Stomp on the lies before they gain traction

I've written about this before on Hagel. Dems have to attack this stuff before it becomes "common knowledge". Before Hagel it was Obama. Now its Wesley Clark and the DNC.

The WaPo’s David Broder is frequently called the “dean” of the Washington media establishment. He’s moderate to a fault, tepid in his criticism, but influential enough to help reflect and shape the conventional wisdom.

With this in mind, it was disheartening to see Broder take a cheap and unnecessary shot at the Democratic Party in his column today.

Broder was reporting on the DNC winter meeting, held over the weekend in DC, at which the party’s many announced and likely presidential candidates tried to impress the party faithful. Broder gave a rundown of how the field of aspirants did, but added this observation:

One of the losers in the weekend oratorical marathon was retired Gen. Wesley Clark, who repeatedly invoked the West Point motto of “Duty, Honor, Country,” forgetting that few in this particular audience have much experience with, or sympathy for, the military.

I expect these kinds of dishonest smears from Limbaugh, Hannity, and O’Reilly, but Broder is supposed to be credible and serious. Why take such a gratuitous shot at the entire Democratic Party? Why intentionally perpetuate a right-wing lie? Why libel a political party with an observation that’s the opposite of the truth?

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