Via Oliver Willis, I see that Washington Post Op-Ed columnist, David S. Broder, in describing a DNC meeting, took an unwarranted shot at the Democrats a couple of days ago (emphasis mine):
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.
While I would agree that the anti-war folks, largely composed of Democrats and Democrat-leaning constituents, has little if an sympathy for the troops, the actual audience at the DNC meeting appears to have been a bit more diverse:
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.
Although Broder is an opinion columnist, and his characterization of the DNC crowd is fairly considered an opinion, it should have a basis in fact. For him to claim that the DNC audience was unsympathetic to the military is completely unfair given the actual reaction to Clark’s invocation. In this case, I think Oliver is right, and that Broder owes the crowd an apology.
[tags] DNC, David S. Broder, media, military [/tags]
I saw that too, and I think Oliver has a good point. Most Democrats do have sympathy for the military, often misplaced, but certainly sympathy.
By the way Pogue, sympathy is not support.
I also appreciate anyone who plays Johnny Cash in the intro. to their speech.