Broderella

Hey David Broder, it's half past midnight at your republican ball, and nobody likes President Bush anymore, well except for that cultish thirty percent who would literally walk off a cliff with the guy. So the statements you made on Bob Edwards show today make you sound foolish. For The Horses Mouth:

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: "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."

In Broder's world everything said or done is always bad for the Democrats, and great for the president. People hate the President and it's not going to change.

Don't Call It A Comeback

Ah, Friday comes and we're treated with back-to-back Broder. Yesterday he was gushing over Mitt Romney. Today's column dreams of a Bush comeback. From the Washington Post:

It may seem perverse to suggest that, at the very moment the House of Representatives is repudiating his policy in Iraq, President Bush is poised for a political comeback. But don't be astonished if that is the case.

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.

More important, he is demonstrating political smarts that even his critics have to acknowledge.

Perverse indeed! This presidency is dead, period. Like a degenerate gambler who doesn't have a comprehension of sunk costs, Bush is doubling down on his greatest failure. How that demonstrates political smarts, I'll never know.

I guess Broder's heart is all aflutter because Bush deigned to take reporters questions yesterday in a one hour presser so Broder ran to editors to fluff Bush in today's paper.

Somebody please put Broder out to pasture.

U-N-I-T-Y

David Broder thinks unity can be achieved with regards to the nation's Iraq policy. How do you ask? It's really quite simple, Democrats just have to agree to support President Bush's policy and in return for that, new commander David Petraeus will jump through a couple of hoops for them. Then we can all get down to the serious business of blaming the Iraqis for the administration's failures. From the Washington Post:

The suggestion made here last week that Congress require frequent briefings from Petraeus and the embassy in Baghdad, to ensure that Maliki is keeping his promises to supply troops and avoid political interference, is one that Petraeus is prepared to endorse.

[snip]

Petraeus's offer, which I am told will be made in explicit terms unless his civilian bosses in the Pentagon and White House intervene, provides the best avenue yet to appear for dealing with the mess in Iraq.

It will not satisfy those in Congress who would like to block or protest the "surge" of additional troops into Iraq ordered by President Bush. But the resolutions and legislation they are discussing will not keep Bush from carrying out his plan.

In effect, Petraeus is offering a way to convert the opposition to the war that is growing in both Republican and Democratic ranks into leverage on Maliki. Together, they can hold the prime minister to his pledge to go after all the combatants -- Shiites as well as Sunnis -- and to provide the troops for the fight.

Ugh. Where to even start? Why in the world would the Democrats in Congress choose to endorse failed policy? Because it would make the DC cocktail party circuit more, comfortable?

Look, 68% of the American people do not support this policy. These same people brought the Democrats to power to fight this policy, not to embrace it. It's not America's war anymore, it's George Bush's war, like it or not.

Furthermore, it's a policy that is unlikely to work. There is something inherently evil in endorsing policy that will do little else than send more Americans home in boxes. But Broder thinks that if everyone will just get behind it and clap harder, it just might work. I guess Broder likes a challenge, as long as the chips used are someone else's loved ones. And oh what a challenge it is! Again from the Washington Post:

The challenge is immense, but for a change, there is a chance to get the full weight of our government pulling in the same direction. Congress ought to seize the opportunity.

David Broder, you ought to seize the opportunity to retire.