who chose Reid as their leader over Chris Dodd of Connecticut

I wonder if Dodd himself could somehow be called on to denounce, support or otherwise comment on this column.

That Broder is wrong is not news.  What is news is how, as you put it, shrill.  He's way over the top shrill and most importantly, he's much more shrill than he normally is even when he's being a concern troll.  There's something oddly personal going on here.  I was flippant in an earlier comment but the fact that Broder is in such an attack mode way beyond what he normally is just makes me wonder what his relationshiop really is with Reid.

The funny thing for me is not that Reid makes misstatements, but that his actions arent always as strong as his words.  Still, overall I think he is doing a good job as Majority Leader.  Once we gain seats in 2008, I think he will do even better.

For all of Broder's bluster, what else does he leave out? Chris Dodd, who he apparently would rather see as Democratic leader, is standing by Reid's comments:

Dodd told reporters before the dinner that Reid's comments were not inconsistent with recent remarks by Defense Secretary Robert Gates that Iraqis must be aware that Americans are impatient for progress.

He declined to criticize Lieberman, but he said he disagreed with anyone who would suggest that Reid's comments undermined U.S. soldiers.

"The troops know that," Dodd said. "They'll all tell you, they don't think there is a military solution here."

Funny thing Broder left that out...

I'm not sure if its been pointed out elsewhere, but Broder is also misleading about Reid's selection as party leader. Because he was selected unanimously and without being contested by Dodd.

Even if Broder means that Reid was able to secure enough support to avoid a potential face-off with Dodd, who did make his potential interest in the job known after Daschle's 2004 loss but never went further once it was clear he'd lose, the way he states things is still a stretch. He's implying that the Democratic caucus actively turned down someone else (someone, by the way, who is now running for President and espousing similar ideas to Reid!), and that's just not true.

Indeed, the only person that Democrats have chosen as their leader over Chris Dodd is Reid's predecessor Tom Daschle, who narrowly defeated Dodd after George Mitchell's retirement and the '94 GOP sweep.

As I note in my just-published diary, That's DEAN Nelson Muntz To You! Border long ago publicly declared his friendship with Rove:

Let me disclose my own bias in this matter. I like Karl Rove. In the days when he was operating from Austin, we had many long and rewarding conversations. I have eaten quail at his table and admired the splendid Hill Country landscape from the porch of the historic cabin Karl and his wife Darby found miles away and had carted to its present site on their land. (May 18, 2003)

Right now, the GOP is toast.  The Dems' real opposition is the Versailles media and corporate America more generally.

Oh, and Bin Laden.  No one's been as good for Bin Laden as Bush has been.  You think Bin Laden wants to see reality-based policies replace heckuva job ones?

Not so much.

David Broder? I thought he died -- along with the Republican Revolution.

Undoubtedly, Broder will be on Meet the Press with Russert this Sunday to talk about what a bad boy Reid is.

Just in: David Broder Builds Shrine To Bush In Attic

Paul Rosenberg:

Ah.  What you wrote explains a lot.  Thanks.

I commend Senator Reid for finally standing up to the Republican party. While I may disagree with him that the war is lost I do not disagree with him taking on Bush so forcefully. It is hard to know whether a war has been won or lost when the definition of victory changes daily.

Broder has absolutely no credibility. He is a gasbag, an idiot and a self-important geezer that needs to be taken out to pasture.

Let us stand by our Leader and Fight!

To Broder's way of thinking, centrism is defined by polite and noncontroversial positions. He's built a lifetime career on being a pandering apologist for Authority. Even back in the 1970s his columns were the dullest on the WaPo's opinion page. These days he can barely keep his audiences awake at cocktail parties.

That's why he's now descending into empty flapping screechitude -- it's his last-ditch effort to reclaim the spotlight, in the face of a quick and inevitable decline into irrelevance and historical obscurity.

They're so embarrassed, they don't want to talk about it.

Sort of like the way that the failure to find WMDs only proved how cleverly they were hidden!

Reid has lived down to my low expectations.  I wasn't surprised that he balked at substantial changes in Congressional ethics rules.  He continues to dither on investigating the foreign and domestic crimes of Bush and company.  Yet, amongst intellectual and moral bankrupts in Washington, D.C. like Broder and Gonzo, Reid looks like a prince if not a king.