Letters to the Editor
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Damn The NYT For Abolishing Times Select...
... now Brooks' radioactive garbage, which is written with the same Mad Libs program that David Broder's columns are, has been leaked into the general populace again.
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Brooks and Broder Light
I am sure us lefty bloggers can cope with the wishes of the high school educated women, the newly discovered voting bloc out in the heartland. Us lefty boggers and our soul mates the DFH are realistic enough that we will end up supporting a candidate that wins the Democratic primary. Us lefty boggers can deal with the realities of political power, of interest groups and assorted seekers of influence and personal advancement. If Brooks and the Weakly Substandard think that Hillary will bomb Iran they are delusional.
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the contemptible david brooks
Mr Greenwald:
I'm glad that you have turned your attention at last to David Brooks. This contemptible little liar/fantasizer/propagandist is long overdue for a trashing. Has there ever been a single instance in which his New York Times ensconced opinions bore a relationship to reality? Oh, if only all the rabid leftists (irony) who read this paper would have stopped buying it when Brooks made his appearance in it.
Regards,
Alan Zelaya
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This was the exact same mentality that in 1968 gave us a choice between Humphrey and Nixon.
And look how well THAT worked out for the country! Both parties were convinced that nominating an anti-war candidate would be suicide. And so both parties severely damaged themselves, and Nixon damn near took the Republican party, and the entire country, over a cliff.
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Insulting the Intelligence of Sheep
I would say that the Congressional Democrats are sheep being meekly led to the slaughter by the Beltway Opinion Elites, except that I hesitate to insult the intelligence of sheep this way.
This behavior could at least be rationalized to some extent prior to the 2006 election. I find it very hard, however, to analyze the results of the 2006 election in any way that lends credence to the notion that the voters did not turn out a single Democratic incumbent and overturned Republican majorities in both Houses of Congress on the basis that they wanted Democrats to cozy up to the scandal-plagued Republican Party Congressional leadership and a President almost as unpopular as Nixon when he resigned in disgrace.
I recognize that this did not stop the Beltway Opinion Elites from picking 2 or 3 new Democratic representatives from places like southern Indiana and western North Carolina, neither area notable for its fealty to the party of FDR, JFK, and Bill Clinton, and proclaiming them illustrative of the victory, but one would think that party professionals would read the election returns with greater acuity.
There are still far too many Democratic senators and representatives who learned little or nothing from 12 long years in the minority. Their opinions remain more in synch with Joe Lieberman's than with the rest of us, DFH's with healthy bank accounts, spreading paunches, receding hair and increasing anger and disbelief at how dysfunctional our republican form of government has become.
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one other "defining feature"
There is also one other “defining feature” among pundits like Brooks that is increasingly common, although it may be unintentional – projection.
Take for example Brooks’ assertion that “Democratic politicians detest the netroots’ self-righteousness and bullying.” Those are precisely the characteristics of the pro-war bloggers, pundits, and radio hosts who, more than anyone, wrap themselves up in “America” and condemn anyone who disagrees with them as “traitors” who support “the terrorists.”
And as for those residing in “cuckoo land” I’ll just point out that Bush just met with crazies like mil-blogger “Uncle Jimbo” and the members of the Free Republic. Those meetings speak for themselves.
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Why?
I have not seen a convincing explanation of why the BPs do this. Anyone care to explain?
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So what do we do about it?
David Brooks makes stuff up. He ignores facts. He says his own personal opinions are those of the majority of Americans, even when they are radically different from the actual opinions of the majority of Americans.
What do we do about it? How do we combat his outright falsehoods?
It is important to remain cognizant of the actual state of affairs. Thanks to Mr. Greenwald for keeping us aware.
But.
This state of affairs is untenable. Something must be done. But what? There comes a time when repeatedly pointing out that these things are false fails to accomplish anything. It is past time for taking the next step.
I don't know what that step is. Does anyone?
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It's an old Peanuts cartoon
Lucy positions the football, Charlie Brown begins the kick-off, and Lucy pulls the ball away, maliciously satisfied when Charlie falls on his rear, humiliated one more time.
We're Charlie Brown, and we've been used and abused by the "sensible" Democratic party leaders. No plan to end the war, impeachment "off the table," gutting FISA, but somehow finding the time to condemn a newspaper ad, created by none other than perhaps the most powerful constituency group in their base. Wow, with friends like these ...
This same Democratic base will probably work very hard, giving money and time to work to get Hillary Clinton elected, and will be the group largely responsible if she is. Then once she is elected, it looks as though we will see the very policies enacted that Brooks speaks about so approvingly.
We think we feel betrayed by the party now? How about one or two years into a Clinton presidency when we're involved in an even bigger conflict in the Middle East, with no end in sight, and this country continues it's slow slide toward becoming a closed, authoritarian society, a development aided and abetted by "centrist" Democrats?
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Beltway People ...
I have not seen a convincing explanation of why the BPs do this. Anyone care to explain?
That is what they do. It must be in the water down there. Maybe Glenn can tell us more about it. What he's learned from being on programs like C-Span and the like. It's obviously a disease that is fatal to our democracy. Is David Brooks that rich(like Little Tommy Friedman)? I don't know, but I am sure some of it can be traced to the fact that most Beltway pundits are very well off. They forget where they came from(those who might have grown up poor). I don't know the rest of the causes.