Once upon a time, David Brooks Fisking Day was celebrated here every Tuesday. The New York Times‘ token “conservative” column was so predictably wrong about nearly everything — his political instincts are so bad — that I had to lash him around every week just to relieve my system of the excess bile generated by reading his pretentious bulls–t. At least twice, circa 2007-2008, I walked out of events where Brooks spoke; the experience of being in the same room with him was intolerable. Once, a fews years ago, I found myself in a discussion with Jonah Goldberg as to which New York Times columnist was worse, David Brooks or Thomas Friedman. Goldberg insisted Friedman was worse than Brooks, and I suppose it’s a matter of opinion, but in my opinion, Goldberg is wrong. Friedman may be demonic, but David Brooks is Satan.
“Brooks should never be argued with — he should be mocked, and often, and by someone who knows how.”
Why do I hate David Brooks so much? Because I am a populist, a Jacksonian who believes that the American people deserve a government that serves their interests, and not the interests of a decadent elite. All elites eventually become decadent and corrupt. This is what history teaches, and our country is being ruined by the sort of people David Brooks rubs elbows with during his annual pilgrimages to Davos, deracinated cosmopolitans with no loyalty to anything, devoted to no principle except the increase of their own wealth, status and power. The comprehensive wrongness of David Brooks eventually became so glaringly apparent — about the time he expressed his admiration of Barack Obama’s pants creases — that everyone realized he is Satan. Once his diabolical wrongness was universally acknowledged, everybody with a blog got in on the Brooks-fisking game, and I lost interest in the sport. Nowadays, it takes a really spectacular exercise in Brooksian douchebaggery to get my attention, and he delivered such a specimen earlier this week:
Donald Trump now looks set to be the Republican presidential nominee. So for those of us appalled by this prospect — what are we supposed to do?
Well, not what the leaders of the Republican Party are doing. They’re going down meekly and hoping for a quiet convention. They seem blithely unaware that this is a Joe McCarthy moment. People will be judged by where they stood at this time. Those who walked with Trump will be tainted forever after for the degradation of standards and the general election slaughter. . . .
OK, let me interrupt this to make an important announcement. I hadn’t been planning to do this, but I now officially endorse Donald Trump.
If David Brooks hates Donald Trump, then it is my duty as a patriotic American to love Donald Trump. And if David Brooks says the fall election will be a “slaughter” for Republicans, this means Trump will win. And now let’s return to the total wrongness of David Brooks:
The suicide rate has surged to a 30-year high — a sure sign of rampant social isolation. . . .
(No, the high suicide rate is caused by the existential despair of Americans who understand that Barack Obama has destroyed their country.)
A record number of Americans believe the American dream is out of reach. And for millennials, social trust is at historic lows.
Trump’s success grew out of that pain, but he is not the right response to it. The job for the rest of us is to figure out the right response. . . .
(Who is “the rest of us,” Mr. Brooks? Clueless douchebags on Pinch Sulzberger’s payroll? The people you hang out with in Davos?)
I was surprised by Trump’s success because I’ve slipped into a bad pattern, spending large chunks of my life in the bourgeois strata — in professional circles with people with similar status and demographics to my own.
(Which is to say, clueless douchebags.)
It takes an act of will to rip yourself out of that and go where you feel least comfortable. But this column is going to try to do that over the next months and years. We all have some responsibility to do one activity that leaps across the chasms of segmentation that afflict this country. . . .
Up until now, America’s story has been some version of the rags-to-riches story, the lone individual who rises from the bottom through pluck and work. But that story isn’t working for people anymore, especially for people who think the system is rigged. . . .
We’ll probably need a new definition of masculinity, too. There are many groups in society who have lost an empire but not yet found a role. Men are the largest of those groups. The traditional masculine ideal isn’t working anymore. It leads to high dropout rates, high incarceration rates, low labor force participation rates. This is an economy that rewards emotional connection and verbal expressiveness. Everywhere you see men imprisoned by the old reticent, stoical ideal.
You can read the rest, but I must warn you that reading David Brooks columns can lead to existential despair and suicide. Honestly, I’d rather read Third Wave feminist theory textbooks. At least feminists are honest about hating men, hating America, hating God and everything else.
It's as if @NYTDavidBrooks wakes up every morning and asks himself, "What more can I do to deserve the hatred of every decent American?"
— FreeStacy (@Not_RSMcCain) May 5, 2016
What is so despicable about David Brooks is his condescending attitude, his insuperable conviction that he is better than the rest of us, more intelligent and sensitive — all that “emotional connection and verbal expression,” you see. And as he departs on his tour of the American hinterlands, ripping himself out of the “bourgeois strata” to leap across “the chasms of segmentation,” I hope David Brooks gets what he deserves, namely to be beaten to a bloody pulp by a tattooed redneck.
This would be a triumph of social justice, really and it’s not hard to imagine how it would happen, either. Probably at a Waffle House.
“Hey, buddy, you look kinda familiar,” says the truck driver, while he’s paying at the cash register. “Don’t I know you from somewhere?”
“You’ve probably seen me on Meet the Press or PBS Newshour,” says Brooks, who has been sitting at the counter, studying the menu and wondering why there’s no espresso. “My name’s David Brooks.”
“Well, doggone it, I thought so,” laughs the trucker. “I was just thinking to myself, that fellow looks like he writes for New York Times.”
“Thanks,” says Brooks, taking this as a compliment.
“So I guess you’re out here covering the election?” asks the trucker.
“No, actually, I’ve decided to leap across the chasms of segmentation that afflict this country, to mingle with the common folks in an effort to discover why men are imprisoned by a stoical ideal.”
“Oh, really?” says the trucker. And after listening patiently to Brooks prattle on about his ideas, the trucker will gesture toward the parking lot. “You ought to come take a look at my truck. It’s a fine one.”
After he accepts this invitation, David Brooks will probably be surprised to discover that his tour of the parking lot includes an old-fashioned stoical ass-whupping, and maybe the trucker will be prosecuted for assault, but really, who could pass up such an opportunity?
Oh, there’s a reason I always walked out a room whenever David Brooks walked in. Restraining my Jacksonian populist urges requires conscious effort sometimes, and it’s best not to risk an assault charge.
Look what he’s made me do here. I’ve endorsed Trump for pure spite. The worst thing David Brooks can imagine is Donald Trump winning the Republican nomination, but what would be worse for Brooks — what he cannot even imagine — is for Donald Trump to be elected president.
Let us rekindle our Jacksonian spirit, America. Let us ignore the advice of David Brooks and ask ourselves, “What would Old Hickory do?”
If we cannot punch David Brooks in the nose — and I apologize to my readers for having passed up the chance when I had it — then what can we do to fulfill our duty to our children and to our nation’s future? How can we avenge the numerous insults that David Brooks has heaped upon us? How can we escape the condemnation of future generations if, knowing that we had a moral obligation to do the exact opposite of whatever David Brooks said we should do, we did not do it? Our honor is at stake, you see.
David Brooks, a foul stain on the history of American journalism, has thrown down the gauntlet and challenged us to prove him wrong. He has predicted “general election slaughter” for Republicans as a consequence of Donald Trump winning the GOP primary campaign, and declared: “People will be judged by where they stood at this time.” Will people stand with David Brooks? Will people join this supercilious punk in his determination to see Hillary Clinton elected? God forbid!
However crazy it seems, we cannot say it is impossible for Donald Trump to be elected president, and if it is possible to elect Trump, then we are obliged to do all we can to make this happen, if only because a victory for Donald Trump would be a defeat for David Brooks.
DONALD TRUMP FOR PRESIDENT
If @nytdavidbrooks hates him so much,
he will probably be the best president ever!#tcot— FreeStacy (@Not_RSMcCain) May 5, 2016
Don’t blame me for this. Blame David Brooks. And, also, Satan.
But I repeat myself.
“people with IQs above room temperature”
Objection! Facts not in evidence.
Cute, but even a broken clock is right twice a day. Unless it’s digital…when those break, they don’t really tell you anything.
Anyway, the point is that even the execrable Brooks might be right about a Trump down ticket massacre. Also, I’m not in the habit of choosing my presidents out of spite.
I take this to mean that the voters’ motives are kinda in the right direction (difficult to know if they want justice or revenge, and there’s a big difference), but they don’t understand how to enact their agenda. And they wouldn’t: they don’t work in government. What do they know about the levers of power?
They are electing Trump to do *something*, but I don’t think he’ll do what they think he’ll do, and it’ll only lead to more frustration. Especially if he ends up getting Hillary elected in a landslide instead.
The people are getting the government they deserve. I don’t mean that in a *Brookesian* way, but if the voters can’t see that Trump results in Hillary, then they need some sense beaten into them. The only way to do that is with an embarrassing ass kicking, revealing to them that they don’t know what the shit they’re talking about.
Then, maybe they’ll pay more attention in between elections.
…but probably not.
I find that a little insulting, honestly. Mormons aren’t fukking aliens, they’re AMERICANS.
They are simply more moral than average. No wonder they dislike Trump.
I did laugh.
You never “get over” principles. When you do, you end up with the Nuremberg trials.
Your argument rests on Trump’s not having a track record.
By that logic, Hitler in 1932 is a better choice than Churchill in 1956.
So what you’re saying is that there’s a possibility that Trump is worse.
“In what way are we supposed to fear that Trump will be worse than Hillary?”
Trump has no apparent problems with a nuclear arms race in the FUKKING MIDDLE EAST.
Hillary is a criminal, but nukes in the ME is insane. It is the most grossly irresponsible thing I’ve ever heard of.
“Mr. [Chavez] cannot in any way be worse than what we have now.”
Funny, that’s just what they said in Venezuela 15 years ago. Now they have 720% inflation, empty store shelves and rolling blackouts.
It can ALWAYS be worse.
The people should’ve thought of that before they nominated him. We told them we wouldn’t vote for Trump; maybe they thought we were joking.
Gary Johnson: a plan so crazy, it might just work! (but not really)
IMO, the GOPe shilled for Trump from the moment Rubio dropped out. That was Katschit’s entire rationale.
If true, then the system didn’t really fail us, it was intentionally rigged.
I don’t think the problem with the GOP is too many conservatives.
BIRTHER!!!
I made this same argument months ago on Breitbart to Trumpkins wishcasting of Cruz as VP (so it would remove the last obstacle to Trump’s ascension).
It didn’t even faze them.
They are cultists.
I’d rather have Kang or Kodos than either the Orange Bozo or the Benghazi Killer.
“Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard.” — H. L. Mencken
Trumpbots are immune to reason and facts. It’s one of many, many reasons I’m #NeverTrump.
Trump has not the slightest power to decapitate the left. Nor the right, for that matter.
If he loses, bad things happen.
If he wins, he will need the GOPe to get anything done. They will become his best friends.
The most he can do is disrupt the GOP for a cycle or two, though that could be enough to cause a lot of damage.
“…if he chooses to surround himself with a bunch of Constitutional conservatives.”
Except there’s not the slightest evidence that he’s surrounding himself with the “best people” now. His campaign operation is still a joke compared to Cruz. It also doesn’t match my understanding of his personality.
Trump is a petty narcissist, like Obama. He won’t be taking advice from anyone who could upstage him.
Zoe Quinn used to be a stripper, so yeah. I can imagine that.
Heres a tip, if you want to appear grouchy and ready to kill at the drop of a hat, boots one size too small and nylon underwear.
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I always anticipate leftist street violence during the political cycle; but this time around, the empiricist in me is actually looking forward to it.
Trump vs ANSWER/IAC/WWP will be veeeerry interesting.
Too many in the primary with only one squish thus diluting the conservative vote and, for instance, giving Romney the nomination.
Neither Hillary or Obama have a problem with a Mideast arms race, nuclear or other wise, the deal with Iran guarantees it. So the example fails, thanks for playing.
We must learn to smile through catastrophe.
That’s Mafia. Kapo is the traitor-guard.
Johnson is a better choice, yes, but he has no chance. That’s not from Column A or Column B, that’s a different restaurant on the next street.
At this point, the only option is maybe controlling where the firebreak is.
It’s going to get much worse before it gets better. There’s still a decent chance the Republic will survive.
It seems you endorse Trump out of “The enemy of my enemy is my friend” school of thought. I think that typically leads to long term bad consequences.
Agree with you there. In fact, it seems like he’s deliberately surrounding himself with incompetent yes men. Unless his staff tries to warn him but he doesn’t listen? I mean, paraphrasing him bevause I’m too lazy to go find the exact quote, but he did say that he could stand on fifth avenue and shoot someone with losing a single vote, which does appear to be the case.
I used to have a Philippino on my Survey crew when I worked at TNDOT, so I have a passing interest in the political scene in the Philippines (Marcos had jailed him for being present at a protest).
It seems the PI is on their way to getting their version of Trump, if things go the way the polls are pointing. It seems Duterte made deals with communist rebels, and may have had one or more death squads to take care of other criminals, and seems to be talking the same nationally. There is serious talk of having him removed by the military if he is elected.
Times are rather interesting and they promise to get interestinger before it’s over.
I think I made this analogy here the other day, but it still holds.
When you’re dressing a toddler, you present him with two choices of clothes (both acceptable to you, the parent), and allow him to “choose”. That’s what we’ve got going here: two choices acceptable to the elite and presented to us so that we can stupidly and falsely believe we’re actually choosing.
This is why we had to say goodbye to Cruz, and maybe possibly, Rubio. And Kasich has just been an elitist village idiot all along, kept around strictly for lolz. Moreover, Sanders was the corresponding village idiot from the Dem side, and I’ll bet that the elite were even more surprised than me that he’s gathered as much support as he has. Which is irrelevent, because Bernie is the clownish toddler shorts that won’t be on the selection short list in the end (possibly there only to make Hillary seem more acceptable.)
I’ve said it all along: the fix is in for Cankles this year, and has been since 2008. We KNOW this is the case, because she has committed enough treason in the intervening years (and before that, too) that she ought to have been sentenced to die in federal prison, but yet…crickets. I’d hoped for Cruz, but knew in my heart that it wasn’t going to happen.
Indeed, Isaiah 17 absolutely guarantees at least one nuke will be unleashed in the ME, destroying Damascus forever in the process.
The “deal” with Iran is the elitist equivalent of handing a baggie of uncut H and a syringe to an addict. So not only does the deal guarantee “nucular” war (Dubya’s word, not mine!), the ultimate purpose of said war is the decimation and plundering of Israel (and possibly full elitist control over all ME oil resources, too), a plan that doesn’t quite work out the way they want it to.
Hey! Here’s something we can agree on.
Sad, isn’t it, that it’s come to this? But history suggests that it was going to happen sooner or later. I was just hoping that I wasn’t going to see it.
Me, too. I expect a lot of (seemingly) really bad stuff within the next 4 years. We can’t say we haven’t gotten several thousand years’ warning though.
But I think we might disagree on how it will go down. We know there’s going to be 10 kingdoms, and the North American union will logically be one of them. (I can’t see total destruction of the US, with Canada of one side of the crater, and Mexico on the other.) What I CAN see is a ginormous banana republic, perhaps akin to a big ol’ Venezuela, presided over by an aging hag who fancies herself a modern day Catherine the Great. Or Mussolini-ette. Sitting back like a giant blood-sucking tick, watching the people kill and eat each other, while UN troops rape and pillage indiscriminately. She’ll definitely fiddle while Rome burns.
I take this to mean that the voters’ motives are kinda in the right direction (difficult to know if they want justice or revenge, and there’s a big difference), but they don’t understand how to enact their agenda.
Yeah, I think that’s a fair assessment. The question then becomes, “why don’t they know how to enact their agenda.” The answer to that can fill volumes, beginning with a complete ignorance of the subject we used to call “civics,” followed by an entrenched bureaucracy which is wholly unaccountable to the people it (nominally) serves regardless of who has the majority in Congress or sits in the Oval Office. Toss in a political class which is more concerned about self-preservation than protecting the Founders’ legacy, and here we are.
This current state of affairs which has been a long time in the making does not bode well for the continued existence of our republic. Either there will be external pressures which cause our destruction or the internal anger will become so great that the lid blows off as a result of the pent up frustration and unheeded desires of the electorate.
Such things have happened countless times in human political history, but no one ever said the political class is particularly adept at applying the lessons of the past.
With respect, folks, it’s not over just yet.
How do you know what freedom is worth unless you’re willing to fight for it?
All you know is that the institutions you expected to keep you safe can’t do the job. The Man on the White Horse is a myth you can’t afford anymore.
So what will you choose now?
The Man on the White Horse is a myth you can’t afford anymore.
Back in 2008, I was having a discussion with a friend who was in full, school-girl, Bobby Sherman* swoon over BHO. I commented that I neither needed nor wanted a president who “inspires” me. I wanted a Cinncinatus; someone boring like Calvin Coolidge, who would do a decent job, leave me otherwise alone and get the hell out, when he’s done.
Sadly, too many people want a king. They profess a desire for freedom, but what they really want is to abrogate all personal responsibility and return to the heady days of being a ten year old without any worries whatsoever.
It will not happen. It has never happened. Sadly, too few people realize that simple historical fact.
Yep. KYFHO, now and forever.
http://paganvigil.com/miPictures/pvgadsden_1.jpg
I’m just going to go with the fact that trump said “lying ted” more than once. trump is a turd in the American punch bowl
Being ill informed and not quoting an unemployment number correctly is not a lie. Just shows that he’s rather dim.
So, you want to be the equivalent of a yellow dog democrat?
She or he can be whatever sex they feel like on any given day.
“I just wish that Trump supporters could have the slightest degree of respect for anyone who doesn’t find him acceptable”
Yep, I’m getting tired of being called a “sore loser” by the child like fools that have fallen for a 3rd party crackpot candidate.
“…a Jacksonian who believes that the American people deserve a government
that serves their interests, and not the interests of a decadent elite.”
Excuse me, before you shut off the microphone, I am PAYING for this government (microphone), Mr. McCain!
In fairness to Mr. Jackson, those not deemed to be
“American” people, are to be deemed “others”.
Signed, The so-called “decadent”, self-identified elite.