The American Spectator : The Spectacle Blog : Re: Brooks Birdcaged

Text Size

Jeri Thompson is right. David Brooks' snobbery knows no bounds. Not only that, but he treats facts as malleable assets to be re-massaged by his own eminence without regard to their, well, actual factual-ness. For instance, Brooks writes:" "Before long, South Carolina looms as the crucial point of the race. The contest is effectively between Romney and McCain."

Uh, well, no. Not even close. The South Carolina primary was effectively a contest between McCain and HUCKABEE, not Romney. Here are the results of that primary: McCain 33%, Huckabee 30%, Fred Thompson 16%, Romney 15%. Uh.... that sort of throws Brooks' whole convenient narrative out the window. Fred Thompson, who had stumbled, still was able to relegate Romney to 4th place. Romney did not become a favorite of the talk radio until AFTER McCain became the clear front-runner, and then only in reaction to McCain -- who already by then was close to a lock. But in South Carolina, the race was seen as one where McCain was the anti-conservative and the other three were splitting various portions of the conservative electorate (even though Huckabee really isn't a conservative, and Romney is only partially one, but that's another story). The real story was that McCain, coming off of his big win in New Hampshire, was held to 33 percent while the "conservatives" combined, with the backing of talk radio, garnered 61 percent.

There was a time when Brooks wasn't such a cultural snob. There was a time when he liked Rush Limbaugh enough to include a piece by him in an anthology that Brooks edited. I wish I had a link, but here's the summary: Backward and Upward: The New Conservative Writing, edited with an introduction by David Brooks (Vintage, $ 13). Rush Limbaugh the Falstaff of conservatism? And Brooks did not mean it as an insult; instead, to cite a Wikipedia analysis of Falstaff, it was in the sense that "Falstaff has a unique, and undeniable depth of character. Beneath Falstaff’s contagious panache, he is a Homeric burlesque, an iconoclast, a philosopher, and a paradox."

Brooks was APPROVINGLY reprinting this Limbaugh essay: Why Libverals Fear Me. But that was before David Brooks got high and mighty, hobnobbing with the House Organ of the Left, the NYT. What a hypocrite.

Before I even saw Jeri Thompson's blog entry, I already was in a rage at Brooks' snotty column. She's right: It ought to be birdcaged.

View all comments (18) | Leave a comment

Ken (Old Texican)| 10.2.09 @ 4:01PM

I'm sorry
I don't even understand all I know about "BIRDCAGED".

EITHER SPEAK IN ENGLISH OR SHUT THE HECK UP!

Tim| 10.2.09 @ 4:07PM

Easy old timer. Bird caged, as in the article is fit for lining bird cages.

mt| 10.2.09 @ 4:49PM

Why isn't Huckabee a conservative?

SandyC| 10.4.09 @ 4:06PM

When Huckabee was the Governor of Arkansas, he never saw a tax hike he didn't approve of. He even favored a Democrat in a local race, over the Republican, because the Democrat favored the tax hikes. Conservatives believe in judiciousness with respect to taxes. That's only for starters.

Darcy| 10.2.09 @ 5:07PM

Brooks has his facts wrong about South Carolina, but it's also not true that talk radio only started backing Romney after McCain was the clear front runner. Romney was pretty clearly the favorite of talk radio already by the time the Romney-Huckabee battle was going on in Iowa (which is why, early on, the pro-Romney sentiment on talk radio led more to anti-Huckabee talk than anti-McCain talk). Also, the big story in SC was not McCain getting only 33%. The big story was McCain beating Huckabee, which is the only result that really mattered there. Thompson was not part of a conservative group with Huckabee and Romney against McCain. Thompson was far closer to McCain than to Huckabee, and many speculated at the time that Thompson stayed in the race through South Carolina partially to take votes from Huckaebee and throw the state to McCain, since it was clear from polls that Thompson had no shot at winning anything then. That said, Brooks is still wrong in his argument about talk radio: the fact that Romney failed to beat either Huckabee or McCain despite talk radio support says more about Romney's own limitations as a candidate than it does about the talk radio.

SandyC| 10.4.09 @ 4:18PM

Darcy- Your facts are not correct. The onlt talk radio host I remember seeming to favor Romney was Hannity. Rush, Beck and Levin among others kept their personal favorites to themselves. Limbaugh had no time for McCain from all of his past reaching across the aisle antics, his co-sponsoring of the immigration bill with Kenned, his co-sponsoring of campaign finance reform legislation, which robbed many of free speech, and on and on. The only time I remember Limbaugh ever showing any favoritism at all was when he said that Fred Thompson was the only conservative on the debate stage the night before. To say that Thompson was closer to McCain is ludicrous. That most likely comes from the fact that Thompson endorsed McCain, and it wasn't until quite awhile after he dropped out. To say that Thompson didn't have any chance when the primaries moved to SC is also stretching the facts to suit your own personal views, just as your statement of Thompson staying in to take votes away from Huckabee. In case you haven't looked at Huckabees record from Arkansas, I suggest you do some research before you jump back on his bandwagon yet again. Then again, don't bother, he doesn't have a snowball's chance of going anywhere in 2012, he once again is on the bottom of fundraising, despite his coninued preaching on his TV show.

Daisy| 10.2.09 @ 5:57PM

C'mon, Quin--Brooks just 'evolved' like a lot of good RINOs: Another weak repub weather-vane spinning in the political winds.

Yawn.

Chris | 10.2.09 @ 6:24PM

Brooks is not a cultural snob for criticizing polarizing bullying that embodies the irresponsible vitriol spit out by conservative media celebrities like Limbaugh and Beck. His articles lament the lack of responsibility and civility apparent in modern society, and the long-term effects of short-term political grandstanding. Limbaugh's response is that Brooks is jealous, which is often his response to criticism. Others have called Brooks a latte-drinking sissy. This is the kind of logic used by elementary bullies who haven't grown old enough to realize the smart kid, in the end, wins.

NO RINOS| 10.2.09 @ 7:31PM

No, dummy--the weak weenie kid always gets his azz kicked; something with which you are well acquainted, I'm sure. Loser.

If you don't stand for something, you stand for nothing at all.

Nolann Ryann| 10.2.09 @ 8:34PM

Oh yeah the Bullying conservative right wing radio hosts. Good lord you dunces just recycle the same talking points at every occasion. I've gotta agree with NO RINOS, I'm sure you surrendered your milk money on a regular basis.

g6loq| 10.2.09 @ 6:51PM

... This is the kind of logic used by elementary bullies who haven't grown old enough to realize the smart kid, in the end, wins...
Thus, over the long run conservatives prevail based on their ideas. As to bullying, lets looks at concentration camps .... Democ.rats, a pox on our land. Slavery, Jim Crow, KKK, race discrimination ...

A Guy| 10.2.09 @ 10:33PM

October, 2009, and we're rehashing missed 2008 primary predictions? Good Lord, what has political commentary come to? Honestly, do we not have a whole slew of actual topics to discuss? Way to keep it relevant, Quin

Joe Carter| 10.3.09 @ 12:45AM

mt: Why isn't Huckabee a conservative?

Because he had the audacity to allow the legislature (controlled by Democrats) to raise the sales tax 1 cent in order to balance the budget.

Seriously.

Quinn's problem with Huckabee is that the AK governor is not a "Club for Growth Conservative"- the type that think tax cuts solve everything (even budget deficits).

Summer| 10.3.09 @ 1:08AM

I think we're real tired of big spenders--and we're broke. There's no money left, people!!

Somebody better start showing some fiscal restraint sometime.

Aaron| 10.3.09 @ 10:39AM

"AK Governor" ?

Yosemeti Sam| 10.3.09 @ 11:29AM

What's that expression about lying down
with dogs and getting up with fleas?

Only a metaphor - no offense to mans' best
friend.

Bob Belvedere| 10.3.09 @ 3:59PM

Quoted from and linked to at:
COME ON BABY, LET'S DO THE FISK

jojo| 1.12.10 @ 7:34AM

Theadidas shoes outlet real story was that McCain, coming off of his big win in New Hampshire, was henike outletld to 33 percent while the "conservatives" combined, with the backing of talk radio, garnered 61 percent.