1 I was sure that word started with an "F"

2 Italic html gone wild...

3 I love Obama "sap".

4 There's a real slant here

5 What I fault him for is his solipsism - Cripes now Iz gots to go google solipsism- I think it's what happens to Chris Matthews...

6

I wonder if this change of heart has anything to do with Obama's falling poll numbers?

Pull up your panties, David. Get your purse and walk home. (quoting Ted C)

7 This post seems...slanted.  Somehow.

8 Does this make Brooks a stumbling CF of a Miserable Failure?

9 Was Brooks always this pathetic?  I remember when I had respect for him--he's kind of a mile marker on my road to conservatism.

10 Awesome read.  I need to keep a cache of fine cigars handy so I can read these slowly and savor them over the course of a good smoke.

11 David Brooks isn't as stupid as I thought. But he is really, really slo-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-w.

12 "cultural brother-from-another-mother Obama"

That's wacist!

13 Ace  -  put in an italics close tag somewhere quick

14 Comments start out with a threadwinner @ #1.  Well done, (I'm guessing) sir.

Cordially...

15 where's David Brooks to come on here and insult ace and commenters? I mean we just had that on the other thread

16 Brilliant, Ace. Well done. Well, apart from the loose shit with the italics.

17 Solipsism syndrome Solipsism syndrome is a dissociative mental state.[citation needed] It is only incidentally related to philosophical solipsism. Solipsists assert that the lack of ability to prove the existence of other minds does not, in itself, cause the psychiatric condition of detachment from reality. The feeling of detachment from reality is unrelated to the question of whether the common-sense universe exists or not. Chris Matthews.

18 as part of the very tiny cadre of professional writers?

HEELLLLPPPP MEEEEEE!

19 He's tired of sucking Obama's sap.

20 The only sad thing is so much fine snark has been wasted on such an insignificant cretin like David Brooks. She falls into that category, or should, of people whose opinions may and ought to be disregarded prima facie. No need to waste time even quoting these people. There must be some line where you have sacrificed all credibility, and that line was the crease in Dick's skirts.

21

He was smitten by Obama's promise to "raise the tone" of debate, to make politics less of a dirty, populist affair and more of a high-minded exchange of wonkish ideas by the denatured, gray intellectual class. And he's disappointed because Obama is repudiating that promise, and unleashing his inner demagogue.

David Brooks is indeed a "soft-thinker", Ace. Obama has not once "raised the tone" of debate from the 2008 Presidential election to now and yet Brooks is only realizing this failing now?   From "If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun," to "I won", so on and so for nearly ad infinitum...

Please somebody enlighten me as to why anybody still listens to this fool.

22

If you look up “Battered Woman” in the dictionary, you’ll see a picture of David Brooks.

And you just know that he would take his boyfriend, Barack, back in a heartbeat if he just told him that he is really going to change (and he MEANS it this time).

PatheticÂ….

23 "To be an Obama admirer is to toggle from being uplifted to feeling used." u mad, bro?

24 Who is worse, David Brooks or Chris Matthews?  There is being blind-blind like Matthews is and then there's being willfully blind like David Brooks. 

25 I remember when I had respect for him--he's kind of a mile marker on my road to conservatism. I mean this in the best possible way... you ought to check your map, and check it again.

26 Brooksie must feel pretty secure as the token "conservative" at the house that Pinch is burning down.  He should consult Arlen Specter on how fond people are of turncoats.  Same with Nooner.

27 OK here is where you are wrong, Ace: David Brooks is a very soft thinker. Not when it comes to Obama... turgid might be the word. Man have you not read Brook's piece- My Dinner with Barack.? (something like that.)

28 I see our self-appointed betters in the so-called conservative media ( and damn if there ain't a ton of 'em) are beginning to position themselves for relevancy during the Perry administration. Like Granddad said, - Never underestimate what a man will do to keep a good-payin' job-

29 If you look up “Battered Woman” in the dictionary, you’ll see a picture of David Brooks. He used to be under the heading "sycophant" but was downgraded.

30 >>>Was Brooks always this pathetic?  I remember when I had respect for him--he's kind of a mile marker on my road to conservatism.

Meh.  Even in the '90s when he was doing his fappishly-praised writing with the Weekly Standard, I found him to be immensely overrated.  He was primarily concerned with cultural issues ("Bobos," etc.) that were simply uninteresting to me, and whatever policies he pushed outright seemed to be couched in flabby generalizations such that you detect the soft, plush *squish* of the wannabe New York moderate.

For all that Allahpundit likes to joke about being a Beta Male, David Brooks is the quintessential Beta Male, the Patient Zero of beta-ness.

31 Barack Obama is a stuttering clusterf*ck of a miserable failure.

I hope David Brooks reads that and begins to assimilate that knowledge into his character.

Is an "elevated tone" in politics desirable? I suppose. I wouldn't mind it. Eh, cancel that, I'd welcome it.

No, it's not.  Politics is dirty.  Politics is about people's lives right now.  When we move it to "wonkish discussions" we lose that immediacy. 

A political environment which had converted solely to an "elevated tone" would be one in which there were (at best) two competing Aristocracies, like the Seelie and Unseelie Courts of Faery (though, presumably, less bloodthirsty). 

The moment you let the People have a say in what is being done to us, the "tone" will become less elevated and more earthy- because most people don't think in the kinds of terms the wonks use.

32 Kratos that's a little like- Who's worse- Peggy Noonan or MoDo?

33 For anyone saying Obama didn't raise the tone: I agree, but this was already a long piece and I couldn't get to everything. I decided to just focus on what a trivial pursuit this was, and leave the "he's not even elevated" thing as assumed as true.

34

 To be an Obama admirer is to toggle from being uplifted to feeling used.

Only because you are a fool David.  The uplifting stuff is all hoopla and pablum.  Nothing but political cotton candy .  That you fall for it--repreatedly--only makes you more of a sucker.

 

35 Brooks can't get enough of the Obama Knob.

36

Like Granddad said, - Never underestimate what a man will do to keep a good-payin' job-

and we just saw that

37

Please somebody enlighten me as to why anybody still listens to this fool.

Posted by: Kratos (Ghost of Sparta) at September 20, 2011 02:38 PM (9hSKh)

There were a lot of people that claimed to be acolytes of WFB even though they weren't conservative but loved that he used big words.

38 words...so many words. Brooks and company wanted obama because he would be a source of smug, clean natural smug. Little did they realize that SCOAMF is just another dirty crazy producer, leaking highly dangerous carazy.

39

 

That was a great piece Ace.

 

40 White House gives moderates little morsels of hope, and then rips them from our mouths.

Yeah. If by "morsel of hope" you mean my cock; and if "rips them from our mouths" is the prelude to shooting in moderates' faces and using their hair to clean myself up, I think you've got me summed up pretty well.

41 I had a whole section envisioned about Obama being free to speak gauzily about hope and change because his surrogates and the media (but I repeat myself) undertook the to do the mean stuff for him, but again, it was already too long.

42

Posted by: tasker at September 20, 2011 02:40 PM (rJVPU)

Perry was in NYC today flexing his foriegn policy muscles. He had a meeting with Jewish leaders that is posted on Right Scoop.

43 I must add this gem from the HA comments, it's moron-worthy;

IÂ’ve known that David Brooks has been a sap for yearsÂ…

How does it feel to be a gift bag at your own pity party?

Khun Joe on September 20, 2011

44

Is an "elevated tone" in politics desirable? I suppose. I wouldn't mind it. Eh, cancel that, I'd welcome it.

It may be "desirable" in that in a perfect world, it would be nice.  But it is an infantile objective in that it will never exist in the real world and those who center their "political thinking" around a desire for it are simpletons.  there has never been an "elevated tone" in politics going back as far as there has been politics and there never will be as long as human nature remains human nature.  so the constant hand-wringing and crying about it is evidence of someone who has no serious thought to put forward and instead focuses on the aesthetics.

Unfortunately, the mushy middle falls for this kind of clap-trap and republicans also pander to it by claiming they will bring a "new tone" or "better tone" or other nonsense if elected.  I'm not saying that everyone should sink to the lowest common denominator in political discourse, but the idea that any politician is going to "elevate the tone" or that such is even a good reason to vote for someone, is silly. 

Moreover, currently in American politics, the call for an "elevated tone" is usually a call for conservatives to shut the hell up and do what their betters say.  So when someone like Brooks says he wants an "elevated tone" what he means is he had hoped that Obama was such a good politician that the dirty, ignorant conservatives were forced off the stage.

45 Brooks: We assign equal blame to both parties for the dysfunctional politics when in reality the Republicans are more rigid and extreme. ThereÂ’s a lot of truth to that, AH HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA Wanker.

46 >>>Who's worse- Peggy Noonan or MoDo?

I like Peggy Noonan, still.  She's miles better than David Brooks.  When she dumps on Obama (which, it's worth pointing out, she has been pretty much nonstop since mid-2009), it's actually quite rhetorically devastating.  She twists the knife with far more panache than Brooks ever would or could, and it's more effective precisely because she brings that feminine "more in sorrow than in anger" tone to it that, when Brooks uses it as in this column, just makes him seem like an insufferable pussy.

I know it's not popular to defend Noonan around here, but I will.  For better or for worse she does have her finger on the pulse of the mood of the country in a way that we hardcore partisans never really will. 

47 you're a member of the comfortable upper middle class with virtually no fear of economic dislocation.

This.

This is what makes rich people start thinking stupid shit.  They have enough financial wherewithall to completely insulate themselves from whatever happens to the political/economic landscape.  From that point on, fear of the unknown no longer stops them from doing certain things and they start to get retarded.

48

I cringe when I see him in Friedman's "Free to Choose" series.

 

49 Is an "elevated tone" in politics desirable? I suppose. I wouldn't mind it. Eh, cancel that, I'd welcome it.

This is the birthplace of "SCOAMF" and the pudding dip.  You'd have no traffic if politics were "elevated".

50 Like Granddad said, - Never underestimate what a man will do to keep a good-payin' job- and we just saw that I was going to use it on that nice Treacher boy, but he seems soooo smart and well-spoken. Are you sure he's not right?

51 Who is worse, David Brooks or Chris Matthews?

Matthews has the excuse of being a drunk, so he's got that going for him.

52 Most swing voters don't care about details, so politicians are not rewarded for focusing on details. But the same voters are motivated by cheap rhetoric (see 200 so politicians are rewarded for it.

If the political class wanted a more rational, and less emotional, political debate they would have done the exact opposite of what they did in 2008, and had damned Obama for his specifics free politics.

So, sorry, I don't buy that  many people in the media actually want dry rational discussions of the issues of the day.

They want a simple heroic liberal vs evil conservative story line. End of story.

53
or...

David Brooks Realizes Speeches Alone Do Not Make Good Policy

54 Brooks feels used by Obama? I feel like I've been used by Rodman, all getting my guts pushed up into the back of my head.

55 I had a whole section envisioned about Obama being free to speak gauzily about hope and change because his surrogates and the media (but I repeat myself) undertook the to do the mean stuff for him, but again, it was already too long.

How about a Part II, because this is great stuff.

56 Brooks probably believes that beauty contestants are really serious about wanting World Peace

57

Posted by: Jeff B. at September 20, 2011 02:45 PM (kRtDX)

just to confirm, did Brooks and/or Noonan ever say they voted for Obama over Mac? Frum who's gone off the reservation even admits he voted for Mac.

58
or...

David Brooks Extracts Head From Ass, Sees Light

59 Is an "elevated tone" in politics desirable? I suppose.

When it doubt, take a metaphor literally.

On what would the discourse of politics be elevated above the loud and Axe™-smelling concerns of the uncreased rabble? A big-ass pyramid of the given.

Is the world the rabble have been until now given by the creased desirable? To them? This big-ass governmental pyramid of the done? Of the temporally (regarded as vertically, because progress) past dispute?

Brooks, e.g., though he occasionally makes noises to the contrary, thinks they shouldn't be allowed to ask, even via non-rabble proxy. Because rabble.

It's a thing. The thing.

Or it will be. Rabble-style.

60 >>>This is what makes rich people start thinking stupid shit. They have enough financial wherewithall to completely insulate themselves from whatever happens to the political/economic landscape. From that point on, fear of the unknown no longer stops them from doing certain things and they start to get retarded Yeah, when you've got your stack it seems less important that the means by which others might get their stack be preserved. In fact, when you think about it -- if one's goal isn't necessarily to be as rich as possible but MORE rich than one's rivals (which is actually most people's motivation), then one has an incentive to "pull up the ladders," if you will, to success.

61 David Brooks is a very soft thinker.

For a neuroscientist, David Brooks writings in that field are just as excruciating... let me tell you.

62 Obama is a stuttering clusterf*ck of a miserable failure.

63
David Brooks' Pinky-Finger-Sense is Tingling, Something is Amiss

64 Plus, there is not (yet) any way to tax the non-pecuniary benefits of your job -- influence, fame, respect, easiness of it all -- which far outstrip the pecuniary ones you have to give the government a piece of.

I don't know about that--given that the price of getting and keeping that job is to do the bidding of your patrons, thus using that fame, influence, etc. on their behalf, I'd say he's already well paying that particular Teind.  There's always a price when you sell your soul...

65 I had a whole section envisioned about Obama being free to speak gauzily about hope and change because his surrogates and the media (but I repeat myself) undertook the to do the mean stuff for him, but again, it was already too long.

Post a Son of Sap thread and throw that in.

66

Posted by: Ian S. at September 20, 2011 02:45 PM (tqwMN)

sad thing is I agreed with him but he wanted to be a dick about it. ok that's all for now back to Brook's realization.

67 This is Brooks, Dowd and pretty much every columnist for every single newspaper.

68 OH! Smerconish is still on the Obama bandwaggon no?

69

 the "tone" in politics has generally never been terribly elevated

Brooks has to listen to the screeching coming from MoDo's desk, so he'd disagree with that.

70 Yo Ace, you broke the page...italics are bleeding down all over the place!

71 David Brooks Extracts Head From Ass, Sees Light

Posted by: soothsayer at September 20, 2011 02:46 PM (sqkOB)

Well, let's not go overboard here.  For all we know this was a brief gasp for oxygen.  We'll see if he's seen the light if he can ever bring himself to admit that Barack Obama is a stuttering clusterf*ck of a miserable failure.

@62 Said what I did, but without the nifty pseudo-Celtic folk-lore reference.

72 I know it's not popular to defend Noonan around here, but I will.  For better or for worse she does have her finger on the pulse of the mood of the country up her ass poking for a clue in a way that we hardcore partisans never really will. 

Posted by: Jeff B. at September 20, 2011 02:45 PM

FIFY

73 Thank god. I was tired of getting stuff dribbled on me.

74 What is the difference between David Brooks and David Frum? Frum is an irrelevant Canadian.

75 >>>Who is worse, David Brooks or Chris Matthews?

Honestly, I'd take Matthews over Brooks without thinking twice.  Matthews is a rude, (likely) drunk, partisan shill prone to outrageous rhetoric, but you know what?  Every now and then he busts out with an absolutely shattering 'on-side' critique of Obama that hits far harder than anything Brooks would ever do.  Deep down in his heart Matthews is still a old-time political operative: he is as partisan as can be, but he knows what works and what fails when it comes to politics and he can't help but call it out when it builds to a certain point. 

I guess what I'm saying is that I really have nothing good to say about David Brooks.

76 We assign equal blame to both parties for the dysfunctional politics when in reality the Republicans are more rigid and extreme.

You know what else is rigid and extreme?

Pup-tent five!

77 Fool me once, shame on you.  Fool me twice, shame on me.  Fool me every single time you open your mouth and promise pie in the sky?  Well, I'm just a sap for a good lookin' guy in sharply creased pants.

78 I heard about this site after Obama got elected so I missed everyone trying to get behind McCain. That must've sucked, huh? I can't imagine faking support for that guy, although I'm sure Palin made it much easier.

79 Funny, I never thought the fight for liberty was accomplished by men with their legs crossed at the knee and a good label drink in  hand. Elevate the discourse? That immediately presupposes an "elite".

80 David Brooks is a very soft thinker.

Like marshmallow sauce, or kapok.

81 I know it's not popular to defend Noonan around here, but I will.  For better or for worse she does have her finger on the pulse of the mood of the country in a way that we hardcore partisans never really will. 

Posted by: Jeff B. at September 20, 2011 02:45 PM (kRtDX)

It's because her writing is as dumb as an uninformed voter is.  She had two howlers in her most recent WSJ screed:  That the SCoaMF never engages in snark (LOL) and that he sets a good example by having an intact family.  Great insights, Nooner; now go back to your arthritis cure of gin and white raisins you got from Tereeeeeeesa Heinz Kerry and read your Mandingo books.

82 Brooks is that general in the bunker who looked at Hitler and Eva with their brains splattered on the walls and said "Hmm, maybe I was wrong about this guy"

83 I find the von Clausewitz idea of war being an extension of politics to be useful here. If you can reverse the premise and say that politics is a reduced form of war where it is illegal to use violence it becomes a good reference. The chief goal of war is to win. Politicians use whatever *acceptable* strategy's let them win. And by acceptable, I mean any strategy they can get away with. So exactly on Ace's point, if folks actually affected by politics don't value comity over their own goals, the debate will reduce itself until it finds the equilibrium line of utter unacceptability, even to the partisan, to the point of being just short of literal war. That's how nature works. I do fear if the discourse devolves much further, we will be conducting politics by other means.

84
The article was David Brook's audition for the position of President Romney's Press Secretary.

Whoring himself out early to beat the rush.

85

David Brooks Extracts Head From Ass, Sees Light

Posted by: soothsayer at September 20, 2011 02:46 PM (sqkOB)

 

Alas, no doubt the bright light will frighten the little twit, and like a groundhog predicting a longer winter he'll be shoving his head right back into that dark, warm burrow of ignorance.

86

David Brooks is what you get when you cross Kathleen Parker with Chaz.

87

I can't imagine faking support for that guy, although I'm sure Palin made it much easier.

I would have supported a feces-covered crack whore over Obama and I still would. So difficult? No. Unfortunate? Yes.

88 You perfectly described the "elitest" mind set,ace.

89 Can you imagine the horrid look upon my face as I walked in the door to witness Muffy humping the little Ewok chew toy George Lucas had personally hand delivered?

I thought not.

90

Posted by: Joffen at September 20, 2011 02:50 PM (EPcuy)

I kept reminding myself war Hero who took more torture so he wouldn't leave his men VS a guy who hung around w/ terrorists

wasn't so hard then

post-08 stock market crash it was a daily "how McCain is screwing up and how he can fix it" seminar up until Election night; frustrating to watch a campaign that bad

91 But, there's NO BIAS in journalism!!!!!

92 This is seriously good and thoughtful stuff Ace.

93 90

David Brooks is what you get when you cross Kathleen Parker with Chaz.

heh

94 There is a larger point: Brooksie is irrelevant.  Her notoriety is owed to one thing only, which is the need of the urban Left to preen itself with an intellectually vacant vanity and pretend that they read conservative opinion.  If Miss Davy were a Democrat she would have no job beyond second stringer at a free weekly in a college town.

95 Fuck Brooks, I still have Kathleen Parker !!!!

96

"Elevate the discourse" usually means your side is getting your asses kicked!!

97 unless I'm the one employing it and it seems effective

or funny

Has Brooks ever even had any tree sap on him?

98 Good post, Ace.

99 We should elevate the tone because my friends and I would like to feel a little less uncomfortable.  And that is what is important in the economic environment.

100 Said what I did, but without the nifty pseudo-Celtic folk-lore reference.

Look on the bright side, I just called the media fairies...

101 You know what would be awesome? If the Republicans actually get to choose who speaks for 'our team' in the New Yawk Times. Not this SCOAMF knob-polishing, trouser crease sniffing douchbag.

102 I'm really kinda glad I'm not Ace.  I mean, I'd have to shoot myself if I had all that rattling around in my head today.......

103

The president  We The People believe the press is a corpse.

Fixed.

104

He would be fun to drink with, except he went to UNC.

Eww. Figures.

105 Well I think what Ace wrote here could apply just as well to Noonan- Your job is set, guaranteed for life (virtually), with few competitors for it. You're a one-man operation, an employee; your only interaction with the realities of business life is cashing a check, meeting with investment advisers, and occasionally pitching a book to a publisher. You do not particularly fear a reduction of wages or an increase in taxes, because you're already making as much money as a writer could reasonably expect to make. Plus, there is not (yet) any way to tax the non-pecuniary benefits of your job -- influence, fame, respect, easiness of it all -- which far outstrip the pecuniary ones you have to give the government a piece of. In short, you are someone whose interest in politics is chiefly a theoretical matter. You have no skin in the game. You can afford to be dispassionate about Obama's $500 billion cut to Medicaid, because in all likelihood you'll be an employed writer into your seventies and will have private insurance and even when retired will have enough money to opt out of the system. You can afford to have an intellectual's distance from Obama's choking regulatory overreach, because your only "business" is writing seven hundred words twice a week; She has that complete air of the fainting couch about her.

106 Yeah, when you've got your stack it seems less important that the means by which others might get their stack be preserved.

Posted by: ace at September 20, 2011 02:47 PM (nj1bB)

To me, it's more of rich people (my definition above) removing a huge source of uncertainty and liability from their lives (money) and then occupying their minds with new agendas like politics.  Once they overcome the burden of not having enough money stashed away to last them a lifetime, they start to get curious about other ideas.  Some of them are benign, but most of them involve falling prey to really stupid shit (global warming, Obama, leftist goals, socialism, etc).  They have more than enough money, and they want to get creative with their excess to try and support ideas that were proven bunk years ago.

107 **Is an "elevated tone" in politics desirable? I suppose. I wouldn't mind it. Eh, cancel that, I'd welcome it.** What a soft thinker this Brooks is, an elevated tone seems to mean assuming all facts are as the left imagines them to be. An elevated tone means taking Obama at face value that W.Buffet's secretary pays more taxes than him, an elevated tone is that of course MMGW is real. An elevated tone focuses on tardisil instead of Rev. Wright. So, fuck this guy, if disagreeing with the smug-set's set of core beliefs is uncivil and under-elevated, then fine.

108 Ace, you just have an irrational hatred of rich people.  I know these people; they're friends of mine, and I'll tell you that they already give all their money to charity and are willing to pay more in taxes. 

109 Brooks is also Canadian dudes.

110 Lots of play-pimpin' going on in the so-called Conservative media. They still don't understand that the era of plantation- politics is finished. We the slaves are free, and trust no one for content. As for opinion, well, I cancelled my NYT subscription back around Abu Graib.

111 Noonan's the biggest airhead ever to appear in newspapers.  Her columns are a relentless vomit stream of frantic psychobabble that say a lot more about her than they do about the American mood.

112 >>>It's because her writing is as dumb as an uninformed voter is.  She had two howlers in her most recent WSJ screed:  That the SCoaMF never engages in snark (LOL) and that he sets a good example by having an intact family.  Great insights, Nooner; now go back to your arthritis cure of gin and white raisins you got from Tereeeeeeesa Heinz Kerry and read your Mandingo books.

She said something vaguely nice about Obama (yes, you know what?  His family IS actually a decent role model for African-American community -- it doesn't make him a good president, but it's not like this ceases to exist) for the first time in literally TWO YEARS, in a column where she otherwise EXCORIATES him, and it's all that some of you assholes can fixate on.  She's called him a pathetic loser (literally!) for years, in a column that genuinely affects and moves MSM opinion, and you ignore that. 

Also, the racial-sex insult?  Pretty fucking offensive, dude.

Seriously, stop letting hate run your life.  But then again, your name IS "Captain Hate," so what am I even thinking?

113 Honestly, Brooksie ought to plead with Dick Soetero for a job as Press Secretary Sycophant.  She couldn't be worse than Carney, and could spend her days close to her unrequited love.

114

For the true believers of the SCFOAMF, it's a tough time. They've invested so much and it's all gonna end in tears. Their pain reminds me of my favorite college gf. She was beautiful, smart, funny, killer body and was everything I thought I wanted at the time. Except, except she slept with my "friends". You see, that was kind of a problem I couldn't over look, despite all the other great things about her.

So too, The SCFOAMF keeps "cheating" on the true believers. They want so much to love and believe. So very much. But the realization has to come. They've been taken in by a whore. Wait till they get to the anger phase of that realization. I will be enjoying it, believe me.

115 Politics is personal, the leftists used to say, but isn't this taking things quite too far?

The leftists were right on that one (and, actually, it was said by a lot of people, including conservatives, because it's just a fact of nature.  Like tides).  David Brooks wasn't (isn't?) some "sap" who just became enamored of Barack Obama.

David Brooks saw in Obama what he wanted to see (as so many others did), and now invents reasons that he supported him (or still supports him, depending on which part of his bipolar cycle he's on).

The think about everyone who claims to want an "elevated tone" is that what they really want, deep down, is for us hicks to STFU and go away.  They're embarrassed by our modes of speech, they're embarrassed by the fact we have calluses on our hands, and "farmers tans." (no, I don't have those things, I'm a cyber-hick.  But I'm only one generation removed from real hicks)  They think, like the European Aristocrats of whom they are the spiritual descendents, that people like us can't possibly understand high-minded things like economic policy (don't spend more than you make, and don't take so much from the People that they're effectively slaves of the state) or foreign policy (no better friend, no worse enemy).

116 Our Miss Brooks is easy to understand: he's one of that crowd of elite East Coast preppies for whom politics is a delightful game, one they can manipulate with their erudition and loftily explain to their inferiors.

Sort of a liberal Ed "Poppin' Fresh" Morrissey but with impeccable tailoring and the right school tie.

Brooks figured out, early on, that tugging on the stuttering clusterf*** of a miserable failure's coattails would give him more cred with his peers, as they were sufficiently prescient to see that the time had come for President Historic First©.

We lesser folk from the hinterlands simply fail to appreciate his talent and perception. Just ask him.

117 Whoa, Brooks is Canadian too?

There's something in the beer up north, I'm tellin' youse.

118 elevating the tone = assigning blame to others and making excuses for failure

119 And Chris Matthews got bit by a tse fly or came down with malaria.... Now David Frum...who was against abortion before he was for it-or whatever his gig is these days... What the hell happened to that guy? A complete about face.

120 For Sale: Styrofoam bust of Obama. Comes with its own Greek column for a pedestal. Just trying to de-clutter, I have too many of these. Your choice of chin-thrust angle.

121 >>>Brooks is also Canadian dudes.

This explains so much.

No seriously, it does.  Never trust a Canadian "conservative!"

122 For the record, though, rich folks aren't any more prone to believe stupid things than anyone else.  They just have more opportunity to indulge their whims in that regard, and on a larger scale.

123  

124

Posted by: tasker at September 20, 2011 02:59 PM (rJVPU)

horrible election predictor too, claimed Obamacare would lead to a Dem wave in 2010

125

Noonan said something so irritating last week that I promised myself that I wouldn't read her again. Now I don't even remember what it was. I do remember my vow. Same thing with Powerline. Forgot what they did to piss me off too. Oh well.

126 Brooks is a case study for why principles matter.  If he were truly conservative, he would have never fallen for Obama's non-negro dialect, pant crease or sap.  Personality and personalities come and go, but if conservative bedrock principles guide your decision making, you'll avoid making an absolute laughing-stock out of yourself and your supposed intellectual prowess.

As Ace effectively demonstrates, Brooks in more interested in having a man-crush than seeing small government conservative principles advance. 

Even this article has a not-so-subtle undercurrent of "call me, Barack" wound throughout.

It's sad, really.  And pathetic that Brooksie, KPark, CBuck, and that other broad I can't recall right now set aside supposed conservative principles to shill for a statist with nice manners.

127 >>>No seriously, it does.  Never trust a Canadian "conservative!"

You know who else is a Canadian conservative?  Rachel Marsden.

So they're either unutterable squishes who inevitably move left, or they're crazy stalker SwimFan psychobitches.

128 See, this is where Mike Tyson went wrong.  If he were more clean and articulate, his comments about Palin would have been peachy.

129 David Brooks, David Brock, David Frum...

I'm sensing a pattern here

130 Wow, Ace, I must say I love the crease of your pants.

Which is to say: very nice takedown of Brooks.  I'm going to steal many of the thoughts for later use.

131

Obama: Change only a sap could believe in!

Good 2012 slogan.

132 David Brooks' picture is in the dickshunary next to the word "irrelevant."

133 @127: I don't know, Harper has been noticably to the right of Obama on several things.  I'd trade straight up for a Canadian in that case.

And of course, there's Mark Steyn, Canada's second greatest export.

134

Is an "elevated tone" in politics desirable? I suppose. I wouldn't mind it. Eh, cancel that, I'd welcome it.

 

It's the "elevated tone" that got this nation in the position it is now.  It's what we've been getting for the last few decades.  The biggest manifestation of this is the poison of political correctness.  I'm ready for some mud wrestling in DC. 

135 <i>See, this is where Mike Tyson went wrong.  If he were more clean and articulate, his comments about Palin would have been peachy.</i>

Of course... David Brooks ought to be Tyson's manager!

136 >>>And of course, there's Mark Steyn, Canada's second greatest export.

Mark Steyn is the exception that proves the rule.

And by "proves" I mean "completely dismantles my theory."

(Although honestly he always sounded more British than Canadian to me.)

137 Brooks is to the left of Mike Medved, nuff said how "conservative" he is

138 Speaking of elevating the tone, time to replay this.

139 Wait...Brooks is Canadian-so is the Frumster. Being half Frenchy Canadian myself-you know what it could be? The race issue-big time. Canadians have this complete inferiority complex and where they like to lord it over Americans is- 1) Acid rain-which I think is over now. 2)Nuclear arms. (once had to go on a two week canoeing trip with these pikers at 10 years old and as the US military brat-had to defend nuclear armament and SDI for two solid weeks.-Mother of GAIA.) 3) Slavery-I'm just sayin'....

140

So too, The SCFOAMF keeps "cheating" on the true believers. They want so much to love and believe. So very much. But the realization has to come. They've been taken in by a whore. Wait till they get to the anger phase of that realization. I will be enjoying it, believe me.

Posted by: Sgt. Fury at September 20, 2011 02:57 PM (ONGHB)

This will make the wailing and gnashing of teeth that happened in Madison, WI look like a church service. I too, can't wait.

141 The wrong Brooks killed himself.

142 Nice post, ace. Very well articulated argument.

143 Wait didn't Mark Steyn do some time in Aussieville?

144 The wrong Brooks killed himself.

Posted by: Red at September 20, 2011 03:04 PM (qxcKC)

not cool, too far

145 Is an "elevated tone" in politics desirable? I suppose.

I don't think so.  Say what you mean and mean what you say.  "Nice" has nothing to do with it.  That isn't to say you can't be nice, but that shouldn't be a political goal.  For just a very brief instant, and an instant only, America may be ready for a truly honest President. I'd love to see at least an attempt.  No one exists yet to take that mantle, but I'll be watching.

146 The Brits and the rest of the Euros had African slaves too,they just kept them in the colonies and ended it sooner than we did.

147 Mark my words:  Tomorrow Brooks will write - despite his shortcomings, Obama is still twice as smart as anyone the Republicans put forth as candidates, and I still love him...sharp crease and all.

148 For the record, though, rich folks aren't any more prone to believe stupid things than anyone else.  They just have more opportunity to indulge their whims in that regard, and on a larger scale.

Actually, I would argue that rich folks are less prone to believe stupid things- it's part of how they got rich.  The problem is we never hear from those, and when we do its when they're doing something stupid- like Mark Cuban's TV Network airing that Truther movie on 9/11.  That was stupid- but Cuban himself is (first and foremost) not a Truther and (secondly) actually fairly conservative.  We don't hear about that, though, because whenever we hear about Mark Cuban, it's because of something "outrageous" he's done re: the Dallas Mavericks or because of some stupid move he's made regarding his tendency to want to make more money.

I'm sure there are hundreds of thousands of independently wealthy individuals (or those who are, like Brooks, relatively sheltered from the economy) who are conservative, but just keep their traps shut.

149

Posted by: steevy at September 20, 2011 03:05 PM (fyOgS)

don't forget that little repeated fact that a good number of states didn't participate in it

150 Oh no.  Don't get me started on Medved, who is certain Obama loves this nation as much or more than you.  Who knows Obama is brilliant but just can't understand why he does what he does.  Who thought the best candidate in 2008 would have been Huckabee, and then McCain.  I will lose my temper. 

Seriously.

151 Good photoshop idea -- Obama's copy of the The Bluffer's Guide to Being President.

I suck at pshop.

152 Not reading all that, just taking my socks off.

153

Posted by: George Orwell at September 20, 2011 03:07 PM (AZGON)

his debate analysis is annoying as fuck. He calls everyone but Mittens stupid and un-electable.

154

I take issue with Brooks's assessment. I think he is an everyday, run of the mill, general purpose sap. Nothing more.

BTW.

155 Hello, my name is David and I'm a sap ..

156

the governing style Obama talked about in 2008

And there it is.

No substance or results.  Style.

That kind of mindset is what got us into this mess and apparently Brooks can't seem to figure out where he went wrong.  We of the great unwashed reactionary right had the problem pegged from the beginning. 

157 157 That too,right.

158 Brooks, I hope the next president never invites you to the WH.  Now, go to your NY Times bath house and blow your editor.

159 David Brooks sits down to pee.  Who cares what the effete little milksop mewls about?

160 Soporific Jeebus on a straw mattress.  Medved is pimping Romney?  Does the prick think we have forgotten how he continually trashed Romney in the last campaign, with some very good reasons?  Are his reasons now suddenly defunct?  Dipshit.

161 He wants us to be Thelma to the Democrats' Louise: in the end we drive off this fuckin' cliff together.

162

And remember you can't spell sap without SCOAMF!  Just type small. 

163 as part of the very tiny cadre of professional writers

if you keep peeing in the pool, they aren't going to let you in Ace, I think they learned their lesson with Capote.

164

Fred Smith, head of Fed Ex is having a little fundraiser for Rick.

Fed Ex obviously just wants to undermine its most efficient competitor, the United States Postal Service.

Or something.

165 For the record, though, rich folks aren't any more prone to believe stupid things than anyone else.  They just have more opportunity to indulge their whims in that regard, and on a larger scale.

Put more simply, all leftist twaddle comes from well-off people with too much idle time. 

166 Krauthammer is my favorite sort of Canadian, American political writer.

167 David Brooks got Obama's sap all over him.

168 My first informed exposure to David Brooks was during the 2008 campaign.  He became a non-person to me then and still is.  I've never put forth any time to read anything he's written ever since.

169 <i>David Brooks got Obama's sap all over him.</i>

And all this time I thought that bucket hanging from Brooks was a drool cup.

170 Did anyone see Perry's speech in NY today? Thoughts? Santorum called it "boilerplate" and...it was a little bit of that, however, IMO he seemed to be a much stronger speaker. Definitely want to see this at the debate Thursday.

171

54 Most swing voters don't care about details, so politicians are not rewarded for focusing on details.

 

I disagree. I think swing voters as a group are smarter than people who blindly pledge allegience to any single party. They're looking at details and current economics and choosing what they think is right for the current situation.

NON-voters or "occasional" voters would be the ones who don't care about details....

172 @180
man, html fail today

173

This post is very good, if a bit long and italicized.  Thanks Ace.

I think the topic, using the example of "love that crease" David Brooks, is relevent to a large chunk of the Obama voters out there...those who are swayed by either emotion (Hope, Change, stop the rising of the oceans) or the false comfort of the ivory tower intellect (East Coast, well-delivered words in speeches, academia).  Both together make up the Cult of Personality of Obama.  And as we see yet again in our history, a Cult of Personality (if not meeting an early tragic end) never has success meeting the expectations their followers have allowed themselves to anticipate.

I believe that what we're seeing in polls and approval ratings is the inevitable moment of realization that we are three years in, and expectations have met the harsh reality of results.  Some...the most emotional/East Coast Progressive true believers (soft thinkers) will hold on a long time or even infinitely, as to not do so would be to deny their emotional and/or ideological foundations.  Most will weigh promises and Hope to real world results, and notice the words do not match the actions, and they will move on to the next hope.  I don't know if this happens drip by drip or by Ace's preference cascade, but it is and will continue to happen as long as Obama keeps being who he is.

The Right, by the way, isn't devoid of its own "soft thinkers".  I personally think many of them have fallen for our own current Cult's of Personality...the Palins and Bachmanns of the party.  Should one of them be elected, the reality of their results would surely be an inadaquate shock to the conservative utopian dreams of their true believers.

"To the Socialists in all parties"

174 His family IS actually a decent role model for African-American community

Posted by: Jeff B. at September 20, 2011 02:57 PM (kRtDX)

LOL; how patronizing.  I'm sure everybody was waiting for your and Nooner's blessing.

175

Ace, The only reason Brooks is distancing himself from SCOAMF is that the way things are looking now, the SCOAMF looks like a possible one termer. He's hedging his bets, that's all.

176 And all this time I thought that bucket hanging from Brooks was a drool cup Obama: "You want this sizzurp, baby? Then you got to TAP THIS." Brooks: "UUUUUHHHHHNNNNNNHHHHH..."

177 Robert Brooks admits he faps to O-bah-muhh's biorythms.

178 I disagree. I think swing voters as a group are smarter than people who blindly pledge allegience to any single party. They're looking at details and current economics and choosing what they think is right for the current situation.

I'm sorry, but I think you're wrong.  Or, rather, that the "details" they want to hear are magical faery dust details about how it can all be made better- we can reduce taxes and increase spending.  And unicorns.  And rainbows.

The only thing that helps is that, every so often, we get a Carter, or an Obama to come along and prove the lies- and then, if we act properly, we'll get someone like Reagan who will begin the roll-back process.  Not perfectly, not as quickly as we'd like, but a beginning all the same.

The we nominate George HW Bush because it's "his turn" and we blow it all up again...

But, if we get someone in the mold of Reagan, who will begin walking back the federal crap- and then we nominate someone who will actually continue that walk back- we might finally be able to convince the general electorate that it is ideas and details that matter- and that no one who promises unicorn farts and rainbow droppings is going to be able to deliver.

179 1,540 words.

Just saying.

180 Brooks isn't a sap, he's a fucking idiot.

181 Anyone who didn't know what an incompetent parisian ass obama was and is can go fuck him or herself. I can't be any clearer than that. You weren't electing a first time dog catcher and taking a chance on a person you thought might have potential. You were electing the President of United States and Leader of the Free World. Shame on you and go fuck yourself. I hope I made myself clear enough?

182 David Brooks admits he wishes he could be Obama's boy-toy

183 1,540 words.

Just saying.

18,460 words short of a movie review.

184 Ace sure is a windy bastard with this one....

someone paying him by the word?

185

I disagree. I think swing voters as a group are smarter than people who blindly pledge allegience to any single party. They're looking at details and current economics and choosing what they think is right for the current situation.

NON-voters or "occasional" voters would be the ones who don't care about details....

Posted by: MrObvious at September 20, 2011 03:16 PM (2uovW)

 

You're accusing some folks of generalities by making a statement of generality.  I call horseshit.  I support the repubs because, for now, they are the home of conservatism.  If that changes then I will change my view of the repub party. 

186 perhaps he should worry about the concerns of people less well-off a little more, and not agitate relentlessly for a "politics" which, to the extent I can understand it, consists chiefly of concerns about prep school manners.

And don't forget, the last 30 episodes of Blossom.

187 His family IS actually a decent role model for African-American community

To be honest, we have no way of knowing if that's true.  Everything else about the man is spun and managed, why not what we see of his family life?  Only four people have the slightest clue what the truth is, and I'm opening the pool on which of the girls writes the tell-all first.

188 nice post ...

189 Posted by: As If! at September 20, 2011 03:21 PM (piMMO)

That's nothing.  Normal magazine rate is (last I recall) about 15 cents a word*, so he'd only get paid $231.00 for this.  And it might be his only published article of the month.

*That could be way off- that's based on research my brother did something like 7 years ago

190 His family IS actually a decent role model for African-American community Ha? He seems like nasty bastard to me.

191 It apparent that David never did his own laundry and ironing.  If he did he'd know that the crease never stays perfect no matter how hard you try.

192 Is calling yourself a sap similar to saying, "My biggest flaw is that I just care too much" ?

193 The we nominate George HW Bush because it's "his turn" and we blow it all up again...

Posted by: AllenG (Dedicated Tenther)

///
I agree that Herbert was not a good president and gave us the mother of all monstrosities (the ADA), but if you're VP for 2 successful terms, you probably should be P or you shouldn't have been VP.  Frankly, I don't think he should have been VP.

194 It's the new Gilded Age, baby.

195 Positing a non-existent civility or "elevated tone" or claiming the MSM creates a "false equivalency" by "assigning equal blame" isn't "soft-thinking." It's a LIE. LIE. LLLLLLIIIIIIEEEEEE. Say it along with me, it's an easy, small word. It's not so hard to say. LLLL-IIII-EEEE. LIE. But if we don't CALL it a lie, every time they tell it, they get away with it because they get to tell the lie one more time than we call it a lie. So call it a lie. Because it is a lie.

196 It's more of that class warfare the Obama supporters are pushing. Brooks wants political debate couched in Ivy League sensibilities--you know, like at Princeton seminars where only polite and exceedingly whifty ideas are aired. That's just dandy if you're producing academic fluff, but it has no correlates in the real world . But Brooks and his cronies detest the real world-- it's so crass, after all. Great post, Ace. I hate these poseurs.

197 If this was posted yesterday, David Brooks would be admitting he likes the cut of O-bah-muhh's jib.

198 Brooks is also Canadian dudes.

Effin Frostbacks.  We should have moat on the Northern Marches, filled with fire.

199 Our Miss Brooks has had a terrible awakening.  Ahhhh, too bad. 

Suck it up and take a Zoloft like a normal person.

200 He hasn't changed one bit, nor has he finally seen the light, or become disilliusioned. He now knows that his God bleeds. And he's not the first to announce it. He's joining in with journolist 2.0.

201 "The Emperor's New Clothes"

Read it Brooks. Easy read , almost like a child story.

202 When assholes like Brooks say they want civility, they want no such thing. What they want is to silence conservatives so that liberals can scream their obscene lies without fear of contradiction.

203 Swing voters that voted for Obama didn't want to pay attention. Obama had four different positions on just about every important issue-*if* you were paying attention. They literally wanted to be lied to. And like Brooks they preferred the sleek facade. They wanted Europeans to like us. They bought into the styrofoam columns and the campaign speech in Germany. They were fools.

204 18,460 words short of a movie review.

Jeff Goldstein over at Protein Wisdom used to (still does?) movie reviews in five words or less.

205 When you've lost David Brooks...well, you've lost David Brooks.

206 His family IS actually a decent role model for African-American community

Posted by: Jeff B. at September 20, 2011 02:57 PM (kRtDX)

Yes, every family should take separate planes on vacation.

207 When you've lost T. Coddington Vorhees VII...

208 They're the spineless followers that want to be in with the-"cool kids" the media that is screeching at them daily about how they are a bunch of rubes. There are some that just want to pick the *winner*-which is why the media helpfully polls the electorate to death.

209

Nice piece, Ace.  A hundred right-wing blogs will pick this up and predictably call Brooks a dupe, fool or worse, but you've gone a few layers deeper to what I'd agree is really wrong with Brooks and the whole Noonan/Parker/Frum crowd.  They sound like they live on another planet most of the time because in many ways, they actually do.

Oddly enough, I never felt Buckley was part of that crowd, for all that he epitomized "PBS Conservatism" in his outward manner.  Despite all that gentility, he could still act like bar-brawler when he needed to (as Gore Vidal discovered).

210

>>"Noonan said something so irritating last week that I promised myself that I wouldn't read her again. Now I don't even remember what it was. I do remember my vow. Same thing with Powerline. Forgot what they did to piss me off too. Oh well."

The Powerline guys declared themselves to be Rockerfeller Republicans a couple of years ago.  They thought McCain was a "great man". They're mostly about adjusting their squishy right-liberalism to remain in favor with whatever the current Washington D.C. Republican establishment is thinking at any given moment.  They don't call their blog "Powerline" for nothing.

211 OT from a link at Drudge..

Bibi speaks: "Tonight I am going to New York to speak at the General Assembly, meet with (U.S. President Barack) Obama and with other leaders," Netanyahu said. "I know the reception I received here is much warmer than the one I will receive at the UN, and exactly because of that I think we should go there and present our truthÂ… of a people attacked over and over by those opposed to their very existence. That is the most basic truth."

He's right. He won't receive a warm reception.

212

Can David Brooks step far enough away from his own vantage point -- can he imagine, for a moment -- to realize that most businessmen are more sharply regulated, and are more harassed by the government, than he himself experiences, as part of the very tiny cadre of professional writers?

======

This is a sad truth about the Corporate Media in general.  With the exception of the clergy, there are no other professions with a "leave me the hell alone" clause built right into the Bill of Rights.  So media folks rarely really get it.

To the Corporate Media, government is always that group of folks with a ready press release, some data they can copy and a spokesperson funded, waiting, and ready to feed them the info they need by their deadline.

The Corporate Media does not really understands government the way the rest of us do because they don't ever have to deal with actual bureaucracies in a real sense.

213

 

167.....For a little joy in your day, Fred Smith, head of Fed Ex is having a little fundraiser for Rick. A buddy of mine is flying him up in one of those awful corp jets that he owns. Will report how it went.

---------

Cool. Fed Ex is still a non-union shop, I think. Unlike UPS which is teamsters. ...So it would make sense that Fred Smith would be a Perry fan.

214 He's right. He won't receive a warm reception. Posted by: As If! at September 20, 2011 03:35 PM (piMMO) He should have sent me. I'd set the UN and obama straight

215 #217, heh.

216 Cool. Fed Ex is still a non-union shop, I think. Unlike UPS which is teamsters. ...So it would make sense that Fred Smith would be a Perry fan.

I'm not going to go full transport tard on you but I will point out that FedEx is beginning to lose the union fight, court by court. They are not teamsters, presently, because they are regulated by the FAA, not the FMCSA, as is UPS. Their regulatory setup is is also under scrutiny.

FedEx and UPS are both outstanding American success stories and each is to be admired, but it is unfair to suggest that FedEx is more conservative or freedom loving than is UPS.

217

Brooks is just desperately trying to regain whatever credibility he once had....which was not that much to begin with.

Nice piece though, Mr. Ace.

218 15 where's David Brooks to come on here and insult ace and commenters? I mean we just had that on the other thread

Posted by: AuthorLMendez (Perry Guy) at September 20, 2011 02:36 PM (yAor6)

Didn't see any insults from Treacher.  Snark, however, has long been his shtick.  Easy, there.

219 Didn't see any insults from Treacher.  Snark, however, has long been his shtick.  Easy, there.

He didn't. It was all snark, and very tame at that.

There was nothing disrespectful about it.

220

That's not sap on your chin David.

221 Also, the racial-sex insult?  Pretty fucking offensive, dude.

Posted by: Jeff B. at September 20, 2011 02:57 PM (kRtDX)

Really?  Was it as offensive as that Gawker Sarah Palin-Glen Rice stuff?  Because that was extremely ugly and I don't recall you getting sand in your vag about that.  Maybe you did and I just missed it but I'm taking an educated guess that you didn't.  So fuck you and your faux outrage.

222 When it comes to all things Obama, David Brooks is the Crown Prince of Bukkake Journalism.

223

Shorter David Brooks: "I want to be dry raped in the turd hamper ... but only by a man with a British accent."

224 This is the kind of thing that keeps me coming here first, last and in between all day.  Your analysis of what is really going on, as usual, is spot on. 

225 And he makes 350 K a year, for the privilege.

226 David Brooks is a German software company?

227

Can David Brooks step far enough away from his own vantage point -- can he imagine, for a moment -- to realize that most businessmen are more sharply regulated, and are more harassed by the government, than he himself experiences, as part of the very tiny cadre of professional writers?

Several years ago Brooks wrote a piece on "Red State America" - I think it was for the Atlantic, but can't remember for sure. So, in his research of this alien species, conservatus Americanus, to what remote destination did Mr. Brooks set out? All the way to Pennsylvania. Granted, he chose a red county within PA (I think he's from a fairly rural place in Western PA), but shouldn't some editor have stepped in and said "You kow, here's an idea, how 'bout taking a longer trip and really get out there to a red state"?

And in discussing the work life of RSA, he honed in on some guy who ran the payroll department for some mid-size company. I was suspicious that the guy even existed since it sounded exactly like the kind of job that would have been outsourced a decade or three before (David, there's this company called ADP. Look 'em up). About two pages into an article about the length of an Ace movie review I gave up.

In short: David Brooks is not very sharp.

228 So Brooks is a phony for his incredibly biased and slanted reporting.  Sounds familiar Ace.

229 All the "county rubes" told him so but he's too much of a snob to listen.

Just don't fuck it up next time - yeah,  right.

230 For someone calling himself "Molon Labe" you sure have a metric ton of butthurt. Poor baby. Maybe you should stop posturing as some kind of Digital Spartan.

231 Oh I've got it -- Molon Labia. That's nearer the truth.

232

As a conservative, I must say that I do quite like the cut of this Brooks fellow's jib.

233 159 Good photoshop idea -- Obama's copy of the The Bluffer's Guide to Being President.

I suck at pshop.

Posted by: Clubber Lang at September 20, 2011 03:07 PM (QcFbt)

Paging Johnny E.  Paging Johnny E.

Please pick up the white courtesy  phone.

234 Amen, Ace.  You should be Brooks psychologist.

235 When you've lost Brooks, you've lost the MFM's top echelon's token pseudo-conservative.

Brooks is pro-SSM & pro-abortion. I understand some libertarian arguments for those positions, but you'd have to be Queen Andrew Sullitan to make "conservative" arguments for those.

236 Brooks graduated from Radnor HS, not rural and not western PA. Its a Main Line suburb of Philadelphia.

237

228.... @ As if!

But...don't the Teamsters support Dems pretty much exclusively? ...And Obama?

238 "Tone" is a red herring. What pundits like Brooks should concern themselves with is sophistry. Logical & rhetorical fallacies (straw men, false choices, prevarication, doublespeak, all the bullshit O lards his speeches with), deployed in bad faith, in order to deceive. Bald-faced lies, chronic mendacity. That is a much graver, more dangerous corruption of language & thought than coarseness of "tone", and should be much more offensive to people like Brooks who traffic in words & ideas.

But no. That's why this isn't about discourse per se, even "tone." It's about socio-cultural signifiers, superficial markers of a certain class: Obama talks "like" Brooks and the people in his milieu, in the most superficial sense-- he can sound (to the lazy ear) like a culturally sophisticated, erudite, rhetorically grandiloquent academic. He uses the kinds of metaphors & figures of speech that they're comfortable & familiar with. He picked up one of the emblematic skills you learn in grad school: how to bullshit. How to inflate your speech with hot air.

But the degradation & debasement of political discourse under the Obama administration is the worst I've experienced in my lifetime, the kind of thing that would have Orwell rolling in his grave. Of course the worst sophistry-- the most effectively deceitful-- would come swathed in a dulcet lofty-sounding baritone, as opposed to Elmer Gantry coarse folksiness. For Brooks to fret about "tone" when the integrity of political discourse has been butchered on a daily basis for 3 years now, is unpardonable.

239 Great Canadian conservative: David Warren.

Check him out at David Warren Online. Bookmark his page: he's good for regular reading.

He's in a league with Steyn. And, like Steyn, very pro-American.

240 Sullivan, the pink P-Town-Bob, must throw a whole bunch of hissy fits...

241 people had soft spot for hitler too as long as they were not on the trains.

242 I have been quite impressive with your posts, keep up the great work.

243

Fear not.  Once Obama hears that he's "lost" David Brooks, he'll simply invite Brooksie into the Oval Office for another one-on-one interview.  They'll sit down across from each other, and Obama will slowly uncross and then recross his legs in a deliberate, seductive fashion (think Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct), giving Brooksie a nice, full-frontal view of his impeccable trouser creases.

Brooksie will sigh, then smile dreamily and mumble:  "Ah, how could I ever stay mad at you?"  And the bromance will be back on.

244 If anybody ever waves their left hand with thumb and index finger held together in my face, and I detect even a hint of sap on that hand, I will soooo rip their arm off and beat them with the sappy end.

Also, would somebody with energy to waste go back and look at old videos of The Won and see if there's not a progression of tension in that left hand over the past three years?

People, I sense weakness, yea even blood in the water here. But you'll never take advantage of it. You're all a bunch of pomo bobos.  Except Ace, who is rumored to be sinister.

245 Sokath, his eyes opened ....


but I won't hold my breath. This IS David Brooks, after all.

246 Time to look up declasse in the dictionary. It doesn't mean what you think it means.

247 Exactly! Excellent post.
David Brooks is emblematic of the the problem of an elite sinecured class insulated from the consequences of their thoughts. They are not necessarily stupid, but they are often foolish. They can afford to be.
It's a nice gig once you get it, because once you attain a certain level of name recognition your opinions are sought out and you're almost guaranteed a comfortable income.
A better example of this phenomenon might be Paul Krugman. Whatever his grasp of theoretical economics, he clearly has no common sense.   

248 Still a chance for Ace to replace Brooks.  He's been auditioning for along time.