In a lot ways the pseudo-reasonable ramblings of David Brooks inspired our work here. It's a pleasure, then, to see our analysis echoed by others: There is no pleasure for the pundit quite like the neat, clear-edged dichotomy. I have felt these pleasures myself. But few columnists fall for it quite as regularly as The New … Continue reading The weekender
David Brooks looks with nostalgia to a time when surgery was done without anaesthesia and draws some important lessons. Burney’s struggle reminds one that character is not only moral, it is also mental. Heroism exists not only on the battlefield or in public but also inside the head, in the ability to face unpleasant thoughts. She … Continue reading Up hill, both ways
Throughout the internets there has been headsratching and headshaking over this op-ed by NYT's David Brooks-in-training, Ross Douthat. He begins by admitting that the arguments of gay marriage opponents have so far failed: Here are some commonplace arguments against gay marriage: Marriage is an ancient institution that has always been defined as the union of one … Continue reading Because it has a dormitive power
Here's David Brooks in 2009: You wouldn’t know it to look at me, but I go running several times a week. My favorite route, because it’s so flat, is from the Lincoln Memorial to the U.S. Capitol and back. I was there last Saturday and found myself plodding through tens of thousands of anti-government “tea … Continue reading You can fool some of the people all of the time
I'd call this column by David Brooks a complete waste of space. He signals as much from the get-go: When historians look back on the period between 2001 and 2011, they will be amazed that a nation that professed to hate bureaucracy produced so much of it. Will they now. I think he means historians will … Continue reading Tribunals of the moribund
It's annoying that most premier leftish or left-leaning pundits never really argue for anything–they explain. They don't explain the cogency of their view either. They explain different sides in a debate without making an argument for which side is the correct one. Go read just about any column from E.J.Dionne and you'll know what I mean. … Continue reading Pundit versus pundit
A brief follow up to yesterday's post on Michael Gerson. He laments the harsh words used in private correspodence for (ugly) people. If that wasn't dumb enough already (and hypocritical, as Aaron in comments points out–see here) what's funny is his vision of the alternative. Here is how he describes it: The alternative to the Ugly Party … Continue reading The ugly party
So by now everyone knows that oil is being spilled into the Gulf of Mexico at a rate higher than 0 gallons. That's bad for all involved. What lessons do we draw from BP's epic failure to be regulated? Let's ask David Brooks: Everybody is comparing the oil spill to Hurricane Katrina, but the real … Continue reading Gusher
David Brooks has the courage to ask the question that's on everyone's lips: David Brooks: Yes. I was going to say that for the first time in human history, rich people work longer hours than middle class or poor people. How do you construct a rich versus poor narrative when the rich are more industrious? … Continue reading Rich Dad/Poor Dad
I'm puzzled by the point of this David Ignatius piece about the Haitian earthquake. He rightly condemns Pat Robertson (see here) for having a poor explanation for the earthquake's striking Haiti, but then he does the old columnist trick of finding people with an opposing viewpoint who assert something equally dumb. They must teach this … Continue reading False trichotomy