David Broder of the Washington Post calls RP a "gadfly candidate"

[csen]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/10/AR2007101002123.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

I just cannot believe these guys. I knew Bush was sheltered but I didn't realize major opinion writers were as well. You think Broder still types his columns on a typewriter?

[constituent]

Broder is butt-sucking apologist. Pay him no mind.


edit:: also, looks like a Volvo driver.

[quickmike]

Broder is butt-sucking apologist. Pay him no mind.


edit:: also, looks like a Volvo driver.

HAHA!!

As a former Volvo driver, I know exactly what youre talking about. All thats missing from Broder is the tweed jacket with the suede elbows.

[skilt]

If I can think of any columnist in this country that is irrelevant, it would have to be David Broder. To say his writing is reactionary and lacking factual thought is an understatement.

Gadfly" is a term for people who upset the status quo by posing upsetting or novel questions, or attempt to stimulate innovation by proving an irritant.

The term "gadfly" was used by Plato to describe Socrates' relationship of uncomfortable goad to the Athenian political scene, which he compared to a slow and dimwitted horse. It was used earlier by the prophet Jeremiah in chapter 46 of his book. The term has been used to describe many politicians and social commentators.

During his defense when on trial for his life, Socrates, according to Plato's writings, pointed out that dissent, like the tiny (relative to the size of a horse) gadfly, was easy to swat, but the cost to society of silencing individuals who were irritating could be very high. "If you kill a man like me, you will injure yourselves more than you will injure me," because his role was that of a gadfly, "to sting people and whip them into a fury, all in the service of truth."

It is important to note that in modern politics, gadfly is a demeaning term that is used to refer to folks who constantly complain about the political system just to hear themselves complain.


I don't think that RP qualifies for this definition

Sk

[Corydoras]

I think "gadfly" was meant as a compliment.