David Broder: The Bloviating “Dean”

David Broader is often referred to as the "Dean" of the DC press corps, because of the perceived authority with which he writes about entrenched establishment interests in DC. The so-called Dean of the DC press corps is less interested in the factual consequences of policies, and more concerned with the process of compromise and the personalities involved. Over the years, this bloviating Dean has demonstrated a clear right-of-center bias; that is, he favors the Republican viewpoint, as he provides a certain establishment shine to the Republican talking point of the day. And, as you can imagine, given the
bloviating Dean’s penchant for relaying on pro-institutional and establishment frames, his natural bias for the Republican viewpoint, the Dean was no fan of the Clinton White House, given how Bill "disrespected" the Oval Office (read, how Bill Clinton received a blow job in the Oval Office).

At any rate, here we see one more example of the bloviating Dean ignoring the grim consequences of current Republican policies re: Iraq, as, instead, he focuses on a personality driven process of what respectable consensus in DC should look like:

Whatever the final impact of the Iraq Study Group report being issued today, for the 10 commission members this was an exhilarating experience, a demonstration of genuine bipartisanship that they hope will serve as an example to the broader political world.

[...]

The nine men and one woman serving on the commission — five from each party — represented a wide range of political backgrounds and philosophical views. Several had been on opposing sides in past presidential campaigns.

[...]

"This process has been a lesson in civility."

Hmmm… never mind the real world "impact" of the Iraq Study Group (ISG), instead, let’s appreciate what an "exhilarating experience" this exercise was for the ten old-establishment-hands that comprised the ISG.

As for the bloviating Dean’s idea that the ten old-establishment-hands of the ISG "represented a wide range of political backgrounds and philosophical views," let’s remember:

1. By the Dean’s own accounting, the ISG was comprised of 5 Democrats/5 Republicans, by definition this does not constitute a "wide range political backgrounds and philosophical views" — it merely represents two political views, even if within the two parties there are varying viewpoints on an issue.
2. None of the ISG members opposed the Iraq invasion before the Bush administration went into that country.

Senator Feingold, on Countdown with Keith Olbermann, underscored the same two points I list above. Additionally, unlike the bloviating Dean, whom focuses on what an "exhilarating experience" this was for the ten old-establishment-hands, Senator Feingold is not afraid to look at the real world "final impact" of the ISG report:

“Unfortunately, the Iraq Study Group report does too little to change the flawed mind-set that led to the misguided war in Iraq. Maybe there are still people in Washington who need a study group to tell them that the policy in Iraq isn’t working, but the American people are way ahead of this report.

While the report has regenerated a few good ideas, it doesn’t adequately put Iraq in the context of a broader national security strategy. We need an Iraq policy that is guided by our top national security priority – defeating the terrorist network that attacked us on 9/11 and its allies. We can’t continue to just look at Iraq in isolation. Unless we set a serious timetable for redeploying our troops from Iraq, we will be unable to effectively address these global threats. In the end, this report is a regrettable example of ‘official Washington’ missing the point.”

And here you have it, the Dean says, never mind the "final impact," isn’t wonderful what an "exhilarating experience" was had by these ten DC insiders? On the other hand, Senator Feingold reminds the Dean, David Broader, and the ‘offical Washington’ of whom the Dean is so enamored of, stop "missing the point."

Here’s another reaction to the bloviating Dean. David Sirota writes:

What is important in Washington is not that a war is threatening to destabilize the entire Middle East or that American troops are dying every day - no, no. The most important thing is that old Serious People who are not Dirty Hippies or “partisan polarizing finger-pointers” and who are personally approved of by David Broder get put on commissions, fly all over the world together and are nice to each other - regardless of what they actually do or don’t do. Because as the world burns, that, and only that, is what the American people are most concerned about and thus worthy of an extra long column by the Dean of the Serious People: old Washington hacks being polite and cordial to each other.

And one more reaction to Broader’s column:

For this truly is one of the most amazing columns ever. I literally laughed and nearly literally cried. It’s tragic, and comic, and disgusting, and sad. I’ve just … well, I’ve never seen anything quite like it. It’s like an era passing, a world ending with a whimper in the form of a mailed-in column by a man who doesn’t realize his time is up, the pundit version of a crank on the street talking about how he used to walk to school barefoot in the snow, uphill both ways. And it just says volumes about the charade known as the Iraq Study Group. I’m speaking, of course, of David Broder.