Today I want to borrow something particularly interesting from No More Mister Nice Blog. Much of our work here, as we head into our ninth year, involves pointing out the flaws in people’s arguments. I still think that’s an important job after all the years. But here, thanks to NMMNB, is an instance in … Continue reading You don’t say
David Brooks, arguing that sequestration has put government spending well below ideal levels for sustainable economic culture: Right now, we are the North Korea of fiscal policy. That’s laying it on pretty thick. Though, given the way Republicans talk about Obama being a socialist, it may be the only way to cut through the nonsense.
A playground loser may save his ego with the following: I didn’t want to win anyway. Here’s Yale Professor David Brooks’ latest version. But last week saw a setback for the forces of maximum freedom. A representative of millions of gays and lesbians went to the Supreme Court and asked the court to help put limits on … Continue reading The old ball and chain
This discussion between Skip Bayless and Mark Cuban is worth watching for two main reasons. In the first place, they have a disagreement over the significance of Bayless's Sports Punditry. Without a lot of argument vocabulary, Cuban accuses Bayless of talking in "generalities." This is not exactly the right term, as Bayless tends, at least according to Cuban, … Continue reading Shallow generalities
There are a couple of people I now consider it completely safe to ignore: George Will, Charles Krauthammer, Michael Gerson, and of course, David Brooks. These are the guys who inspired this whole project. Every now and then, however, it's fun to go back and see what's up with them. Via Alex Parene at Salon, … Continue reading Anomalous regularity
David Brooks has a problem with all you people and your outrage over the rape of young boys. So take a break from feverishly trying assuage your liberal guilt with innumerable OMG SANDUSKEEZ A PERV OMG #librulzrule tweets and witness the real root of your outrage: your own vain refusal to acknowledge the capacity of … Continue reading Inner Witlessness
In service of the idea that arguments infect people like viruses, immuno-suppressed Dennis Prager catches some of that David Brooks virus (see here). Prager, however, manages to get a worse version of Brooksosis acuta: This latest study cited by David Brooks confirms what conservatives have known for a generation: Moral standards have been replaced by feelings. … Continue reading Trust your feelings
Kids today, they suck at moral reasoning. I know this because David Brooks told me so. He read a book by some Domers about it. He takes this as his starting point. He then concludes: In most times and in most places, the group was seen to be the essential moral unit. A shared religion … Continue reading Today’s utes
David Brooks illustrates today that there's a simple, singular reason people employ the oversimplified cause argument scheme: Over the course of my career, I’ve covered a number of policy failures. When the Soviet Union fell, we sent in teams of economists, oblivious to the lack of social trust that marred that society. While invading Iraq, … Continue reading The simple reason there is no simple reason
Double standards are fun. We need them in order to get by in life. All you Irish people, eager for the liberation of Northern Ireland from the hated British (sorry British), might stop to consider that the IRA is a terrorist organization. And just this week, Spike Lee was in Naperville (a Chicago suburb) to … Continue reading Double standards