Because some of us have a few neurons still firing, perhaps?
In any case, this is the name of Andrew Glass' piece in The Politico. It will read like satire, yet sadly, it is not. Mr. Glass apparently thinks that finding the middle position on any issue and writing from the ultimate elitist perspective is somehow a good thing.
Unlike much of the political blogosphere, Broder looks askance at ideological crusades and partisan rants, which is how he earned his "-ism." The New Yorker's Hendrik Hertzberg, a relentless critic of the current Washington scene, calls Broder "relentlessly centrist."
Broder has also dipped into cyberspace, where legions of implacable foes of Broderism troll for fresh outbreaks. Here's what he had to say in a recent Web chat on Washingtonpost.com:
"I think the country is closely balanced, with a controlling group in the center that rejects extreme positions and seeks practical solutions drawn from the agendas of both liberals and conservatives. Most Americans I meet are not ideologues of any sort. They are practical people seeking practical solutions to real challenges."I am a Broder fan. We are members of the Gridiron Club, a select covey of journalists who are to the Washington news fraternity what Skull and Bones is to Yale.
Well, golly gee, isn't that cute? I am guessing that for the 50 million people without health care, however, who is and who is not a member of the Gridiron Club isn't all that important.
Silly them.
More important would be that people who have large media megaphones actually do their jobs and question our large institutions such as goverment and corporations. But hey, maybe I just paid attention a bit too closely in that journalism class.
Just a thought. I guess if the Hutu militias in Rwanda circa 1994 and the Janjaweed militias of the past few years who are committing mass murder and rape in Darfur disagreed on something, whatever the middle position is would be by definition the correct one?
So you see, Broderism is not something to be proud of. It is in fact what has killed real journalism, the kind that used to hold those in power responsible.
The kind that used to keep us out of wars in places like Iraq and make sure to scream from the roof tops that President Bush is acting like the lowest form of primate in cutting SCHIP and leaving little children without health care, instead of looking for a position half-way between his and Nancy Pelosi's just for the hell of it.
We have obviously all benefitted immensely from Broderism