David Brooks Can't Figure Out Recent History "Brooks

New Post Public Reply Private Reply Replies (0) Message Board

Feb 23, 2017 at 2:16 AM 200

Quote:

David Brooks Can't Figure Out Recent History

Quote:

"Brooks was a wet-pantied cheerleader, rubbing himself on George W. Bush's groin back in 2001, so maybe he's still distracted by his unslaked lust. "

Sometimes, a line of writing from something sticks in your craw like a poorly-chewed piece of popcorn. No matter how hard you try, you can't get it to stop poking your insides. One such line came from today's New York Times, on the mighty opinion pages. It was from David Brooks's latest column (if by "column," you mean, "an ongoing chronicle of despair, loneliness, and failure from a mind unwilling to admit just how goddamned wrong he has been for years" , wherein Brooks waxes Brooksishly about how "This Century Is Broken."

Nominally, the photo that accompanied the article would have annoyed the shit out of me. It's of "a shuttered business in downtown Wilkes-Barre, Pa."

The last time I was in Wilkes-Barre was in 1995; those stores were shuttered even then and had been for a long damn time. But the use of that photo was not David Brooks's fault, although, fuck, it's pretty much par for the course for the column.

No, the line that has nagged at me all fucking day, like a splinter under my fingernail, came after Brooks told us that "between 1948 and 2000 the U.S. economy grew at a per-capita rate of about 2.3 percent a year," as an article in Commentary by Nicholas Eberstadt he read told him.

Then, still summarizing, in the six words that made me want to punch my iPhone screen, Brooks observes, "But then around 2000, something shifted." Are you fucking kidding? You might expect the most obvious answer in the world here, especially as Brook continues, "In this century, per-capita growth has been less than 1 percent a year on average, and even since 2009 it’s been only 1.1 percent a year."

"Something shifted" in 2000. Something changed. Starting in 2000. The end of 2000, if you look at the Commentary piece. Something that we haven't recovered from.

God, what could have happened? Brooks throws all kinds of things at us then, about demographics and shifting priorities of workers and millennials. Eberstadt talks about economic inequality as a factor, something that Brooks fails to mention. But, really, and come the fuck on here. Is this that difficult to figure out?

Here's the fun part: Brooks, like Eberstadt, leaves out one key word, one word that would do more to explain the mystery of slow growth, than any other statistic or fake psychological insight. And that word is "Republican."

For fuck's sake, in 2000, George W. Bush was appointed president, and his policies quickly, in 2001, took the economy back to the fucking Gilded Age, with tax cuts, unfunded mandates, and, what do you call it, two motherfucking useless wars, and Republicans have done their goddamnedest to ensure that the fuckery done by the Bush years wouldn't be set right by the Obama administration and Democrats. Brooks was a wet-pantied cheerleader, rubbing himself on George W. Bush's groin back in 2001, so maybe he's still distracted by his unslaked lust.

Practically every shitty thing that Brooks describes can be directly attributable to Republican policies (with some aiding and abetting by some Democrats) that dicked over the working and middle classes in this country.

The end of social mobility that Brooks mourns from his mansion was an intended effect of the deregulation mania that started in the Reagan era and was put into high gear in the W. Bush reign of "Fuck You, Proles" economics. We're heading back to those good times now with Trump.

If you leave out Republicans, whether in action in the Bush years or in intransigence in the Obama presidency, then you are willfully blind, willfully ignorant, and pathetically deluded. Which, come to think of it, are generally the abiding principles of a David Brooks column.

(Note: Thanks to the good Driftglass for the reminder of Brooks's days of fucking the quarterback.)

The Rude Pundit NAILS GOP on ACA
The Rude Pundit‏@rudepundit 6h6 hours ago

If the @GOP had a legit Obamacare replacement, they'd be swinging it around like they had the world's biggest dick. They've got nothing.

http://rudepundit.blogspot.com/2017/02/in-bri...e-out.html

Newer

Older

Scroll down for more posts ▼

Top 10 Most Recent News Articles

Hims & Hers Faces FTC Heat: Investor Class Action Looms

Trouble Is Brewing for Hims & Hers Investors This isn't your typical quiet stroll through the park when it comes to Hims & Hers Health, Inc. (NYSE: HIMS). We're talking about a full-blown legal showdown that's unfolding faster than you can say 'telehealth scandal.' October 25, 2026, saw the kind of announcement that makes seasoned investors' hearts skip a beat if they've...

TORRAS Cases Balance Protection with Slim Design for 2026

Are Slim iPhone Cases Really Protecting Your Investment? Anyone who's dropped a brand-new phone knows the pain of watching your investment smack the concrete. But hey, welcome to 2026, where Consumer365's latest rundown on iPhone protective gear turns the spotlight on TORRAS. These folks grabbed attention with their Q3 Air and Q3 Air Pro cases, crafted for iPhone 18 Pro...

Air Sealing First: Boosting Home Comfort & Efficiency

Everyone wants a cozy, energy-efficient home, right? Well, the first step to achieving that might just surprise you. Forget about shoving more insulation into the walls for a second; air sealing should be your starting line. That's the drum Insulation Expert Mike Mancuso is beating, and he's got a point worth considering before you touch another insulation panel. Cracking...

ST Engineering iDirect, MBSat Forge Middle East Satellite Hub

Satellite Services Take Off in the Middle East Never thought the day would come where the Middle East is on the threshold of leapfrogging satellite tech, but here we are. ST Engineering iDirect just locked arms with MBSat—yep, that's part of the Mohammed Al Barwani Group—to birth a next-gen satellite connectivity service hub in Oman and across surrounding areas....

Miranda Lambert Lights Up Red Kettle Campaign

A Star-Studded Start to the Season of Giving Miranda Lambert is set to dazzle audiences yet again, and if there's one thing this country music titan knows, it's how to crank up the heartstrings while fanning the flames of generosity. She'll take to the stage at AT&T Stadium this Thanksgiving during the Dallas Cowboys game, bringing a powerful performance to light up the...

Gildan Activewear Faces Legal Battle Over Alleged Fraud

Investor Alert: Gildan's Legal Showdown Alright, here's a twist you didn't see coming—or maybe you did if you've been tracking the ticker tapes like a hawk. Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL) is stuck in the kind of hot water that can scald the bottom line. The Stakes: Racing Towards December 14 Marked on your calendar, December 14, is a date of some significance if...

Innovent's IBI354: New Data Spurs Hope for HER2+ BC

Innovent Lauds HER2 ADC's Moment at ESMO 2026 Alright, chin up, investors. At the 2026 ESMO Congress, Innovent's throwing down some promising Phase 2 data for their brainchild, IBI354. You hear that name and it's like hearing about a rock star in the making in the oncology world. The potential here isn’t just talk—it's a loud, resounding call for attention. Their...

Kelun-Biotech's Sacituzumab Tirumotecan Shows Promise in NSCLC

Kelun-Biotech's Recent Breakthrough Grab your coffee, and let's chat about something that might just change the lung cancer treatment game: Kelun-Biotech's sacituzumab tirumotecan, or sac-TMT, showing some serious promise in a Phase III trial. With numbers that could make any investor sit up a little straighter, this study has turned heads at the European Society for...

Monster Energy Unleashes Gaming Frenzy at Cosm L.A. Event

Where Energy Drinks and Digital Reality Collide Monster Energy sure knows how to throw a party, especially when it hinges on something as electrifying as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4. Imagine this: Cosm Los Angeles is decked out with a massive 87-foot LED dome, and every gamer, celeb, and influencer ready to dive right in. You can't make this stuff up. They've mashed...

Wenda Pharma's NHWD-870 HCl Shows Promise in Trial

Breaking Through in NUT Carcinoma Treatment Imagine battling an aggressive disease with barely any options left, and then something hopeful shows up in the pipeline. That's the story with Zhejiang Wenda Pharma's NHWD-870 HCl, an oral BET inhibitor making waves at the 2026 ESMO Annual Meeting. Facing off against the nasty beast that is NUT carcinoma, this drug didn't just...