NYT: David Brooks: "When you see someone talking about crying with

[Princess Turandot]

a war widow you know that's Bush."

I emailed him that he should have added that 'if you see a grieving mother being arrested, you know that's Mrs. Bush."

From:

Sense and Sensibility
By DAVID BROOKS

Published: October 2, 2004

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/02/opinion/02brooks.html


He ends with:

"Nonetheless, I suspect that the reason Bush's approval ratings hover around 50 percent, despite a year of carnage in Iraq, is because of the reason many of us in the commentariat don't like to talk about: in a faithful and moralistic nation, Bush's language has a resonance with people who know that he is not always competent, and who know that he doesn't always dominate every argument, but who can sense a shared cast of mind."

Is he calling the * faithful collectively and inherently stupid?? I'll give him an A+ for cynicism however, (and for coining new words..)

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

1. He tried to sell this slop on the Lehrer Newshour tonight

He claimed he dropped his notes on the floor at one point and they got all mixed up, but he could tell which quotes were from Bush and which from Kerry because Bush spoke to the people and Kerry spoke over them, if I remember what he said correctly. I try not to.

Brooks was shaky and fidgety tonight, not his usual smug mug. It's a special hell where he'll be a-burnin' by and by.

[Catfight]

5. Bush speaks to the unconscious, Kerry speaks to the conscious.

[Ruffhowse]

2. Man, if I hear one more pundit make excuses for Bush's incoherence as

"plain speaking", I will absolutely PUKE!! I can't believe these guys, who as professional communicators should know a thing or two about eloquence and clarity, give Bush a pass with that damn "plain speaking" excuse. In fact, they consider it an asset!! Welcome to Crazytown!

[Skittles]

10. yeah

he speaks to the common man? I DON'T WANT MY PRESIDENT TO BE COMMON. I want my president to be VERY, VERY INTELLIGENT AND ARTICULATE.

[Hello_Kitty]

18. And you know what else?

Not only is Kerry extremely intelligent and knowledgeable, but I find him very easy to understand. Despite what the pundits say, he is quite adept at explaining complex issues in simple language. Yes, it may take longer than a 30 second sound bite, but Americans need to understand what the issues are and Rovian soundbites don't provide that.

[Hotler]

16. I hear you. But, I don't understand...

how Rove and his crew could allow shrub to go out looking bad and being unprepared, it's weird. Almost like something is up. On the other hand what can you expect from a C student at best?

[Mountainman]

3. I like to see some talk about the results of Bush's style

I don't give a damn about how plain speaking Bush is. I care that he is fucking up this country and the world with his stupidity with the consent of the stupid public who think he is quaint!

[Disturbed]

4. When ignorance and stupidity are virtues...

we have Fascism.

In a totalitarian overthrow of a country the first people that are killed are the intellectuals.

[Catfight]

6. You don't get any more plain speaking than blowing up your opposition.

Where Bush lacks the skills to be diplomatic he chooses to bomb. That is why is girls are so fucked up, that family can't communicate.

[tanyev]

7. Damnation!

When you see someone TALKING about it, that's Bush.

When you see someone DOING it, that's Kerry!!!!

edit to add: :grr:

[bogey18]

8. It is just the same old talking points intellectualized

Like Rudy kept saying post debate, Bush speaks to the people, Kerry lectures them. This is the Karl Rove school of thought, intellectual/educated equals elitist/bad, plain spoken/anti-intellectual equals good/in touch with the people.

Isn't it amazing how the majority of people could tell without clues from their masters who won the debate Thursday night?

We are going to keep hearing variations of this bullshit ad nauseam, because Bush is running out of places to hide. People who actually want to have a dialog might as well give it up, because the Republican noise machine is just going to crank this crap up louder and louder. FLIP FLOP FRENCH INTELLECTUAL MARRIED TO A FEREIGNER BLAH BLAH FUCKING BLAH

[SquireJons]

9. I like Brooks

He gives the closest thing there is to a rational spin on republicanism. It's crazy, but I suspect he's a closet libe...

Naaahh. But there's something about him that's unsettling.

Maybe it's from spending to many nights on The News Hour. Ya know, the same thing happened to Gergan, and my god; he even ended up serving in the first Clinton administration (now mercifully neutered and 'sent to the Farm.') Fortunately Condi didn't seem to suffer from exposure to toxic doses of Liberalism. Perhaps women have a natural immunity? More likely it can be attributed to her lacking either a heart or soul. (Exxon owns her soul and she never had a heart)

But back to Mr. Brooks. This isn't the first time he has basically dissed his boss. Remember the last State of the Union address? Brooks thought it was so bad, he felt compelled to rewrite it himself and then discussed his own speech. Not much of a cheerleader. From this last article, check out these comments:

Bush almost never changes his mind.

Bush is great at coming up with clear goals, but is not so great about coming up with the process to get there.

Bush, by contrast, is steadfast and resolute. But his weakness is statecraft. That is the task of relating means to ends, of orchestrating the institutions of government to achieve your desired goals.

Bush sometimes acts as if it's enough for a president to profess his faith. But a coach can't just dream up a game plan. He has to Understand what his specific players can and can't do, and adapt to those realities.

Bush launched a pre-emptive war even though his intelligence community was incompetent.
Note: he said "his intelligence" perhaps meaning the Defense Intelligence Board?

He occupied a country even though he didn't really believe in, or work with, the institutions of government he would need to complete the task.

Now this is a guy I want on my marketing team. "Hey Eskimo's, why the hell would you want this overpriced bulky freezer..."

And lastly he simply states my deepest fear. That the zombies really do outnumber us. I don't really have much faith in the average persons ability to think clearly. So when Brooks says;

"in a faithful and moralistic nation, Bush's language has a resonance with people who know that he is not always competent, and who know that he doesn't always dominate every argument, but who can sense a shared cast of mind."

He is really saying, dumb amerika is more comfortable with an idiot prezidant. Gotta find my passport.

[SquireJons]

19. Here's another nugget from today's editorial

"I know only three (contradictory) things. Every few weeks I hear about a new twist in American strategy or tactics. It always seems
promising, but conditions don't improve."

snip

"Finally, it may not be long before we can realistically set our goals. The coming elections and the battles for the cities will either put Iraq on a path to normalcy or introduce us to some new hell. Yesterday, Rumsfeld said Iraq had "a crack" at being a success. At least he's not overhyping. "



... As long as conservatives keep saying this kind of stuff about their man, I am reasonably confident.

[KoKo]

11. ROFL! if it wasn't so sad! Your reply to him his priceless. The guy

drives me so crazy I haven't watched the Lehrer Newshour since he came on board. What a snake...that's actually demeaning to serpents but he's a slitherer for sure.

[Hand]

12. Good god...

I saw that repellent passage about the war widow more than once. If Chimpy was shedding tears, they were purely reptilian. The rather bizarre detachment he showed while saying it spoke volumes for his utter lack of empathy.

Or in plain English, that was phony as a three-dollar bill. Besides, he fucked it up badly enough that the RNC can't use it in their BS ads anyway. Thpffft!

:evilgrin:

[The Zanti Regent]

13. NAME ONE SERVICEMAN'S FUNERAL BUSH WENT TO, DAVEY!

You can't!

[librechik]

14. yeah, they share a racist, bigoted delusional cast of mind

[BlueEyedSon]

15. Faith vs Reason

The religious fundies have no capability for rational thought and have been sold a bill of goods about born-agin Dubya.

[fabius]

17. My email to Mr. Brooks.

So Dave, who you voting for?

Sometimes one actually needs those four-point or nine-point plans. You know, boring details. Hard to fight a war on faith alone. The Crusaders tried it and it didn't work out so well.

If you recall, the protagonist of the Jane Austen novel Sense and Sensibility was a silly girl given to romantic enthusiasms (Sensibility) and a doomed romance with an unsuitable man. The public's romance with Bush is just as silly, and it is to be hoped, just as ephemeral.

The girl finally calms down, learns about life (Sense) and marries another man. Stable. Boring, Competent. Full of nine-point plans and real-life experience. Happy ending.

Regards,

[Eric J in MN]

23. Very good 9nt)

nt

[The_Casual_Observer]

20. This Brooks idiot is pure comedy

It is a fact that chimp doesn't bother with the people who suffer these loses, in the same way that he doesn't bother to attend church.

[argyl]

21. Isn't she the only family member of an Iraq War casualty he's spoken to?

After a year and a half the timing is only coincidence, I'm sure.

[Eric J in MN]

22. When you see someone who caused a woman to become a war widow,

that's Bush.