In continuing Joe Wilson coverage, Andie Collier has a story at Politico about the increasing prominence of Republican “cranks.” The piece is pretty tough on the GOP, but includes the following “to be sure” graf:
Nor are Democrats strangers to having their crazy uncles take center stage. During the run-up to the Iraq war, for example, Reps. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.), Mike Thompson (D-Calif.) and David Bonior (D-Mich.) famously flew to Baghdad, where McDermott asserted that he believed the president would “mislead the American public” to justify the war. The trip made it a cakewalk for critics to describe the Democratic Party as chockablock with traitorous radicals.
But… um… the president did “mislead the American public” to justify the war. So, you know, that turned out to be a pretty legitimate concern. Surely if Collier needed an example of Democratic crankery for “balance,” there were better examples at hand? Or am I just being a “crazy uncle”—or a “traitorous radical”—myself?
Greg Marx is an associate editor at CJR. Follow him on Twitter @gregamarx.