Take that, David Broder!
That's just a boldfaced lie by Broder, no two ways about it. I happened to be in attendance at the speech in question, just a stone's throw away from General Clark when he gave it. What David Broder is saying here is an absolute lie. The crowd in attendance stood on their feet, clapped their hands loudly and strongly time and time again when speakers - including Gen. Clark - invoked the service and sacrifice of America's fighting men and women.In fact, in the very speech Broder cites as his reasoning for Democrats not supporting the military, Gen. Clark asked for a moment of silence (see the video here) to reflect on the sacrifices being made by the troops currently serving. The auditorium was silent, and many bowed their heads in prayer.
David Broder is a filthy liar, and the Washington Post ought to correct the slander he's published in their pages. For too long the Republican party and the conservative movement has smeared Democrats and liberals as not supportive of the troops, when time and time again it is the right who does not look out for their interests as Democrats and liberals time and time again fight for good foreign policy, veterans benefits, and the basics of body armor for our troops.
Willis, like many of us here at Daily Kos and elsewhere around the blogosphere, were actually in attendance for Clark's speech and heard the cheers for Clark's invocations, reverently observed his requested moment of silence for the sacrifices made by the troops, and greatly appreciated having the perspective of a 4-star General on the subject, as opposed to that of a stateside, sometimes fighter jockey who lost his wings for failing to show up for his physical, while his peers were sweating it out in the jungles of Vietnam.Broder, though, is simply out of bounds here. To flatly declare that Democrats have no sympathy for the military? Based on what?
I was at the DNC meeting this past weekend, and unlike David Broder, it wasn't clear to me at all that the overwhelming majority of the audience had "no sympathy" for the military. In fact, General Clark was MOBBED the entire time he was there. I was due to interview him, and it took a good 20 minutes for him to walk 20 feet to our camera because the crowd wouldn't leave him alone. And not because they didn't feel any "empathy" for him. They loved him.This is a classic Republican talking point based on absolutely nothing. Unless David Broder thinks that opposition to the Iraq disaster makes you anti-military, in which case over 70% of the American people hate the military, using David Broder's calculus.
You know, I really wish someone had reminded me how much I disliked John Kerry and Tammy Duckworth before I spent so much time trying to get them elected. Think of what I could have done with September and October in 2004 and 2006. Like maybe write an essay about how Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, and Carter ruined our party by serving in the military.
As for the broader point, how long will Dems have to put up with such transparent nonsense about the party not supporting the troops? How many war heroes — Kerry, Murtha, Webb, Cleland, etc. — have to become Democratic champions before Broder and his brethren give up on such ugly lies? How many more veterans have to come home from Iraq and Afghanistan, and then join the Fighting Dems, before this myth has been debunked to Broder’s satisfaction? How much more work do the IAVA and VoteVets.org need to do before the inside-the-beltway chattering class, who too often treat a concept like “Duty, Honor, Country” as a punch line, come to realize how embarrassingly wrong they are?More to the point, how many more times do draft-dodging chickenhawk Republicans have to balk at real support for our troops before the Gang of 500 realize that there’s one pro-military party in his country, and it ain’t the GOP?
David Broder, if you’re reading, this one deserves a correction — and an apology. You may have never written an observation as shameful and misguided as this one.
As someone who went to Vietnam, as someone who resents every goddaam chicken hawk asshole who never heard a shot fired in anger but has no problem sending your kid or my kid to the shit hole war they started, I can't tell you how much I loathe lying bastards like Broder.
As Oliver Willis points out, in what world is this true? Which is the party that supports veterans? While the Republicans have done everything they can to cut VA programs, the Democrats have worked hard to protect them. While Republicans have tried to provide our soldiers with sub-standard equipment, the Democrats have stood up for increased accountability.
How dare he assume that a room filled with Democratic politicians and activists would not have "...much experience with, or sympathy for, the military."Mr. Broder, you owe an apology to Democrats including not only General Clark, who knows his audience better than you do, but to John Kerry, Charlie Rangel, Jack Murtha, Jim Webb, the whole Fighting Dems crew and countless others. Me, too. And all of our 'sympathizers.' The entire damn Party, as a matter of fact.
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Here is A Wes Clark Democrat in the comments section of Broder's column in WaPo:
That is an absolute misrepresentation of how those attending the DNC meeting received General Clark's presentation. It was a serious and somber speech to an audience serious about the tragic misadventure led by President Bush, who is led by Vice President Cheney. Furthermore, General Clark should not be used in this cheap way, but respected for his leadership of the Kosovo war, where not one American soldier died. Perhaps Democratic presidents, like Clinton, are just smarter about war and peace than are Republican presidents, like Bush. After all, diplomacy took first precedence in the Balkans, unlike in Iraq, where the military is being misused and abused. At every Democratic event General Clark addresses, in every part of the country, he asks the veterans to rise and the non-veterans to acknowledge their service. There has never once been a moment's hesitation in any Democratic audience, nor was there at this one, to the moments of prayerful silence for our thousands of war dead.
Go write your own - take NO shit from these people, not THIS time around.
