Fire David Broder. Fire David Broder Today (Why Oh Why Can't We Have a Better Press Corps?)
What is wrong with this picture?
David S. Broder - Arnold's Turnaround - washingtonpost.com: The Terminator has rescued himself from political ruin by reinventing his approach to government, thus demonstrating in the most dramatic way possible the value of political independence.... [Arnold Schwarzenegger] still has very large goals... [50] billions in construction bonds he has placed on the ballot in November. Those goals, she said, proved irresistible to the Democrats.... Schwarzenegger became an expert at marketing himself, "and to market yourself, you have to reinvent yourself." The biggest reinvention came inside the governor's own head.... Schwarzenegger... now works comfortably, convivially, on forging compromises with the very same Democratic legislators and lobbyists he once tried to run out of town.... Schwarzenegger's abandonment of a partisan posture has not cost him significant support in his own party, for a simple reason. As the only major Republican elected in this Democratic capitol, he stands as the barrier to higher taxes...
Yes, you in the corner? Correct. $50 billion in extra bonds is at least $4 billion a year in extra amortization expenditures to pay for the bonds. You cannot be for big bond issues and against higher taxes--unless you live in the Gamma Quadrant with David Broder and his friends, that is.
It would be one thing if David Broder said: "Arnold Schwarzenegger expressed his independence by shifting from governing like right-wing hyena to governing like a fiscally-conservative Democrat like Bill Clinton." Then we would understand that when Broder says "independence is good," what he means is "Clintonism is good but I don't want to admit it.
But for Broder to define "independence" as the combination of "stand[ing] as the barrier to higher taxes" and "$50 billion in construction bonds"--and calling that a good thing? Fool. Idiot. Creep. Moron.
With people like this, the Post will be lucky to last a decade.