No one can forget the Washington Press Corps’ stenographic efforts back in 2002 and 2003, but certain writers are sticking to their pom-poms deep in the fourth quarter of the Bush Administration.
This phenomenon of inappropriately timed cheering makes one wonder what happened to the fresh recruits who are supposed to push the veterans for jobs.
David Broder, who needed to hang ‘em up back when George Blanda retired, recently opined on Meet the Press that Jimmy Carter ran for Governor of Georgia “almost as a segregationist” – which is a bit like saying the Miami Dolphins are off to an impressive start this year.
And that isn’t even one of Broder’s more absurd comments, the topper being his February 2007 prediction that president Bush was “poised for a political comeback.”
This from a man who wrote (in 2006): “Bush was elected twice, over Democrats Al Gore and John Kerry, whose know-it-all arrogance rankled Midwesterners such as myself.”
How did Broder know that Al Gore and John Kerry’s “know-it-all arrogance rankles Midwesterners?” Does he have a scouting report, or tendencies chart, on Midwesterners being rankled? And if he accuses the last two Democratic presidential nominees of “know-it-all arrogance,” what on earth does he think about the Bush Administration?
“Mission Accomplished,” David?
But this is Broder’s favorite play. He refers to large bodies of people, whether it be “Midwesterners,” “average voters” or “Americans,” because he thinks that he speaks for them…when he obviously only speaks for those who aren’t interested in factual analysis. People like, oh, modern Republicans.
If he were still with us, that old Midwesterner Abe Lincoln, a true first ballot Hall of Famer, would be rankled.
