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You are here: Home / Obama’s 9/11

Obama’s 9/11

by DougJ|  January 7, 20107:54 pm| 117 Comments

This post is in: Good News For Conservatives, We Are All Mayans Now, WTF?

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I shit you not:

Was Christmas Day 2009 the same kind of wake-up call for Barack Obama that Sept. 11, 2001, had been for George W. Bush?

The near-miss by a passenger flying into Detroit plotting to blow up an American airliner seems to have shocked this president as much as the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon did the last.

Both presidents had had plenty of warnings in the form of threats and even incidents. But both were caught off guard: Bush reading to a classroom of youngsters; Obama on a family vacation in Hawaii.

Look, everyone, you all give me shit when I go after Broder. So much so that I’ve been holding back even though I have a secret way of getting his columns before the rest of the world does. Then, later I see all the high-class blogs like Washington Monthly and Matt Yglesias and even the great Josh Marshall take their shots at him.

Well, world, I was the first to make fun of this Broder column, which I think may be the craziest stuff he’s written since the stuff about eating quail with Karl Rove. And none of you haters can take that away from me.

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Reader Interactions

117Comments

  1. 1.

    General Winfield Stuck

    January 7, 2010 at 7:57 pm

    And none of you haters can take that away from me.

    Absolutely goddamn right!! You the Broder foil with no peer.

    Viva la DougJ!!

  2. 2.

    Ash

    January 7, 2010 at 7:57 pm

    They’re the same, eh? So where do we get the war bonds for Operation Yemeni Clusterfuck?

  3. 3.

    Warren Terra

    January 7, 2010 at 7:58 pm

    Does this only work in the realm of Bad Things? Because if someone is going to say that The Panty Bomber was Obama’s 9/11, I’d be interested to learn what Obama’s Moon Landing was.

  4. 4.

    valdivia

    January 7, 2010 at 7:58 pm

    headslamsdesk.
    what else is there to day really?

  5. 5.

    freelancer

    January 7, 2010 at 7:59 pm

    We have to go back and save 12/25!

  6. 6.

    mcc

    January 7, 2010 at 7:59 pm

    It’s great that at this point “making fun of” Broder literally means nothing more or less than just blockquoting his words

    Anything else is unnecessary

  7. 7.

    demkat620

    January 7, 2010 at 8:00 pm

    3000 dead = A guy with no junk.

    Right. Makes total sense to me. Not!

  8. 8.

    Mike E

    January 7, 2010 at 8:00 pm

    It reads better if sung to the opening theme song of “The Beverly Hillbillies.”

  9. 9.

    DougJ

    January 7, 2010 at 8:00 pm

    It’s great that at this point “making fun of” Broder literally means nothing more or less than just blockquoting his words

    It’s true!

  10. 10.

    General Winfield Stuck

    January 7, 2010 at 8:01 pm

    But both were caught off guard:

    Fuckin A. And then there was that PDF Obama ignored saying AQ planning on bombing US by explosive underwear.

    But where was Obama’s pants on fire CIA director? That woulda sealed the deal.

  11. 11.

    The Dangerman

    January 7, 2010 at 8:03 pm

    Christmas Day Bomber = Shoe Bomber?

    That makes some sense.

    Christmas Day Bomber = 9/11?

    There should be a law against that kind of stupidity.

  12. 12.

    Rhoda

    January 7, 2010 at 8:04 pm

    Mother effing S.O.B.

    Don’t stop, the man needs to be kicked on the regular.

  13. 13.

    Mike Kay

    January 7, 2010 at 8:06 pm

    Why won’t Broder die?

    Dude, it’s time — the worms aren’t gonna feed themselves.

  14. 14.

    TuiMel

    January 7, 2010 at 8:08 pm

    I would never give you sh!t for going after Broder. I WOULD give it to you for bothering to read the sh!t that the old bat produces. He is predictably predictable. I expect nothing more or less from him.

  15. 15.

    MikeJ

    January 7, 2010 at 8:08 pm

    Christmas Day Bomber = Shoe Bomber?

    What does this do to the republican “he kept us safe” argument?

  16. 16.

    Leelee for Obama

    January 7, 2010 at 8:08 pm

    Broder didn’t jump a shark here, he dove straight into its mouth. What a flippin’ dipshit. When it come to Broder, I only read what you post DougJ, so I for one, appreciate your sacrifice.

    Can I just say, if BJ goes bad, I’ll be reduced to reading my Granddaughter’s Scholastic Newsletters? There is nothing else worth wasting my aging eyesight on anymore-

    More and better news people, that’s what I want for my birthday, it’s coming up soon!

  17. 17.

    wasabi gasp

    January 7, 2010 at 8:08 pm

    It’s the way everyone in America is coming together and backing the President, that’s what’s throwing Broder off.

  18. 18.

    Mike Kay

    January 7, 2010 at 8:08 pm

    This wack job once equated a blow job with Watergate.

  19. 19.

    Mike E

    January 7, 2010 at 8:09 pm

    @Mike Kay:
    He has a symbiotic relationship with Cheney–sorta like Keith Richards and Charlie Watts.

  20. 20.

    kwAwk

    January 7, 2010 at 8:09 pm

    Well DougJ the problem you have is that you have a pre-12/25 mentality and Broder has a post12/25 mentality……

    ….sorry.

    In any case if Broder simply means that this has awakened Obama to the fact that he can’t simply sit back and expect the systems to work perfectly I don’t know that I agree with it.

    Bush didn’t get the reputation for being an idiot for nothing. Not a good idea to think he developed perfect safeguards.

  21. 21.

    Cat Lady

    January 7, 2010 at 8:09 pm

    I’m one of the ones who have given you shit DougJ, and I admit I was wrong. The buck stops here. Ridicule Broder more and earlier than everyone else, and I for one will no longer ask you why, why, WHY do you look for Broder on perfectly good Thursday or Friday nights? Now I understand. Broder must die. QFT.

  22. 22.

    Leelee for Obama

    January 7, 2010 at 8:10 pm

    @MikeJ: I think the phrase you’re seeking is “eviscerates it”.

  23. 23.

    RedKitten

    January 7, 2010 at 8:10 pm

    @demkat620:

    3000 dead = A guy with no junk.

    The mind boggles. It truly does. He’s basically comparing a hydrogen bomb to a pea shooter.

  24. 24.

    CJ

    January 7, 2010 at 8:13 pm

    @freelancer:

    I love WKUK.

    Why does Obama have to have a corresponding event from the Bush admin? Is it possible no two events are equal?

  25. 25.

    El Cid

    January 7, 2010 at 8:13 pm

    If you reverse his point, what he’s saying is that it took September Fucking 11th in order to get G. W. Bush & Cheney awake and focused on anti-terrorism policy reviews, whereas with Obama at worst it took another failed PETN bomber.

  26. 26.

    General Winfield Stuck

    January 7, 2010 at 8:13 pm

    @RedKitten:

    a pea shooter.

    And the lone casuality.

  27. 27.

    Elisabeth

    January 7, 2010 at 8:13 pm

    @RedKitten:

    Or “pee shooter”

  28. 28.

    zhak

    January 7, 2010 at 8:14 pm

    I find this sort of thing (ie, the over-reactions, the attacks from the right, etc etc) to be hideously embarrassing. When did the US go from being the country that the rest of the world looked to for leadership to, well, a very big and very dangerous joke?

    The way to defeat terrorism is to not let it get to you. The way to be defeated by terrorism is to let it get to you.

    I guess “keep calm and carry on” is only for a civilized country like the UK and we’re more “OMG! OMG! OMG!!! WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE!!!”

    It’s embarrassing.

  29. 29.

    Elisabeth

    January 7, 2010 at 8:14 pm

    @General Winfield Stuck:

    Look down. Not there…on the screen. :)

  30. 30.

    DonkeyKong

    January 7, 2010 at 8:14 pm

    Please refer to David Broder as, “That turtle lookin Motherfucker” in the future…… M-kay?

  31. 31.

    AhabTRuler

    January 7, 2010 at 8:16 pm

    I guess “keep calm, shoot a Brazilian electrician in the head 9 times, and carry on” is only for a civilized country like the UK

    Sorry, but it was missing a little something.

  32. 32.

    General Winfield Stuck

    January 7, 2010 at 8:16 pm

    @Elisabeth:

    dirty minds think alike, or something:)

  33. 33.

    Elvis Elvisberg

    January 7, 2010 at 8:19 pm

    This wack job once equated a blow job with Watergate.

    In both Watergate and 9/11, he only admitted that 9/11 and Watergate reflected poorly on the GOP administration years after they took place, solely as a way to browbeat/passive-aggressively mock Dems.

  34. 34.

    John Cole

    January 7, 2010 at 8:20 pm

    Slade Gorton made the same comparison on Hardball.

  35. 35.

    Elisabeth

    January 7, 2010 at 8:20 pm

    @General Winfield Stuck:

    That one was too easy to pass up.

  36. 36.

    kommrade reproductive vigor

    January 7, 2010 at 8:21 pm

    Broder and the rest of the fuckheads can easily equate the September 11th attacks with Fruit of the Boom because:
    1. He wasn’t in any danger.
    2. It didn’t affect him personally.
    3. It scared him so badly he had to change his pants.

  37. 37.

    SenyorDave

    January 7, 2010 at 8:21 pm

    At this point, Broder would be laughed off any high school paper in the country.

    What’s next, a comparison of our Grenada invasion to Normandy?

    How about Kanye West and Rosa Parks, after all they are both African-Anerican? How can anyone miss all the similarities?

    Broder really has become a senile old fart who should be put out to pasture. And the Post should be embarrassed to publish something that is not fit to train a dog with.

  38. 38.

    Leelee for Obama

    January 7, 2010 at 8:22 pm

    @John Cole: Of course he did. That cadaver is just a shill, although, once in a great while, he’s honest.

  39. 39.

    El Cruzado

    January 7, 2010 at 8:23 pm

    Feels more like nuking the fridge than jumping the shark to me. It’s not like Broder isn’t one of the greatest shark-jumpers of all time (once or twice a week, on average).

  40. 40.

    gbear

    January 7, 2010 at 8:29 pm

    @demkat620:

    3

    000 dead = A guy with no junk.

    If pantybomber = 9/11, then I guess that we should have some kind of holiday of rememberance on 12/25 in honor of those that gave all that day. How about calling it peepeerots day?

    12/25 really needs some kind of uplifting national holiday anyway…

  41. 41.

    Violet

    January 7, 2010 at 8:30 pm

    Broder is levitating over a shark tank.

    But even so, this failed undie bombing has galvanized Obama to do a thorough review of our security system, etc. I don’t think he would have done that had the attack not happened.

    One can speculate that this review of the security set up should have been done earlier – not that Obama didn’t have tons on his plate, most of it inherited from 8 years of disaster. But I imagine that had this incident not happened, Obama would have been golfing and eating a lot more shave ice on his vacation, rather than having phone conferences with his antiterror and security folks.

    So in that regard it seems to me that Broder is right. I just hope that Obama makes the right decisions and doesn’t just do window dressing.

  42. 42.

    gbear

    January 7, 2010 at 8:30 pm

    @gbear:

    blockquote fail + edit fail. crap

  43. 43.

    AkaDad

    January 7, 2010 at 8:32 pm

    The eunuch-bomber is Obama’s Katrina, 9/11, and Pearl Harbor.

  44. 44.

    The Republic of Stupidity

    January 7, 2010 at 8:33 pm

    @CJ:

    Why does Obama have to have a corresponding event from the Bush admin?

    Oh, Good Lord… even I know the answer to that one…

    How else will the righties assuage their near-crippling sense of humiliation over the slow-mo trainwreck that was The Bush Years™ if they can’t find some way to make Obama look at least as bad as Bush… kind of… sort of…

  45. 45.

    Tecumseh

    January 7, 2010 at 8:33 pm

    @zhak: I love the idea that Obama acted and still tries to act like an adult about all this but I just don’t think he can because the Powers That Be won’t let him. He’s going to have to run around and say the words “terrorism” really, really forcefully every few days or else people like Broder and the Republicans will criticize him for not doing so.

    And the other problem is that this all assumes that Obama hasn’t been taking terrorism seriously, something that comes mainly from right wing talking points, and that he should have dropped one of those things he’s been working on to deal with it. So, then, out of dealing with two wars, the worst recession since the ’30s, fixing the financial system, trying to get people health care, and trying to do something about Global Warming what should he drop to spend more time giving speeches about terrorism?

  46. 46.

    Esposito

    January 7, 2010 at 8:34 pm

    So, this must be Obama’s Hiroshima.

  47. 47.

    ellaesther

    January 7, 2010 at 8:34 pm

    DougJ, I will give you this one, free of charge.

    Wow! That is just something else.

  48. 48.

    Nellcote

    January 7, 2010 at 8:37 pm

    @Mike E:

    He has a symbiotic relationship with Cheney—sorta like Keith Richards and Charlie Watts.

    Dude! Please don’t compare Keith and Charlie to such assholes. You make the baby jesus cry.

  49. 49.

    margaret

    January 7, 2010 at 8:38 pm

    People give you shit for going after Broder? Really??? Who? Readers of World Net Daily? Try to keep in mind that irrational peoples’ opinions are without value and anybody who would defend Broder needs medical attention.

  50. 50.

    Elie

    January 7, 2010 at 8:39 pm

    @Leelee for Obama:

    Happy Birthday LeeLee!

    Many more!

    Sometimes I think this is all a big game with the MSM. Either that or we all need major antipsychotics as the world is just crazy beyond interpreting….

    In the meantime, love life and appreciate each day. If we stay focused on the really good shit, we can eventually overcome the noise and insanity.

    Broder is trying to make a living in his dotage and follows the path that will get him readers — even those who fervently disagree with him. He has a “formula”. Cynical? Hell yeah…this fuck probably could care less as he walks to the bank…

    We have to just focus on what we know is real and right on and try to look past the stupid , of which unfortunately, there are way too many…

  51. 51.

    ellaesther

    January 7, 2010 at 8:43 pm

    Also, if I may, I’m doubting that any of the pieces of information that had been gathered about this guy were entitled anything along the lines of “Nigerian guy no one’s ever heard of determined to strike in US” or even “Nigerian guy no one’s ever heard of determined to strike US-bound plane.”

    There’s “not connecting the dots” — and then there’s ignoring an intelligence briefing entitled “Bin Laden determined to strike in US.”

    Also. If I may.

  52. 52.

    djork

    January 7, 2010 at 8:43 pm

    I am starting the 12/26 movement. We surround them.

  53. 53.

    Nellcote

    January 7, 2010 at 8:45 pm

    @CJ:

    Why does Obama have to have a corresponding event from the Bush admin? Is it possible no two events are equal?

    Everything negative that was said about Bush/Ch during those 8 long years is a complaint looking for an incident during this administration. The goopers have been trying to do this for a while with less than stellar success. It’s all very Bizarro World reality for them. They’re not even creative enough to write an original script.

  54. 54.

    eemom

    January 7, 2010 at 8:48 pm

    @SenyorDave:

    “And the Post should be embarrassed to publish something that is not fit to train a dog with.”

    The Post left embarrassment behind a loooooooong time ago.

    It’s rotting in the recycle bin alongside responsible journalism.

  55. 55.

    Mark S.

    January 7, 2010 at 8:50 pm

    But both were caught off guard: Bush reading to a classroom of youngsters; Obama on a family vacation in Hawaii.

    Does Broder think that presidents shouldn’t do events or take vacations? Are they supposed to be in the War Room 24/7? God forbid that an attack occurs while the Prez is on the can or in the middle of the night when he’s asleep. That would be getting caught completely off guard.

  56. 56.

    Midnight Marauder

    January 7, 2010 at 8:50 pm

    OT, but I’m riding the bus home from work, and there’s a guy sitting to my right reading the latest issue of Townhall! In public! And he’s BLACK?! I can’t stop looking over at this clown and just shaking my head and laughing. “Can Minnesota’s blue-collar, tax cutting governor lead the GOP?” I don’t know, Townhall, but I have a feeling you’re going to make up some nonsensical bullshit about how it could happen tell me about it.

    I can’t wait to bring this up at the next Negro Conference. Man, are Jesse and Al going to be pissed!

  57. 57.

    Tony P.

    January 7, 2010 at 8:56 pm

    The late great Richard Feynmann famously served on the Challenger accident commission. He wrote about the experience in his autobiographical book “What Do You Care What Other People Think?”. In his account, he contrasted the difference in safety philosophy between NASA’s software team and NASA’s rocket engine team. The software team, said Feynmann, tested their software by simulating flights, and treating any failure during simulation as an actual accident, requiring root cause analysis and corrective action. The engine team had a different approach. Failures in actual flights, like partial burn-through of the booster O-rings, they treated as evidence that they still had a margin of safety because that particular launch did not blow up. Most Americans older than voting age know the rest.

    I mention this because it seems to me that the Obama team is acting like the NASA software team, with respect to the UndieBomber. Something happened that was not supposed to happen. Nobody died, but they’re treating it as if it was an actual catastrophic system failure. Good for them.

    Meanwhile, the GOPers still hew to the line that Dick and Dubya “kept us safe”. Real rocket scientists, those guys.

    –TP

  58. 58.

    Nellcote

    January 7, 2010 at 8:57 pm

    @Mark S.:

    Does Broder think that presidents shouldn’t do events or take vacations?

    Broder has a hard time with the concept of telephones much less electronic communications.

  59. 59.

    The Republic of Stupidity

    January 7, 2010 at 8:58 pm

    @Midnight Marauder:

    I can’t wait to bring this up at the next Negro Conference.

    Hmmm… from what you’ve said… I can see that my fears are real after all…

  60. 60.

    Keith G

    January 7, 2010 at 9:02 pm

    The good news is that the WP commenters are not being kind to the Dean. The first page of comments I pulled up were all rather like this:

    My God will you people please ship this senile old fool off to a home. He just equated a failed attempt to blow up a plane by lighting his testicles on fire to 9-11. Broder, for the love of all things holy, retire.

  61. 61.

    Leelee for Obama

    January 7, 2010 at 9:03 pm

    @Elie: Thanks! It’s still a bit away, but I figured I’d put in my request to the deities for the perfect gift.

    You’re right, of course, just keep on keepin’ on as we used to say, and try to ignore the stupid-tryin’ hard Elie, tryin’ hard.

    @eemom: There has been no shame at the Post for quite awhile now. I guess they were jealous of the NYT for all their pre-Iraq promotion glory, or something.

    @Mark S.: How can we possibly depend on an ordinary human who takes vacation time to show his family he remembers who they are? After all, we pay him about $8./hour. He owes us ALL his time.

    Wankers!

  62. 62.

    The Republic of Stupidity

    January 7, 2010 at 9:03 pm

    But both were caught off guard: Bush reading trying to read to a classroom of youngsters; Obama on a family vacation in Hawaii.

    There… better… no?

  63. 63.

    freelancer

    January 7, 2010 at 9:03 pm

    @gbear:

    That took skill. I doff my hat to you.

  64. 64.

    Leelee for Obama

    January 7, 2010 at 9:06 pm

    Rachel just mentioned the typo that kept Abdulmuttallab off the correct list. Shakespeare must be crying:”For want of a nail, the kingdom was lost.” Sweet Mary Sunshine, my mind, it is boggled.

  65. 65.

    sloan

    January 7, 2010 at 9:11 pm

    Then, later I see all the high-class blogs…

    lol – I didn’t know they were high class! Do they know they’re high class?

    BJ is my first read, followed by (in no particular order) TPM, Kos, 538, Yglesias, Steve Benen, Ezra Klein and all the other usual suspects. And all those guys read this blog too. Class is overrated, and they can’t compete with Sir Tunch and Miss Lily.

  66. 66.

    skippy

    January 7, 2010 at 9:12 pm

    i believe it was on this blog somewhere earlier that i read that only in america would 9/11, where thousands died, make bush a hero, but christmas when a guy failed at setting his own crotch fire would make obama a failure.

  67. 67.

    AhabTRuler

    January 7, 2010 at 9:12 pm

    @Leelee for Obama: As a contract employee who has spent time in a Records Management room caring for the OPFs of our Federal workforce, let me just say: namz iz hard!

  68. 68.

    freelancer

    January 7, 2010 at 9:13 pm

    @sloan:

    Well, that was just a lie. BJ won’t be ‘high-class’ ’til Lily catches a rabbit.

  69. 69.

    DonBelacquaDelPurgatorio

    January 7, 2010 at 9:13 pm

    Broder seems to be a senile jackass. who happens to have a WaPo column.

    My only gripe about you is that you seem to be a brilliant guy who pays too much attention to a senile jackass who happens to have a WaPo column.

    I can’t find three people IRL who ever heard of David Broder.

    Broder can’t remember what he hee-yawed about three hours ago.

  70. 70.

    Leelee for Obama

    January 7, 2010 at 9:18 pm

    @AhabTRuler: Yup, I know, I have done the juxtaposition of letters or other sorts of mistakes myself. Of course, I was taking orders for cookies and holiday baskets; but surely there should be a somewhat higher level of attention paid when it involves possible blowing up of stuff? We could possibly, oh I don’t know, pay them a little more for their circumspection?

  71. 71.

    AhabTRuler

    January 7, 2010 at 9:18 pm

    I can’t find three people IRL who ever heard of David Broder.

    The three people, okay, four people I know IRL who actually read the Op-Ed page are over the age of sixty and know who he is (and two of them have actually met the man jackass himself). Honestly, I think that pRick Snachez has a broader reach than Broder, and he’s nowhere near half as bad (although he’s still pretty bad).

    Note: I did note intend to misspell Sanchez’s surname, but the typo made me laugh so I kept it.

  72. 72.

    evie

    January 7, 2010 at 9:20 pm

    Twenty (20) hijackers, four planes, three major U.S. buildings directly attacked and 3,000 dead. That incident is just exactly the same as a single terrorist who couldn’t detonate his balls properly.

    Broder should feel deep, deep shame. Deep shame. And yet, instead, we’ll see Politico and Page regurgitate it, so it’ll be C-f’g-W by Sunday morning.

    We could even hit the jackpot and see Broder on MTP as well! It’s just exactly the kind of column Gregory salivates over.

  73. 73.

    Calvin Jones and the 13th Apostle

    January 7, 2010 at 9:22 pm

    Did no one see the very end of “Dean” Broder’s column? I didn’t know that “Little” Debbie Howell passed away. Dasm!!

  74. 74.

    evie

    January 7, 2010 at 9:24 pm

    @Keith G:

    Thank goodness. Thanks for posting one of the comments. Perhaps sanity will prevail.

  75. 75.

    DonBelacquaDelPurgatorio

    January 7, 2010 at 9:24 pm

    Honestly, I think that pRick Snachez has a broader reach than Broder

    At least pRick tries to be entertaining. Broder’s maunderings are downright soporific.

    I used “maundering” and “soporific” in a sentence! Hee-yaw!

  76. 76.

    Leelee for Obama

    January 7, 2010 at 9:25 pm

    @AhabTRuler: There is much to chuckle over in your post, my friend.

    In reference to my post-I left my participle dangling in protest over no one getting fired. I will be heard!

    HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

  77. 77.

    Mike G

    January 7, 2010 at 9:25 pm

    I guess “keep calm, shoot a Brazilian electrician in the head 9 times, and carry on” is only for a civilized country like the UK

    Fux News’ John “five in the noggin” Gibson thought it was quite admirable to summarily execute this ‘suspect’ on the Underground. NYC transit cops take note – he looks suspiciously like one of the killer albinos from The Matrix Reloaded, so don’t hesitate.

  78. 78.

    Silver Owl

    January 7, 2010 at 9:33 pm

    LOL! Broder’s ass didn’t know shit either. Cross his messed up self of the list of uber duber super heroes straight out of the comic book.

    I really do wish America’s adults would grow the fuck up. There are no magical princes and princesses that will twitch their noses be every where doing everything to keep the snotty little brats all cozy safe and warm.

    For god’s sake there are nations that have been dealing with bat shit people for decades and the U.S. weeps like snotty little children that didn’t get lollipop at every thing.

    I want a tougher nation or at least one with a higher percentage of adults that actually act like adults.

  79. 79.

    doxastic

    January 7, 2010 at 9:42 pm

    Like most things, the Obama version beats the hell out of the Bush version

  80. 80.

    mistersnrub

    January 7, 2010 at 9:51 pm

    David Broder reminds me of Uncle Junior (looks-wise). He should be placed in an institution and suffer a similar fate.

  81. 81.

    Batocchio

    January 7, 2010 at 10:13 pm

    Who’s giving you shit about going after Broder? Yeah, he can be low-hanging fruit and all that, but he and Richard Cohen can’t get enough shit over their crappy columns in my book. FWIW.

  82. 82.

    Batocchio

    January 7, 2010 at 10:15 pm

    @Tony P.:

    Thanks for that story – genuinely interesting. I might pass it on to some folks…

  83. 83.

    CalD

    January 7, 2010 at 10:20 pm

    Look, everyone, you all give me shit when I go after Broder.

    I would like to go on record as never having given anyone any shit for going after David Broder. Or were you talking about some other Broder?

  84. 84.

    Chad N Freude

    January 7, 2010 at 10:22 pm

    @skippy: Which is why we are a Great Nation!

  85. 85.

    JasonF

    January 7, 2010 at 10:25 pm

    In my mind, the problem with Broder’s comparison isn’t that thousands of people died on 9/11 and nobody died on Christmas. Because that was just dumb luck. If this guy had been in possession of a better detonator, we’d be talking about the hundreds of people who were killed that day, and while the casaulty count would no doubt be less than 9/11, it would still be horrific.

    No, the problem with Broder’s comparison is that before 9/11, the system was blinking red and Bush and the other high-level members of his administration were saying things like “You’ve covered your ass, now get out of here” when people came to brief him on al Qaeda. With Obama, every indication was that the system was working as it should have, and it was only after the fact that we realized there were missed warnings.

    Now, Obama is taking a hard look at the system to figure out why those warnings never made it to the desks of the people they should have. You can argue that he should have been looking at this all along. And to a degree, I suppose that’s right. We ought to be constantly auditing the lines of communication to make sure they’re working properly. But that’s also true of the FDA and the SEC and every other aspect of the government charged with monitoring something. We don’t consider it a failing of the President every time there’s a food recall (“The FDA should have caught this sooner! Why didn’t Obama do something!?”) or somebody commits securities fraud (“Why didn’t the SEC stop this!? How could Obama let this happen!?”) In the specific case of our intelligence community focused on terrorism, we just thoroughly revamped the system less than a decade ago, and I don’t think it’s unreasonable for this administration to have assumed the previous administration left it a functioning intelligence apparatus.

    On the other hand, putting the phrases “Bush administration” and “functioning” in the same instance does create a fair amount of cognitive dissonance, so maybe I will blame Obama for not coming into office and immediately assuming that our intelligence systems needed a complete overhaul.

    Separately, Broder is also an idiot because, in running down Obama’s agenda, he mentions “climate control.” Hey, grampa — Obama’s not fiddling with the A/C on his minivan, he’s trying to address climate change.

    And apropos of nothing, I find it ironic that the year that Fox News doesn’t pepper us with constant whining about the “War on Christmas” we get an incident that could actually be considered a War on Christmas.

  86. 86.

    CalD

    January 7, 2010 at 10:26 pm

    @Warren Terra: That might be the funniest thing anyone has ever said.

  87. 87.

    redoubt

    January 7, 2010 at 10:28 pm

    @AhabTRuler: (FTE former records manager) You have my sympathies. Wonder where the DHS schedules are. . .
    (/FTE former records manager).

  88. 88.

    Seanly

    January 7, 2010 at 10:30 pm

    Why would anyone what to read Broder early?

    btw, Brentie Musberger looks like a sad panda that McCoy got sidelined. Also, too, WTF was up with Corso at halftime? He sounded like my late grandfather when he was in the throes of MS-induced dementia.

  89. 89.

    Chad N Freude

    January 7, 2010 at 10:30 pm

    @ellaesther: Excellent! Thank you for reminding me why I am madly in love with you.

  90. 90.

    Chad N Freude

    January 7, 2010 at 10:32 pm

    My memory (more unreliable than my ex-wife) tells me that Bush was not reading to schoolchildren, the children were reading to him. Amiwrong?

  91. 91.

    AhabTRuler

    January 7, 2010 at 10:35 pm

    @Chad N Freude: You are not wrong, Bush was following along in his piciture book.

  92. 92.

    cleek

    January 7, 2010 at 10:36 pm

    fuck the Washington Post.

    i’m sick of bloggers treating that fucking rag like it’s the most important – or the most influential (or even the third or tenth most influential) source of journalism in the country. it’s not. it’s fucking Variety for DC Villager wanna-bes. it’s worthless. it employs hacks and courtesans and fluffers and propagandists who have no purpose beyond lying for their Party.

    how much more does it have to do before you realize it’s a piece of trash ? it’s Politico with pretensions of respectability.

    ignore it!

  93. 93.

    AhabTRuler

    January 7, 2010 at 10:47 pm

    @cleek: Well, for the locals the options drop into the basement from there. We have the Post Express (all fluff, no facts), the Moonie Times, the Examiner (which is trying to be the Moonie Times lite), and the Silly City Paper, which is a sad, shriveled, and burned testicle of its former self.

  94. 94.

    Yutsano

    January 7, 2010 at 10:51 pm

    @Mark S.:

    God forbid that an attack occurs while the Prez is on the can or in the middle of the night when he’s asleep.

    Or when he and Michelle are…well…you know. C’mon man, he’s got a smokin’ wife! Don’t even try to tell me he ain’t still hittin’ that!

  95. 95.

    Mark S.

    January 7, 2010 at 11:46 pm

    @Yutsano:

    I doubt that would enter into Broder’s calculations, since he hasn’t had sex since the Pierce administration.

  96. 96.

    reality-based

    January 8, 2010 at 12:13 am

    @Tony P.:

    Ya gotta love Richard Feynnman – especially the part of the Challenger shuttle hearings where – while witnesses and experts argued back ad forth about whether the o-rings really were brittle below 32 degrees, and if so, how brittle were they – Feynnman quietly asked a steward for a pitcher of ice water. While everyone else argued, feyneman, unobserved, dropped Exhibit A – a piece of O-ring gasket – into the ice water.

    5 minutes later, he politely asked for everyone’s attention, removed the gasket piece from the ice water pitcher – and snapped it between his fingers like a dry twig.

    Which ended THAT discussion.

    Empirical, repeatable, testable science – right in front of our very eyes.

    I ean, it was just COOL!

  97. 97.

    Yutsano

    January 8, 2010 at 12:43 am

    @Mark S.: To be honest, the idea of an American President having a healthy sexual relationship with his wife must knock a few folks for a loop. Of course I can virtually guarantee why. If he cheated on her she’d kill him, regardless of the Secret Service guarding him. And we’d probably cheer her on for it.

  98. 98.

    mai naem

    January 8, 2010 at 1:02 am

    Broder comes on Bob Edward’s show on XM – I think twice a week. I try and catch it just so that I can get pissed off early in the AM. He sounds worse in person than on paper. He had Dan Schorr on earlier this week. Schorr’s in his 90s and sounds way smarter than idiot Broder. Also too, Broder’s waiting for his 72 virgins.

  99. 99.

    Mark S.

    January 8, 2010 at 1:02 am

    @Yutsano:

    The idea of some of our presidents having sex is enough to make me want to enroll in a monastery.

    Can you imagine Richard Nixon’s O-face?

  100. 100.

    Yutsano

    January 8, 2010 at 1:29 am

    @Mark S.: I think Nixon had sex enough to produce children and that’s it. Otherwise yeah ewww. At least Cheney was an okay looking guy in his younger days.

  101. 101.

    Anne Laurie

    January 8, 2010 at 1:31 am

    @djork:

    I am starting the 12/26 movement. We surround them.

    Sorry, but I’m not surrounding those people. All those soiled undies, I don’t even want them sitting on the good furniture. The Undie-Bomber makes the perfect monster-under-the-bed for the Undie-Soilers like Broder.

  102. 102.

    robertdsc-PowerBook & 27 titles

    January 8, 2010 at 2:26 am

    C’mon man, he’s got a smokin’ wife! Don’t even try to tell me he ain’t still hittin’ that!

    LOL! Funny, my admiration for the First Lady is so much that I can’t make jokes like this about her. About Palin, no problem. About the FIrst Lady, forget it. She’s too cool for school. <3 Michelle!

  103. 103.

    Yutsano

    January 8, 2010 at 2:31 am

    @robertdsc-PowerBook & 27 titles: It was as much a joke as a compliment. The fact that the concept is not absurd makes it even funnier to me. She is a beautiful woman, and they are a wonderful couple. Plus, well, I’m sure she’s on a few MILF lists out there.

  104. 104.

    OriGuy

    January 8, 2010 at 3:07 am

    @MikeJ: According to Rudy Gui911iani, the Shoe Bomber was before 9/11.

  105. 105.

    Alex S.

    January 8, 2010 at 6:38 am

    If 9/11 was the wake-up call….wasn’t that a pretty late wake-up call? I’d say the Bin Laden memo was the wake-up call.

  106. 106.

    bob h

    January 8, 2010 at 8:00 am

    Obama has clearly stepped up the offensive game against Al Qaeda, and a mature nation would understand that some measure of retaliation by the foe would be expected, and is not an occasion for bed-wetting.

    If Obama is to be criticized, it would be for assuming that a counterterror bureaucracy set up by Bush would not need some close auditing and adjustment.

  107. 107.

    Bob (Not B.o.B.)

    January 8, 2010 at 8:21 am

    A big difference? Obama was taking military action in Yemen prior to the attack. Bush? Ignored Afganistan.

  108. 108.

    The Ace Tomato Company

    January 8, 2010 at 8:32 am

    Sweet, now I can gain fame, fortune and influence by starting the 12/26 Project.

  109. 109.

    Mr Furious

    January 8, 2010 at 9:51 am

    God forbid that an attack occurs while the Prez is on the can or in the middle of the night when (s)he’s asleep.

    Well, we all know Hillary was the only candidate with middle-of-the-night qualifications…

    [/PUMA]

  110. 110.

    Bob In Pacifica

    January 8, 2010 at 10:01 am

    “Eating quail with Karl Rove”? It sounds like some sex act, like “teabagging”.

  111. 111.

    ThatLeftTurnInABQ

    January 8, 2010 at 10:55 am

    @JasonF:

    We don’t consider it a failing of the President every time there’s a food recall (“The FDA should have caught this sooner! Why didn’t Obama do something!?”) or somebody commits securities fraud (“Why didn’t the SEC stop this!? How could Obama let this happen!?”)

    Seriously? If we have a preventable e-coli outbreak while Obama is Prez, the press and the GOP aren’t going to shriek like trolls with their hair on fire and blame the whole thing on him?

    What country do you live in? Please send me a postcard, because that’s not the one I live in and I’d like to emigrate. In my country we have a press corpse where if over the winter some municipality forgets to drain a public swimming pool that was built with stimulus money and a kid falls in and drowns while nobody is around, it will be “Obama’s Katrina moment”. Because the Gods of False Equivalency are jealous deities that demand a sacrifice on a regular basis.

  112. 112.

    El Cid

    January 8, 2010 at 11:09 am

    @ThatLeftTurnInABQ: WHY DID OBAMA POISON OUR SPINACH?

  113. 113.

    MNPundit

    January 8, 2010 at 11:19 am

    We give you shit because you bash Niebuhr when you 1) don’t know a god damn thing about him, 2) don’t realize that Niebuhr actually was brilliant.

  114. 114.

    ron

    January 8, 2010 at 9:26 pm

    the nerve of obama being on vacation on xmas!

  115. 115.

    RepubAnon

    January 9, 2010 at 5:32 pm

    My guess is that Mr. Broder is trying to challenge Doug Feith’s title of “Stupidest F**king Person on the Planet.” He’s got a darn good shot at it, too…

Comments are closed.

Trackbacks

  1. The Radical, Certifiably Insane…Middle | The League of Ordinary Gentlemen says:
    January 8, 2010 at 12:08 pm

    […] a commenter at Balloon Juice pointed out: “It’s great that at this point “making fun of” Broder literally means nothing more or […]

  2. Putting the “Jerk” In Knee-Jerk « American Footprints says:
    January 8, 2010 at 5:01 pm

    […] 2010 The following passage from David Broder’s latest column is receiving all the scorn it deserves.  Actually, check that, it deserves much more.  It is beyond self-parody in its […]

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