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07 November 2010 By Stephen
Lendman Currently writing a twice-weekly
Washington Post column, Broder is called America's
"dean" of political journalists, having covered every
presidential campaign since Kennedy-Nixon. At age 81
(ironically born September 11, 1929), his bio lists an
array of awards as well as accolades like: -- "Washington's most highly
regarded columnist; -- Best Reporter; -- Hardest Working; -- the high priest of political
journalism; -- the most respected and
influential political journalist in the country; and -- Least Ideological," among
others. Phew, for a man distinguished
more for supporting power and privilege than
delivering real journalism, the kind found nowhere in
the dominant media, especially in establishment
broadsheets like The New York Times and Washington
Post. Both papers and their star reporters are plagued
by conflicts of interest, Broder more than most. Atop
the media food chain, maybe all, and it shows. On April 27, 2007 in Media
Matters, writer Jamison Foser detailed an array of
harsh truths, questioning Broder's "best of the best"
selection, more hyperbole than fact. For example: -- he calls anti-war Democrats
"elitist;" -- on October 7, 1969 he "lament(ed)
that the nasty anti-war activists were out to 'break'
an unfairly maligned president named Nixon;" -- in 2005, he "touted President
Bush's response to Hurricane Katrina;" -- in 2006, he "praised Dick
Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld as 'stalwarts of economic
and national security policy;' " -- the same year he wanted
journalists "to apologize to Karl Rove" for outing
Valerie Plame; and -- besides other hard-right
extremists, he supports Joe Lieberman and John
McCain. During Lieberman's 2006
reelection campaign, he wrote (WP, July 30):
"Lieberman's three decades of constituency service -
the jobs he's saved, the grants and contracts he's
helped secure - entitle him to another term." During the 2008 presidential
campaign, he said (WP, April 24): "in an age of deep
cynicism about politicians of both parties, McCain is
the rare exception who is not assumed to be willing to
sacrifice personal credibility to prevail in any
contest." Rove is an old friend, Broder
saying on May 18, 2003: "I like Karl Rove....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 his historic cabin (he)
and his wife Darby found miles away and had carted to
its present site on their land." On April 26, 2009, Broder
headlined, "Stop Scapegoating, Obama Should Stand
Against Prosecutions," saying: "....there should be no
prosecution of those who carried out what had been the
policy of the United States government," including
amnesty for "lawyers and bureaucrats who devised and
justified the Bush administration practices." No
matter that grievous war crimes were, and continue to
be, committed, including genocide, torture, and the
destruction of two countries, among others. Embodying
Beltway values, Broder advocates immunity, saying
prosecutions "cloak an unworthy desire for vengeance."
Clearly, justice and the rule of law aren't issues
that concern him. On September 18, 2006, Glenn
Greenwald called him a "Poster Child for the sickness
of American journalism." Aging more hasn't mellowed
him. In January 1997, Edward Herman's
"The Illiberal Media" article called his views: "pure establishment; he evades
tough issues, joins almost every establishment crusade
(NAFTA, Persian Gulf war, Soviet Threat and military
buildup, welfare and entitlements out of control), and
devotes maximum attention to election horse-racing. He
also never fights for principles against strong
establishment opposition - thus, while disliking
Reagan's Central American wars, he simply abandoned
the subject, giving the floor to (right-wing
extremists like George) Will, (Charles) Krauthammer,
and the administration. So Broder never bothers anyone
important, adapts beautifully to class and imperial
warfare, and is the ideal liberal for an era of
counterrevolution." On October 15, 2010, Harper's
Washington editor Ken Silverstein called him "the
ultimate expression of someone who cannot see beyond
the absolutely narrow confines of established wisdom
in Washington." It's apparent in his February 11,
2010 WP article headlined, "Sarah Palin displays her
pitch perfect populism," saying: "Take Sarah Palin seriously. (Her
Nashville) keynote address to the National Tea Party
Convention (and) her debut on the Sunday morning talk
show circuit with Fox News' Chris Wallace showed off a
public figure at the top of her game - a politician
who knows who she is and how to sell herself, even
with notes on her palm. This was not the first time
(she) impressed me," referring to her vice
presidential acceptance speech in 2008, calling her
"populist" advocacy for "conservative principles and
common-sense solutions....perfectly conventional." "The lady is good," he concluded,
his column more delusional than serious about an
extremist moron. During the 2008 presidential
campaign, AP said "She has more experience catching
fish than dealing with foreign policy or national
affairs." She's no better informed today or has the
intellect to grasp big issues. Moreover, in 2008, she was only
notable for being chosen despite no qualifications for
the job, let alone for president. Let alone for
governor or any other public office. She's extremist,
incompetent, and a testimony to corrupted politics,
neither party with a lock on who's worst, both
infested with warmongering anti-populists. On October 31, he headlined, "The war recovery" saying: "....Democrats have fallen into a peck of trouble and may lose control of Congress, but even they do, Obama can still storm back to win a second term in 2010." However, economic conditions will test him, the nation "suffering from high and persistent unemployment, lagging investment, massive public and private debt, and a highly inefficient tax system." So far new growth hasn't been spurred, and if Obama can't do it, "he is unlikely to be reelected." With that dilemma, Broder suggests an "obvious" solution, "but its implications are frightening." With America already waging three wars, against Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan's North and South Waziristan regions, he says "War and peace influence the economy," crediting WW II for ending the Great Depression, then adding: "Here is where Obama is likely to prevail. With strong Republican support in Congress for challenging Iran's ambition to become a nuclear power (suggesting weapons with no proof), he can spend much of 2011 and 2012 orchestrating a showdown with the mullahs. This will help him politically because the opposition party will be urging him on. And as tensions rise and we accelerate preparations for war, the economy will improve." Saying he's not "suggesting (Obama) incite a war to get reelected, he adds that the nation will rally around (him) because Iran is the greatest threat to the world in a young century." Again, no proof or the fact that, unlike America, Iran threatens no one and hasn't attacked another country in over 200 years. Broder's hyperbole, however, is that if Obama "contain(s) Iran's (legal) nuclear ambitions, he will have made the world safer and may be regarded as one of the most successful presidents in history." A truly astonishment assertion and utter disconnect with reality. The man is senile. The US/Israeli/UK alliance (the real axis of evil) alone threaten world stability, peace, and perhaps survival, what the "dean" of establishment journalists won't suggest, not even hint. At age 81, he's still atop the Beltway media food chain, appearing twice weekly in the WP, regularly as a TV pundit, moonlighting for huge speaking fees (calling it corrupting in 1995), paid for supporting power, not popular interests, common sense, or right over wrong. On April 23, 2007, Harper's Magazine writer Scott Horton was right in his article titled, "Broader Bumbles Again," saying: "....the most offensive part of (Broder's) bumbling is its brainlessness." He doesn't even "get his basic facts straight....Clearly (he's) earned retirement. It's time (he stopped) doing more damage to the public debate over important issues (he's) no longer intellectually capable of tracking," not that he ever was truthfully or admirably, qualities the dominant media reject.
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening. http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/.
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