You make the call:
"The activist left is out of sync with the American public." - DLC leader Will Marshall on progressive efforts to prevent a military escalation in Iraq, 1/10/07
VERSUS
"The American public in general opposes the concept of an increase in troops in Iraq. A number of polls have shown that when given a choice between a set of alternative ways of handling the troop situation in Iraq, only about 10% of Americans opt for the alternative of increasing troops. The rest opt for withdrawal of troops." - Gallup Polling Company, 1/9/07
Someone please tell me why the media continues to quote people like Will Marshall as a credible voice with a credible perspective. I mean, honestly - what point, what level of sheer, unadulterated dishonesty disqualifies you from being quoted in major newspapers? And perhaps evenmore importantly, if a major agenda-setting newspaper like the LA Times insists on quoting someone with no credibility, how can they do so without even as much as a mention of the actual public opinion data refuting his insanity?
UPDATE: Last I checked, Tom Vilsack is the DLC's chairman. And last I checked, AP reported today that "Tom Vilsack called Tuesday for Congress to block funding for additional troops in Iraq." So what gives? Is the DLC's staff now not even listening to its own political leadership? And hey, here's an idea: maybe Tom Vilsack might want to make a call over to his friends at the DLC and tell them to stop attacking progressives and the vast majority of Americans? Just a thought...
UPDATE II: Ed Kilgore at the DLC emailed me to say that Will Marshall wasn't necessarily talking about escalation, but more generally about progressive proposals for a withdrawal from Iraq. I re-read the LA Times article, and Marshall is painting with a very broad brush. Nonetheless, I'll concede that it's possible Ed is right and that Marshall only meant to be talking about withdrawal (which is still hard to believe because Marshall has been such a total and complete hawk) - but even if Ed is correct (and I'm not saying he necessarily is), polls have long shown the majority of Americans support withdrawal from Iraq.