Curious Timing At The Post
July 15, 2006 at 3:08 pm
Commenter Gregory Kelly points out David Ignatius’ Friday column calling for the U.S. to be an “honest broker” in the Middle East, whatever that loaded term means.
So what does Sunday’s Washington Post bring? This huge Magazine piece:
A Beautiful Friendship? In search of the truth about the Israel lobby’s influence on Washington
Charles Lattan said,
July 17, 2006 @ 10:20 am
Honest broker (n.): Any person or party who does what a journalist says said person or party should do; use of this shopworn term is particularly prevalent among journalists who think themselves geopolitical experts. Hypothetical example: “Taking the advice of columnist and author David Ignatius, the United States is acting as an honest broker in the Middle East by urging Israel to exercise restraint in defense of its very survival against terrorists who have sworn to destroy the country and drive every surviving Israeli into the Mediterranean Sea.” Origins of term date to 1930s, when Neville Chamberlain fancied himself an honest broker in negotiating with Hitler (”The Modern Guide To Journalistic Moral Equivalency,” 21st century edition).
richarda said,
July 17, 2006 @ 2:44 pm
Actually, the late 1930s ‘honest broker’ was Mussolini (!).
As to the Sunday Post Mag piece, why no mention or comment of Pat Buchanan? Perhaps because he spoils the attempt to link the Israel Lobby with the forces of that Awful Right-Wing GOP?