Inside the Beltway Idiots

Friday night I was watching Washington Week on my PBS channel, and David Broder of the Washington Post, along with several other reporters, was talking his usual inside the beltway nonsense. Apparently he was on pumpkinhead's show today (Press the Meat), and he did it again. This time I have the transcript:

MR. RUSSERT: David Broder, is it possible for official Washington--the president, Democratic leaders, Republican leaders--to arrive at common ground, a consensus position on Iraq?

MR. DAVID BRODER: It's possible, Tim, but they won't get there by arguing about who did what three years ago. And this whole debate about whether there was just a mistake or misrepresentation or so on is, I think, from the public point of view largely irrelevant. The public's moved past that. The public wants to know what we're going to do next in Iraq. It's an untenable situation for it to go on as it has been going for the last six months or a year. And we are beginning to see the outlines of a possible strategy for whittling down the American commitment and turning it over to see whether the Iraqis can or cannot manage their country themselves.

Broder just doesn't get it. God knows why it took all this time, but finally the American public is beginning to get it. They are just beginning to realize that the Bushies have lied to them repeatedly, beginning at least on 9/11 and continuing to this day. Lying about every important thing that comes along. Lying, lying, lying. So, why does Broder think that Bush's approval ratings are in the tank? It's because about 60% of Americans believe he lies repeatedly to them. As Frank Rich said today, "A simpler question might be: What was not a lie?" These people need to get outside the beltway for awhile and see what the rest of us are thinking.