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David Brooks: "Sarah Palin Represents A Fatal Cancer To The Republican Party" Watch The Video Clip Here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvxQwNqZSOQ&eurl=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/08/david-brooks-sarah-palin_n_133001.html
Excerpt:
[Sarah Palin] represents a fatal cancer to the Republican party. When I first started in journalism, I worked at the National Review
for Bill Buckley. And Buckley famously said he'd rather be ruled by the
first 2,000 names in the Boston phone book than by the Harvard faculty.
But he didn't think those were the only two options. He thought it was
important to have people on the conservative side who celebrated ideas,
who celebrated learning. And his whole life was based on that, and that
was also true for a lot of the other conservatives in the Reagan era.
Reagan had an immense faith in the power of ideas. But there has been a
counter, more populist tradition, which is not only to scorn liberal
ideas but to scorn ideas entirely. And I'm afraid that Sarah Palin has
those prejudices. I think President Bush has those prejudices.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/08/david-brooks-sarah-palin_n_133001.html
Brooks also spent time praising Obama's intellect and skills in
social perception, telling two stories of his interactions with Obama
that left him "dazzled":
Obama has the great intellect. I was interviewing Obama a couple years ago, and I'm getting nowhere with the interview, it's late in the night, he's on the phone, walking off the Senate floor, he's cranky. Out of the blue I say, 'Ever read a guy named Reinhold Niebuhr?' And he says, 'Yeah.' So i say, 'What did Niebuhr mean to you?' For the next 20 minutes, he gave me a perfect description of Reinhold Niebuhr's thought, which is a very subtle thought process based on the idea that you have to use power while it corrupts you. And I was dazzled, I felt the tingle up my knee as Chris Matthews would say.
And the other thing that does separate Obama from just a pure intellectual: he has tremendous powers of social perception. And this is why he's a politician, not an academic. A couple of years ago, I was writing columns attacking the Republican congress for spending too much money. And I throw in a few sentences attacking the Democrats to make myself feel better. And one morning I get an email from Obama saying, 'David, if you wanna attack us, fine, but you're only throwing in those sentences to make yourself feel better.' And it was a perfect description of what was going through my mind. And everybody who knows Obama all have these stories to tell about his capacity for social perception.
Comments (25)
The Republican Party is a cancer on this country.
Similar to a cancerous growth they do not care about other people, just themselves. If they destroy both the economy and the principles on which this nation was founded they could care less.
October 8, 2008 8:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
Neoconservatives are a cancer. The republican party is made of individuals, both good and bad.
We don't paint the democratic party with the DLC brush, which would be more than justified given Congresses performance over the last 20 or 30 years, so just remember there are people out there who don't consider themselves a cancer America.
Both parties have been part and parcel of our downward spiral.
October 9, 2008 6:57 AM | Reply | Permalink
Jason,
I'm sorry, but I read that last sentence of yours as saying that the Democratic Party and the Republican Party are equally responsible for the sorry state we find our country in today. Was this an incorrect reading of that statement?
October 9, 2008 8:36 AM | Reply | Permalink
My reading of "part and parcel" is just that Democrats and Republicans have some responsibility for our current state. I don't read that as "equal".
Jason's past and consistent criticisms of the Republican Party (specifically, neocons) would seem to suggest this as well.
October 9, 2008 3:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
I would say that the rot in Congress is bipartisan, yes.
The republicans are the ones getting caught these days, but I doubt democratic members of Congress who have been around for a decade or two are without a stain on their white robes. Politics is a dirty business, yet the majority of people who make up the political parties are rarely guilty of anything more than ignorance and fear.
I simply hope we can start to hold individuals accountable for their actions, both good and bad, regardless of their label. I also hope we can stop assuming that anyone who shares that label is equally guilty of that individual's crime.
Common sense in politics (and the electorate) would be a nice start.
October 9, 2008 4:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
I agree - there are good Republicans and there are bad Democrats. And both parties bear some of the responsibility for the state we're in.
That being said, the vast majority of Republicans stood by silently or even supported Bush/Cheney. I can let them off the hook for falling for them in 2000, but they knew how bad he was by 2004.
So the Republican Party has been a cancer. The good Republicans need to stand up and take their party back, and that means speaking out against the lies McCain/Palin are spouting and voting for Obama this time.
We all have to be Americans first and Republicans or Democrats second.
October 9, 2008 12:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
The Republican Party is a cancer on this planet.
"By their fruits ye shall know them. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?"
"Just so every good tree produces good fruit, but a poisonous tree produces bad fruit."
October 9, 2008 9:29 AM | Reply | Permalink
I am on a mission imploring people who can vote early to please do so. Request an absentee ballot from your county if your state does not allow early voting.
Please encourage your friends and family to vote early.
October 9, 2008 6:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
Geez. Sometimes I think Brooks is schizo - one day he's praising O, the next day damning him and his.
This post is on target (in my opinion). Palin is just horrific in so many ways.
October 8, 2008 9:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
There is nothing schizo about Brooks. His writing consistently stinks.
October 9, 2008 11:33 AM | Reply | Permalink
This thread needs more recommendations. Here we have a prominent conservative columnist of one of the most famous newspapers in the world trashing Sarah Palin.
October 8, 2008 10:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
Most interesting indeed - coming from Brooks, of all people.
The worm has turned. Completely.
October 8, 2008 10:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
Let us reflect on the gift that Sarah Palin has given us all:
http://thetruthburns.wordpress.com/2008/10/09/maybe-i-aint-no-genius-but-is-sure-is-smartern-her/
October 9, 2008 5:55 AM | Reply | Permalink
David Brooks channelling John Dean to Richard Nixon...Palin is to the Republican party what the Watergate cover-up was to the Nixon presidency. Priceless.
October 9, 2008 8:46 AM | Reply | Permalink
Echh... Ever since his first Bobo book, I've disliked David Brooks, but I've also constantly wanted to like him. Is this healthy?
October 9, 2008 10:56 AM | Reply | Permalink
No, and unless you are lying in a footed bathtub overlooking the ocean with a four hour old boner, you may have a cancer like the Republican Party.
October 9, 2008 11:32 AM | Reply | Permalink
Wow... lol. You know how to paint a vivid picture.
October 9, 2008 11:47 AM | Reply | Permalink
You better get yourself to the doctor. If the Cialis commercials are to be believed, 4 hour boners aren't good for your health.
October 9, 2008 12:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
You're right; and I should get out of this tub. I'm pruny as all get out, and the tide is coming in...
October 9, 2008 12:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
Palin and the shallow-like are a cancer to any society.
October 9, 2008 12:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
I really wish the rape kit issue would have gotten more play in the media.
I found this today. I hope you'll watch it. The people of Wasilla appear to be much more intelligent and articulate than their former mayor. http://www.wasillaproject.com/
from the project website:
Mayor Sarah Palin and the Rape Kit Controversy Video
Why did we produce this video?
Our initial reason for starting the Wasilla Project was to learn about who Sarah Palin is from the people who know her best, folks from Wasilla, Alaska, Palin’s hometown. A group of 7 filmmaker friends got together, organized the plans, raised money for flights and soon we were off to Wasilla, to interview real people there about the Sarah Palin they know, and make a series of films that hopefully give a thoughtful, authentic view of who she is.
While the team’s political beliefs tend toward left of center, we hope that the films we produce will reach people no matter where they fall in the political spectrum.
As often happens, what we found when we arrived was far different than our expectations. People in Wasilla were very eager to help us, but very reluctant to be on camera. Governor Palin has had quite a history of political turmoil during her time in public office, and there was a lot of concern from people who know her not to get on her enemies list by speaking frankly on camera. Nevertheless, we were able to secure interviews with people whose concern for getting accurate information out to the public, was greater than their concern for their political future.
October 9, 2008 12:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
Uh, I do not think those words mean what you think they do.
Brooks is pretty clearly praising Palin in that clip. What he is lamenting is the death of his GOP--the Buckley/Eastern Elite, Wise Men types. You know, John Rodgers' kind of Republicans.
http://kfmonkey.blogspot.com/2004/12/i-miss-republicans.html
As for Obama, it's impossible for Brooks to not like him, as he's an intellectual with people skills. But being a shill pays the freight on Park Avenue, so David will continue churning it out and pining for guys with pipes, ala Mad Men.
October 9, 2008 5:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
You need to listen again. He called her a cancer, and he said that she is not ready to be the VP.
It does not get much clearer than that. That is what he said. I will heed that, rather that heeding what you think he said. Facts matter.
October 9, 2008 5:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
The republican party has had a fatal cancer for at least 15 years. They just refused to go to the doctor to get it diagnosed.
October 9, 2008 6:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
Brooks is getting pretty damn elitest in his middle age, ain't he? He is getting the Republican party he has wanted for so long, and I hope he chokes on it. Aww, is little David surprised that starting spurious wars and wrecking the economy isn't bringing out the best candidates in the Republicans Party's history?
Where are the candidates worthy of the War on Terror and the Free Market? Garbage in, garbage out, David.
October 9, 2008 7:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
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