that now there are those who can point out that established "credible" op-ed writers are idiots and it's pissing those writers off to no end.

    Who is holding it up?? (none / 0) (#5)
    by jimakaPPJ on Thu Jun 14, 2007 at 10:04:40 AM EST
    The Repubs at the demand of their base and a huge chunk of middle America..

    We have a bill from last year.

    Enforce that one.

    Parent

    A huge chunk of middle america (5.00 / 1) (#10)
    by nolo on Thu Jun 14, 2007 at 10:39:14 AM EST
    elected a bunch of Democrats.

    Just saying.

    Parent

    A huge chunk of Middle America (5.00 / 2) (#12)
    by Alien Abductee on Thu Jun 14, 2007 at 11:18:41 AM EST
    the majority in fact, is progressive in its views on immigration (or PDF) just as it is on every other current issue:

    Sixty-seven percent of Americans told Gallup that "on the whole," immigration is a "good thing for this country today."51 The same May 2007 CBS News/New York Times poll revealed that twice as many Americans said that "most recent immigrants to the United States contribute to this country" (57 percent) as said they "cause problems" (28 percent). Even the impact of illegal immigration on U.S. jobs is tempered by the widespread belief that illegal immigrants "take jobs Americans don't want" (59 percent) rather than "take jobs away from American citizens" (30 percent).

    The buzzword "amnesty" for illegal immigrants has political weight, but Americans are more tolerant than the media coverage often suggests. Sixty-two percent of Americans in the CBS News/New York Times poll said undocumented immigrants should be given a chance to "keep their jobs and eventually apply for legal status." Only 33 percent said they should be "deported." Polls by Gallup and CNN show even higher levels of support for integrating people who entered illegally but worked while they were here...

    Furthermore, despite media attention to building a fence on the border between the United States and Mexico, Americans show little confidence that it will do much to stem illegal immigration. Americans look more to employers as a source of the problem and a potential solution. Polling by the Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg in April 2007 showed 77 percent of people believed "employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants should be punished for their actions." Only 18 percent disagreed. A Quinnipiac University Poll indicated 63-percent support (compared to 33-percent opposition) for communities passing local laws to fine businesses that hire illegal immigrants.52

    In another poll, Pew specifically asked people to compare employer sanctions against increased enforcement such as border patrols and a fence. More people concluded that penalizing employers would be more effective. This conclusion was shared by both Democrats and Republicans, and in border zones such as Arizona and Las Vegas.

    In short, while there is certainly great concern about the issue, the conservative positions on immigration -- deportation of undocumented immigrants, no path to citizenship, building more fences on the border -- enjoy less support than does a more progressive approach.

    So, the only true part of what you said is that Repubs were meeting the demands of their drooling base.

    Parent

    Alien - That's not the issue (1.00 / 1) (#13)
    by jimakaPPJ on Thu Jun 14, 2007 at 12:06:38 PM EST
    Just keep on chanting amensty and see where it gets you...

    Parent
    They're NOT idiots... (5.00 / 1) (#4)
    by Lora on Thu Jun 14, 2007 at 10:04:08 AM EST
    I don't believe that there are THAT many clueless, inept idiots in the media.

    I DO believe that they are promoting an agenda.  And it ain't ours.

    Lora (1.00 / 1) (#6)
    by jimakaPPJ on Thu Jun 14, 2007 at 10:05:41 AM EST
    Just out of curiousity.

    Why should they be promoting your agenda??

    Parent

    Why should they be promoting yours? (5.00 / 1) (#8)
    by Edger on Thu Jun 14, 2007 at 10:22:08 AM EST
    Oh, I forgot. They're idiots. (none / 0) (#9)
    by Edger on Thu Jun 14, 2007 at 10:22:42 AM EST
    edger (1.00 / 1) (#14)
    by jimakaPPJ on Thu Jun 14, 2007 at 12:07:41 PM EST
    Why do you call them idoits?

    Why should they promote anybody's???

    Parent

    Why are they promoting yours? (none / 0) (#16)
    by Edger on Thu Jun 14, 2007 at 12:18:54 PM EST
    You think that makes them smart?

    Parent
    Not what I said (none / 0) (#19)
    by Lora on Thu Jun 14, 2007 at 10:16:04 PM EST
    Broder thinks the American People wanted the immigration bill and are tired of Democrats trying to end the Iraq War.

    Broder's errors serve a right wing agenda.  I don't care if he promotes an agenda or not, but if he does he should do it honestly.  The alternative to the "agenda" theory is that he's an idiot.

    Parent

    Is anyone worried about being criticized (5.00 / 1) (#11)
    by oculus on Thu Jun 14, 2007 at 10:54:20 AM EST
    by Broder?  

    Please remember this when you worry about being criticized by David Broder.


    Dunce Broder (none / 0) (#7)
    by byteb on Thu Jun 14, 2007 at 10:17:49 AM EST
    Given a complex, hot potato political issue, only Broder can look at the facts and come to the conclusion that it's all Reid's fault.

    Reid has a way with words (1.00 / 1) (#15)
    by jimakaPPJ on Thu Jun 14, 2007 at 12:11:14 PM EST
    Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid called Marine Gen. Peter Pace, the outgoing chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, "incompetent" during an interview Tuesday with a group of liberal bloggers, a comment that was never reported.

    Reid made similar disparaging remarks about Army Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, said several sources familiar with the interview.

    Link

    Parent

    Ha, ha, ha ... (5.00 / 1) (#18)
    by Sailor on Thu Jun 14, 2007 at 12:49:19 PM EST
    ... still quoting from notoriously inaccurate websites. Sheesh! Anonymous sources 'quoted' by a hack.

    BTW, ppj is on record here as disparaging Pace by inaccurately characterizing him as 'a retired general' and implying that's why his opinion doesn't count.

    Parent

    He was probably (none / 0) (#17)
    by Edger on Thu Jun 14, 2007 at 12:24:37 PM EST
    referring to their and their CinC's 'accomplishments' (dry heave).

    Parent