FAIR is the national progressive media watchdog group, challenging corporate media bias, spin and misinformation.
In yesterday’s Washington Post (2/6/11), David Broder likened the U.S. position on Egypt to being a fan of the hapless Chicago Cubs: Big things are happening all around you, but you have noway to do anything about it. That is the reality that confronts President Obama today. His hands are tied while Egypt erupts. At […]
One of the more annoying corporate media storylines since the midterms dwells on whether or not Barack Obama will move to the “center” in order to have better luck in the 2012 elections. The conventional wisdom is that Bill Clinton did this after terrible losses in the 1994 midterms, and his “triangulation” proved once […]
The Dean is happy. Washington Post columnist and “dean” of the Beltwaypress corps David Broder was one of the few people (not counting Republicans) who stood up to applaud Barack Obama’s tax deal. Under the I-am-not-making-this-up headline “Centrist on the Rise,” Broder (12/9/10) congratulated Obama, who has”separated himself from the left of his own party […]
Beware: The dean of the D.C. press corps is disappointed. In his Washington Post column today (“Dodgeball for Democrats,” 11/18/10), David Broder leads off with this: When the rules of the House of Representatives forced the Democrats to confront a painful choice among their leaders, they did what Democrats are often inclined to do. They […]
Washington Post columnist David Broder sees one way for Barack Obama to demonstrate leadership after the midterms–push for war with Iran. Lest one be accused of misrepresenting his argument, this is what he wrote in his October 31 column, which starts out talking about the how a president can influence the economy: What else might […]
One strand of conventional wisdom among elite D.C. reporters is that losing the midterm elections would be a good thing for the White House. Hence New York Times reporter Peter Baker (10/24/10): WASHINGTON — Let there be no mistake: President Obama wants the Democrats to win next week’s midterm elections. His voice has gone hoarse […]
David Broder–or an automated David Broderesque column-generator–bemoaned once again (Washington Post, 10/14/10) that “As the Gulf Between GOP and Democrats Widens, the Center Is Lost.” To illustrate this dire situation, Broder (or the Broderbot) cited congressional voting patterns: Bill Galston, the Brookings Institution’s resident political philosopher, was the first of the day to point out […]
Some in the media just can’t let go of John McCain. David Broder’s column today is really headlined, “John McCain, Your Country Is Calling.” He explains that he wasn’t “bothered by the doctrinal compromises the senator made to convince Arizona voters that he was, in fact, a conservative. McCain has always been a realist, doing […]
Billionaire Pete Peterson has spent a lot of money trying to convince people that Social Security is a serious threat to the country’s finances. And it’s a message that the corporate media love to echo. So when Peterson’s group decided to hold “town hall” meetings to promote fiscal austerity by cutting Social Security and Medicare, […]
Washington Post columnist David Broder rounds up some “non-partisan” budget experts– one of whom, oddly enough, was John McCain’s Social Security adviser during his 2000 campaign — to agree with him that the Democrats’ healthcare bills are too expensive. He closes with this: The challenge to Congress — and to Obama — remains the same: […]
From ABC World News, 11/11/09: CHARLIE GIBSON: We understand he’s raising new questions about a number of plans that are in front of him. What new questions are there to be asked after all this time? MARTHA RADDATZ: Well, you would think he’d be through with the questions, Charlie. Doyle McManus, Los Angeles Times (11/15/09): […]
Washington Post columnist David Broder has made a career out of advocating a certain type of corporate centrism–earning him the honorary (?) title of the Dean of the D.C. Press Corps. The formula is pretty simple: Argue that Democratic politicians should move to the right. So with healthcare reform a major issue, Broder’s formula is […]
Quoting John Dewey’s warning about “the proper role of the press in a democracy”–“a class of experts is inevitably so removed from common interests as to become a class with private interests and private knowledge”–Eric Alterman finds it (Nation, 5/6/09) “difficult to imagine a more telling–and disturbing–manifestation of Dewey’s prediction than the current torture debate […]
With left-of-center columnists critiquing the Beltway obsession with bipartisanship even in outlets like the Wall Street Journal and Washington Post, it’s no wonder that David Broder is upset (Washington Post, 2/19/09). He calls the idea that Obama should stop worrying so much about attracting Republican support “the worst advice he has received,” warning that without […]
Washington Post columnist David Broder took up the issue of healthcare policy in his column yesterday (“Health Reform’s Moment,” 12/14/08). One of FAIR’s chief criticisms of media over the past two decades has been the narrow range of sources the media rely on to shape the debate over a given issue. Healthcare is no different, […]
After the Washington Post‘s David Broder weighed in with his thoughts on what he “learned” about John McCain in the course of the campaign–among other things, that it was a “falsehood” to suggest McCain was similar to George W. Bush–it was time for Post readers to find out what the Dean of the Washington Press […]
