RIP David Brooks

Can't be a coincidence that his name is *this* close to douche-hat: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/19/opinion/sunday/douthat-the-safe-legal-rare-illusion.html

First they went after the Rockefeller Republicans, but I was not a Rockefeller Republican. Then they went after the compassionate conservatives, but I was not a compassionate conservative. Then they went after the mainstream conservatives, and there was no one left to speak for me.

Got pretty bummed because he's scheduled to speak at a conference I'll be attending next month, which meant I would have had to cover his talk for our org's magazine. Was dreading that. But turns out he's speaking at a luncheon during the conference, so I think I'm free of that burden!

does your org have a rule against reporting on luncheons?

one more liberal wanting a free ride!

David Brooks making right-wingers angry:

http://www.redstate.com/erick/2012/02/28/is-david-brooks-comparing-the-tea-party-to-nazis/

I would also point out that the Rockefeller Republicans were losers and compassionate conservatism put us on the brink of financial ruin

the last half of the sentence OTM

Similar statements were made about Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, George W. Bush, and John McCain.

maybe reagan but otherwise, no, child

well ok W in 04 too

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/is-david-brooks-teaching-humility-at-yale-the-most-pretentious-moment-in-history-20121219

https://docs.google.com/document/d/14zUrsmH6eO_i-arEN0zf1LwFID7SoyxkgAo36NUiHp0/pub

The strategies covered here start from a similar premise—that human beings are blessed with many talents but are also burdened by sinfulness, ignorance and weakness, which is why I call on both parties for common sense solutions to our problems, the most notable of which is a cat o' nine tails.

We will pay special attention to those who attended elite prep schools and universities.

u don't say

someone please call his office phone

Modern societies have become economically and socially more unequal. We will explore status competition and the desire for social distinction—executives who feel unabashed when asking for lavish salaries. We will ask whether it is proper to put a Yale window sticker on the back of your car. We will look at codes of social modesty and ask whether modest people make better business leaders

"Students will be asked to grapple with the indictment of their generation made by Christian Smith, Alasdair Macintyre and Jean Twenge."

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/01/david-brooks-now-totally-pathological.html

More fun from Chait

Brooks rose into prominence as a moderate Republican and has enjoyed immense success and prestige as a result. Psychologically, he could hurl himself from a moving car more easily than he could reject Republicanism, no matter how batshit crazy the party becomes.

same with Frum at this point, imo. i realize he can't begin to approach the loathsomeness of Brooks, but his blog basically serves to titillate liberals (who the fuck else pays attention to him?) and provoke a chorus of 'i-told-you-so's'

except for his recent weird preoccupation with the evils of zomg marihuana and the fact that he can't get his mouth off Israel's dick for 5 seconds, i really don't understand how he's still able to call himself a Republican with a straight face.

i suppose renouncing Republicanism would damage his brand, his blog traffic would suffer and he wouldn't be one of cable news' 4 go-to guys who are "trying to save the party"

(re Frum on pot and Israel: i realize that neither of these positions would preclude one from being a card-carrying Dem)

I mind Frum far less than Brooks. At least Frum gives the impression that he has groggily awakened from a nightmare.

lol at "the chinese have no word for nerd"

clean hit:

David Brooks has an unparalleled ability to shape an intellectually interesting idea into the rhetorical arc of an 800-word op-ed piece. The trouble is, a central part of his genius is choosing the little factoids that perfectly illustrate his points. No doubt he's happy enough to use a true fact if the right one comes to hand, but whenever I've checked, the details have turned out to be somewhere between mischaracterized and invented.

Is it just me or is there a kind of critical mass of media/internet people piling on him now? I find the timing strange -- I didn't think his latest column was particularly more noteworthy than a lot of his other drivel.

I was a little bemused too when he was EVERYWHERE in my twitter feed night before last. I checked the brooks threads on here and saw only vague lol refs-- I'l be god damned if I'm giving that little psycho a click so I actually still haven't read the column in q.

h8 him so much

I think he may have struck a nerve with a lot of bloggers with that "thought leader" piece, since it seems to be satirizing a certain kind of aspiring intellectual not too dissimilar to many bloggers themselves. Yglesias was particularly harsh:

http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2013/12/17/david_brooks_scant_self_awareness_divorced_pundit_suddenly_not_so_worried.html

Basically accuses him of hypocrisy for his recent divorce.

Pareene: http://www.salon.com/2013/12/18/hack_list_no_4_david_brooks/

He's overdue for a flogging, I just don't know why it's happening now.

i wouldn't flog him with my little brother's lash

o nate otm

have remained blissfully ignorant of this whole kerfuffle so a little disappointed at the reasons for this thread revive

Don't worry guys, with any luck Iraq will turn out like Rwanda!

too late to neglect it into genocide

Equating sunnis/shiites w hutsis/tutus is next level idiocy

Next level idiocy is just what we've come to expect from Mr. Brooks. The NYT demands nothing but the best from their columnists.

"America was governed best when it was governed by a porous, self-conscious and responsible elite."

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/23/opinion/david-brooks-snap-out-of-it.html?_r=0

http://www.civil-twilight.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/gal_sweat_president_bush.jpg

someone put an icepick in this jackass

is it bad that when I saw this thread in the new answers page my first thought was "oh thank god"?

fucking thread title gets me EVERY TIME, I perk right up

fuck he didn't die :(

must resist urge to deconstruct this odious "porous elite" concept, not worth the effort

i for one welcome our new sponge overlords

i guess i'd hafta read the column to find out if his point is that we're now governed by a sealed-off, unconscious and irresponsible elite.

not gonna

love the equating of Ted Cruz with Karl Marx.

I’ve been living in and visiting New York for almost a half-century now. One thought occurs as I walk around these days: The city has never been better.

"There has never been a time when there were so many interesting places to visit, shop and eat, when the rivers and the parks were so beautiful, when there were so many vibrant neighborhoods across all boroughs"

What's the over on how many times in the past year Brooks has set foot in Staten Island, the Bronx, or Queens? (Airport, Yankees, and Mets don't count.)

"Second, the elite we do have has to acknowledge that privilege imposes duties. Wealthy people have an obligation to try to follow a code of seemliness."

This guy...

"After you shit on the poor, be sure to give them a towel to wipe your ass"