I always knew David Brooks was an asshole ....

but really i am just laughing at how bad and unwieldy and ridiculous the set-up is

this guy is supposed to be a writer

i say this every time david brooks comes up but the amazing thing about him imo is that he is clearly not very bright! and not just in a "i never agree with this guy" way--he is a shallow and lousy critical thinker!

i know i always feel like his entire career is trolling America. this guy has a column in the nyt?

lol @ the concept of foreign tourists approaching david brooks and asking “David, you have so many different kinds of inequality in your country. How can I tell which are socially acceptable and which are not?”

i mean obvs this never happened, guy should be fired for making stupid things up

it's kind of some sad self-fanfic where he imagines he is known enough to be instantly recognized by "foreign tourists"

it fits w/ my image of him as thomas friedman's little brother

In centuries past, people built moral systems that acknowledged this weakness. These systems emphasized our sinfulness. They reminded people of the evil within themselves. Life was seen as an inner struggle against the selfish forces inside. These vocabularies made people aware of how their weaknesses manifested themselves and how to exercise discipline over them. These systems gave people categories with which to process savagery and scripts to follow when they confronted it. They helped people make moral judgments and hold people responsible amidst our frailties.

http://www.corwith-wesley.k12.ia.us/WebPage09/Scott/ArchieEdith.jpg

that sentiment is so stupid i cannot even stand it

the insidious thing about him is that bland geniality. especially on t.v. you can be lulled (to sleep) into thinking that he is being really reasonable and commonsensical until you wake up and actually listen and realize that he's a complete idiot. its easier to see in print obviously. i'm sure there are plenty of non-repubs who watch him on pbs and think that he's the kindler gentler conservative thst they kinda agree with sometimes. cuz in their heart of hearts they do think that people should just work harder and pull themselves up by their bootstraps and all that. he's still on pbs right? #nocablejustnetflix

"kinder"

Yeah, Brooks is right, you'd never see that kind of white-washing and looking the other way in an organization based on traditional religious values.

xxp

moral systems that emphasize our sinfulness like, for example, catholicism

he typically softens his conservatism using the shittiest of fluff psychology out there which makes it even more unappealing to me.

he has a point though. if i saw david brooks being beaten on a street in an american neighborhood i would do nothing to intervene.

^^^

You guys aren't being honest with yourselves. Everyone knows that if they saw David Brooks being beaten they'd join in.

how has mark shields never once just slapped the hell out of david brooks on air

all thats enough from you for now son

this is something i would like to see

would pay $$ to watch brooks grab mark shield's monstrous jowls and swing from them like a pundit monkey

hey now

what happens when pundits stop being polite and GET REAL

Online you can find videos of savage beatings, with dozens of people watching blandly.

mark shield's monstrous jowls

i can't watch this guy anymore which is all for the best anyway

david brooks is so dumb he misuses simple adverbs.

I wonder what other kinds of videos david brooks can find online

No results found for "David Brooks beaten" youtube.

:(

pretty sure david brooks is our nation's highest authority on giving bland assent to horrible moral outrages

why can't people just be NICE? why can't football just be football like it was in my day with the sadie hawkins day dance right around the corner and the gang playing grabass on the quad and the frat brothers wielding their paddles with a gentle urgency...

god he looks like an unholy combination of pedant and pedo

https://www.nytexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/David-Brooks.jpeg

This fucking guy:

America is creative because of its moral materialism — when social values and economic ambitions get down in the mosh pit and dance. Santorum is in the fray.

Ew

"But having said all that, I’m delighted that Santorum is making a splash"

http://images.pictureshunt.com/pics/t/the_fray-4545.jpg

David Brooks in a mosh pit: clutching his glasses close to his chest in a loose fist, being knocked around, cursing with frustration, and on the verge of tears

Main Street Republicans like Romney usually beat social conservatives like Santorum because there are just so many more of them in the Republican electorate.

hmmm.

i mean, surely Romney will beat Santorum, but *are* they more "Main Street" dudes (what the fuck ever that means at this point) than there are "social conservatives" in the GOP?

Vaguely pithy line:

I sometimes wonder if the Republican Party has become the receding roar of white America as it pines for a way of life that will never return.

Vaguely disturbing note:

I brought my 12-year-old son on this latest trip. My rule is that if a candidate can’t relate well to a 12-year-old, they’ll never win a general election. He approached all the candidates, and they were all wonderful except Gingrich. But that wasn’t Gingrich’s fault. My son, whose heroes include John Boehner and Tupac Shakur, picked an argument about gay marriage.

I can't understand ANYONE naming John Frickin' Boehner as a hero. I don't care how old you are.

I can't understand anyone naming a politician as a hero, and my comment isn't just snark.

Eh, hero worship is where you find it, and why not politics. I would have thought one of the most singularly uncharismatic and barely-in-control-of-events Speakers of recent years would not rank with that status, though.

Is Boehner appropriate for 12 year olds?!?

well, santorum is appropriate for consenting adults

I don't even understand what "moral materialism" is?

other heroes of David Brooks, Jr: Haley Barbour and Nas

David Brooks's own heroes as a child: James Watt and Bootsy Collins

"Haley Barbour and Nas"

Hearing this to the rhythm of the "Jay, Biggie and Nas" line in "Where I'm From"

I sometimes wonder if the Republican Party has become the receding roar of white America as it pines for a way of life that will never return.

oh noes

"sometimes" he "wonders" IF ? hello

tbf it's only in his darkest moments of abject terror

Democrats, meanwhile, have shifted their emphasis from lifting up the poor to pounding down the rich. Democratic candidates no longer emphasize early childhood education and community-building. Instead they embrace the pseudo-populist Occupy Wall Street hokum — the opiate of the educated classes.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/24/opinion/brooks-free-market-socialism-.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha212

Oy veh