No, 2019 is the year of Wolfpac. https://www.wolf-pac.com/ We're going to get money out of politics. When are you going to start listening to the ideas of progressives and evaluate them on their own merits, instead of dismissing the left as being just as partisan as the Republicans? You want a membership to TYT, or Democracy Now? I'll buy it for you. Make the New Year's resolution to get out of your centrist bubble this year.
60
..."we’ll have to face the fact that our Constitution and system of law were not strong enough to withstand the partisan furies that now define our politics."
For a harrowing account of how true this is, read:
https://harpers.org/archive/2019/01/the-crisis-of-our-constitution/
10
Calm down, Brooks. I'm sure that Steve king, Louie Gohmert, Mo Brooks and the Cindy Hyde-Smith will rise to the occasion.
29
David, time and time again, in column after column, you decry partisan politics, naively regurgitating the false equivalency claim that both sides are equally guilty when anyone with even a rudimentary knowledge of American political history since Reagan knows that the right, neo-liberals and conservatives have deliberately driven our great country into this cesspit of greed, corruption, nationalism, theocratic fantasy and violent racism. At what point do the NYTs editors cry “horse lucky” and catapult you and your ilk into the welcoming arms of Fox News? Want to avoid that ignominy David? Ditch the false-equivalency pedantry, own your mistakes and join with the rest of America in kicking Trump and his Republican lackeys - and their corrupt ideology - to the gutter.
139
This appears to have been written so Mr Brooks can say he told us so. Beginning 2019 America mysteriously remains firmly in the grip of a leader her people didn't vote for, who works steadily to undermine their best interests while openly encouraging a fascist cult of personality to act as the only beautiful wall he's ever been interested in building - the one between reality and his miserable self.
67
Sanctified Democrats, assured of their secular sainthood, are simply the same sore losers that Republicans were after BHO's election. Certain of their superior knowledge, and mired in their messianic fervor, they simply cannot grasp why the deplorable masses fail to see their beaming light. Our culture is torn by a religious war between those democrats and myth believing republicans who wrap themselves in the virtues espoused in age-old stone tablets, burning bushes, parting seas and life eternal. Meanwhile those of us caught between them can be certain of only one thing: anyone who seriously wants to be President will do absolutely anything...anything..to get the job.
14
And in which party, Mr. Brooks, has this president found a home? Which party, Mr. Brooks, now represents American values? You voluntary blindness to these truths makes your columns a bit of a joke. Trump is the love child of your party and the worst of America - racism, classism, sexism, and your failure to recognize this is, as the leader of your party might tweet "Sad!"
105
Thanks for an up-lifting New Year's Day missive. Arrrggghhhh!
8
There are many reasons why our democracy is failing, Mr. Brooks. It is not about fragility or wolves. It is a lack of intelligence and a great greed. The lack of intelligence falls to the majority of us who cannot learn from history. Hitler is not a fable, nor ancient Egypt, or Rome. Americans should have learned from those past errors how power corrupts, and civilizations collapse. Instead, most Americans only know what they heard one tonight's news or were told by the richest guy they listen to. Our democracy is dying because we have become a stupid people. What is my proof? Donald Trump is president. His administration is busy tearing down NATO, SEATO, the United Nations,and every other alliance that helped keep the Western world safe and economically secure after World War II. We will pay the price. It will be costly.
83
What's it going to take for the first Democrat state to threaten secession?
12
Mr. Brooks is living in never never land. If Mueller had anytdhing it would have come out long ago. You are hoping for anything to confirm your bias. As stated in today's WSJ " muellers-report-will-be-a-bore-. The real criminals are the FBI.
7
How'd your party let this happen to itself, David?
42
Not about the content, but it's 'good people LIE low...."
2
They are not partisans. They are criminal, money launderers, self dealers and traitors.
48
There's an innocent charm and sincerity in Katherine Stewart's column today who tells a story straight versus Brooks fake concern for this country. His biggest falseness is to misdirect the blame
14
And what rough beast, slouches in Washington, waiting to destroy ALL ???
Thanks, GOP.
19
How can Brooks address Constitutional intrusion without addressing Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland and his tainted Israel Anti-Boycott Act? You know, the First Amendment stuff that protects Brooks right to publish. He sees Trump as a wolf but Cardin as a foo-foo lap dog? Make no mistake about it, Cardin's intent was governmental silencing of Israel's critics. If successful, who's next on his agenda? Brook's myopia ranges from unfortunate to unbelievable.
5
I won't be here, but what will our history books look like in 30 or 40 years? What will our children be reading about 2016 - 2020?
Do our Trumpsters care about what history will say about them?
Perhaps one of your columnists at the Times could write a futuristic chapter.....
8
At last, you dared. Thank you.
1
There is no need to bring in a tale from Tsarist Russia to illustrate how thin the veneer of civilization has become in the US. Just report a typical Trump Rally, with the excited mob shouting "lock her up" led by a retired general, or laughing as their idol mocks disabled people.
61
Why the need to vilify wolves? Don’t you know their survival as a species is already under assault because of demonic Donald’s heinous policies? This will be the year that cold-blooded predatory creeps like our president finally get caught and convicted of the heinous crimes they’ve perpetrated against people and all the planet’s other inhabitants.
24
As I peruse various news outlets including the NYT and WAPO the complicity of media in our country’s divisiness is staggeringly clear. The click baits all describe the upcoming “battle” between Dems and T, Dems and Repubs, Sen. Warren and T. Before the New Democratic Congress has a chance to propose legislation the media has framed it as a “dare” and a “lost cause”. Does this not incite, in-part, our leaders to don their armor after brushing their teeth every morning?
10
NO One can contain a demi-god, the incarnation of the Greek god Narsisus. 1-Trump is a billionaire...money talks, and talks big 2-Trump makes no mistakes 3-He needs no one to advise him...he knows everything (Note how he treated Tillerson, Sessions, Kelly, Mattis... 4- In his own words 'He will destroy the character of anyone that dares to stand up to him''. At best he will demean any one who opposes him using twits and TV appearances 5 He has 'cowed' most of the Republican Congressman...they dare not speak out.., 5-His rhetoric can arouse 45 million of his followers, to action against those fail to praise him... 6-He lives in his own alternate reality He is the most dangerous US President ever, elected with much less votes than Hillary...
Civil war in 2019?
16
Hmmm. So Republicans are the wolves and Democrats the bride killers? Or, are American immigrants bride killers? Are survivors Peter and Pavel actually Putin and Donnie? Whatever, there’s rough sledging ahead.
5
Where were these editorials from David Brooks when the GOP froze Democrats out of so much as meeting rooms? Where, when Merritt Garland took it in the neck? Where were they when Obama asked Mitch and Paul for support on Syria, and they blew town? Where, when Obama begged for mutual work on the PPACA, and Republicans howled about dictatorship?
How about the endless crazed “investigations,” that Trey Giwdy et al are STILL trying to run? Nunes’ shameful toadying?
I take it we just save these for Times of Pelosi?
41
Well said Mr Brooks.
2
I still are taken aback that our country is today in this sorry state, but we are clearly stuck so, like it or not: and an idiot savant is now our President. Whither do we go is the question?
1
May God help us all.
Amen
5
Nice clean teeth on that wolf. Must find a lot of wild Greenies.
2
I agree, the Blame belongs on the weakness and inherent Defects of the U.S. Constitution and the American Political System!!!
Tear it up... Break it Apart... And Start over !!!
The Survival of the World is at Stake!!
1
Why this hesitancy, this inability to name these Congressional Republican leaders who, for the last two years, have already in numerous instances abysmally failed your “country over party” test, Mr. Brooks? Your shocking Russian story of murderous self-interest is mismatched with your timidity at calling out these Republican Benedict Arnolds. Sad.
31
One of my resolutions for 2019 is to be less snarky. David Brooks' ongoing hypocrisy and lack of perspective won't make it easy...
16
Bizarre Cather reference, Dave. Please man up to the New Year and acknowledge your political and moral limpness; the time for your petticoat-lifting, middlebrow equivocating is long past. Trump is over. Exactly right now is the moment — if you are a pundit or if you are a citizen with a set — to champion the no-brainer model of European democratic socialism. There’s a lot at stake, Dave, so much more than a mush-mouth can imagine, nationally and internationally. You chime in on the right note now or history, as long as it lasts, will shake its head at your limpness. You do understand the significance of “limpness,” right?
8
The word "Republican" never appears in this editorial. Why would that be?
19
We have only to recall the Kavanaugh hearings to guess how this will all turn out. Grand Guignol . It’s going to be ugly.
14
Scary times indeed.
4
The Republicans remind me mostly of the middle 60’s USSR politburo,they were also men of the people robbing them blind.
8
A "kakistocracy" is the form of governance where the most incompetent, most ignorant, most unlearned and most indifferent are chosen for positions.
For this Republican kakistocracy, the Republican Party allowed the most incompetent to be placed in positions of power. The Cabinet is chock-a-block full of "Secretaries" who literally know NOTHING about the area of society that they are supposed to serve.
Betsy DeVos as the head of Education?
Zero experience and only cares about charter schools.
Ben Carson? HUD. Cares only about the size of his desk.
Rick Perry? The man who couldn't remember 3 Departments that he would get rid of - and had no idea that nuclear power was part of his department?
What does Whitaker know of law? He's a proven crook!
There isn't a person in this Republican organization that is competent, from trump/Pence on down.
Three years ago Republicans were known as "The Party of Stupid", thanks to Bobby Jindal (R).
They still are.
But we now have had 40 years of Republican nonsense and it's not 1990 - it's 2019 and our government looks like Swiss Cheese, it is so eroded.
How much longer can we survive this kleptocracy, this kakistocracy?
Not long.
Our government has "osteoporosis".
One bad whack or fall and it will shatter like a bad hip.
Oddly, half of that reason is because the men of this country have always wanted to throw the women to the wolves and still do.
This is the year that women should stop paying taxes until we are legally equal.
ERA NOW
28
We're old enough to remember 9/11. Men and women entered the worst of circumstances to save other men & women they do not know. I have every faith in Americans ability, in time of crisis, to act for the betterment of their fellow person.
Now, to the Constitution. Republicans have been defiled that piece of history since William F. Buckley. The advancement of one party, of one type of person (white!)(rich!). All others enjoy the fire hose! All men are created equal? Not in their eyes.
Republicans no longer exist. They chose to ride off the cliff with the worst embodiement of themselves. An actual "truth teller" in their midst. He doesn't care about anyone but himself. He hates minorities. He's rich, so forget you anyway. He is them and they are him. He's just not interested in hiding it. People love that! We get it. The liberals. We understand that. It's what we have said for years.
So the "You lie!" party. The party of Guns. The party of owning slaves, women, the party of the rich, the Wall party! They have been exposed by their own truth teller. Why? don't they stand up to him? Because they don't disagree.
Republicans have thrown others to the wolves for as long as we remember. "Pull yourself up by your own bootstraps" like their Daddy did for them! Universal healthcare? No. Gun Control despite dead children? Balanced Budget Paulie Ryan? HA! Nah. Living wage? Nope. Preserved land? Na-ah.
Let's be honest. It's a new year.
21
Mr. Brooks apparently has not read the latest approval ratings (mid-teens) for Congress....They are the lowest for any institution in America (military is highest.)...Lots of very venal wolves coming for the Trumpster...Ergo, wasted ink in this column.
3
Trump and McConnell and his Republican predators are the wolves who have torn apart the flesh of our Constitutional foundation. They hunt in packs and devour the weakest and most vulnerable of us. In 2019, Mueller will stand tall, make eye contact and throw subpoenas at them. That should send them running back into the woods from whence they came.
10
Should the FBI give Trump the Hillary treatment or the General Flynn treatment? Asking for a friend..
6
.... and Happy New Year to you too David!
2
Yes, let's diffuse responsibility for this with both sidesism, what could go wrong...
12
Wolves aren[t normally hunters of humans. They have their own rules. Unless they are starving or under attack, they don't behave as Willa Cathers's wolves behaved. Humans who crave more and more power and money are the lawless ones, the animals who savagely go after the weak amongst them.
16
Mr. Brooks:
The Dems might have though about that when they let Hillary get away with her crimes. They didn't care so why should I?
3
"If that happens, then the roughly 40 percent of Americans who support Trump ... won’t care!"
If it happens??!! The 40 percent already don't care and will not in any case. Has Mr Brooks not been paying attention?
Consider the following from Hannah Arendt's The Rise of Totalitarianismm (p. 382):
“Mass propaganda discovered that its audience ... did not particularly object to being deceived because it held every statement to be a lie anyhow. The totalitarian mass leaders based their propaganda on the correct psychological assumption that ... one could make people believe the most fantastic statements one day, and trust that if the next they were given irrefutable proof of their falsehood, they would take refuge in cynicism; instead of deserting the leaders who had lied to them, they would protest that they had known all along that the statement was a lie and would admire the leaders for their superior tactical cleverness.”
16
Sorry David but it's your party that has dragged our country into the mud and you share some of the responsibility.
20
More false equivalence from Mr. Brooks. What a disappointing, yet all too predictable way to begin a new year. Humbug!!
16
This is the start of the 4th year since I began to read, and as a result, comment in/on/to the NYT. In those four years, this column of David's is easily the most disturbing --terrifying, really-- that he has written...for the simple reason that American government is exactly where he implies.
In the toilet.
9
It’s going to be 2019. Maybe it’s time for journalists to stop vilifying actual wolves (canis lupus) in the media, perpetuating anti-wolf hysteria?
6
" I am an invisible man" from " Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison
"Black Lives Matter!
The only humble humane empathetic meaningful realistic measure of America's callous cynical cruel hypocrisy that matters is the current socioeconomic political educational status of brown Native Americans and black African Americans.
Color aka race is the divide between the mythical land of the free and home of the brave. Natives were not immigrants. They were pioneers. Africans were not immigrants. They were property.
Unless and until Native Americans and African Americans are divinely naturally created equal persons with certain unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness in every phase of civil secular life then America is nightmarish freak show of white supremacist diva narcissism. All hubris, pride and the love of money.
Leave it to David Brooks to use an isolated obscure ethnic Russian fictional story. There are more German Americans than there are any other kind of Americans by ethnic sectarian national origin. But all white European Judeo- Christians look alike.
5
Californians are outraged that President Trumpery has shut down the National Parks.
3
With all due respect to Willa Cather, why blame it on wolves? Most of these wolf attack stories come out of Russia and they usually have some tidy moral attached to them. Why not just name the predators. They're called Republicans.
16
please stop. what ever equivalency you think is there? it isn't. in 2000? a conservative majority on the supreme court short circuited our voting system. you have to go back to LBJ to find the kind of lying that is equal to bush - cheney - rumsfeld leading up to iraq. ken starr? gingrich? please do not think that mueller is playing the same game as those porcine political opportunists. quit wringing your hands and put them to work if you really care.
18
I hope the legislative and judicial branches can come to their senses, use their frontal cortex rather than their amygdala. Fingers crossed. We don’t need an unbalanced tyrant running the country.
4
Thanks Mr. Brooks, for explaining how Democrats will be responsible for Trump supporters not caring if the president is a felon.
And I thought after the totally inaccurate wolf attack metaphor the column would be a flop!
9
'... the modern versions of Archibald Cox, Elliot Richardson and Judge John Sirica ..."
I think the modern versions have already been found in Mueller, Rosenstein and Judge Sullivan.
8
Of course, it takes a legacy 20th century eastern establishmentarian (Brooks), not to realize that the two drunken, bloated families are the Democrats and Republicans. Trump is the bride, Hillary the groom. Pavel and Peter are their careerist toadies. The wolves? They are those paying attention from the deep woods and ready to tear up the order. They are US!
3
Again, thanks for bringing us here.
3
So Brooks. You don’t include a solution to this in your essay. You kind of hint at it when stating 40 percent of the people support trump no matter what. That means 60 percent do not do so, and there’s the solution. The 60 percent vote and eliminate the Republican Party, who is satisfied with this guy and his racist, misogynistic, xenophobic, homophobic policies from the country. It’s happened here in California, the republicans could hold their meetings in a water closet, and things run more smoothly and effectively.
So once again Brooks, stop wringing your hands, take a stand and drop the wish wash stuff.
9
It is a mystery why space is given to Sophist, and not a vaguely ingenious one at that. The Sophists of the ancient world were paid rhetoricians who advanced specious arguments. It is why Socrates disliked them so intensely, and how in using actual logic he shattered their baseless assertions.
If you intend to make an argument by exploiting an analogy, use one that's actually true. For all his purported-high mindedness Brooks uses a stereotype of wolves proven untrue, hence correlations he tries to draw from it as to why people behave "viciously" are necessarily untrue as well. Republicans act nothing like wolves, if they did American society would be healthy, not teetering on collapse.
All wolves have individual personalities. Genetically, some traits are more advantageous and help ensure survival. Wolves are friendly toward each other, nurturing of pups, and have a complex and rich social structure. A wolf's strongest trait is its capacity for making emotional attachments to other individuals. This is the foundation of wolf society. For wolves, the good of the group outweighs the desires of any individual.
Wolves are not inherently vicious and have a basic aversion to fighting, they avoid aggressive encounters as aggression endangers society. Packs would be dysfunctional and could not survive if members acted like Trump and the Republicans and constantly preyed on other members of wolf society.
Wolves are slandered in equating them to Republicans and Conservatives.
20
Sounds about right to me.
1
Brooks, a wolf in sheep's clothing, a khaki (pants wearing) story teller for the kakistocracy. He is the Republican "gateway drug", and anyone who follows his logic has thrown in with the Republicans, who have pooled their money (the RNC's $ and Trump now have the same funding), and fortunes with Trump.Brooks lulls you into thinking something will be done by virtuous moderate, which have been extinct for over a decade and a half.
13
"The partisans". I do not think the word means what you think it means. The words that are much more appropriate would be "Conservatives" or "Republicans". Brooks and media's insistence that it is "both sides" is absurd. The "Hassert Rule", the phony GOP House investigations on the POTUS is not "the partisans", no matter how many lies David Brooks likes to bathe himself in.
11
As your colleague Paul K. has pointed out repeatedly, staying in the middle is not smart, but also dishonest.
Let me tell you why, in case you don't read him: While the Democratic Party has barely moved, your GOP has gone light-years to the right.
(In case you don't read about physics, light-years does measure distance, sir)
So, when you write:
"congressional leaders will face the defining choice of their careers: Where does their ultimate loyalty lie, to the Constitution or to their party?
If their loyalty is to the Constitution, they will step back and figure out, in a bipartisan way"
You question is RETHORICAL, DUMB, AND WORST OF ALL, DEEPLY DISHONEST.
Yours truly.
9
Stories involving good Russians will be rare in 2019. In a modern day parable of My Antonia the Russians would be throwing us to the wolves via social media, disinformation, propaganda and kompromat.
2
Plutocrats are more cunning, less honest, and more brutal than wolves. And Plutocrats are the enemy. They want it all. Not just 50% of the wealth, all of it. At least sixty years ago they began to destroy the U.S. They used racism to destroy our public school system and dominate our nation. They sowed division to destroy our political system. They now own the Republican Party, paying for campaigns, suppressing voting, and gerrymandering districts. The plutocrats got their tax cuts.
And Trump's administration has weakened environmental laws so the plutocrats can plunder our land, our water, our air, our planet.
They have divided us and conquered us.
Unless we unite and fight our grandchildren will inhabit a sick Earth toiling as serfs for the plutocrats. If they are lucky. If they are unlucky they will starve.
10
The fascist party (the Republicans), are fully to blame for the destruction of American Democracy. Your party does not support strengthening Democracy, but rather undermines it. And Trump is the Coup de Grace.
The shameful Republicans are allowed to lead America into authoritarianism. And even Brooks does not get it because the ghosts of fascist past, are him. It is not only the political lackeys who are pushing America into fascism, it is all the fascist corporations and the capitalism run wild insanity of Wall Street.
America is a mediocre place with at least 50% of it's people being fascist.
8
We already know that the Republicans put party above country.
Mitch McConnell's shameful stonewalling of Merrick Garland... Power grabs in North Carolina, Michigan, Wisconsin. Failure to rein Trump in on dozens of items.
For better or for worse, it's up to the Democrats.
9
I am so bone-weary of the stress and tension and ugliness we in our country experience on a daily basis. It’s soul-killing and de-energizing. And, I think the decision has been made. The Republicans will stick with Trump until that murder on Fifth Avenue takes place.
I listen to the BBC at night. They are so wonderfuly calming, even when presenting bad news. However (and I might be makeng this up) I do detect a tone of scorn when they talk about the Trump crisis du jour. Even the stiff upper lipped Brits can’t maintain composure when speaking about our President.
Trump often mentions that the world is laughing at us. We’re “suckers” according to him. Well, the world is laughing, but it’s not for the reason Trump thinks. They are laughing at HIM mostly and laughing at the ugly Americans who put him in the Oval Office.
I think 2019 is going to be worse than 2018, as Trump will be more hateful and aggressive and unhinged. The closer Mueller and other investigators look into his and his family’s dirty deeds, the more he’ll decompensate. Republicans won’t be doing any standing up for the Constitution; you can count on that, Mr. Brooks.
Happy New Year to all my fellow commentors. Keep up the good work. You too, NY Times. You’re keeping us all sane by telling the truth. We need to know everything, even if it’s hard to hear.
12
The Abrahamic concept of “evil” has to some extent left the Western vocabulary. The time has come for Americans to bring it back. They can do so by answering this question:
Is America now under its control?
The answer is Yes.
By any definition of the word Donald Trump and his sycophant retrograde enablers are the personification of evil.
www.InquiryAbraham.com
7
In light of this grave predictions why Americans don’t go to the streets like many other nations
2
You have to face the truth that Republicans did this. Republicans. Say it with me: REPUBLICANS DESTROYED AMERICA.
It's already done.
17
I woke up this morning surprisingly optimistic.
Because Donald Trump may change? Folks who read my posts know I'm not going there.
Instead, I'm optimistic because Donald Trump is such a depraved human being that when something close to the full truth emerges, it will be reluctant Republicans who throw him to the wolves just like they did with Richard Nixon.
And, God bless us, every one!
4
While I enjoyed David Brooks’ piece it indulges in a bit of revisionist history. The intense partisanship on the GOP side may have been lesser during the Watergate hearings - GOP Senator Howard Baker’s repeatedly asking “What did the President know and when did he know it” as one example - the fact is that until tapes of the incriminating presidential conversations were turned over per order of SCOTUS, it is highly unlikely that a two-thirds majority of the Senate would have voted to convict following an inevitable approval of impeachment charges by the House. Is it really that different now? Only if and when GOP senators can no longer indulge in endless excuses because the evidence is so damning that their self-interest requires them to give up their intentional fictions can they be counted on to support our Constitution.
5
Oh please. We could have hearings/investigations by the most principled, upstanding, sober people we could imagine, and Trump's 40 percent still won't care. If you don't know that, I don't know what planet you've been living on. That horse left the barn ages ago.
6
Mr. Brooks, conservatives created this problem with their decades old mantra "government is the problem," they have sown the wind, they will reap the whilrlwind.
12
I am confused - who are the wolves, who are the weak, in this Trump saga? You seemed to suggest that our institutions are weak and will be ravaged by Trump and his supporters. I would like to suggest the opposite, that our institutions are strong, and will withstand the attacks by Trump and his cronies. The wolves are the judges and the prosecutors, the bride is that Fat Orange Thing that will eventually be thrown to the wolves!
2
I can't help but ask.
If what Democrats are asking is if their individual candidates can beat Donald Trump is whether the country is worth saving.
Meanwhile let us not spread tall tales about wolves. The wolves of Wood Buffalo National Park are the largest wolves on the planet and healthy wolves worldwide have never attacked humans.
America's greatest threat is irrational fear. It was the 200 year old fear of populism and the Federalists that destroyed your march to democracy and gave you today's "conservatism", your integrity free courts, Mitch McConnell, your suspect elections, your lawless executive, and your joke of an executive.
5
Katherine Stewart's column just above yours explains the evangelicals belief that Trump is God's chosen savior of our nation. Couple these religious zealots with the anti-establishment types and state run propaganda TV and radio stations, Fox News and Sinclair Broadcast, and you've got the makings of an anointed kakistocracy.
7
David,
So...there is plenty of there there after all. Isn’t there?
chi
1
David, it seems that many readers would like you to cognitively reassess your application of the term, " congressional leaders,"
when it seems more probable that you are speaking about a group of "Republican leaders." Will you kindly ask yourself, "What keeps you from doing this?"
5
Nightmares are made of days like these and scarier days to follow. Tailor made for the Mike Judges ('Idiocracy') and Frank Bills ('The Savage') of the world.
Were this just a cartoon staged in a banana republic with a comedic, flame-haired, cruising-dude wrestler as presidente, knocking the beejeezus out of CNN.
Yep, 2019 is gearing up to be just a hoot.
2
David, your hand wringing is hypocritical. You, the GOP, and the Christian Right gleefully bought into right wing rhetoric and Trump's viciousness. The GOP continues to support an immoral and treasonous President.
All good people need to openly oppose him. Choose.
11
Great opinion, I agree with you.
1
We already know the answer as we are already knee deep in the Trumpocracy with no Republicans of intgegrity standing up to what has already taken place. 2019 will simply be a continuation of the same. Truth, the rule of law has the tire tracks on their back from the steamroller of lies and (the real) fake news having rolled over it.
1
Isn't like "jumbo shrimp" and "congressional leaders" just another form of oxymoron?
2
It’s exhausting. The ‘both sides’ blame game. Please stop feeding it. The question is: do we have the moral backbone to stand up to a bully? Trump is a wolf. Wake up. He’s destroying us.
4
Wait and see: Mueller will prevail: and Trump will finally be
ousted;....and then those in the House and Senate who failed to
stand up to the worst President in history.....these so called GOP
grifters....will be tarnished by the man they should have dismissed
from office....
The swamp just might go down the drain after all.
1
This “wolf” carnage starts now that the Democrats have some power?! Puleeze. The wolves led by Trump, the Republicans, McConnell, the Christian Right and Fox “News” have been devouring our democracy for at least 2 years... the hunters have shown up to save the day led by Speaker Pelosi!
7
Today is prediction day, which provides yet another opportunity to bring our shadows into light. David Brooks specializes in the kind of moralizing that never admits his own very real complicity in the creation of the "conservative" pathology that blights our country. We should expect more capricious stupidity. complicity from the vile toady Republican machine (that's you too, David), and emergent political campaigns that bring out the very worst in all things American. Trump has shown us who we are: hopelessly callow, uninvested in the honest democracy that demands education, values, and compromise. America is ever unwilling to do the hard work to face our shameless racism, greed, and stupidity. That's now merely explicit in Trump's cruel and divided America. All of us are responsible for that America. Except David, he's really here to tell us we're better than his own feckless incapacity to admit his role in this unfixable mess.
5
'Savage and unimaginable' wolves----what a horrible choice of metaphors, David. You may not know this but a rider to declare open season on gray wolves will probably become part of the still elusive budget bill once it sees the light of day, the savage wolves will be the ones savaged.
You could have used another anecdote and gotten the same message across. Little Red Riding Hood is so yesterday--just like swamps, which when correctly called wetlands are known to be important biological habitats.
Lay off wolves. Our language kills them as surely as guns/traps/snares do.
3
“They will step back and find men and women of integrity — the modern versions of Archibald Cox, Elliot Richardson and Judge John Sirica — who would work to restore decency amid the moral rot.”
What is Mueller, chopped liver? With his distinguished history and his success at getting convictions and guilty pleas, while staying out of the political fray - what more could you ask for on that front?
“At that point congressional leaders will face the defining choice of their careers: Where does their ultimate loyalty lie, to the Constitution or to their party?”
Really, David...”at that point”? McConnell, Ryan, Nunez, et. al., by aiding and abetting this monstrosity in the White House, have shown time and again where their loyalty lies. Why won’t you believe them?
What’s left of the “GOP” are Trump sycophants that primaried anyone who dared put Country above Trump.
The Democrats, by contrast, are trying to save the Country from yet another Republican wolf attack.
Your columns and commentary since the rise of Trumpism have really become mealy-mouthed tripe, based on a perception of reality that paints the attacks against institutions by the Republicans (e.g., holding up a Supreme Court seat) as just a part of a general malaise.
What are you afraid of, a tweet from a guy with bad hair?
10
Far more sobering than David’s column is another opinion piece published today in NYT:
“Why Trump Reigns as King Cyrus”.
That column is especially revealing about how and why the most extreme evangelicals claim Trump wears the mantle of a special divine blessing.
It is horrifying to me that people are so willfully ignorant and blind, and sheep following corrupted clergy. The damage to our nation is real.
10
The Dems are not smart enough to be wolves.....hyenas more likely or jackals or vultures in the pecking order line of scavengers. Yeah, Trump is a mess. But his "high crimes" have been no worse than Obama, Nixon's,Clinton's, LBJ's, etc. etc. The last two rank very high on "corruption". Trump's supporters will rightfully be very vocally angry and correct in their view of his opponents' actions and motives. They know that the "news" coming out of the mainstream media is also corrupt......and FAKE. It's hard to find even a cooking or travel article that doesn't take a potshot at Trump...... to keep their bosses happy.
1
Yes David ... there is no other scenario than one in which the Trump electorate is presented with overwhelming evidence that Trump is utterly corrupt and a traitor .. which has already been clear for quite some time. Moreover, in their unwavering support, their character is revealed as one and the same as Trump's. Rather than get down on their hands and knees to beg the world's forgiveness, they will blame the "deep state" or some other concoction.
Realize David that the Trump Plague wasn't ginned up by the Dems. We're witnessing the inevitable devolution of conservative doctrine, and a GOP that has become a sad, twisted parody of its former self.
4
It all comes down to McConnell.
3
Mr. Brooks plays the same old story line. Until Robert Mueller put his cards on the table, it's all supposition and innuendo.
2
At first thought, I thought to myself, hey, David, go easy on the wolves.
Antonio is faced with a moment of truth that challenges his moral development....While we are in the Willa Cather section, I remember in Death Comes For the Archbishop when the Indians at the Acoma Pueblo finally throw the priests, who represent a false 'religion' off the cliffs of the Pueblo.....In our new year, I am cheering for the wolves and the Acoma Indians to vanquish the 'amoral'.
1
I woke up this morning surprisingly optimistic.
Because Donald Trump may change? Folks who read my posts know I'm not going there.
Instead, I'm optimistic because Donald Trump is such a depraved human being that when something close to the full truth emerges, it will be reluctant Republicans who throw him to the wolves just like they did with Richard Nixon.
And, God bless us everyone!
2018 was a pretty depressing year, and I expect 2019 to be worse, for one reason. Trump. Trump and his supporters who have filled America with hate. I just finished reading the NYT article on the new “Christian Nationalism”, describing how the disgusting, vulgar, mean-hearted, lazy, manipulative, adulterous, irreverent Trump fits a biblical narrative of an imperfect leader to be followed. A leader who should be king, according to the authoritarian loving Christian Nationalists. Frankly, I’m terrified.
5
Brooks shows his big city ignorance by retelling a story about wolves that is nuts. Wolves do not behave that way. Having been turkey hunting several years ago in Wisconsin and sitting in the middle of juniper bush, a wolf came in to my hen decoy. He put on the brakes when the decoy didn't move. He shot a glance at me, trotted around and downwind of me, and said "outta here". That is typical wolf behavior. Replace "wolves" with dumpies and you get close to the truth.
4
David, not wolves, attack dogs. the Republicans, have been breeding attack dogs, and one leader has gone wild and the pack is following.
You can help, add you voice to the call to impeach, or you will become irrelevant in the coming year.
David, feel free to sit back and watch as the Democratic party rebuilds our democracy. You are welcome.
5
David Brooks shares some unrealistic fiction with us.
Nothing new there.
2
I agree, but when did the word “Republican” exit your voluminous vocabulary? The partisan enablers of Trump who have to decide whether to put country and constitution above politics are Republicans. Just say the word, Mr Brooks.
5
This will be a year of reckoning. Trump will not last the year in the presidency and, if there´s any justice, he and his family will end up so disgraced, even Russian mobsters won´t be willing to be caught dead doing business with them.
What also scares the daylights out of me is the craziness of the evangelicals, especially after reading Stewart´s opinion column. They are freaking out probably as much as puritans did after spending some time in liberal Neatherlands before embarking on the journey to the Americas, where they could live, judge, and condemn others freely. Perhaps it´s time for evangelicals to explore their fortunes somewhere else again. We only have to find them an unpopulated area, so they don´t have to engage in physical or cultural genocide again.
2
Cheerful New Year's Day message...
Leave the wolves out of it.
2
One small correction to the subhead on this piece:
"Can the Constitution withstand the Republican Party?"
That's the real question. Pity you didn't ask it a long time ago Mr. Brooks.
4
The title of the Willa Cather novel is "My Ántonia"--with an accent mark on the "A". Is it Times style to change the title of literary works?
Of course David cannot see his own role in any of this.
4
Expect the wolves to grow fat over the next two years.
David and people like him are a large part of our political and social disfunction.
He just can't bring himself to tell the truth. Trump led Republicans are destroying our country.
Get with it David, you are making a fool (again) of yourself.
4
Yes, danger can lead to outrageous behavior in the name of self-preservation. But the phenomenon grippping much of the US right now is a false danger perpetrated by the plutocrats and their proxies (GOP congressmen, FOX news, and NYTimes columnists). They have convinced the people who are hurting due to the outcome of unfettered capitalism that the source of their danger is in black and brown people, immigrants, Muslims, Jews, so-called coastal elites, and women who now make up more than half of college classes.
The real danger will be when these hypnotized and narcotized people wake up and realize the real wolves are those uber-rich who have worked them to near death simply to maximize shareholder profits.
2
Yep that rings a bell.
The worst day of my life as an American was the day I watched Christine Blasey Ford testify. I saw Republican senators blanch at the recognition that she was telling a dreadful truth. I then saw Lindsay Graham channel Eula May Ewell in one of the most shameless performances imaginable, feigning outrage at the assault Brett Kavanaugh's virtuous character. it was nauseating.
I think we all know how this is going to go and we know who is responsible. Donald Trump is an ill man. His followers are weak minded an easily led. David has written about the, shall we say reservations they share in private conversations. They know and they'll prop him up for as long as they can use him. This administration is the bitter end of any conceits we may have had about our American exceptionalism.
806
We already know what Republican leadership will do because they have been doing it since Trump was elected. Mitch McConnell and Lindsay Graham will continue to sell out the country to prop up a plutocrat as will the House "Freedom" caucus. These people are traitors and cannot change. So-called "principled" Republicans like Ben Sasse are moral cowards and will continue to talk but do nothing else. To me, the only question worth considering is whether the military will follow Trump's orders to prop up his regime or not. That, my friends, is where we are.
488
All that blind GOP loyalty is looking a little scary now, isn't it Mr. Brooks?
How about for 2019, you acknowledge when Trump lies, and what he lied about.
Trump's malfeasance is beyond liberal vs conservative.
Trump stands for Trump alone.
Not the Nation.
Not the Citizens.
Not the Constitution.
Only for Trump.
Siding with Trump is siding against America.
The question for you, Mr. Brooks, is - are you with us?
Or are you against us?
65
It's infuriating to encounter yet another blathering equivalency argument in the NYTimes about "partisans" and how "all" of us will have to work together in the new year. Really? Work together the way Republicans worked together with Obama?
For years I've watched Mr. Brooks and his ilk methodically paving the way for Trump by endlessly harping on the threat large government, just by existing, poses a threat to individual freedom, on the way large government putatively destroys individual responsibility, on the way government social programs that alleviate the suffering of the poor and the struggles of the middle class are responsible for social decay (as if the 1920s never existed), on the way political correctness oppresses people.
I also watched with dismay as conservatives enabled Trump's initial rise by making barely a peep about his birther lie. That was the moment when you and your ilk could have carved out your place as American versions of Cato, but instead you sniveled and whimpered.
Now you dare to go on about the dangers we face if the monster you and yours helped put into office is charged with crimes and ends up facing "partisanship" in response.
Yes, the 40 percent of the American public that supports Trump will seethe with resentment if Trump goes down for his crimes. Um, guess what. They'll seethe with resentment even if he's not charged. In fact, they'll seethe with resentment until the day they die.
180
And a Gloomy New Year to you, too! (Gee, give the pessimism a rest!)
6
In both fact and fiction when a monster meets its match it is overwhelmed....
stumpy is in WAY over his head and soon will expire... either by going completely insane or having a traumatic physical event...
Nature will win out....
What makes a monster also, ultimately, leads to its demise.
13
You lost me at the title, Mr. Brooks. Not a good start for a writer, sir.
2019: The Year of the Wolves
Can the Constitution withstand the republicans?
Fixed It For You
Good luck with the rest of your year and please try to keep it real. You seem to have a problem calling out the side that is the problem - and yes, it is ONLY one side that is making the trouble.
62
We've seen this kind of evil afoot in the society before. It was over the issue of slavery and in the end the decent people resolved to make things right. It led to open conflict and lots of deaths. If that's what has to happen again, so be it. There shouldn't be any compromise with Fascism.
29
So predictable. You expect the democrats to act with honor and restraint after the GOP has disgracefully abdicated all decency and responsibility during the past two years.
49
From my experience, Fox News determines what Trump supporters believe. Climate change is a hoax? Done. Immigrants out to kill you? Done. Trump convicted of vast treason and an unending series of crimes, self dealing and lies? Fox will say it all amounts to misdemeanors and then we will all be sitting at Thanksgiving listening to our Republican uncle explaining that the u.s. government manufactured the whole Russian Trump partnership and the 50 other felonies Trump was found guilty on.
27
Wolves have a right to survive! A lie can be superior to the truth!
Aside from collective reasoning, what makes us superior to those wolves and all the other creatures that crawled out of the Chicxulub crater? Empathy!
Beyond all measures, this is what Trump and his ilk lack the most.
7
I like dumping on David as much as the rest of you, but that was a pitch perfect piece.
12
We all live with exposed throats. Vote our lead wolf out and the lesser wolfs out before they attack us and we are all bleeding to death.
Mr. Mueller, slayer of wolves, when will we see your actions?
10
David, wolves are magnificent creatures who play a vital role in maintaining nature’s increasingly fragile balance. To compare them to the malignant narcissist and crime family boss in the WH and his morally bankrupt supporters on Capitol Hill is both inaccurate and misleading in the extreme. Moreover, the photo is cartoonish and fails to show the intelligence and strength of one of nature’s finest creations.
16
Dear Mr. Brooks, these are strange times indeed, that I have to mostly agree with you, however, the dish you served would have tasted so much better without that garnish of bothsidesism...
16
The Republicans could care less about the US Constitution. All they care about is raw power for rich white people. The people who voted for trump and the other far right Republicans hate democracy. So don't expect any Republican office holder anywhere to do anything that might weaken the power of the Rich, The far right Conservatives or the power of White men. The only way to end this march toward far-right dictatorship is foe all the non-Republican voters to band together under the banner of the Democratic Party. Thump and his far right henchmen won because leftist liberals refuse to vote for the Democratic Party's candidates.
12
Mr.Brooks, you story of the wolves is too depressing. How about the story of the Thre Little Pigs Who also had to deal with evil wolves.One made his house of straw and was captured by the wolf, the second had a house of sticks and met a similar fate, but the third one had a solid house of bricks and held off the wolf.Let us hope that our Constitution is a House of Bricks which can withstand the wolves.Our House of Bricks has withstood greater challenges, the Civil War and World War Two , certainly it can withstand the nasty politics of today.
8
“At that point congressional leaders will face the defining choice of their careers: Where does their ultimate loyalty lie, to the Constitution or to their party?”
"At length, as they breasted a long hill, Peter rose cautiously and looked back. ‘There are only three sledges left,’ he whispered.
‘And the wolves?’ Pavel asked.
‘Enough! Enough for all of us.’ "
2
Say the word, Mr Brooks: “Republican.”
You will not understand the perverse phenomenon of Donald Trump, nor the decay of our political system, if you won’t reckon with the 3-decades-plus transformation of the Republican Party into the most regressive and ignorant major party on the planet.
Is it surprising that a party that mocks and suppresses scientific knowledge, would nominate, elect, and fiercely support, an utter ignoramus with a major narcissistic personality disorder?
The general problem isn’t partisan rancor, Mr Brooks—the general problem isn’t even Trump himself— It is that decent, responsible conservatism was abandoned for white nationalism and willful ignorance, by the REPUBLICANS, long ago.
I appreciate that you grasp the dangers ahead, concerning an incompetent and volatile president; but after Trump’s stint, what do you expect from the party of climate-denial, voter-suppression, border-walls, homophobia, and fashionable ignorance?
46
Well, that made me optimistic on New Year's Day!
As usual, Mr. Brooks fails to note that this is the work of the GOP, not just Trump. For decades the party has been fundamentally dishonest and eroded civil society. Ronald Reagan did it with an "aw shucks" smile. Newt did it with a haughty, faux intellectual arrogance. Karl Rove did it with deceit and manipulation. Grover Norquist did it with other people's money. The Koch brothers did it with their own money. Mitch McConnell did it in every way possible. Fox News does it for the money. Rupert Murdoch does it with an Australian accent. Steve Bannon does it with White Supremacist co-conspirators.
I could go on. I challenge any Republican reader to craft a genuine list of Democrats who have undermined democracy and civil society with such persistent, dishonest vigor. Don't try "the Kenyan president," a vague allusion to "George Soros" or "Hilary's emails."
America has been systematically damaged by only one of our two parties and Brooks is indirectly complicit in that which he bemoans.
38
Good Golly, the rule of law in this country has always been two tiered and the rule of law has been ignored by the very people in charge of American Justice system in thousands of ways since our founding.
We have acted like the NRA is some political force that has complete power over our government it doesn't.
Now, we act like Donald Trump can't be stopped by our laws, ridiculous whether he has 40 million minions or not.
What these two abominations have in common is successfully amassing large amounts of money. If Trump didn't already fill the coffers of the Republican party for 2020 do you think they would stand by the fool in the office?
American wolves are raised on money and power, their dens are mansions, and they will take whatever they can from others and the planet. Extinction is inevitable.
5
Another cost of this is that it adds to the possibility that a crisis of the social contract encourages factions to take unconstitutional control of government. The Republic becomes the Imperium. And, the usual outcome of that is outright domination by elites a la Rome or a milieu of competing political and economic elite factions a la the Third Reich.
4
David writes a 'set-up' article for reality TV in 2019. It should capture ratings. How will this play-out with participant leaders in North Korea, Russia & China and John Bolton in the White House? To add a twist, remember the book - "Never Cry Wolf".
The Russians in this story lived in shame. Brooks equates Dems and Republicans as their equivalent. More destructive false equivalence. Democrats never supported a liar and manipulator with a personality disorder. In the last election they dupppryed a Methodist Sunday School teacher, former Senator and Secretary of State. Our vulnerability to wolves is the consequence of one party's choices. And it's not the Democrats.
14
The moral of the story David is the people and the constitution have been eaten by the wolves since from the King to Wall St., to feed the 'kakistocracy' of the wolves.
2
It's not going to be pleasant at all. Trump and gang and their minions have pushed us to the limits in pursuit of some twisted dystopian dream. Their appetite for savagery is bottomless.
5
This is a question of people not parties. The American people elected Trump. Somewhere close to 40% of Americans think he is doing a fine job. Trump has validated the xenophobic, the racists, the fearful, the misogynists and a general lack of decency in America. Trump and his base are like the monster in the classic horror film plot, the one where a terrified baby sitter is told by the police the threatening calls are coming from inside her house; “the killer is in your house!”. Americans’ embrace of Trump’s attacks on American institutions is the threat to the existence of the nation.
10
I'm sorry you had to use wolves again to depict ugly politics. Wolves are beautiful family oriented animals that protect their family, mourn there losses and protect the environment.
Better than most politicians.
5
Trump and his supporters and enablers in the 1% not just kakiostocrats; the rest are theocrats and anarchists. Many voted for him because they like the idea of gladatorial entertainment, a world they share and enjoy with their wannabe-king. He and they have no moral center; they are exactly like the wolves you describe. My worst fear is that the wannabe-king will use the nuclear codes or martial law to distract us all and preserve his power.
He has to be stopped, period.
4
David sees indictments as a wolf pack out to devour democracy, ignoring the very obvious parallel of being eaten alive by the GOP and their rabid Trump leader as the wolf pack, whose trail of mangled corpses of democratic principles litters their vicious progress.
8
Democrats, when they put the Constitution above Party, will still be trashed by T's pathetic 39% as being merely partisan. And the cowardly GOP will echo these know-nothings because that's how today's Republicans roll. There's not an honorable Howard Baker among them.
15
Who are the wolves? Reads as if you are warning against the Democrats? Wolves? Looks more like accountability!
The wolves are Republicans and their Scions of corrupt business practices.
Sir, you are drawing analogies that make no sense other than to a person who has little grounding in common sense.
Happy New Year
5
Thank you Newt Gingrich and Roger Ailes. And "Wrasslin" Hastert. Mitch McConnell Paul Ryan. You're going to be (in)famous for what you did to the country on behalf of your donors.
12
Wow. David can't be sleeping good with Praire wolve fantasies running amuck like that. Kakistocracy indeed, which sounds like a villainous idiocracy, a populist plutocracy. Fear not. Whatever happens Trump's presidency is doomed.
2
Now THERE's an inspiring bit to welcome in the new year!
Among the wolves less mentioned: The Koch's Mercatus Center and it's muscle ALEC, the Federalist Society cranking out right wing ideologue judges, et al.
Real wolves are honest predators, these political wolves are rabidly dishonest shiv men attacking the belly of democracy.
No Democrats in that gang.
12
sigh, wolves would never do this. Only humans.
5
It is preposterous how this columnist, first imagine how Trump will resct and behave and later critizise such suppossed behavior as being real. What is real is the democrats intention of desestabilize the government with all dirty partisan maneuvers they can imagine. God may protect the US.
David Brooks has us. I see all falling, flailing, scattered. Wolves rapidly approaching. They will not attack, nor does Brooks, Mitch McConnell.
the only person who can stop the Dumpster.
1
When you have Trump as president, giving pardon to J Arpajo and trying to influence witnesses with the possibility of such a "presidential pardon", you are already in big trouble with the Constitution and the Rule of Law.You are now living under the jungle law and Trump/GOP should be very concerned by it...
5
Sometimes stories, even if the stories are made up, can be more riveting than slogans. Jesus used parables in the final days of his teaching and that was brilliant. Maybe that’s what we should be doing to Congress and his Obsequious Sycophant base.
During the Clinton Impeachment, I was a strong supporter of Clinton. My reaction to the whole matter was partisan politics. Sex has always been rampant in politics. What’s the big deal? Think of all the good things Clinton was doing.
Today, I feel much different about it. What Clinton did was wrong. Period!! We have a right to expect more out of our elected officials.
Every sane citizen surely knows Trump is a lair. He does it so much that his base accepts it as truth or that Trump is just playing with us. When that spreads from a family, to a community and then to a nation, it becomes a failed Empire. The Wolves are licking their chops right now.
4
Me Brooks was positive a month ago. I would like to know what caused this chance. Others have taken this position for some time
2
"We’ll have to face the fact that America has become another fragile state — a kakistocracy, where laws are passed and broken without consequence, where good people lay low and where wolves are left free to prey on the weak."
Uh huh. So does this mean you've just returned from a two year expedition to Denial? Because this is literally the only thing we've been doing since 2016.
8
Kind of tough on the wolves.
3
I too am reminded of wolves. The Cherokee have a Legend whose wisdom speaks to these times:
---
Two Wolves
An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life. "A fight is going on inside me." he said to the boy.
"It is a terrible fight between two wolves. One is evil - he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego."
He continued, "The other is good - he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you - and inside every other person too."
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf will win?"
The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."
---
At this new year let us all reflect on this truth regarding our true nature. Consider the wolves within ourselves, President Trump, and our political parties. Let us reflect on the dynamic playing out on social media and across the spectrum of what passes for journalism and media these days, the sources feeding our hearts.
Let us also wonder at the adroitness of this new Russian translation from from the original Tsalagi Gawonihisdi. Well done Vladimir.
12
David Brooks tells the unvarnished truth. A new year indeed. Good for you, David.
Absurd even to think that America belongs to its little people in 2019. It has been co-opted by multinational corporations and their lobbyists so completely that it's only a matter of time before the constitution is silently abolished. Who would even notice in a country of shallow-brained money-grubbing adolescents addicted to their electronic toys and cars?
8
I’m certifiably an old man now, disgusted and deeply saddened by the charade that passes for governance; by the lack of respect for succeeding generations of Americans to whom we are bestowing our messes, rather than futures with choices.
We put Trump in office. Thus far, we refuse to turn him out of office largely out of Republican fear of political consequences, rather than any sustained belief in the efficacy of their oaths of office to “protect the public health, safety and welfare.”
Trump is mentally ill. It is a character disorder called narcissistic personality disorder, which results in his grandiosity and his distortion of reality to cover his shame-based personality.
I wish more of those Americans who hold Congressional offices had the collective guts to pony up to their oaths of office!
12
Oh my goodness, Mr. Brooks! With what dreadful, unsparing clarity you have laid it out.
Who's to help us now? What strong hand pulling our hapless nation from the pit into which we've fallen? Where are the eyes to see? the voices to speak? the consciences to be awakened?
It comes down to YOU, sir--doesn't it. And ME. And THIS one. And THAT one. It comes down to the citizens that speak--that act--that demonstrate--that call up their congressmen and "give 'em an earful"--
--and vote. They get out. They vote.
Right now, Mr. Brooks, that means--
--they vote for Democrats.
I shall never forget my astonishment on learning (last summer) that Mr. George Will--stalwart, implacable conservative--
--was urging his fellow Americans--
--to vote for DEMOCRATS.
Was the sky falling ? Was America as we knew it coming to an end?
Yes, it was. It still is.
From the Republicans in Congress--both House and Senate--I expect nothing. Even less do I expect wisdom and sobriety from the "Freedom Caucus"--that tiny band of "wilful men" (and women) who choose, again and again, to gum up the works--to frustrate the ongoing business of government--
--rather than give up this or that pet project.
It's as if wisdom--moderation--ordinary common sense--had spread its wings and fled these United States. Leaving what, Mr. Brooks? Leaving what?
Leaving US--the duty of being as wise--as moderate--as sensible as we can.
Who else is there?
Anyone?
6
In my wildest dreams I never would have imagined that the United States of America would have come to this moment where we could abandon our cherished values and learned to hate each other so. I pray we pull back from the brink before it is too late!
2
If you need to know why a potential impeachment process will come across as partisan and delegitimized, look no further once again than the GOP.
Which party has abetted Trump these past 2 years in all his amorality and illegality, looking the other way or trumpeting his false cries of "witchhunts"?
Which party has made a mockery of our legal system by stealing away court seats, ramming through ludicrously unqualified judges and/or rabidly partisan hacks?
Which party has made it a pillar of their politics to treat the other party as illegitimate every time it's in power?
Which party abused the impeachment process 20 years ago for a petty grievance against a president whose mistake was stupid and disgusting, but not a violation of the Constitution?
Which party has been in a symbiotic relationship with Fox propaganda for years, both contributing to and benefiting from that channel's assault on truth, decency, and facts?
Once again, Mr. Brooks wants us to believe that it's "partisans on both sides" that are the ultimate ruination of our country. I can only choke on the anger and frustration I have when I hear this asinine claim.
The GOP, your party, threw us all to the wolves a long time ago, Mr. Brooks, in the pursuit of this plutocratic nightmare we live in. Everything that is happening and will happen follows in a straight line from your so-called "glory days of conservatism" under Reagan.
Maybe one day you'll have the intellectual fortitude to finally admit it.
12
This column, more than any other, exemplifies David Brooks' world view, which is "the elites are always good, why won't you peons just shut up and accept that?"
Trump knows the game is rigged because he's benefitted from the rigging. He's been thumbing his nose at the law for most of his life and gotten away with it...housing discrimination, tax evasion, violation of casino gaming laws, fake foundations. Unfortunately, he's also fooled about 35% of the country that he's going to do something about it.
In the rest of the column, David actually confirms that "the establishment is corrupt, the game is rigged, the elites are out to get you." The elites, AKA republicans and corporate democrats, have repeatedly demonstrated their corruption. They enabled Trump because it helped them give tax cuts to the wealthy and corporations, shovel money into the defense industry, increase pollution that harms citizens, and aggressively go after programs that benefit average Americans. All of these have been done by the right-wing, David, so don't lump the left in with them.
8
It is so amazing that you only write about this as the Democrats are coming in. You never spoke up like this when Republicans were abusing their authority. Benghazi any one? Email server any one? McConnell saying he would make sure Obama was a one term president. You seek restraint when you want it and looked the other way when it suited your agenda. And how many republicans are complicit in obstruction just so they protect the mad king. Nunes, Goodlatte, Gowdy are all guilty of obstruction.
13
Interesting parable, but in the Chinese calendar 2019 will be the year of the Pig, a much maligned animal in Western culture. Donald Trump is the Wolf in Pig's clothing. Actually as a Westerner, I guess I too now malign an intelligent animal who has gotten a bad rap. (No, not Trump, he is a malign beast who has displayed no socially redeemable features).
Happy New year.
2
Whenever I read a pundit column like this, I think about how it will age in 10 years or 50 years. Looking back at Weimar or Watergate, it is very clear who is morally broken. I imagine Brooks, if he is remembered, will be filed in the "denial" category. A Bird Box of blindfolded pundits who choose not to see what is happening right in front of them. A wolf appetizer, a forgettable meal and history will show you to be of no use to anyone trying to survive.
5
And, Mr. Brooks, could you not ONCE mention which party has brought us to this point?
10
David has still the strange notion that the GOP is an autonomous body that actually thinks and decides about what it does. It is no such thing. The GOP is a wholly owned servile lackey of a few billionaires and does only and exactly what it’s masters tell it to do.
When the Mercers, the Adelsons, the Kochs, the Uihleins, the Wilks, the Spencers decide Trump is no longer an asset, the GOP will be told to give him his walking papers.
It ain’t ideology, David. It ain’t understanding. It ain’t about what is right. It’s simply doing what they’re told to do by those wealthy wackos who control whether you will be re-elected by the 40% glued to billionaire-funded Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, evangelical radio, and manipulative YouTube videos, Facebook “news” (gossip), Tweets, and Instagram.
12
Wolves are a blessing. Politicians are a threat.
2
Democrats need to seize the high ground here immediately. They need to say, publicly, what everyone knows: the Republican Party is about exercising power and forcing its will down your throat. To be a Republican now means you don’t care about the Constitution. Say it over and over. Trump and McConnell will do the proving of it for us.
10
Trump's obsession with personal partisan power has been obvious to me since he entered public life. Brook's is correct IMHO that Trump will stop at nothing to protect himself, including incitement of civil insurrection. That will be our nation's defining moment.
9
I found this more or less persuasive, although I wonder: who are the Democrats in the Peter/Patel analogy. Are they Pavel, the bride, or innocent bystanders? Or is it possible some are wolves?
Fascinating that instead of appealing to the real-life fact that there are con men (like Trump & his Trumpist minions) & that even Good Men like David Brooks can get taken in by them, Brooks chooses to base his opinion on a ridiculous Hobbesian fairy-tale.
Because make no mistake, Pavel & Peter are no more "kind men" than is your average mob hit man. Unless _My Antonia_ is a fantasy novel set in a world where enormous packs of ravenous wolves scourge the countryside like eldritch piranha, the wedding story makes no sense except as a rationalization for a ruthless, perhaps drunken choice.
By choosing to ground his critique there, instead of in the real world (which, again, he could have chosen to do), Brooks is putting a stake in the ground for the fundamental cruelty of mankind -- and laying groundwork for when he inevitably rationalizes support for some future 'sober & dispassionate' decision to sweep it all under the rug & pretend Trumpism didn't happen & the GOP is All Better Now, Thanks.
13
Fuzzy, obscure use of language in your piece, Mr. Brooks. Not once did you name your GOP party leaders as the leaders that so far have failed the loyalty test you proposed: To country or party. All AWOL, all enabling Trump by cowardly silence, the love of power and the sick enjoyment of betting the opposition with their failed social, political and fiscal ideologies.
15
There's no comparison between Democrats and Republicans anymore. Republicans have proven that when democracy doesn't work, they'll undermine it until they have to overthrow it. That is who they are now. I've seen it in members of my own family. There is so much misplaced rage they would sooner throw their grandchildren's future to the wolves then grow a spine and some decency and throw this demagogue out of office. They are digging their own graves, and maybe ours too.
12
Trump would be powerless without support. A fair number of Americans apparently like rule by bully. They want a strong man to bully their adversaries at home and abroad. It’s not a coincidence that we have the largest prison system and military in the world. That’s who we are.
12
"The establishment is corrupt, the game is rigged, the elites are out to get you."
The Democratic candidates should be saying this as well. The "establishment" IS corrupt, the game IS rigged and the "elites" ARE out to get you if they feel you threaten their little niche.
Trump didn't invent this, by using his grifter acumen he merely identified and exploited it, ironically by being corrupt, rigging the game and clearly out to get any and all with the temerity to oppose him.
Mr. Brooks has to take a stand, no more book reviews, no more parables. Now is the time for people to say no to the powers that would destroy the country as we know it for craven results.
The fate of the globe is at stake both figuratively and literally. The time for action is now or pray your great-grandchildren can grow gills.
I would say to the septuagenarians to hang it up, time to let the newer generations in, the generations feeling the brunt of the greed, incompetence and indifference shown by the oligarchs that have seized the reins of power.
7
Even if everything you say is true, don’t you feel complicit in contributing to the divisiveness? Are you stoking fear and portending calamity to sell newspapers or is that what you truly believe? And even if it is, why should I are what you think? Think how different the national conversation might be if you wrote about unity rather than division, about opportunity and hope rather than doom and gloom? You can’t gripe about the discord being sown when you’re both reaping ( profiting) and sowing yourself. Hold yourself to the same ideals you wish the president espoused.
2
The only hope for America in the new year of 2019 is Senator Lindsay Graham. At some point when Trump and the country are spinning out of control he must play the Barry Goldwater role. Walk to the White House and say Mr.President (Donald) it is over. It is time to return to Trump Tower.And with the understanding that Trump and his family will be granted immunity from prosecution. Is Graham big enough to take on that role? I pray that he is. And the world waits.
4
Yes, David. Both sides should act like true patriots. follow the rule of law, and seek the truth. I think Elijah Cummings, Jerry Nadler, Kamala Harris, Adam Schiff, and a number of others, for example, could fit that bill on the Democrat side. If I was forced to name any on the Republican side, I have to say Jeff Flake and (maybe) Bob Corker.
What does that tell you about moving forward?
8
David , your thoughts , such as they are , should be addressed specifically to Mitch McConnell who is the chief culprit along with Donald Trump for the problems that you lay out
Treating both sides equally for the political mess the country is irresponsible on your part and makes your thoughts meaningless
16
Brooks starts out with a fabulous story, but 2019 is not the Year of the Wolf, but the Year of the Pig which is an entirely different animal.
From the Chinese Zodiac Calendar
"Pig is not thought to be a smart animal in China. It likes sleeping and eating and becomes fat. Thus it usually features laziness and clumsiness. On the positive side, it behaves itself, has no plan to harm others, and can bring affluence to people. Consequently, it has been regarded as wealth."
Obviously this does not shoehorn itself so easily into Brook's narrative, especially the part wherein the pig behaves itself and has no plan to harm others, so I do understand why Brooks had to resort to myth and fairy tales to make his point.
"2019: The Year of the Pig" would have been a great title for a different column, but Brooks would not have written that one.
Oh, Mr. Brooks. For years he shows can abide actions like McConnell's inaction on Obama's Supreme Court nominee, he is quiescent when the Republicans control the House, Senate and the White House while children are locked up, immigrants are harrassed, the rich are awarded big tax breaks and white supremacists are excused. Now, as the Democrats are about to take leadership in the House and some balance in government reappears he speaks about the constitution. Oh,Mr. Brooks.
11
There is nothing but dishonesty to all in US government who defy the constitutional ban on faith based legislation. No other law is more clear and unambiguous than “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion”.
2
Will a Trump indictment really result in chaos in the streets? Is the possibility of a wall not being built between Mexico really going to fill his supporters with such fervor that they challenge the US constitution to keep him in office?
Or were the people that voted for a reality TV star who like to turn out for rallies wearing red hats just looking to blow off some steam and thumb their nose in public at the politically correct?
There are dangers ahead to be sure, but the wolves I worry about are the same ones who've been attacking the defenseless for the last 20 years: ignorance, unregulated greed, and racism.
8
Once resume being a nation of laws and not celebrity worshipers this may be realized.
1
I can see Trump resigning, perhaps one negotiated step ahead of jail, or out of frustration and shame if he becomes increasingly isolated politically, and increasingly mocked personally. He would rather declare victory (perhaps by declaring that a man like himself was too constrained by the office, or that he had "done what he could") than endure continued ridicule for his failure at his job.
If:
Mueller finds hard evidence of Trump laundering Russian money, or;
Trump does something really stupid (-er than normal), then:
GOP enablers will have to disavow and run for cover, then:
The base support dips into low 30's or 20's, then:
Trump resigns and goes back to celebrity television (if he stays out of jail)...perhaps as some sort of network boss, with a larger audience than he had with The Apprentice, and some sort of political message of continual disruption. I suspect he would gradually be seen as more ridiculous and less dangerous as he slid into obscurity and legal difficulties.
Then we could get back to addressing global warming, income inequality, repairing global alliances, several assorted wars, and various problems associated with increasingly having the best government money can buy.
6
I fear Mr Brooks is in error when he assumes that the ca. 40% who favor Trump would somehow be convinced by a fair and non-partisan inquiry that revealed the president's corruption. True believers (of any sort) are rarely swayed by facts; they simply dismiss the facts that contradict their reality.
6
Great accompanying photo of that snarling wolf. If you stare at it for a while, it’s remarkable how the visage of our Fake President starts coming into focus, particularly those angry, preying eyes. Profound apologies are due, of course, to this noble and magnificent creature which aggressively acts only upon innate instincts verses the amoral impulses of Trump, who willingly chooses to “kill” members of his own species.
6
Any institution, regardless of how fundamental or revered, can be neutered if the people who took oaths and pledges to follow them just decide to stop doing so without penalty...I'm looking at you Mitch McConnell and Chuck Grassley for carjacking Obama's valid authority to name Antonin Scalia's successor and you Barack Obama for not defending that right far more forcefully!...I'm also looking at you members of the mainstream media who focused on the circus rather than the substance of BOTH of the candidates prior to the 2016 election. Why is Mr. Trump's deceit and collaboration with a foreign power only being fully revealed two years after he's been elected? And finally, I am looking at you GOP who went so far as to concoct a late 'October surprise' by revealing Director Comey's private 're-opening' memo that tilted the election to Trump and also gives every braindead proposal from The Great Prevaricator an "Okey Doke as long as it helps our donors"...and finally I am looking at you, eligible voters who passed on casting a ballot in 2016. There is such a thing as the 'lesser of two evils' and by not expressing an opinion at the polls, you have empowered the greater of them.
7
As a former Republican and an embarrassed native of the Congressional District that elected, and re-elected, Steve King, perhaps the single worst Congressman in Washington, I pledge to take two actions--my part to try to bring this country back from the abyss.
1. Vote for Democrats for everything, every time, for the foreseeable future.
2. Never buy anything from any company that advertises on the terrible TV troika of Carlson, Hannity, and Ingraham.
10
There's nothing wrong with partisanship. It's authoritarian demagogues that are jeopardizing the republic.
1
More "false equivalency" from David Brooks. It is not liberals who have given up on the Constitution. Read the Preamble, the most important part, the very summary of what America is supposed to be all about. That's what liberals believe... We the People, preserving the GENERAL WELFARE. Standing in stark contrast there is NOTHING in the Constitution about what conservatives believe: small government, predatory markets, corporate rights, white supremacy, religious beliefs forced down everyone else's throats. As well, it is the conservatives - not the liberals - who have turned away from science and the truth. It is conservatives, not liberals, who threaten the "institutions" that bulwarks true American ideals - liberty, equality and justice FOR ALL... while conservatives continue to desperately conserve the "institutions" of pre-democratic tradition: selfishness, racism, xenophobia, homophobia, transphobia, utter disregard for nature, and Old Testament codes of morality. It is conservatives - not liberals (usually, shame on you Maryland) - who are intent on subverting democracy through radical gerrymandering and incessant voter suppression. It is conservatives - not liberals - who have decided to proclaim themselves the "real Americans," thus proving they have no idea what an "American" is supposed to be. Get it straight Brooks. If conservatives can't handle the truth of Trump, then conservatism itself is the problem. And you, David, are part of it.
11
Let's get real here. Cut through the philosophizing, moralizing and pontificating. The issue is money. As long as lobbyists and other players, foreign and domestic, are paid to bribe politicians, money rules!
2
I'm sure Peter and Paul did well and were welcomed in Capitalist Nebraska. After all, they clearly understood that the horse (engine of production) was far more valuable than the Bride and Groom (labor).
Thank you David, teller of fables. As usual, you instruct us .
2
Seldom say this but you are right on all counts.
1
All too true. But I will direct all my efforts to and will to try to eliminate politicians (aka wannabee reality stars) like Donald Trump. They are egotistical racketeers. They hurt the effort our country needs to promote - the promise of a government that serves the people, not the politicians.
Your insistence on treating the false equivalencies of trump's incompetence and dishonest nature with HRC's made-up email scandal during the 2016 campaign is something I'll never forget.
I'm glad that you now admit to the danger of trump, but you too are culpable for putting him there in the first place thereby throwing your country off the sled of democracy to avoid...a Democrat!
8
I don’t understand why David Brooks can’t be more insightful
There is no new ground in this piece. All known items for a long time - outside of his self promoting demonstration of Russian literature.
How about being brave? Braver than the Russians chased by wolves - call out your fellow Republicans to take a stand and not just retire from the field?
People like Corker and Flake took a stand, until they went home. Lindsay Graham has some guts but not as much as his mentor McCain.
Brooks needs to step into the arena and get out of the cheap rhetorical seats.
7
Every week, no every day, Trump violates an institutional and/or moral norm---and, every week/day, he gets away with it---not only does he get away with it, but, some of his groupies---i.e. Lindsey Graham---in plain view---tell us what we are seeing and hearing was never a norm or never happened---so deal with it. What norms are left to break? Of course, if we look at Trump's sleigh, the only people left are his family---everyone else has been thrown to the wolves.
2
David why just once can you not say the lack of rectitude on the parts of Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell laid the ground for this very toxic President to do his worst to our legal structure and a social ethic that used to allow I s to care for one another? In a recent meeting the historian, John Meecham, explained to seated members of Congress that we had “ been here before.” The message was meant to reassure but is inconsistent with his affect. He is depressed and emotionally shut down. I am too.
I have no cures for this excruciatingly painful misadventure. I do know that specific people are specifically responsible for this aministraration’s lack of social conscience. Ryan Zinke has betrayed his legal obligation of our parks and stave off an approaching decimation of our wildlife. Do you trust that we can safely drink the water that comes out of the faucet? If not you can thank Scott Pruitt.
Can our families count on health care. access to good housing and a college education for their children? If not, those are failings that can placed on the souls of Ryan and McConnell. We are the bride and the groom in your metaphorical story. Is it not time to ask who is driving the slay and whether or not we are adequately protected while we return to safety of our own cabins?
The Republican Party of Earl Warren and his deep need for fairness is gone. What we have in its stead are prostitutes who sell themselves to the interests of corporations and major banks.
6
The kakistocracy (love this word) is here, reflected in comments below. His supporters don't care what he's done. It's all the Democrats fault. They've fabricated the mess out of their partisanship and any Congressional investigations will be characterized as such, as well. If partisanship is the provenance, then the whole matter stinks and is illegitimate. Just ask Trump, Giuliani and any other Trumper.
1
Well done. If you wish to follow up you should read Anne Applebaum 's "A Warning From Europe: The Worst Is Yet To Come" in the October 2018 Atlantic. Riveting and very, very disturbing.
Mr. Brooks unbelievably presents an equivalency and therefore an equivalent shared blame to rest on the heads Republicans and Democrats alike. Perhaps it would be helpful for him to be reminded of a recent development here in NJ. With solid control of both houses and the governorship, Dem leaders proposed a blatant gerrymandering scheme. Guess what happened. A huge out cry from their Democratic constituents "we don't play those dirty games". The scheme is promptly withdrawn and score one for our democracy. Compare that with the actions of Republican legislators in Wisconsin and Michigan with their sore loser power grabs. Equivalency my eye!!!
5
People aren’t wolves, wolves don’t hunt people and stories like Cather’s are based on Middle Ages mythology. Besides if your going to compare the ongoing political chaos to hunting packs then our friend the dog is a more appropriate symbol. You see when we neglect them they turn on us, kind of like many of the people marginalized by a society dominated by the plutocrats and meritocratic elites. Personally I’d prefer a first class scavengers picture in place of the wolf. Perhaps a hyena with Trumps smirk.
2
So Hillary Clinton's "deplorables" are the kind of people who not only unacceptably vote for Trump, but also throw a bride to the wolves to save themselves and the groom.
Something Must Be Done, says Mr. Brooks. But bloodless harumphing from the judge's bench is not going to put the democratic genie back in the box.
David/
Shouldn’t the analogy be that Peter and Pavel are the House and Senate, and that the bride and groom are our laws and the constitution? The wolves are the world and its inherent unfairness; I’m not as worried about the wolves – they are always here.
Peter and Pavel acted callously and narcissistically and threw the bride to the wolves. We created the House and Senate to upload the laws. This is what we have to hope for in 2019, that the seemingly nice people in those two institutions don’t become Peter and Pavel.
1
There is no current evidence that the repubicstan party will do their job and fire their leader. It will be a year of holding the line just enough to vote out the moral rot at the top. In 2021 we'll need a commission to address how a con man, liar, and thief ever got to the white house in the first place. Many new controls will be needed on those who run for the office. In the past those controls were not needed because our nominees largely abided by the rule of law. We crossed the rubicon with the 46-1.
1
Earth to David Brooks: The Constitution runs on the honor system, and if we've learned anything in the Trump era, it's that if one of our two major political parties is totally without honor, the Constitution is woefully inadequate to keeping us from misrule by criminals and lunatics.
The point is, however, that the political party totally without honor is that one that you, David, have been supporting and making excuses for in print for your entire professional life.
8
Brooks does not acknowledge the Mueller investigation, going about its business of saving our democracy, steadfastly, quietly, meticulously, competently. Laws are not being passed and broken without consequences.
Mueller has indicted or gotten guilty pleas from at least 33 people in connection with his investigation into Russian interference in our electoral process including individuals involved in Trump's campaign or administration. A partial list follows:
1. Papadopoulos - pleaded guilty to lying to FBI.
2. Manafort - indicted on 25 counts, pleaded guilty to 8 counts of financial crimes related to lobbying for Ukrainian officials in alignment with Putin.
3. Flynn - former National Security Advisor - guilty plea to lying to FBI.
4. Rick Gates - former campaign aide, guilty plea to lying and one conspiracy charge.
5. Michael Cohen - Trump's attorney - guilty plea to 8 counts, including violation of campaign finance laws at behest of "Individual-1."
6. Indictment of 13 Russian nationals involved with Internet Research Agency, a Russian troll farm putting out propaganda to influence the 2016 election.
7. Indictment of 12 officers in the Russian Military Intelligence Service -charged with hacking into Democratic e-mails in 2016.
Noticeably absent: The indictment of Trump, who would have been arrested if he had lost the election. Irony abounds.
The Constitution is holding strong. Dems gained over 40 seats in the midterms and won 7 governorships.
Starve the GOP.
2
Our society is very messed up. Trump is just an ugly symptom of something else. Remember, “United we stand; divided we fall?” Well, we are divided.
1
With or without Trump, democracy in the US is fading.
Obama was better than most presidents. But he made many mistakes, some undercutting democracy and the rule of law.
For example, Obama's attorney general did not even try the banking CEO's, such as Dick Fuld of Lehman Brothers, for criminal acts during the Great Recession. This sent a clear message that bankers were above the law.
Obama also tried to give amnesty to illegal immigrants by executive order, thereby circumventing Congress, in violation of separation of powers.
Obama also had his attorney general look into retrying George Zimmerman for a hate crime after he had been acquitted by a jury.
The latter two acts were political in nature, popular with liberals but unconstitutional nonetheless.
Guilt occurs on both sides.
Now we hope that the rules we can agree upon are sufficient to convict a president who looks guilty of criminal acts.
I think that America will still rise to the occasion. Trump will likely be impeached and convicted. Trump has simply made too many mistakes. Some, not all, Republicans will abandon him as they realize that former supporters are aghast at Trump's level of incompetence and his crossing of so many red lines, such as the failure to criticize the Saudi prince for murder of a journalist.
But simply removing Trump is not enough. American society is way too divided along partisan lines.
We need to learn to talk with each other or other Trump's will arise.
When the Democrats try to uphold the laws in our Constitution, will Brooks call them partisan?
3
I am hard pressed to imagine one member of the Party of Trump who could possibly break ranks and act as an American. The party that gave us Nixon and Agnew, Bush2 and Cheney, Reaganomics has succumbed to a party loyal only to itself.
Let us imagine that Congress somehow does it's job and flushes the Trump waste down the bowl of history - the Party has left us with Mike Pense as next in line!
Yikes! would Christian Sharia law be far behind?
2
"If that (fall back on partisan lines) happens, then the roughly 40 percent of Americans who support Trump will see serious evidence that he committed felonies, but they won’t care! "
What is Brooks trying to say, that if impeachment proceeds in a fair and judicial manner Trump supporters will gracefully accept the result? Utter nonsense.
1
How appropriate, its just that simple. We are the Constitution, Trump and the Republicans are the wolves. He seeks to shred us for his own personal glorification and aggrandizement. His appetite is his greed, his words are his teeth and he seeks to rend us into pulp to fatten him and his pack. Trump, of course is the Alpha of this pack. But all will join in to fatten themselves. Thankfully, the Huntsman, yup Mueller, is on the trail of the wolves and may cause them to turn on their leader.
1
Americana is full of stories about the snake oil salesman, immortalized in everything from Charles Ponzi to the Music Man. In every story, this charming charlatan is a savvy reader of humankind, and knows just what buttons to push to electrify the fears of his audience--whether it's Harold Hill with his boys' band, or Elmer Gantry with promised salvation. These stories are so endemic, you'd think it nigh onto impossible for people not to recognize him for what he is. And to see that for as much as he puffs them up, lauds their good, common sense and high morals in a world full of people "not like us," to a man he laughs himself sick at these rubes, these gullible country hicks. Until, of course, he's exposed, and the party abruptly ends.
1
I am seriously confused. Who are the wolves, in Brooks’ op-ed? Is Kelly Ann Conway the bride? I was expecting that Brooks began his piece with the wolf allegory so as to connect it to DC today. Halfway through the wolves seem to have run off, perhaps with the Constitution? Or was Brooks just trying to impress us with a Cather reference?
No matter, this just doesn’t work, and not just because Brooks never connects his opening allegory to anything. A far better fable for these Trumpian times is The Walrus and the Carpenter. In which Trump plays the greedy, perfidious walrus, and his base plays the gullible oysters. Let us end with a bit of Trump’s, I mean the Walrus’s, soliloquy:
“...It seems a shame," the Walrus said,
To play them such a trick,
After we've brought them out so far,
And made them trot so quick!"
A shame, indeed! Pass the butter and the MAGA hats.
3
The Republic has survived worse -- much worse -- than merely a vulgar media celebrity.
1
Yikes David! Your cynical view of the future looks pretty bleak. I just can't believe that 60% of the American people are going to keep being treated as the "minority" in this upside down world Trump and the media have created. There has to be someone out there who can galvanize the center and give it the heart to fight this insanity. America by nature has always been a centrist progressive country. We need an electoral system that represents that majority sentiment while still respecting the right of the minority. What we have right now is the opposite: A distorted system that elevates and rewards a malevolent, violent minority at the expense of the majority.
2
The law is a convention. Soft power is only as good as the hard power (state violence) that underwrites it. The Right has little of the first (the pen), all of the second (the sword). The Left could never suspend the Constitution, the Right could. Because the Left is in possession of the software, it can achieve its goals of Internationalism incrementally by tweaking it here and there, until the unsuspecting frog is no more. This,the Right claims, is how liberalism has subverted the Constitution and seceded American sovereignty to international bodies by stealth. Case in point: there is not an international body who did not loathe the notion of a Trump Presidency before he was elected. What Brooks is saying here is that Trump is in a position to/and could pull a Caesar. Rome was an institutional body until a corrupt elite (the Senate) used the law to reduce the people to servitude. Trump has been improvising all along, flying by the seat of of his pants within the gray undefined areas of Constitutional power (veritable black holes exist waiting to be mined--here be monsters!). Unchecked! Meanwhile, the Left is weak and limping from one exotic crusade to the next. All Trump has to do is bluff "to go there" and the Left will settle for appeasement. He doesn't have to cross the Rubicon. Just threaten to. Brooks reminds me of the Austrians, who, after losing their very pretty army, complained "he (Trumpoleon) doesn't fight fair."
Dear David: once again the ridiculous fig leaf of bland words such as 'partisanship' covers the fundamental point you're too reticent to have openly exposed in public: you know the party to whom you are speaking.
Somehow the vestiges of your own tribalism — even after all we've been through — still dissuade you from just coming out and saying it.
It bears noting that the accurate portrait you paint of trump is that of a very sick man.
And does it bear repeating that his conduct of the presidency is an open, daily violation of his fundamental oath to defend and protect our constitution?
And has it occurred to you that the "wolves" in this story are actually the people trying to SAVE the constitution? They are only "wolves" in the Fox News telling of the impending investigations, headed by the alpha wolf, Mueller.
Thank God for wolves.
3
The answer to the question is no.
The establishment IS corrupt, the game IS rigged, and the elites ARE out to get us.
1
I second mj’s thoughts. This is about corrupt individuals thinking only of saving their own skins and being re-elected. They have no strong feelings about a political party’s ideology. Republicans have clearly shown this by following like lemmings behind a con man for no other demonstrable reason. They previously told the truth, that he was political and moral rot. Now they do his bidding for personal gain. This is not partisan war, other than going back to 2008 when the Republicans only stated goal was to make Obama a one term president. This is a one sided hate campaign.
2
Excellent article.
I might add, however, that our Constitution and laws are adequate. There is enough punitive consequence in them to deter normal people in normal times, except criminals who scoff at, or reject, such limits.
Our Constitution and law do not address, in formidable manner, those who lack ethics. Among these would be Trump's base--the beneficiaries of his tax break to the rich, like members of Congress, Trump and his fossil fuel buddies.
And, those who hate -- racists, anti-LGBTQ, anti-anyone-but-Christian, neo-Nazis, sexists; those who lack the intellectual curiosity of a squirrel and actually believe Fox News and Trump.
The rich have a logical reason for supporting Trump, they've made out like bandits financially. They're also a minute portion of his base.
The rest of his base, with their various hatreds, probaby were raised to believe the way they do. It's akin to religious faith, in that there's no logic to support it, just belief. These beliefs are difficult to eradicate, but the resulting actions must be punished.
So, we circle back to the ethically challenged Republicans in Congress, some of whom have the same hatreds as Trump's base, plus a greed for power and money over serving the American people.
They can be voted out, or impeached, for passively supporting hate and hate crimes, for malfeasance, for lying ... for not living up to their oath of office.
1
Robert Mueller is a person of integrity comparable to Cox. We're lucky to have him guiding us through the morass of Trump's criminality. When the Democrats about to take control, Brooks is presenting the establishment Republicans' line of argument for the next two years: the Democrats' fulfilling their constitutional duty of oversight makes them just as nakedly partisan as Trump and his Republican supporters on the last Congress. Nonsense! A majority of the electorate voted the Democrats into office to provide a badly needed check on Trump's reign of terror and error. Get to it!
5
How does this cry of despair translate into practical terms?
Without the venal and duplicitous Hillary Clinton, there never would've been an appalling Donald Trump and a miserable election in 2016.
People can legitimately lament the rise of Trump but don’t even think of criticizing him from a moral standpoint if you were a Clinton supporter.
Over 320 million people and we ended up with those two? The problem isn’t Trump and never was. The problem is us. Try to fix THAT...
Does David recognize this as the end fruit of a process started by Reagan and his lackeys? Probably not, because then he'd have to admit that most of his career has been a futile error.
3
Once again David Brooks uses the invective “partisan” to describe political discourse as if it is a two-way street. Clearly it is Republicans that are being partisan and putting their party over America and our Constitution and any response from Democrats is not partisanship. It is the exercise of their Constitutional duty to rein in an out of control President and administration. Quit with the both sideism already and call what the GOP is doing by its true name: fascism.
3
Absolutely a new low in bothsiderism/false equivalence. The wolves are conservatives and have been for decades.
Find a way to get the "Freedom" caucus and Senate conservatives to quit destroying everything in sight, I might listen.
1
Trump and the Republicans have successfully implemented project, "It's all about me". They have put themselves above country at great harm to the nation.
When I was just a little boy, I heard a great President say those immortal words, "Ask not what this country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country". I guess for Trump, Republicans, and their supporters, this does not apply to them.
1
And here I thought David Brooks was fervently making a parable about capitalism.
But no, it's right-left partisanship, with "fine people on both sides", or something like that.
Sorry, there are no good people on the right in this country anymore, if there ever were. The GOP is made up of a weird bunch of greedy zomboids in lock step with their awful leader to line their own pockets, the evangelical myth lovers and science haters, the left behinds, and lots of angry white old guys.
They seem to want only for themselves and have lost sight of the fact that the government is us, we're all in it together, and too often lately there are not two worthy sides in a policy argument that makes some people rich and lots of other people suffer, that cuts off healthcare for no good reason.
The GOP has always been against the poor and vulnerable, but now it is merely a robotic enabler of Trump and all his evil and lunacy. A lot like a pack of wolves.
4
Peter and Pavel were later, respectively, elected to the Nebraska Senate and Nebraska's delegation to the House of Representatives in D.C.
4
Despite the many investigations, there has been only one indictment issued against a member of the Trump administration, and that was for a misdemeanor offense. The FBI determined Michael Flynn did not violate the Logan Act during his transition period conversations with the the Russian ambassador, but Special Counsel Robert Muller charged Flynn with lying to FBI agents during an post inaugural interview, even though the interviewing agents concluded that Flynn had not lied.
The sentencing guidelines is zero to six months, but it is expected Flynn will serve no time. Not much to show for two years of investigation. If there had been no investigation, no crime would have occurred.
Even Judge Sullivan, the federal judge presiding over Flynn’s sentencing, seemed misled by news media exaggerations. In open court he admonished Flynn for committing treason and betraying his country by acting as a foreign agent while serving as national security adviser. Embarrassed by the outburst, Muller’s prosecutors later informed Judge Sullivan that Flynn had not served as a foreign agent while serving as national security advisor. The judge apologized, but the news media, including the New York Times, reported the judge’s false allegations as if they were true, creating the false impression that a Trump administration official had pleaded guilty to serious felonies.
Organized religion has caused more misery over the millennia than almost every other factor, from religious wars. to oppression of minorities, and now the evangelical's attempt to remake our country contrary to the principles of our Constitution.
3
Preserving our constitutional democracy is our mission as Americans. We have been given this great gift of freedom from tyranny built into the very foundation of our country. If we do not fight to preserve it, we don't deserve it.
Trump is a tiny tyrant, a paper tiger full of sound and fury, but utterly insignificant. It is all flim-flam. It is all showy political theater with no governance, no policy, and no results. This is the man who will bring down the Republic? Please. You are looking at the drawing of a tiger and quaking in fear.
1
Republicans as now constituted under Trump disdain the rule of law and focus on manipulation, lies and cheating. We need, for the sake of our institutions of law and democracy to let the truth be known and insist on consequences for law breakers, no matter what position they occupy. This year has been inevitable ever since the Republicans nominated and supported a completely immoral liar and incompetent to the highest office. The Electoral College did not fulfill it's mission and we are forced to rely on the Judiciary and Congress to straighten out the mess.
2
David, please reserve your "both sides are just as bad" attitude. When have you seen Schiff behave like Nunes, or Adler or Cummings act like Goodlatte or Gowdy, or for that matter Pelosi stoop to the lows of Ryan? Your article presupposes what many believe: that Trump is a criminal and that Mueller's report will hammer that home. Regarding the theme of your column, a singular question, as we face the most dishonest, corrupt, anti-democracy, and incompetent president and administration in our history, is how will the most powerfull person in the Senate act. Mitch McConnell has never put country or democracy before party -- would you really expect him to now rise to the occasion? No matter how this all plays out, we are surely in for a rough ride for many years to come, well beyond Trump, I fear. Happy New Year all.
2
“then the roughly 40 percent of Americans who support Trump will see serious evidence that he committed felonies, but they won’t care!”
He is presuming guilt.
Yikes David. They're choices and results that are wide (unbridgeable?), seemingly a no-brainer. We do all believe, if we have no idea what's in it, our Constitution. Don't we?
I would hope so and put my vote down on keeping the bride in the sled.
1
Which Republicans does Mr. Brooks expect to take the lead role in defending the Constitution? Or is that info coming up in a future article?
1
Snapshot for the birth of 2019:
The lonely madman in the White House, empowered by Twitter, is utterly incapable to get his "see-through" wall erected across the continent, to get competent staff to work for him AND the country at the same time, to face multiplying indictments and generally to bring any reason into his conduct - with dire consequences for the lives of multitudes.
At this point, he could break down any day and end up in some institution. I can't believe that the Republicans in Congress won't escape in droves from the Frankenstein they have unleashed and grasp this last opportunity to redeem at least a whiff of respectability. What kind of powerful people betray their own country - their own family - for fear of one single deranged man?
2
A very apt description of what arguably is our current reality, not a future scenario. Mr, Brooks: your comments represent too little, too late. I wonder if you and other conservative pundits reflect upon the history of your columns and their role in enhancing the Republicans’ single-minded arrogance.
2
Mr. Brooks, the only wolves I see, the only wolves ravenous enough, are not of the Democratic Party. They are instead the GOP. The operative word here is not the "they" of which you seem to include both parties. The "they" is Trump and his sycophants in Congress. Purely and simply they are self-serving predators, gnashing their teeth and awaiting their next banquet.
And I disagree with your contention that 2019 will be the worst year ever re polarization and mutual hate. For the first time in two long horrible, horrible years my Party finally has a fighting chance to return sanity, stability, fairness, and equality to this un-United States. You see, Mr. Brooks, I still believe, and I still have hope. I have lived long enough (longer than you) to know that the scales of justice eventually tilt toward goodness if we actively make it happen. And that we are...to wit, our new wonderful House.
Trump deserves to be punished. Heavens, he should be in jail! The forty percent who are on the wrong side of history can not overcome what is in store for their president. Trump if not outwardly brought down will bring down himself. Mark my word....
2
Had to look up the word "kakistocracy" which I discovered means "government by the worst people." I fear we are already there.
1
Well worth serious thought and action. It's been quite a while since Our Mr. Brooks wrote a column ending on such a somber note.
1
Was getting broadband to rural America really such a good idea after all?
2
Please, Mr. Brooks. Willa Cather either knew nothing about wolves or she wanted Pavel and Peter to disclose their penchant for lies or shaggy dog stories. Wolves do not attack by hundreds. She probably got the idea from a Currier and Ives print showing uncharacteristic wolf behavior.
Other than that, I agree with your basic point!
1
You have two major conceptual goofs here David. You show and reference the snarling wolf when wolves are far from evil--unlike current Republicans. And you see the Democrats being partisan when they are in face being sane. To return this nation to sanity is NOT a partisan act, but a wise and caring one.
3
Both Sidism in full effect, David. We have seen the GOP demonstrably abdicate their oversight. Yet rather than suggest that democrats have the opportunity to change the game or that rebalancing the legislative dynamic, you treat both parties as having the same dilemma. Evidence matters, and the GOP is in need of a scold from conservatives, not the protection of the apron strings of both-siders
1
I think Mr. Brooks has hit the nail on the head.
We have utterly confused politics with entertainment. The fraudulent president is entertaining--he tweets! he insults people! he is a boor! and he lies with impunity! How amazing! And there is very little preventing the republicans who installed this creep from choosing the next creep on the same basis.
Presidents and representatives chosen by the lowest common denominator may be what the founders had in mind--however we have certainly discovered some very deep (perhaps fatal) flaws in the Constitution, haven't we?
It is a terribly sad state of affairs and one unlikely to end well for us.
I cannot remember a time when we needed real statesmen more and (with the exception of Mr. Mueller) had less hope of any showing up.
3
classic false equivalency. This all on Trump and the deplorable Republicans in Congress. I only hope the Dems do not hold back and go after him on all fronts. He is worse than we think.
1
Well put, Mr. Brooks. Trump did not invent hyperpartisanship, but his combination of mendacity, ignorance, and pure malice in the White House is without precedent. He is without scruple or moral bound. He will plainly destroy our system to protect himsef if not constrained from doing so. He will inflame his unthinking cult even further. There is no hope for America as we know and love it until he is legally removed from the office for which he is so grossly unfit. I pray that at least some Republicans officials, largely invertebrate cowards to this point, will finally be moved to patriotic action.
1
Then have to hold strong and make clear that a bet against our Constitution and democratic institutions risks the infamy of a traitor. Are the McConnells of the congress up for that?
2
The intentional obtuseness of acting like both parties are to blame is maddening.
Brooks just writes the same things over and over again. There is never any fresh insight on his part.
Not wolves, better pin-striped HYENAS… All the rest reads well; Mr. Brooks will be welcome in the progressive US reform movement soon as his writings here begin to manifest his obvious recent and accurate changes of convictions
1
It is not a question of giving into "the roughly 40%." It is directly a question of whether the FBI will take Trump out of the White House in handcuffs upon conviction in the Senate or a federal court. If Trump calls in a loyal general or two, will they back up the FBI?
Never mind the howls. Read the relevant paragraphs from the Constitution on CNN, NBC, Fox. If guys with guns start shooting, or even threaten police, judges, or perceived political enemies, arrest them.
After all the illegalities of the past two years, an impartial application of law and punishment is the only antidote. The alternative is a fascist state, like we have seen from time to time in Europe.
2
Where was your ire towards partisan circus trials when Devin Nunes was hosting his Hilary Clinton investigations over and over and over again for nothing more than partisan reasons?
3
My third attempt at a response just illustrates the heart of our problem.
I can't even respond anymore. How do you answer, "Well sure we'll get tossed to the wolves; we put the wolves in charge."
Brooks is looking for a messiah, the one person who will stand up for truth, justice and the American way. The one who will lead Congress into justice. The modern version of Archibald Cox or Elliot Richardson.
He is forgetting the core story of the last messiah. They crucified him.
1
Respect for our legal system disappeared long before Trump. Civil forfeiture laws that let cops commit legal theft. Hundreds of innocent people sentenced to death because of corrupt officers of the court. Overwhelming those accused with dozens of ridiculous charges. Stop and frisk. The war on drugs. And on and on.....
173
Here we are again, blame the left and the right "equally". Ignoring reality and ideology is Mr Brooks standard M.O.
The "radical right" wants and end to health care for all, wants to end public education, do away with Medicare and Medicaid while at the same time wasting billions on pointless wars, corporate welfare and this stupid wall. The "radical left" wants to build the country up from the inside with better access to higher education and Medicare for all, and Mr Brooks sez, "see" both sides do it. Mr Trump is a disgrace, an embarrassment, a con man and a grifter. He needs to be removed from office by any legal process available. The metaphor regarding the wolves is not bought by anyone. Your brainwashed voters are to blame, the real question is what flag will they rally to after Don the Con is gone? Oh, BTW Happy New Year!
232
Peter and Pavel are "winners" in Trumpian terms. There are no limits to means, just personal ends. Hence, throwing others to the wolves and, then, doing whatever it takes to avoid the consequences, is the new normal. (Think of all the "retiring" Republicans escaping from the Washington they helped create).
Here, in America, Trump and Hannity don't even have to move away. With the KGB as either guide or co-conspirator, they are reverse engineering what Putin has created in Russia -- a criminal oligarchy supported by a propaganda machine that successfully stimulates the reptilian brains of, at least, 40% of the population.
The next election could mark the end of civic/civil society as we've known it in America. The Republican Party has been riding the winning Frankenstein Tiger they cobbled together -- an overly stimulated coalition of religious fanatics, gun nuts, misogynists, racists political dirty tricksters, and quarterly bonus grabbers -- for decades.
The 2020 election will be the tipping point. Which way it goes will determine whether a functioning liberal democracy and, even, the existence of objectively verifiable facts will survive in America.
125
No mention of the GOP in this column? Really?
82
Speaking only for myself, what sort of losers have nothing better to do on New Year's Eve than sit home typing comments to a David Brooks op-ed column about Donald Trump? As Trump himself would say,...SAD.
9
David !!!!!
It has been the “Year of the wolves ‘“
since Kennedy was assassinated in 1963
And politically downhill since.
When students walking across the quad to classes at Kent State can be murdered by presidential orders by national guard troops .....
David you were in middle school then right!!!!
How can anyone younger than 55 or so even begin to see what trump has done.
Not a thing to compare it to????
Literature has these animals exposed
We the People have no such options. Reality and facts and murder of innocents;For me discussing “ wolves” as a current issue bemoans all the previous wolves u ignore
Start juxtaposing group think then ,w group think now.
Better for youngsters who think today’s climate of hate generated from fox fake news and lazy unfit presidents isn’t the YEAR of WOLVES ;it is the CENTURY.
12
Itr's only a con not a constitution.
2
You're missing the accent on the initial A of Àntonia. Where are the copyeditors?
2
Mr. Brooks, you use the word "they" repeatedly in this column, but not once do you use the word "Republican" to identify who "they" are. Shame on you.
96
False Equivalence, AGAIN, Dave.
48
Pure Brooksian fantasy, as usual. If you want to know how each party will react remember that Democrats pressured Al Franken to resign while Republicans elected and continue to support the man who admitted to sexually assaulting women and paid off both a porn star and a Playmate.
95
Twits are the major threat to the constitution.
6
Liked your column very much, but isn’t it “lie” low, not “lay” low?
7
Let's play a New Year's Day game. Call it the Constitution Bowl.
Imagine the various investigations find definitive proof of serious crimes, say money laundering, tax evasion, instruction of justice, conspiracy with Russians to influence the election, etc.
Now try to find the necessary 20 Republicans from the list of 53 GOP Senators who would vote to remove Trump from office due to even worst case investigation results. Good luck.
My guess is that Wolves are going to "win" the Constitution Bowl in a blow-out.
AL Shelby
AK Sullivan, Murkowski
AZ McSally
AR Cotton, Boozman
CO Gardner
FL Scott, Rubio
GA Perdue, Isakson
ID Risch, Crapo
IN Braun, Young
IA Ernst, Grassley
KS Roberts, Moran
KY McConnell, Paul
LA Cassidy, Kennedy
ME Collins
MI Wicker, Hyde-Smith
MS Hawley, Blunt
MO Daines
NE Fischer, Sasse
NC Tillis, Burr
ND Cramer, Hoeven
OH Portman
OK Inhofe, Lankford
PA Toomey
SC Graham, Scott
SD Rounds, Thune
TN Blackburn, Alexander
TX Cruz, Cornyn
UT Romney, Lee
WV Capito
WI Johnson
WY Barrasso, Enzi
26
Speaking of moral rot, lets see how Lindsey Graham and Fox News act in 2019.
47
Bravo!
6
Come one David! This is an insult to wolves! Wolves don't behave this way.They don't attack humans this way.
You know who does? Humans! Humans attack other humans, and any other animal, this way.
If only political partisans acted like wolves...and not like humans, we might be better off. Wolves are cooperative. They don't attack for pleasure or to fear monger. They don't waste resources and the whole pack cares for their young. And their elders know when its time to quit.
Its time we stop using animals to describe bad human behaviors, because they are never analogous. Using them only provides cover for the humans, allowing voters in this case, to dismiss their deplorable behaviors as somehow not human. As something outside the realm of typical human behaviors.
Lets call these partisan, anti-democratic politicians what they are...bad humans!
Lets call these despicable humans what they are. Typical evil Humans...who deem certain other humans unworthy of respect and basic compassion. That's a human trait.
What we're seeing in the GOP is frighteningly similar to the early years of Nazi Germany.
82
Can the Constitution withstand the cultured idiocy of the "reasonable, centrist" pundits of the NYT?
49
Why would an otherwise carefully reasoned article avoid any mention of the complicity of Fox News in this ride to hell in a hand basket? Are we the only democracy that allows a for-profit TV network to assume the role as an unrestrained propaganda apparatus for favored politicians? What will Fox News advocate when the predictable threats begin to surface as Trump begins his downslide into impeachment and criminal consequences? Fox News holds more sway with this White House than Mitch McConnell or that irritating phony patriot Lindsay Graham and the sheep who follow them. The dangers are real.
160
Yikes, the NYT graphics department is trying to terrify us before we even read first word of David’s column,
What a photo!
15
Stop maligning wokves! The savage, barbaric begavior is totally and characteristically human not lupine!!
61
Trump is flushing America down the toilet.
What republicans and Fox "news" doesn't seem to know, that along with everybody, they're going with it, too.
36
Be honest with yourself and those who read your column. Your party had the responsibility of vetting Trump when he announced his intentions to run. His reputation for years preceded that event. Despite his unprofessional behavior during the primaries your party was hell bent on winning rather than what was in the best interest of the country. After Obama won in 2008 Mitch McConnell stated the goal of the Republicans would be to make sure he would be a 1 term president. Was that in the best interest of the country? Your party worships Reagan, the man who had no respect for Air Traffic Controllers and squeezed the middleclass. Newt Gingrich thrived on obstruction followed by The Tea Party and presently the Freedom Caucus. The silence of the Republicans while Trump destroys international relations, American institutions and flagrantly lies to 320 million citizens daily is a travesty. Your analogy of a pack of wolves is off base, think Komodo Dragons eating greedily off the flesh of their victims that is more like the poison Republicans possess.
158
Blame the victim.
Come on, New York Times. You can do better than this.
22
"Can the Constitution withstand the Republicans?" - there, I fixed it for you.
I have had it with this reflexive 'bothsidesism'. In the past two years, the preponderance of political venality and partisanship is being exhibited by one side and one side only. Time after time, the Dem's attempts at bridging the gridlock (DACA for wall $ - remember that?) has been met with 'my way or the highway'.
To pretend otherwise is to ignore reality.
130
Brooks mis-spelled 'Republicans' in his headline.
Mr. Brooks it is NOT spelled 'partisans'.
Both parties are NOT the same.
You built this.
82
I see Both-Sides Brooks is at it again. Give it a rest Dave.
48
In explaining the tests to come, Brooks does that very American thing: he ignores embarrassing context. The Constitution has already succumbed to greed and frank partisanship. Where is the Speaker of the House? Where has he been since his predecessor tucked tail and ran? An understanding underpins the Constitution, i.e., that anyone standing for election to federal office does so in good faith to the very notion of a union. Many in the GOP, and the POTUS himself, stood for office in order to undermine the Constitution, and to exchange the soul of America for a snarling ethos. Adding to the distraction that infects much commentary, writers ignore the tectonic shifts and quakes that have shaken the world in the last 100+ years. Ancient empires fell and were replaced with… what? The new empires of the USA and the USSR? They, too, have run their course! Our numbers grow around the world while arable land shrinks. And we wonder why the status quo is falling apart! It will take a superhuman effort by caring Americans to mend the breaches in the dyke of our civilized government. Those who played nice music on the sloping deck need to abandon their denial of complicity in the threatening disaster.
32
Face it Brooks, first the wolf story doesn’t work. Who are supposed to be the wolves? Who’s throwing who to the wolves? Second, Republicans, including yourself, are not going to put country over party. The Mueller report may be damning eough that Rs realize he’ll drag them down with him, but patriotism will not be part of the calculation. Otherwise, face it Brooks, our best hope is that a lot of Rs vote blue in 2020. If you feel Rs should put country over party, Brooks, why don’t you set an example and announce you’ll vote for a Dem, ant Dem,
36
Mr Brooks, the depiction of the Democratic Party as ravening partisan wolves devouring an equally ravening and out of control President Trump seems like a fever dream after a night of too much wine. The nearly forty Freshmen Democratic Representatives to the new Congress worked too hard and overcame far too many obstacles to get there and start acting like Devin Nunez. In fact it is highly offensive to me that you would suggest that our one remaining political party that gives a damn would do anything other than take the investigations of Mr Trump deeply seriously. He is a malignancy that needs careful excision. This doesn't necessarily mean impeachment, but gathering unalterable evidence to show his many followers to what depths this man has dragged them. A partisan circus would only inflame Trumps supporters. Facts that even Republicans can't deny may defang the real Trump.
37
It is not surprising, but still disheartening, to see the great majority of NYT commenters still ignoring the felonies of Clinton, that she looked the American people in the eye and lied to us and that Obama and his DOJ and FBI were corrupt, betraying their own honor and besmirching our hallowed halls of justice. So, yes, Brooks is right to cast aspersions on both sides. If this partisan cabal tries to invalidate an election by undemocratic means, for its own base reasons of regaining power, there will be hell to pay on the streets and no GOP senator will be able to vote to turn power back to the Leftist conspirators of the Democratic Party, which the majority of Americans no longer trust.
9
"He sees every conflict as a personal conflict in which he destroys or gets destroyed." Is he wrong? Don't his enemies see it this way, too? I continue to hear seemingly respectable public figures, chiefly so-called celebrities, use the "F" word indiscriminately without, often, any further explanation. This from 50, 60 year old movie directors, singers, actors, sounding like their 13 year sons and daughters. It is personal, it is vindictive, is it malicious, and it has nothing to do with policy, not with any comprehension of institutional authority, tradition, decency...it is pure drunken filth, but we are subjected to this relentlessly. It is personal. Soon we will see them defecating on the White House lawn. This is where we are and nothing Trump has done warrants this kind of obscenity. I am waiting, David, for you to call these people out. Someone has to call a stop to this assault, not on Trump, but on something even deeper than the Constitution. This is an assault on our souls.
4
There isn't really any partisanship in America. The Republican Party doesn't stand for anything but making the rich richer. If they wanted a wall, we'd have a wall. If they wanted immigration reform, we'd have it. If they wanted a replacement for Obamacare, we'd have it. They only thing they wanted was tax cuts for the rich to be richer. All the partisanship rantings are just there to cover their real objective of making the already filthy rich filthier. Even their focus on judges was just about making sure the courts are on the side of the rich.
That's good news because the stock market doesn't run on tax cuts. Financial instability is guaranteed without good governance. The sugar high the economy has been running on is almost out of steam. The rich will abandon Trump which means their Republican servants will as well. Hell hath no fury than a rich man who sees his portfolio decline. The wolves will be at Trump's throat. This is one bankruptcy Trump will not walk away from. I can't wait for the opera.
31
Aside from the fact that there have been no documented cases of wolves preying on live human beings--not one (wolves tend to get the hell away from humans as fast as their legs will carry them, indicating sound judgment)--one hopes that if the wolves do come down from the hills, they will target the elephants in the room. Hard to bring down, admittedly, but a lot more meat for them.
24
Trump will be just fine with this kind of State. So was Hitler.
13
I agree with David Brooks, I think this is a major test of our democracy and it is not looking all that encouraging.
The thing we have to ask ourselves -- be we republican or democrat -- is will we demand from our parties people who are accountable to __all__ of the people of America. Perhaps right now, some working-class whites feel that this bull-in-a-china-shop president is teaching Washington a thing or two. There is a point to that. That population has long been ignored.
Yet now that they wear the boot, they don't see how their boots stamp on other people's faces. Yet they also fear that if the left wears those boots, they will be next on the stamping grounds.
When will we stop seeing power as a means to get what we demand at the expense of everyone else? If we continue in this way, it becomes a zero-sum game, and soon enough, there will be a monarch sitting in the seat of the president.
Maybe the most important thing we have forgotten about democracy is that we have to be willing to accept compromise in our political wishes and accept that the best people for the job of public service generally come with a few flaws. The issue should not be as much whether a politician has always made the "right choices". In politics, the Devil can do that. The issue should be whether the politician __learns__ from those mistakes.
5
Watergate was far from the sober, bipartisan deliberation it is held up to be. It is likely only due to the dumb luck of finding Nixon's secret White Hiuse recordings, and Democratic control of both houses that he was impeachmed and eventually resigned. The country was very divided until almost the very end.
The Constitution and the rule of law were then and currently are at just as much risk from the actions of Nixon and the Trump administration as they were/are from hyperpartisanship tearing the country apart. It's a real damned-if-you-do, damned-if you-don't situation.
The only real question is whether Teumo himself or further inflaming partisan differences poses the greatest risk to the long term viability of our system. Seems pretty clear to me that the Trump administration does. With each passing day they further degrade and deligitimize the whole system. Trying to hold them to some degree of accountability is really the only choice, even at the risk of further dividing opinion. At this point, you just have to have faith that enough Americans understand what a monumental threat Trump is.
Partisanship comes and goes. Losing a democracy is a lot harder to come back from.
13
As usual, Brooks is 'Brooks' and the comments insightful and thoughtful. Here's mine:
As I recall, our founders who fought the existential fight in circa 1776 were the 'partisans' who did what they had to do, broke the rules (e.g., hid behind trees in their common clothes and ambushed the Redcoats who marched and dressed by the rules) to prevail over King George et al. Then had to do it again.
Yes...simplistic but to Brooks' "wolf" alegory, one doesn't play 'nice' with a preditor and when survival is at stake, one does what one has to do, "...damn the torpedoes and full speed ahead...". So the choice in the story was: who gets sacrificed -- the bride and groom or Pavel and Peter? Certainly, no one is suggesting the sledge come to a halt and the 4 negotiate with the wolves?
And Mr. Brooks, just who are the wolves in your analogy? Also why pick on the wolves as a species (but that's a subject for another time)?
3
When Mitch McConnell angrily declared his party's intention, rather than work with newly elected Barack Obama, to make him a one term president, that was the start of the public breakdown of the previously observed rules between the parties. When he stole Merrick Garland's Supreme Court seat, that was the end of any pretense that the parties would work together toward the greater good of the nation. At that point, the Republicans' position became official: party over people.
Make note of which state legislatures are passing laws to strip the powers of state offices that have now, at the will of the voters, switched to the other parties--almost all are Republicans working to take power from Democrats, the voters' clearly manifested preferences be damned.
Stop with the false equivalencies. Democrats are not perfect by any means, but the Republicans broke this system. Trying to assign equal blame to each side is to create a narrative that may seem fair but is fundamentally dishonest and untrue.
1737
With only one notable dig at Democrats, Brooks pretty much condemns Trump and the GOP directly. The wolves in the GOP, especially in the vaunted Senate have remained silent, as they cry in the night. L. Graham recent condemnation of Trumps, ill conceieved Syria declaraton. But he now suggests that Trump will think about the withdrawal. Nixon's demise came at the hands of a Republican Senate. We have a Senate now also controlled by the GOP and it is slowly coming to terms with the threat to our national security, and our domestic solvency. The days of Devin Nunes are over, where the investigators betray their role as partisan hacks. Let us hope that the House Democrats move more judiciously, and let us hope the public voice of Trump, Rudy, stops saying that such is such is "not a crime", because there is so much else that will indict this president.
19
Every institution, including the executive branch, evolves, in the end, to protect itself. With this imperative, the constitution has little importance. It is up to Congress to reign-in the executive. Problem is that the rule applies to Congress too. We are in deep trouble.
11
What a frightening commentary to start the New Year.
So the question is, how do we inspire our representatives to take the moral high ground? Is it already too late?
Where are the 21st Century’s ‘Profiles in Courage’?
7
David Brooks is an articulate spokesperson for the right. It’s how he makes a living. He's a little more palatable than the Limbaugh, Coulter, etc. gang—not as loud maybe, but the message (mission) is consistently the same, weaken and shrink government. Reduce our collective power so that those with the most individual power—because of their money, can have free reign.
Brooks is a spokesman for the radical right libertarianism of the Koch’s and Grover Norquist. Use Brooks as a reference point to understand what the power players of the right are thinking, and what manipulations they might already have in play. Don’t look to him as a sage offering wisdom to get us through tough times.
64
It is highly probable that Vladimir Putin and his Politburo read columns like this and celebrate the New Year 2019 with a healthy glasses of vodka. Their ultimate goal of destabilizing a country at massively odds with itself is playing itself out for them far sooner than they could have imagined.
The question is whether our system of democracy can be resilient enough to reverse course or will the fabric of our society and very governance continue to unravel with only our vast military complex holding us together as one indivisible nation.
11
This brilliant analysis says why our legal friends, at least those that venture into courtrooms, are so worried about the 'rule of law' in Trump's America. It isn't just the Republican politicians that need to stand tall. Ever wonder how many corporate boards of companies that gained so much from the tax law of 2017 would hire Donald Trump as their president? I suspect few, if any. Should these corporate leaders not be expected to stand tall too? Or are they behaving like the leadership of I. G. Farben did in the 30's?
19
The issue of course is that we have been trained for many decades that partisanship trumps law, loyalty to the Constitution, or anything else. When the opposition isn't just characterized as disagreement on the means to make the country better, but evil, this is what you get.
7
With Watergate there was a crime to investigate. Operatives paid by the Nixon campaign were caught redhanded as they broke into Democratic National Committee headquarters to plant listening devices. Today, congressional committees and the special counsel are searching for crimes to investigate. Searching for crimes to investigate fits the "witch hunt" label.
In appointing Robert Mueller to investigate possible unlawful collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, Acting Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said, “My decision is not a finding that crimes have been committed or that any prosecution is warranted. I have made no such determination.” Since no evidence of unlawful collusion has surfaced, the Mueller team and congressional committees are investigating not just members of the Trump campaign or administration but Trump “associates” in hopes of discovering an indictable offense.
The news media now reports investigations of persons in “Trump’s orbit.” Now that Democrats are about to take control of the House of Representatives, the investigations will expand to include person in Trumps solar system,Trump’s galaxy and Trump’s universe. It is like the Six Degree of Kevin Bacon parlor game which challenges participants to identify links between Bacon and other actors.
3
@William Case You make Brook's point.
I don’t share the cynicism that David writes about for 2019. The Mid-term elections helped me realize that a lot of people who voted for Trump only voted for him because they did not want Hilary. They also realize that The Republican Congress is corrupt, do not care about their constituents, a la Health Care, Voting Rights, Immigration Reform or Gun Reform. They only care about their Party, not the country as a whole. This alone is amazing.
I do foresee the Democrats making sure that their Investigations are thorough and fair, unlike the one that Nunes oversaw. I also believe that they will concentrate on what all of the issues are that have adversely affected our Country, (thanks to the Republicans and the Trump and his Administration) and try to level the playing field.
In 2019 there will be good things happening in this country, despite Trump and his cronies. Let us not forget what has already happened. Trump lost his Foundation, his Trump University and he and his family are banned from ever serving on another Foundation Board. Also the Republicans have lost Control of the House and Mueller already has issued 35 Indictments, several of which have resulted in jail time for the indictees.
I think 2019 looks very promising indeed.
25
Mr Brooks, as I’ve written in many other posts, it is time to bring the full light of the Press on Mitch McConnell. His wife is in Trump’s cabinet. It’s really a conflict. McConnell will not raise his voice as the Senate leader so long as Trump can treat Ms Chao like he did Jeff Sessions, should McConnell actually act like head of a coequal branch of our government and call Trump out.
41
David, to take just one issue: What should have been the right "nonpartisan" reaction to McConnell's refusal to consider Merrick Garland? The Democrats did not make a fuss. They allowed it to happen. Is that the way to put country over party?
What's the correct "nonpartisan" reaction to the investigation of interference in our election by the Russians? Is it blocking it, because only one party might be implicated?
What's the "nonpartisan" reaction to voter suppression and the kind of cheating we're seeing in NC?
Your choice of "partisanship" as the "wolf" in this article is dishonest.
38
We don't have to wait for 2019 to unfold to see Mr Brooks' dire warning; we're already there, and have been for 8 years now, ever since Mitch McConnell made his infamous declaration to obstruct everything president Barack Obama proposed. It was at that point that Newt Gringrich's vision of a new American state, where rules and decorum were cast aside in favor of chaos and party loyalty came to fruition. Trump versus the Democratic House in 2019 is not the tipping point --- it's the culmination of this horrific vision.
The Willa Cather story is sobering because, without a doubt, each side in this mess will point to the other and say there they are, there are your wolves preying on the weak. When each side sees the other as predator and themselves as prey, there's little room for negotiation. No one in that story ever thought to stop the runaway sledges and have a heart to heart talk with the wolves, to try to understand their motives and fears. For all their monstrosity, Peter and Pavel knew what we know, but are loathe to admit --- when the wolves are upon us, it's a fight for survival.
Mr Brooks sees the shadow of the wolves running alongside in the woods. He hopes that in 2019 cooler, wiser heads will prevail and keep them at bay. He doesn't offer any suggestions on how one negotiates with them.
9
Brooks gives the prelude to the Conservatives calling out the Democrats to stop the partisanship. We'll get that next week. The GOP has been leading their politics as if with a blowtorch since 1994 and now as soon as a Democrat picks up a box of matches in defense, Conservatives yell - "see both sides are doing it! Partisanship! Dem's put down your flames."
Pelosi wins because she knows how to fight fire with fire. The difference between Pelosi and McConnell is that Pelosi believes that strong politics are the means to governing, while McConnell believes weaponizing politics is the means to drown the government in the bathtub. This is brewing into what could be a Constitutional crisis, not because the Dem's are fighting back via equivalent means, it's because the GOP won't recognize the legitimacy of governing for the whole of society.
41
Excellent observations in this article and from the comments. Now I wonder, Mr. Brooks, are there examples from history where a country dealt successfully (or unsuccessfully) with a wannabe despot? I would love to know your thoughts.
7
This wolf thing has gotten a lot of folks worked up. But the thing is is the sled is the USA, the Russian brothers are the Trump family, and the passengers are the citizens and values that this administration is willing to sacrifice in order to move themselves forward.
Or (if you love wolves and can't stand to have them portrayed as a threat) maybe the wolves are the honorable ones and represent the Mueller investigation and the brothers are the GOP throwing away all of their integrity in order to protect what they perceive to be a noble way of life when really they were intemperate incompetents who never should have been allowed near any sort of driver's seat.
Either way you wish to interpret it, Mr. Brooks appears to have wandered in from a two year stay the tundra if he thinks the GOP hasn't already chosen party over country. His cries of "wolf!" are woefully late.
27
Many comments notwithstanding, I do not read Mr. Brooks's article as an exercise in both-sidesism, but as an indictment of Trump and Republican leaders. Reigning in Trump will require the leadership of Senate Republicans--they control that body. People like Graham, Collins, Sasse, Grassley, and Romney.
Will they take on wolves?
5
How did we arrive at this particular junction in time? These things always begin in an insidious manner. Was it Reagan or Gingrich, when party control became the most important element? At about the same time, the second element money, huge amounts of money became crucial to win elections. Who had this kind of monies, the very rich and large Corporations. This led to a symbiotic relationship between the interests of those who had money and those seeking election.
These two elements total party power and money, more than likely were culminated in today's Republican Party and the election of an equally corrupt and inept leader, with a little help from our friends in Russia.
America, may be at a crossroad and it would take Representatives of integrity to discern which is truly important for the survival of this Republic, Party or the Constitution? Sadly, it is less obvious that these individuals even exist.
7
It's too late. We already know we live in a kakistocracy. We have FBI investigations writing exonerating statements before targets are even interviewed. We have clearly different treatment of campaigns along partisan lines, conducted by partisans at senior levels of the DOJ and FBI. We have networks and newspapers acting as extensions of political parties. We have Senators convicted of receiving bribes or misrepresenting their military credentials lecturing a President without scrutiny from the press or their colleagues. The collapse of integrity Mr. Brooks is so worried about has already happened. It's called the Democrat-Deep State-Fourth Estate connection.
1
My feelings exactly. I must say I have very little hope with a GOP Senate. I will put my expectations that this country can and will pull out of this mess by the ordinary citzen voting and fighting for what our founders and all patriots fought so hard for. My father served in WW II . He would be horrified now and I grieve . The American dream raised me and we must bring it back. Greed and corruption and self interest must be stopped.
4
Yes, our American culture has devolved to the point that no respect is shown for institutions or each other.
The Kavanaugh debacle is a terrific example of our current cultural mindset.
In our hearts we know that the accused woman is telling the truth and that Kavanaugh is either lying or can’t remember due to black outs.
Despite this there is a division between those who simply like the woman more or the man more. Totally subjective.
The same cultural debacle is occurring here in France with violent demonstrations in the street.
3
The problem is not "partisan furies." It's the absolute corruption of the Republican Party.
Part of getting out of this mess is re-learning how to use precise language and say what we mean.
21
Many suppose that a DJT legal team is waiting in the wings, having already drafted legislation with voluminous impeccable legal justification, to propose a President-for-Life position for their Alpha male.
I don’t think the binary choice you offer has any reality in Trump world. Either way the 40% will continue to defend and vote for him. If nothing in 2016-2018 has changed their minds, nothing in 2019 will. He could be charged and found guilty of murder and they would still defend him. When you live in the Fox News/Hannity bubble, reality holds no sway.
6
Well put. Trump obviously did not invent hyperpartisanship, but his unique combination of ignorance, mendacity, and pure malice
is without precedent in our history. As Mr. Brooks says Trump is without scruple or moral bound, and will plainly destroy our system to protect himself if he is not constrained from doing so. He will inflame his unthinking cult even further. There is no prospect for the future of America as we know and love it until he is legally removed from the office for which he is so unfit. I hope and pray that at least some Republicans will develop a spine and a conscience this year.
12
"At that point congressional leaders will face the defining choice of their careers: Where does their ultimate loyalty lie, to the Constitution or to their party?"
Something is preventing you, David, from using plain words and spelling out the truth. I'm not going to read between the lines on your behalf, and give you the benefit of the doubt. Which party has put political party, power and money before the Constitution, our democracy, and the wellbeing of the nation? It isn't a bipartisan set of "congressional leaders." It is the Republican party. The Trump Republican party.
I very much want to care about what the Trump base thinks, but don't believe that what you are suggesting will bring them on board. Mr. Mueller is precisely the kind of person you are calling for. And yet Mr. Trump has lied about Mueller and his investigation, and demonized Mueller and his team, and the willfully blind Trump base has happily gone along with it.
23
As usual Brooks tries to protect his conservative brethen by pretending to be non-partisan. It is not only Trumpians but Republicans who ruthlessly attack our democratic institutions and processes from free elections to regulation of toxins in our food and water. Make not mistake, Brooks' program of apologies is as corrosive as other Republican enablers.
15
The wolf story is an oldie — goes back centuries. Often a baby gets tossed. In David’s analogy, what is getting tossed?? Common sense? Practical policy? Focus?
David doesn’t see it that way maybe, but America is on the sleigh trying to escape the GOP and Trump as the wolves. The possible victim tossed out of the sleigh is the Dems’ ability to focus, focus, focus on reality and not lose presence of mind, distracted by Trump’s snarls from the rest of the GOP wolf pack.
7
Good reporting and great writing. Keep up the good work DB.
2
As a society we have lost the sense of “The Commons”. Trumpsters appear to be enamored with the fact that Trump & Co have been able to avoid paying taxes, continually playing dodgeball with the law. Do people not understand what allows water to be brought into their homes and sewage to be taken away?
I picture a huge painting of the trump family in one of their high rise buildings having to lower buckets of their sewage down to an open latrine because they choose not to pay taxes - how do they feel now?
We must recognize that we are in this together as a society as a huge collective effort and must dig ourselves out as a whole not in bits or parts - it is the only way forward else “Rome” lurks just around the corner.
As the popular term these days seems to be “pivot” - let 2019 be the year of THE pivot!
4
Freedom is NOT something won once and forever.
In every generation, we must reaffirm our belief in” truths self evident “ to our ancestors.
We must chose collective, civility and rule of law instead of the tirades and cruelty of a despot.
8
How interesting. Jack London talked about the thin veneer of civility that keeps society going. Wolves too.
3
We do need to keep in mind that much of the GOP has a disdain for a democratic republic, preferring an autocracy or a monarchy.
10
When David says the congress will have to decide "Where does their ultimate loyalty lie, to the Constitution or to their party?", It shows yet another example of false equivalency on his part. We already know where their loyalties lie. A more fair and accurate statement would read; Republicans in congress will have to decide whether to continue their party before country crusade, which justifies their fealty to this disgrace of a leader, while Democrats in congress do their best to keep the house from burning to the ground. As we know, this all began way back with with Newt Gingrich, and Republican pundits like David Brooks seemed perfectly fine with it.
19
Given the likely exposure of evidence that Trump has been involved in illegal activities related to his presidency, I agree with Brook's assertion that in 2019 congressional members will be forced to pick between doing the right thing based on the rule of law, societal values, and democratic traditions or going with personal aspirations. What bugs me is how he uses wolves to make his point. Like so many, without really thinking about it, he demonizes wolves in order to illustrate a moral versus self-preservation dilemma. Cather can be forgiven for she was writing in a different era. Wolves throughout history have been used in this manner. A characterization that has led to their mass extermination. Sure, maybe I am being overly picky...but in my view, words matter. Stop using the wolf as a metaphor for unrestrained, immoral evil.
3
So you are claiming an equal "partisanship" behind the actions (a) those who are forcing some to work for free and others to abruptly lose their work, at Christmastime, for the sake of an expensive vanity that will not work, and (b) those who won't waste that money and want to get things going again.
Odd the way Republican columnists like Brooks and Douthat have suddenly lost sight of content in their concentration on the competitive aspect.
I suppose we should all compromise on exposing Trump's illegal activities as well, to avoid "partisanship"?
10
Glad to see you waking up, Mr. Brooks! You are granted a microphone that most of us lack: how in good conscience can you write about anything else?
And, please, no false equivalence, no whataboutism: only the Republican party puts itself before country these days, and "these days" go back to well before Donald Trump. You like history: how did this come to pass? You like sociology: how can it be changed?
No other issue is worth your attention; the wolves really are at the door.
11
David, you have just described how the GOP congress - and FOX News - have behaved for the last 2 years. Does anyone really expect them to change?
12
"We’ll have to face the fact that America has become another fragile state — a kakistocracy"
I am afraid, Mr Brooks, we have well past that point. Isn't America today already a kakistocracy? Isn't the government run by its worst, least qualified, and most unscrupulous citizens? One only needs to examine the qualifications and the backgrounds of Mr. Trump and those surrounding him.
11
Brooks appears unable to distinguish Trump's rhetoric from his actual actions. He has never defied a court order, unlike Andrew Jackson and Abraham Lincoln. He has never started an illegal war, unlike Reagan (Grenada), Bush #1 (Panama), Clinton (Serbia) and Obama (Libya); he has in fact never started a war at all. He has not fired Mueller, even he obviously would like him to disappear.
One can plausibly argue that Trump has violated the Emoluments Clause. Even if true, that is not much of a threat to our constitutional order. And it is doubtful the Supreme Court would agree, given the presence of five conservative judges.
In a few years Brooks will look just as silly as those people who feared in November 2016 that Trump would seize power and rule as an autocrat. Some autocrat! He can't even stop a special prosecutor or build a wall.
Public, sworn, televised testimony will overwhelm even republican senators and force them to deal with facts.
2
What, exactly, does Mr. Brooks imagine Democrats might do to avoid the appearance of falling "back in partisan lines" if Republicans continue to "face the defining choice of their political careers," as they have already faced it numerous times since Trump's election, and continue to choose to Trump's "moral rot"? The question of where ultimate loyalties lie is a question for Republicans. Mr. Brooks should put it to them. Not continue this pretense that partisanship is a failure all round when it comes to Trump's self-dealing authoritarianism. It's that fundamentally dishonest, irresponsible pretense, by the media and by the likes of Mr. Brooks, that keeps alive the notion that "there is no higher authority that all Americans are accountable to," that this is all "just a political show."
9
What 'nation' do you speak of exactly?
The two sides share nothing in common but geography. Not ethos, a common history, race (largely), or culture.
That is not a nation.
Things changed too quickly, too fast, and the government didn't take care to explain it, or ask the people if they wanted it.
Blaming Trump, or partisanship, is willful ignorance. There are much larger factors at play, and unfortunately, despite the most wishful thinking, we are not going to back to 1995 WASP America. We aren't going back to Watergate America.
Brooks is slick: no mention of either Dems or GOP in his jeremiad but only a plea for bi-partisanship. It's a semantic choice which seeks to reinforce his self-proclaimed voice of reason from above the fray. The problem however is denial: Trump is a Republican creation and the head of the Republican Party. The Republicans need to confront not only Trump but themselves.
19
As Trump undoubtedly continues down his downward spiral this year, the real test is to the GOP backroom leadership. How can we artfully get him off the 2020 ballot to have any chance of keeping the White House?
Impeachment (blame the Dems of course, but that requires sufficient proof to convince reluctant Republican Senators). Resignation? No way - ego way too inflated. Not run in 2020? A GOP dream.
Crazy world - Dems want him on the ballot, Republicans looking for an out that keeps his base
2
About 25% of Americans, 18 years and older, voted for Trump in 2016, not 40%.
6
We are indeed already a kakistocracy - we accomplished that in 2016. There is no returning to the Democratic Republic that we used to be. It is over.
3
It is not the Constitution we should worry about surviving, its democracy and the rule of law. It is the seriously flawed constitution and recent interpretations of it by the Supreme Court which gave us Trump and the current crisis. It allowed the most unqualified, uninformed, dishonest, and undignified person ever to run for the Presidency to be elected while losing by 3 million votes. It allowed the two most basic qualities of any democracy to be violated, one person one equal vote and the majority or the plurality wins.
It is not just Trump who has trampled over out democracy, its McConnell stealing a Supreme Court nomination, its the Electoral College, its the majority of people voting for a Democratic Congress and ending up with Republican majorities in the House and Senate, its the filibuster in the Senate and its unlimited money in electoral politics. None of which did the writers of the Constitution prevent.
Without constitutional reform even if we get rid of Trump we will still have a flawed democracy and be forced to wait for the next electoral disaster.
11
Forget Trump. He's The Fat Lady, The Bearded Snake, The Two-headed Possum.
The real issue, as always, lies with the ugliness that will remain when Trump has gone to his just rewards.
The Republican Party is the nexus of political evil; it has decided to ignore the cake of government and focus only on the frosting of victory at any cost.
In a way this makes sense. Republicans cannot hide their adoration of business, can't stop themselves from destroying vital institutions and alliances if, somehow, it puts an extra buck in some executive's pocket.
We have been pelted with examples, of late, making clear business has no eye for, let alone care for, the future.
Now, neither do Republicans. No matter the consequence of any action for the future of the country or the people, they want everything they can grab right now, and will inflict any harm, brook any lasting damage to get it.
David, here, has been totally on board with that.
Today's installment, like so many before, appears to signal a new willingness to confront political reality, a dawning awareness of the peril created by his recent politics.
Naw...its just David, feinting again before unleashing his next "Sure we have problems. but least we don't have Clintons" tirade. A quaver in the political field is all.
18
This piece is insulting to wolves.
Canis lupus has attacked hundreds of people in North America and Eurasia in the last few centuries, but any wolf biologist will tell you that fatal attacks are generally rare. More people have been killed by domesticated dogs than wild wolves.
8
"Vice", the movie about Dick Cheney in theaters now, vividly portrays the monomaniacal self-interest that dominates the psyche of the modern Republican base. Check it out.
5
it is in the nature of predators to pursue and consume their prey. humans are not so different than wolves, we just don't make it so bloody anymore. the republicans want power above all else, and are willing to crush anyone on their way to get it.
1
Too pessimistic mr Brooks, the school yard bully will fold, there’ll be no violence by his “supporters “, the rule of law will win.
4
"At that point congressional leaders will face the defining choice of their careers: Where does their ultimate loyalty lie, to the Constitution or to their party?"
David, why are you so dishonest?
Why are you not saying REPUBLICAN congressional leaders??
11
You're almost there Mr. Brook's. Although it understandably pains you; just emphatically say it. "My party, not partisanship has brought my nation to its lowest point in moral and ethical 'governing' principles since its civil war era."
The GOP has been a second tier party in decline in terms of Americans' popularity and thus governing power for a long time. Because they are the party of business wealth or the nation's fewer. So 'organized' lying and cheating to diminish democracy or majority consensus has been used and continually elevated for achieving its donor's profit reliability but not social justice or the narrowing of economic disparities i.e. social wealth privileges such as governmental access, healthcare, taxation, regulations, judicial favor and the like.
Greed is what the GOP represents not social responsibility! Having wealth can be virtuous to a society by promoting general growth and strength that can spread to others but greedy persons are damaging, allowing rot to a society's entire root system. A society is merely a a basic family unit writ large and intertwined with others. GOP'ers conduct themselves like small children. It's me, me, me; they ernestly believe so foolishly!
8
It's interesting that, while you seek to put the blame on both left and right, the actual substance you give is all about the faults of the President and his supporters. God knows both Republicans and Democrats can be tribal, but in the current situation one side is more blameworthy than the other, and your discussion shows it. Can you not have the courage to acknowledge that?
16
In 2019 please try to write some columns on the Democratic Presidential candidates. Yes, Mr. Trump is pretty egregious. But there are a few other things going on in the world. And the solution to Mr. Trump is the 2020 election. The country is just fine. The system will work. The sky is not falling. Hopefully the Democrats can come up with some competent candidates. Which is where the NYT columnists come in. Getting off the Trump obsession and examining the Democratic candidates would be very useful, because most of them have pretty obvious faults. Mostly lack of experience and ability. So please spend some time on potential alternatives to Mr. Trump. It would be informative.
4
If the worst happens, we can eliminate the oath of office, as it stands, it’s close to meaningless now. Sad.
3
Still drinking your own Kool-Aid, Mr. Brooks? Please stop; it went funky years ago.
As an outside observer, I’ve detected a pattern here: when Republicans are in office, deficits soar to new heights while tax revenues (through massive breaks) are given to the wealthy and social programs are disassembled. Once Democrats return to power, Humpty is put back together again, albeit with a few pieces missing. Mostly the status quo is returned, but weakened for the lower earning Americans. Gee, maybe that’s how Trump got elected.
It is now 2019, and I’ve watched this play out several times in my lifetime. I am wondering how you - an intelligent person - can look in the mirror and call yourself a Republican. Seriously.
18
What is the point of the wolves analogy? That people would do anything to stay alive? Well, duh. I am not even sure that it was immoral or wrong to save two people instead of all four of them dying. But in any case, the political situation in the US is hardly similar to an imaginary wolves’ feast. Trump is a bad president but there have been worse ones in American history and most definitely much worse ones in Russian history, if we are going to strain this lame analogy even further. Russia still exists and its citizens are apparently happy enough to live under Putin. The US will survive Trump. Whether it will be the same country that Mr. Brooks imagines it used to be is debatable. But it is also debatable whether it ever was this country. Ever nation has the government is deserves. Apparently enough Americans believe that Trump will save them by feeding others to the wolves. I think they are totally wrong but I don’t fault them for wanting to stay alive.
2
No no no no no, Mr. Brooks. This is not a partisan dispute, at least not any more. This is a conflict between people who are willing to trash our founding principles for personal or ideological gain and whomever is left to defend those principles.
16
It's interesting and troubling to me that so many partisans of the left can only criticize David Brooks, and seem to intentionally misread his commentary. Anyone who is literate and is paying attention has seen him criticize the Republican party over and over again in these pages. In this piece he, once again, speaks clearly and incisively about Trump. He also clearly is writing against the partisanship of Trump's party. He is right to also imply that there are ambitious partisans of the left in Congress, though I would agree with many that they have done little damage to date. I say all this as a left of center Democrat, but not a partisan. Our best hope is people like David Brooks, with their moral, compassionate philosophy and hope for our republic to withstand this onslaught. I suggest remembering the concept of the perfect driving out the good, and spending your time criticizing those who truly deserve it; not those who largely agree with you on the great issues.
9
I read Brooks' piece. Then I read your comment, so I went back and re-read Brooks and sorry but you're wrong. He very clearly attributes Trump's rhetoric to the discourse coming from "both sides" and he very clearly calls on Democrats to work with Republicans - the very people who have ignored the rule of law the last 2 years - to respect the rule of law. It will be our fault, Brooks is saying, if we hold Trump to account but the GOP resists. He's blaming the victim, just as he always does.
18
@simon
I disagree. Brooks does criticize Trump roundly, but that only makes it more strange that he refuses to acknowledge how completely the Republican congress has embraced Trump. Republicanism is Trumpism, and what's wrong with it is not "partisanship" but its authoritarian, anti-constitutional, racist, anti-truth, anti-fact, demagogic core values.
There have always been "ambitious partisans" right, left, and center. Brooks's brand is his superiority to such partisanship. But we have a much worse problem than partisanship on our hands now. Brooks refuses to acknowledge it, choosing to stick to his brand instead. He deserves harsh criticism for it.
There's an implication here that "both sides" are too political and cynical to allow for reasoned debate, but we know better David and so do you. Cut it out.
Only one party begat Trump and the "elites" in that party have been systematically taking apart our democracy for 10 years or more. And they have real power. Power in congress, power on Wall Street, power in the courts, actual power.
The elites on the other side? College professors. Oh my!
31
David, since kakistocracy is defined as the opposite of the aristocracy (a supposedly stable and favorable political state of affairs) and since kakistocracy is also averse to popular democracy (a supposed unstable and unfavorable political structure which is claimed to be akin to anarchy), a reasonably informed, aware, and democratic population of ‘we the America people’ who are heres to the first ‘New World’ democratic Republic achieved through our reasonable, and peacefully attempted Declaration of Independence from the most powerful Empire on then on earth, which devolved under the Empire’s oppression into a “Revolution Against Empire” [Jusin du Rivage] — does not sound so much as a path we should now follow 243 years later, but rather sounds like a somewhat propagandist ploy by a currently ruling-elite to employ a confusing word (kakistocracy) to argue, induce fear, and symbolize human citizens as being like Wolves who would tear other humans to death.
Sorry to be so rough, but deserved, a criticism of our column this time David — to which I would only counter argue that “Empire is as Empire does”, and that we must trust that a majority of American citizens will think better of being a democracy of fellow human and humane American people rather than suffer the tyranny of Empire (or kakistocracy).
1
Right off the bat, Brooks appeals to a work of *fiction* that portrays completely made-up behavior of wolves - the first 20% of his essay - to make a point.
Why would anyone think that something valid and well reasoned should follow?
Books are all Brooks knows about. Reality... not so much.
10
Alexis de Tocqueville said that the habits of freedom he found in America were more important than the laws protecting those freedoms. Basically he was talking about social norms and "things we will not do". With trump, there is nothing that he will not do. I am afraid.
7
There are four things that keep Trump in power, as opposed to being laughed, humiliated or removed from the stage.
The first is the democracy in which we live: this country has the freedom to elect Kublai Khan if it wants. It's the very legal system that protects Trump and keeps him in power which he will forcefully protest when the time comes. It's the very system that he used to evade tax responsibilities - a system of laws and rights - that allowed him to increase his wealth and protected him from unlawful penalty.
Second is, strangely, humility. Goshed darned it...60+ million of my fellow citizens voted for him, and the arrogance it takes to disrespect our fellow voters trumps the follies of his presidency. Humility trumps arrogance.
Third is the buck. Trump had to be pretty shrewd, pretty darn shifty, to make all that money (although we don't know how much he actually has). This country respects wealth because, well, it is somehow tied into freedom and democracy. So there is this ga-ga reaction in the masses to wealth, or perceived wealth. They simplistically thought that a rich guy would go in there, boss people around, and shake things up to straighten up our politics.
Fourth is "the tribe." It is simply naive to believe that protection of guns, appointment of justices, and belittlement of cultural correctness were not either bonuses or tipping points in his election.
Laws and humility protect Trump. The tribe wanted power. And wow, the buck!
3
if it comes down to the rule of law or their political party republicans will choose their party, Look what they did after the mid-term elections
8
As long as Republicans put party over country, they cannot be allowed to govern, or even to claim they are governing. It is ridiculous that so many pundit types give advice to Democrats about the future of Democrats, when already the saving of our democracy depends on both the progressive and moderate wings of the Democrat Party.
6
This is a terrific piece by Brooks. One thing we should avoid at all costs is demonizing our political opponents. That is the road to feral savagery.. Yes,Trump is dangerous; but so is the hyperpartisanship,that the Russian Federation -among others- is trying to foment on these comment pages.
4
I enjoyed this column; however, it seems to me something that could have been written at at almost any point since the 2016 election. Republicans put party over country (in this iteration, anyway) during the primaries, and have never stopped doing so. What has passed for "decency" among them has consisted of frightened mumbling among retiring Congressional Republicans on their way out the door.
Republicans were so overjoyed that they would be able to pass yet more massive tax cuts for their rich donors that they were happy to give a pass for Donald Trump's horrifying behavior, and only now that the Democrats have taken back the House and stand to throw them out of power entirely have they begun to wonder timidly to themselves about the consequences of allowing a lawless con artist to define, or rather reveal them as the gutless crooks they are.
11
What this piece overlooks is that roughly 40 percent of Americans see Trump as both their protector and the defender of the Constitution against the tyranny of the Democrats. It is Trump, or those who work for him, who are working to restore decency amid the moral rot that has become so virulent. It is not a question of party over nation or party before Constitution, but rather Constitution or Democrat. Even if allegations against Trump were to prove true, for many Americans it wouldn't matter as the alternative - Democrat power, is simply too toxic an alternative to be considered. So long as no viable third party option exists voters will keep supporting Trump and Republicans rather than risk Democrats further destroy the Constitution and the country.
My New Year's wish for you is a happy retirement. I realize that you had ceded most of your space to Willa Cather, but there is no excuse for blaming the Democrats for what will happen in your imaginary future. Why don't you address the fact that the Republicans have failed to act like serious human beings all along? They have already calculated the political benefit in letting their man demolish the foundations and norms of a society once dedicated to the proposition that all are created equal. Mitch McConnell is acting in real time to fail in the Senate's responsibility to send laws to the president, just because he doesn't want gutless Trump to have to act like a president and veto if he dare. We don't have to wonder about later this year. The Constitution is being shredded by your buddies right before our eyes.
10
Well, Mr. Brooks has found his dusty thesaurus. He seems to think that our Constitution became imperiled with the ascension of Donald Trump and now anticipates the Democrats as wolves who will destroy it.
Nonsense. The democratic rule of law began its perilous journey when money was declared speech. It’s been dangerous ever sense because dark money started us out and Facebook bots have harvested our data in secret. Those factors have contributed to the notion that our elections are not our own. It seems that Putin has more influence over our politics than any external agent since George III.
Revealing the dirty parts of electoral abuse is not the work of wolves. It is the work of patriots to return us to the path where one person has one vote, universally accessible and free.
5
I think we know how this turns out. And it’s not the outcome where we’ll be left looking back in relief, as our institutions and system of laws hold firm against Trump’s onslaught.
But let’s not pretend that we live in a country where our most powerful are held to the same standards as the rest of us plebes. Did any of the architects of the Iraq War - a war based on lies where many crimes and atrocities took place - face justice? How about the administration officials and military brass overseeing our torture program during that era? Or how about the financial titans who crashed the economy in 2008? Any of them do time?
Our elites have been flaunting the law for a long time. Even (especially?) Trump is able to see this - when the game is already rigged, it’s no surprise that shameless men like the president are willing to tear the whole thing down in order to escape consequence. After all, the others were all able to walk away without punishment.
And besides, the moral rot at the core of the GOP is so deep that they will not leave Trump at any cost. Is there any doubt at this point? I’d posit that the GOP has been this way for quite some time, but neither our political nor media establishments - for whatever reasons - have been willing to call a spade a spade regarding the deranged present-day Republican party.
7
Maybe. But I think this gives wolves a bad rap.
Consider this instead:
"the roughly 40 percent of Americans who support Trump will see serious evidence that he committed felonies, but they won’t care!"
Instead of ravening wolves, I see this as "The Frog and the Scorpion". Scorpion convinces the hapless frog he will carry him safely across the river. Instead he attacks midway through. Frog asks why. Scorpion says that "it's in my nature."
3
You are two years behind, at least, David.
The easily indictable federal offenses admitted to by her public defender - James Comey - on behalf of defendant Hillary Clinton in May of 2016 on national television were the proof that we had long before welcomed the wolves to feat on our constitutional democracy.
A decision reached in secret by president Barack Obama that Clinton would NEVER find herself in federal court was the point at which the wolves devoured the bridal party.
Whatever Bob Mueller is finding as a warning to outsiders - to never run for the presidency again - is just something to occupy the front pages so the case can weaken day by day until actual justice can never be brought: three thousand pieces of federal property destroyed by Clinton and those around her AFTER they had been legally subpoenaed, and bribery connected to Clinton's decisions as Secretary of State.
I blame Grover Norquist. His innovation was to attack the moderates of his own party to create ideological purity on the right that is incapable of countenancing compromise.
Stir in unlimited money via Citizens United and government for the common good becomes a platitude.
Brooks is right to foresee a rapidly approaching future where the Constitution will be thrown to the wolves.
4
It will not be a “constitutional crisis”. It will be implementing our Constitution the way it should be. The sky will not be falling, it will be opening up.
This piece is written as if the liberal and Democratic “side” will be attacking like wolves and not trying to restore order, and yes, decency.
And the true test of partisanship will be whether the “conservative” Republican “side” will abide by our founding principles and not exploit them to limit what government can do for the people. All the people. True Conservatives should be abiding by the rule of law.
The heroes, if there are to be heroes, will be the brave souls who convince Trump and his cabal to step aside.
3
More than any other elected official, Newt Gingrich as House Speaker launched his divisive and destructive Contract with America, delegitimizing bipartisanship and advocating party over country. Mitch McConnell, Paul Ryan, the Freedom Caucus, etc., are not aberrations but rather only the latest anti-governing wrecking crew. And Newt continues to cheer them on.
3
Brooks's column is a both sides-ism argument. He claims both sides are responsible for using language that demonizes power structures, but he fails to admit that one side traffics in faux populism by, for example, showering tax cuts on corporations and the super rich and claiming they are for the middle-class. One side casts aspersions on "limousine liberals" and their "ivory towers" all the while tailoring their policies to suit the whims of the 0.01 percent. Trump's cabinet is filled with unqualified billionaires. Trump is going to resort to craziness to protect his own interests. Given the indictments connected to the special counsel's investigation and other information that the public already knows, it is likely that the other shoe has yet to drop. Republicans aren't interested, however, in maintaining our democracy. They are interested in maintaining power, no matter the cost to their constituents and our democracy. They've already demonstrated that they are willing to look the other way when it comes to presidential corruption as long as they get their Supreme Court justices and tax cuts. People showed up at the polls in November 2018 and gave the Dems the House because the Republicans would not provide a check to Trump's corruption. This isn't a both sides issue, and it shouldn't be painted as a partisan one even if the Republicans choose to dig in their heels and refuse to provide a check on their party leader's brazen corruption and clear incompetence.
1
Trying to blame "partisans" for this crisis is pure obfuscation. Trump's takeover of the GOP has meant that countless Republicans have had to publicly renounce their *own* party.
That's not a partisan divide between two parties; that's a virulent virus that is attacking the body politic, leaving people of every other political stripe––rock-ribbed conservatives to life-long progressives––in fear for their country.
2
Our Democracy has been corrupted by ignorance and money. Billions of dollars are spent promoting conspiracy theories based on fear and hatred fueled by ignorance. When you can’t think for yourself you let other people think for you and you follow the reality that is created for you, there is security in the gang culture. Donald Trump and especially Mitch McConnell have exploited this flaw in our Democracy for power and personal gain. As long as we elect individuals to the highest positions in our government who do not believe in democracy, our democracy is in peril. If we still live in a democracy, the ballot box is our only salvation and if ignorance prevails than America is not what we think it is.
1
Brooks again goes light on the corporate capitalist who control the republican party. He in essence states the democrats must be the party of reason and constitutional norms, without calling out the bad guys to do what's right. The corporate capitalist have so much money and power that they would destroy democracy to keep it their money and power. Corporate capitalism thinks that autocracy will preserve them from democratic demands for a more just distribution of wealth. This is the battle, corporate greed vs. democracy and Trump is their man.
3
Mr. Brooks ignores the felonies committed by partisan Democrats in the Obama Administration and it's law enforcement and intelligence agencies for the purpose of nullifying a free and fair presidential election. They are the wolves whose crimes against the Constitution continue to go unpunished.
Trump is a businessman who was never subjected to the behavioral restrictions with which politicians constrain themselves to keep themselves in office. If you investigated any successful businessman of Trump's age in this country long enough, you would find something for which to indict them. It appears that petty crimes are all that Mueller is going to come up with in his scorched-earth campaign against a fairly elected president. The payment of hush money to former lovers being characterized as an illegal campaign contribution is just one of the ludicrous potential crimes that have been publicized. The wolves are the Deep State operatives who are trying to overturn the will of the people as expressed in a presidential election.
David Brooks is an apologist for the real wolves in Washington and other media centers.
1
No one knows the future. 2019 may well unfold as Mr. Brooks foretells, but most likely some unforeseen event or events will lead to a different narrative. The dysfunction, the outrageous partisanship, the comically and ferally incompetent president, these issues predominate because of their immediate consequence. Of greater concern in the longer term is the 41% approval rating of Donald Trump. 2019 will hash itself out somehow, but in its wake will be 50 million American voters who believe President Trump is/was the man for the job. They will vote again. God knows who they'll chose next time.
1
Yes, it's too bad things are the way they are, but that's the war we are in. On one side is Trump. On the other side is the party who would fire people for not calling mentally ill men who think they are women, 'women'. I prefer Trump's side.
Missing from this piece is the responsibility Republicans have to attempt to lead their Trump following brethren away from a constitutional crisis, and in support institutional norms. Is that too much to ask, or are both sides to blame for the Trump followers who "won't care" if laws have been broken? Leadership from Republicans in support of our country used to be called patriotism! What a concept!
Despite more than two years of investigation, no member of the Trump campaign has been indicted for anything they did as a member of the Trump campaign. George Papadopoulos was no longer a member of the Trump campaign when he lied to FBI agents during a post-election interview about his unsuccessful efforts to set up a meeting between Tump and Putin, although there was nothing unlawful about the efforts.
Papadopoulos was sentenced to 14 days for the misdemeanor offense, but served only 12 days before being released. Not much to show for two years of investigation.
My Huge Concern remains that Trump had FULL Control of Battlefield Communication, and with One, or Two Tweets is able to motivate and activate his cult like followers.
Once real legal proceedings begin, there must be a Gag order for all parties in the trials.
2
Divided government started for real under Bush/Cheney (you're either for us or against us), lying us into war, and continued under Obama (if Obama's for it, Republicans are against it). Now, years later, Republicans are again proving themselves favoring party over country by stacking the courts with Republican operatives, voter suppression, and supporting a president who is profiting off the office. As long as taxes are cut for the rich and corporations, Republicans just don't care.
Brooks warns us that something terrible could happen in the near future -- I'd suggest that we are in the middle of it already, it's been happening for a while now. It isn't as if we have been enjoying a great constitutional system, which is in danger of failing: that same "great constitutional system" was in place in the days of slavery, and in the days of the genocidal assaults on Native Americans. What new failures could be greater?
The point is that yes, we are in serious trouble, but we should look at it clearly: it's not just Trump. he is just carrying on with variations of Nixon, Reagan, Sarah Palin, and other Republican stalwarts. And it's been bipartisan: on the Democratic side, we might even go back past LBJ, to the phony "missile gap" rhetoric of JFK's campaign.
All that said, the wolves story is pretty ridiculous.
1
Finally the intellectually lazy, so called "conservative intellectuals" are waking up to find that their myth of American exceptionalism was just a myth. We are no better, and no different, morally or intellectually from any other people. In fact, we've become rich and comfortable enough to shed any values we may have once aspired to.
3
Gripping My Antonia story. But Peter and Pavel led long lives nevertheless. I can’t stand Trump, but if Dems place investigations within the “normal order” with public hearings, the collection of evidence and due deliberation while also addressing in a public, proactive way, income inequality, infrastructure, health care and climate — a very full docket — and remind people of how government used to work, the wolves may be held at bay.
1
This column purportedly is aimed at the American People writ large. In fact, it is aimed at the small minority, the one person in six or seven, who has mostly voted Republican but who is put off by Trump. The 35% who love Trump will continue to do so whatever he says or does. Secure Democrats will continue to loathe Trump. That leaves people like... well, like David Brooks.
I'm betting heavily on "party over nation." Following the Republican-led Senate's unwillingness to even hold a hearing on Obama's Supreme Court nominee and the embarrassing display of raw power at the expense of getting the facts in the Kavnaugh hearing, why would anyone think that the Constitution has a chance?
2
Really wolves snarling? Perpetuating centuries old myths of wolves to showcase your thoughts makes me cringe. Wolves communicate far better than our president, know not to drain the swamp as it is a source for food and cleanses our water, protects the pack even the unruly ones but when it comes to scent marking, the president hits a wall and just huffs and puffs.
1
That picture of the growling wolf, looked threatening, but perfectly natural, this is how wolves behave. Equating this behavior to 2019 becoming the year of the wolves, does injustice to wolves.
Nothing wolves do can be as deplorable and despicable and threatening as a now divided nation brought to it's knees, questioning it's very democratic principles, rule of law.
Agree this nation is not healthy, led by a man suffering a life long affliction of Narcissistic Personality Disorder.
Now it's time David to point to those in this government that foster this behavior either by their support or those who remain silent and give quite support as well. Names David, would like for to call them out by their names.
1
Forget about the constitution, can the country withstand Trump? If he is not removed the country will survive in a worldly weakend state.
Picture how the remainder of the world sees us presently with an amoral smuck for a President and a legislature either unable or unwilling to take action on his removal.
My children will live in a weakened country because of both Trump and a Congress unwilling to face up to the problem.
We are here because of Citizens United and Gerrymandereing. Today in America it is "one dollar, one vote". The one with the biggest wallet wins.
3
Today's question is can the Constitution withstand the Republican Party?
1
Why can't you bring yourself to call out the malefactors by name, Mr. Brooks? It's not this vague thing called "partisanship." It's Republican corruption and cynicism. We need to name our problems honest and accurately.
4
Totally prescient on 2019 in politics and law. However I resent the use of the proud and noble wolf as in any way comparable to our national politicians. Try hyenas for the Pubs and coy-dogs for the Dems.
1
If you replace each instance Brooks uses the terms "Congress," or "partisans" with Republicans I'd say he was spot on. In 2019 let's make a resolution to call a spade a spade, shall we? Republicans have forsaken this country and their responsibilities for years now and writers, journalists and the talking heads on cable TV have helped make this possible by muddying exactly where the blame lies.
2
The scandalous Trump presidency and the Republican capitulation to Trump could be a minor bump in the political history of the US but not the correct yardstick to gudge the strength and resilience of the US constitution.
1
There are two major problems I have with Mr. Brooks arguments.
1. The argument for dealing with Trump's transgressions, investigations in a bipartisan way. This isn't going to happen. The republicans have shown themselves unwilling and unable to standup against the president. The best we get is mewling comments by republican politicians that are retiring.
2. The contention that the 40% of the country that supports Trump (I'd disagree with this number) will be further polarized and won't accept the outcome of these investigations if if's not bipartisan and "polite and sober" etc... If people still support Trump after all of the scandals, indictments and prosecutions that have happened the first two years, nothing will change their minds.
The only thing that will save the country are the citizens and the democrats that will help to act as a check on this President. This is pretty much obvious to anybody that can think.
3
Mr. Brooks is right to blame both the Democrats and Republicans for our current political situation. However, the Democrats' culpability is primarily one of enabling the Republicans in their quest to corporatize American life. The Democrats, by acquiescing to whatever egregious policy proposal the Republicans dream up, have removed all disincentive for either party to represent the electorate rather than their corporate funders. As the Clinton campaign said during their rush to the political right, "Where are they gonna go?" as they abandoned us. And here we are.
3
The constitution cannot save us when it has been subverted by an ideology that puts markets and money above all else. Just wait until the new supreme court tries cases of political foul play or white collar crime. The side with money will win.
However if it has to do with personal freedoms behind closed doors that ideology will not protect us. The constitution will be replaced by religious fervor.
Brooks in his ethical piety does not recognize the big elephant in the room and it does not infect both parties equally. I have yet to see him rail against the worst of the partisan decisions like Citizen United or the end of the fairness doctrine. How can the constitution stand up the big rich powerful self serving interests?
5
When Robert Kaplan writes in this same newspaper that our nation now spends $45 billion annually in Afghanistan (and total long-term costs of nearly $2 trillion) with no end in sight and a companion editorial by Katherine Stewart notes that many our evangelical leaders are salivating at the prospects of a true King Trump, something is very wrong in this country.
It isn't the wolves I am afraid of as much as it is of a government that is totally detached from our founding principles. President Washington warned us of foreign entanglements and he didn't want to be addressed as "Your Excellency" or "Your Highness." Instead we spend like there is no tomorrow and have a leader who envies autocrats.
5
"A house divided against itself cannot stand." I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved—I do not expect the house to fall—but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing, or all the other.' President Lincoln
David the left and the right didn't bring us to this point, the Republican Party did. Mitch McConnell has been busy stacking the courts with political partisan judges. Their can only be one outcome from this and it is not democracy, it is not defense of our Constitution, it will be the destruction of our nation.
14
Agree, now, can we put all the blaming aside and fix this? If every response is well, you started this, and we debate whose fault this is, they win. If all we care about is to bury Trump while they dismantle every federal protection we have as citizens, they win. If we cannot get our act together and the 2020 soon to begin campaign starts and ends with who hates Trump more or louder than the other guy, they win. I am hopeful that every week we see a bill on immigration, voting rights, infrastructure, tax reform, protecting health care, protecting women’s reproductive rights, gun sanity, addressing opioids, ideas to rainstorm the rust belt into a 21st century economy that leads on climate change and food sustainability — any and all of the above instead of day in day out talking heads talking about the zillion investigations into Trump. That will take care of itself, show the better way in 2019, put the GOP senators in a hot seat to continue to vote against bills that help the American people, and then trust the electorate, the majority, to do the right thing as they did in 2018. STOP, blaming and whining, where are the ideas to fix things? Without those, they win....
Wishful on your part, keeping power that is where there loyalties are. Money rules here in America those that have the most don't like rules of restraint ( for them ) rules are for keeping little people in line. McConnell has shown time and time again that wall street, oil and mining company's are where his loyalties are, he and they have done all they can to keep people from voting, as long as there donors get what they want they will fight to keep there guy in. And don't forget White Power = the GOP.
14
@ted Yikes. A guy writes that we're about to start throwing each other to the wolves and you call that wishful. Scary thing is you might be right.
During Watergate, Nixon did not have Fox News, which his confidante Roger Ailes created to present the GOP view. https://wapo.st/2GO8t81
Ailes's methods, including simple story-telling and endless repetition, have indoctrinated a generation of Fox viewers now suspicious of any other information sources. "Fair and balanced" it is not.
No matter how responsible the upcoming hearings on Trump misdeeds in the new Congress, a good-sized slice of the population will never believe a word of it. They will never be convinced of his wrong-doing but must be out-voted by the rest of us.
18
David,
What an irony that you can't accept the truth of the Republican party, always twisting the narrative to blame Democrats equally. If YOU won't budge from your usual stance, in spite of all that has happened with the GOP/Trump, I don't see how you can hope to see any change whatsoever in anyone else.
22
Democrats hold the House. There will be hearings...More and more revelations about this president will come out. Odds are the economy will stumble before 2020. The question is can we win Wisconsin, Michigan, and Ohio? If we (Democrats) do then we will avert the crises. If Trump wins, well all bets are off.
7
The story of the Russian immigrants, Peter and Pavel, is fitting.
Billionaire oligarchs in China, Russia, Middle East Kingdoms, and the US are today’s wolves, pitting those who must work to live, i.e., everyone else, against each other, driving wages and work conditions to the lowest tolerable level.
Billionaires, like Putin, Trump, Xi, and MBS, have no qualms about children dying, in Syria, in US border clinics, in polluted factory-cities, in Yemen.
My grandfather, born in 1901, who raised his family of 9 children in the Kansas prairie, growing wheat during the Dust Bowl and Depression, was the son of immigrants from German-Russian villages on the Volga River. His patents’ siblings, who stayed behind in Russia, were killed during the Bolshevik Revolution and WWI, because of their German descent.
Visiting him, in the 60’s, a better time, I remember him telling my parents, to say he was faring well, “One step ahead of the wolves.”
Now, being the same age he was when he said that, I understand what he meant.
9
Well, I know someone who is not optimistic about 2019! The veneer on society is indeed thin. People and their behavior is far more plastic than we would like to believe. I draw a bit of solace from the fact that, while this is a correct generalization, there are also people out there that belie this tendency--the truly righteous few.
5
@PJM
I remember being in a town that was under a police strike.
The veneer of civilization is indeed thin.
The fantasy that there are two equal and opposite views to all of America’s problems and that “both sides are to blame” in weakening the integrity of our constitution is comforting to professional partisans like Mr. Brooks. It would be much more painful to accept that while “one side” claims “the system is rigged” when basic human rights and freedoms are systematically denied to millions, he has chosen to support the side that makes the same claim when the guaranteed supremacy of a tiny ruling class is any way challenged.
17
My view, if we are unable to deal with the wolves among us, we simply do not deserve to exist. Our country is fairly young when compared to previous tangible civilizations, so we either learn and grow or perish as a democracy. Happy New Year Y'all!
11
@Dr. Professor: One psychopath can tie up an entire neighborhood or town indefinitely in the US, such is the state of its courts.
1
Excellent piece. A democratic republic established by lawyers could only end this way. Suggest we move to a parliamentary system and Britsh law.
8
@Bradley
It's an interesting thought that is marvelously appealing. To be honest, I'm not sure I can think of a nation outside the US that doesn't use the parliamentary system. Maybe, like Communism, the idea of a democratic republic has come to an end.
However, that does not address the issue that the founders and authors of the Constitution failed to consider: a kakistocratic, narcissist who only wanted the job to increase his financial holdings and those of his family, who had NO respect for the Constitution and our system of government and laws, would get elected by losing the popular vote and win by the outdated system of the electoral college.
We can now only watch as our country appears to be heading down the path the Brazil is paving.
11
@Peter Hornbein
It is some comfort to blame trump but you and I both know the problem is more existential. A person who would never have survived even the most casual vetting for the presidency at any other time in our history was elected. His every outrage against established norms of civility and political comity is excused or even applauded by his supporters. Something that goes much deeper than a single person is wrong here.
3
@Peter Hornbein
Well said.
However, I would suggest that the US is forging its own path, equally as corrupt and uncaring.
Reverence for the Constitution and its framers is a theme throughout David's column as well as in the many comments on it. But perhaps that reverence is misplaced. The Constitution got it wrong on slavery, though that problem was corrected by the Civil War-driven amendments. But we now are seeing how the Constitution also got it wrong on the composition of the Senate and even on the life tenure of judges. These mistakes have empowered the Trumpers and given them the ability to maintain that power. Alas, there's no remedy in sight; the Trumpers, thanks to the Constitution, have the ability to maintain their power indefinitely.
20
@Paul Abrahams The constitution made more significant errors - it did not explicitly give all people the right to vote, so required amendments to prevent states from not allowing women, non-whites, non-property owners the vote. The Electoral College ability to "trump" the majority vote is a travesty, and the inability to see that future Congresses would foolishly allow there to be too many unpopulated states (2 Dakotas?) that cause an inability to make meaningful amendments to correct the Senate representation issue and remove the Electoral College from the equation.
1
@Paul Abrahams, this has been my argument for ousting Trump 2 yrs ago when every talking head was lying and saying the CONSTITUTION forbade indicting a sitting president(it doesn't say that). And they were acting as though they were strictly adhering to the constitution and nothing could be done about his treason, election fraud, etc to steal an election. Saying there was no remedy in the CONSTITUTION as if we're a perfect document from its creation. It was flawed from the moment some slaveowners codified slavery in the constitution. So, me being a woman of collar thinks but wait, if we're always followed strict constitution how are slaves freed. By proclamation! So the next person in legal succession(wouldn't be pence since he's fraudulent by virtue of being on ticket), would now leave Pelosi as POTUS. Now if she were an honest broker(she's not) she would proclaim Hillary Clinton the rightful winner and swear her in as POTUS. But already the Dems are just as wicked and criminally inclined as Trump since they are throwing their hats in for 2020. That would make them accomplices to the furtherance of election fraud originally perpetrated by Trump and Putin. We are in a sad state of affairs. The fragile democracy we had will die because the people never followed the CONSTITUTION from jump. How could they and still have slavery. Dishonest country from it beginning!
Interesting article. But isn't the prime motive of all in Congress, Democrat and Republican alike, "How can this help me in 2020"?
One way or the other, the Constitution will do just fine. It's designed for conflict (which is a healthy sign in a democracy) and it's endured every sort of political partisanship (including the Jim Crow era that the Southern Democrats created and protected for a hundred years).
3
@Uysses However the representation issue in the key Senate (my California vote is much less powerful than a vote in Wyoming), plus the ability of the fly-over states to prevent correction of this and other (Electoral College?) problems is an intrinsic failure of the Constitution from being amended to reduce the prejudice favoring the small population states.
2
Mr Brooks finally calls out this president, but still can't let himself admit that the real problem lies with the soon-to-be-departed Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and especially with Mitch McConnell in the Senate. "Congressional leaders" is as close he gets, a false equivalency that implies both parties are interested only in power for the party, themselves and their benefactors. In reality, Mr Brooks, one party is actually interested in the welfare of the entire country and the people in it. I'll have hope again when you figure out which party that is.
49
We had a smart, compassionate, honorable president not long ago. The future looked more promising because Americans choose a forward-looking, engaged president who wanted to face and solve relevant problems, such as climate change and health care. He would not have thrown anyone to the wolves. Now pessimism reigns and there are dark and dire predictions for our country. It doesn't have to be this way. We have shown that we are capable of making better choices than the current president and leaders and we must do so if we are to steer our country back in the right direction.
41
Whenever David Brooks uses the phrase "congressional leaders" or its equivalent, the truest objective translation, by a very wide margin, is "Republican leaders." They have been serving party over country for a long time now, and Trump's election has caused them to behave more and more in the interest of their own power and less and less in the national interest.
David Brooks knows this. What is stopping him from being honest about it?
83
@Chip Leon
Furthermore, given that Mitch McConnell won't even bring bills to the floor for a vote, how is this anything to do with Democrats? He is "ruling" as if Democrats are traitors, not representatives of more than half of the electorate, whose "minority" is only the result of Republican tactics (aka cheating).
16
@Chip Leon This is precisely the kind of thinking (that you display) which perpetuates what is happening in politics in the USA. One side blames the other. Like the ad with the two little boys with their faces all painted, being asked whose idea was this. And the answer will always be to blame the one with the least power. Only when party loyalty bows to national interest will our government begin to function as it should once again. Too bad we lost John McCain and are losing other bright stars because they cannot tolerate this fiasco of governing any longer. Thank you David.
Brooks imagines a crisis moment, when "congressional leaders will face the defining choice of their careers: Where does their ultimate loyalty lie, to the Constitution or to their party?"
Here his analysis founders, in its failure to grapple with reality. Republican congressional leaders, in their support for Trump, have answered Brooks's question resoundingly: their loyalty is to party, represented by Trump, and in making that choice they have set themselves against the constitutional order.
This would make the Dems into defenders of the constitutional order by default, and there is no evidence whatsoever to doubt that, in fact, partisan Democrats remain loyal first to country and constitution.
In pretending otherwise, Brooks crafts a fantasy narrative in which all of this is still in doubt, in which the problem is not Republican authoritarianism and anti-constitutionalism, but "partisanship." In effect, this gives continued cover to Republicans who can propagandize about the threat of Democratic partisans.
If our country makes it through this dire passage, I think that David Brooks will deserve his own small footnote of shame in the historical record for the role he has played.
54
So how exactly are the Democrats involved in this meltdown, except trying to do something about it?
It's really simple. 20 Republicans in the Senate need to grow a conscience and stop treating Democrats as traitors to be silenced at all costs.
Trump is nothing but a lying greedy bullying terrorist, and a coward as well (bone spurs etc.).
47
@Susan Anderson, right on! 2019 looks to be the year of false equivalence as the GOP tears itself apart and tries to blame it on Democrats or even just the universal faults of human nature.
5
So, once again, the wolves are bad. Wolves develop close relationships and strong social bonds. They often demonstrate deep affection for their family and may even sacrifice themselves to protect the family unit.
All of us, especially Trump, can learn a lot from wolves.
25
@Sanibel If you have a chance read "American Wolf" by Nate Blakeslee.
@Sanibel Thank you for your defense of wolves; it makes me sick to read such demonizing lies about a creature that means no harm to mankind, and is capable of deep love for its family. Wolves are again being exterminated by the hundreds in western states, by Republicans of course. Even though they greatly benefit their environment, they are savagely slaughtered every day in this country, including pups in their den. We must get these vicious people out of our government if we want to survive as a country.
@Sanibel he needed way to dogwhistle "natural law" arguments that human nature is fundamentally sociopathic. Thin Blue Line, etc.
Amid the large generalizations, David again escapes laying blame at the feet of the party he has supported for his whole career, until now. What would Republicans have said and done if a Democratic president had played footsie with Russia like this, and the Democratic Party had stood by silently? The noise is deafening, but unfortunately it's only in my mind. Republican office holders have put winning elections above their country. It's as simple as that. And at least other apostate conservative voices have placed blame where it belongs.
61
@Charles Zigmund
Agreed. That's my ongoing frustration with David, who has lots of important observations to make about the disintegration of our social and political institutions but almost always undermines himself by asserting an absolutely false equivalence between the parties. In reality, there is a tiny radical left in this country that exists wholly outside of the Democratic party (anarchists and the various communist groups that bill themselves as revolutionaries) but a much larger radical right, combining white nationalism and anti-government paranoia, that has been actively courted by the Republican party to the point that it has been mainstreamed and now controls the agenda in the GOP.
21
@Charles Zigmund The false equivalency of the "extreme right and left" somehow being responsible for our current political plight is also laughable. So-called conservatives have had their way politically for 3 decades now. Mr. Brooks, along with Flake,Corker et.al., needs to look in the mirror. His like unleashed Newt Gingrich while ignoring true Constitutional norms and the country is now in trouble...
1
"At that point congressional leaders will face the defining choice of their careers: Where does their ultimate loyalty lie, to the Constitution or to their party?"
Nope. Republicans faced defining choices before the election and many times since. There is no reason to believe they will do the right thing unless, like Trump, they believe doing the right thing will be of personal benefit.
38
I was in high school in 1968 and college in the early '70s. My peers and I witnessed the assassinations of Dr King and Bobby Kennedy, the race riots of the late '60s and Nixon's presidency and downfall, with the war in Vietnam a constant background presence dividing the country. It felt to many of us that the United States was coming apart at the seams and democracy was at risk. But as chaotic as those times were, the challenges to American democracy seem far greater today. Mr. Brook's column rings true and paints a stark picture of how 2019 could unfold. One aspect not mentioned is how hard-core Trump supporters will react to the likely collapse of the President's house of cards. Perhaps they will accept the rule of law, however begrudgingly. But will the mix of strongly held beliefs in a "deep state" conspiracy to topple Trump, ready access to guns and the ability to quickly organize electronically create a toxic stew feeding a rise in far-right terrorism, if not mass political violence? I certainly hope not, but David's wolf analogy seems all too appropriate.
33
@seadog1193
In WA state there are many adherents to the "patriot/militia" ethos that are die-hard Trump supporters. They are chomping at the bit to see a collapse of our societal structures so that they can spark Revolutionary War v2.0 and institute their white nationalist theocracy. If Trump falls they see that as their clarion call to arms.
1
@seadog1193: The people who are most puckered about all the guns out here are the very same folks who enabled and promoted it all.
seadog, our comments echo each other. http://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/31/opinion/trump-indictment-2019.html?comments#permid=29958150. I think we are on to a facet of this escapes many in the intelligentsia.
The Founding Fathers could not foresee the time where every person in the GOP would put their party's interest, and their own personal interest above the interest of the country.
And the problem with Conservatives like David Brooks, is that they project all their own flaws onto the Democrats. "They are all partisan and, like us, everyone of them will put their party over country."
28
Unfortunately the Constitution also gave us the formulas for minority rule (the Electoral Collage and the Senate), which has spawned the Trump monarchy and may yet give us his re-election. A sad twist of fate for the framers who were rebelling against monarchy.
42
@Robert ...A sad twist of fate neccesitated by America's original sin, slavery, which Madison was determined to to provide electoral padding for.
Bravo David Brooks! This is a great column that starkly describes the truth of our situation. Two thoughts: the internet has vastly increased hostilities among us because people feel free to insult each other and rage constantly grows. Secondly, the power of the executive must be curtailed! We were always on a sort of honor system, assuming that the president would at least be an honorable human being; but there are so many loopholes for an evil president, the kind we have now, the kind we never imagined. I fear for our country if the partisan urges overcome the humanitarian constitutional principles on which we've always relied in the past. We're in new territory now.
25
Trump was elected in part to 'drain the swamp'. He is reflection of the loss of respect for institutional authority not the cause.
5
@Phil: The two Robert Graves novels constructed of the life of the transitional Roman emperor, Claudius, as a permanent dictatorship came to rule Rome after the fall of its representative republic, realistically depict what happens when the swamp explodes and spatters over everything. People who don't like to read can watch the "I Claudius" TV series made from them.
15
I read Elizabeth Drew’s recent op-ed on the inevitability of impeachment and then followed the replies to it on Twitter. All of Trump’s base threatened civil war—literally—boasting that impeachment and the president’s removal from office would prove the Second Amendment’s worth, because their side had all of the weapons and ammunition. Why do you, Mr. Brooks, counsel both sides on bipartisanship, when you know it is your side—the Republican Party—that has jettisoned any pretense toward upholding the rule of law? It’ll be the Democratic Party alone that will no doubt responsibly investigate the president and bring the Mueller report to light when Trump’s hack at DOJ, Whitaker, tries to suppress it. Expect Republicans to act as they always do—proffering only conspiracies and discredited allegations on Benghazi and Hillary’s emails. I call upon Mr. Brooks at this historic moment to do the journalistic equivalent of a John Sirica and rise above his instinct to blame both sides for the mess we’re in and to hold his party accountable for our country’s slide into authoritarianism.
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@AlNewman I saw similar threats and had to wonder if those who speak of insurrection understand that they aren’t the only ones with ammunition
1
@AlNewman-- I understand and like you, have often criticized David (whose intellect MUST see beyond partisan fidelity), but -here's where I disagree with you: Brooks, like George Wills, Michael Steele, Jeff Flake have moved more to the good of our country and its ideals and history RATHER THAN to the party. I can't see any of those 4 voting in 2020 for Trump if we are still burdened with his stupid, bigoted and prejudiced form of ersatz "leadership." Yes, the 39% will (mostly, I think) have their children feel sorry for them in the future. As a new year dawns I can see (albeit vaguely) a separtion of real conservative and real Christians away from the hatred that has replaced the Beautitudes (Mt: 5) with fear of the suffering, the very ones Christ said to embrace!
1
@AlNewman I'd love to see the Trumpanistas get out of their lazy boys for a civil war. There was a comic take on the Ken Burns a few months ago that had them bemoaning the fact that, without Taco Bell, they were forced to subsist on 4,000 calories per day. They are as full of hot air as Trump himself.
2
“If their loyalty is to the Constitution, they will step back and figure out, in a bipartisan way, how to hold the sort of hearings that Congress held during the Watergate scandal — hearings that inspired trust in the system.”
Americans are loyal to the Constitution when it serves our purpose. We cherish the second amendment but would love get rid of that pesky first amendment, and so on. So Mr. Brooks is correct. We don’t have statesmen like we had during the Watergate era when men and women put country above party.
It is a good thing the Democrats won control of the House because the Republicans have the Senate, the White House and the SCOTUS. But let’s hope the checks and balances of the Constitution will produce a check on an unruly president without interfering with legislation.
7
1. What Brooks “predicts” has already happened, except literally. The Republicans have already abandoned the constitution and their loyalty to it.
2. There is no equivalent between “brothers” as in the allegory of the story of the wolves. There is the corrupt right, and opposed to them the left trying to fix things.
3. After the allegory, which doesn’t apply, there is truth in the column. Both sides, left and right, are being divided among themselves. See articles on the Roberts court, and on the struggle to name Speaker of the House. What remains to be seen is what part of the right will prevail against what part of the left. But all of the left is infinitely more well-meaning than any part of the right.
32
And yet the story isn’t about wolves or cowardly men.
“Willa Cather’s heartfelt novel is the unforgettable story of an immigrant woman’s life on the hardscrabble Nebraska plains. Through Jim Burden’s affectionate reminiscence of his childhood friend, the free-spirited Ántonia Shimerda, a larger, uniquely American portrait emerges, both of a community struggling with unforgiving terrain and of a woman who, amid great hardship, stands as a timeless inspiration”
That’s the problem with using passages outside of a story to make a point. David is at his worst when defending a centrist viewpoint without acknowledging that there is some truth in the criticism of the system he is defending.
You see the problem is that to a certain extent the establishment is corrupt, the game is rigged and the elites are out for themselves (they are not out to get you, its not personal). Its because there is a degree of truth to those views of our dysfunctional society that people became disenchanted. Because of the fertile ground (income inequality & redistribution of economic gains to the top 20%, a selective meritocracy based economy that devalues the contributions of working class citizens) the establishment has provided there is a place for extremism and the forces of reaction to grow.
I’m not for burning the establishment down, instead lets take Antonia’s example as counterpoint to the extremism and reaction that David fears. We are the community struggling, let’s find inspiration.
22
@John Chastain I’m not sure I know what defines the elite. Is it strictly those with enormous wealth, with no regard for the hard-working middle and working classes (folks who make an essential contribution - outside a prodigious facility for conspicuous consumption)? Are the elites the wealthy who care greatly about the extreme income inequality and are sickened by the too-high proportion of chronically hungry Americans (who subsist in the midst of profligate waste of both money and resources) but don’t know how to fix it? Are the elites those who have great wealth and use the limitations-laden channels of philanthropy whereby those most in need are not necessarily the beneficiaries? Or are the elites those who parlayed their innate intelligence and multi-focal talents into informed and useful voices by consistently applying themselves? A great many didn’t squander their opportunity to learn/understand/absorb through the privilege of a first-rate education. Most seats at top universities are not conferred on the lazy, wealthy or undeserving. Are the elites those who are choosing a path to lead the future to a fairer and better place for all? Not everyone at Harvard or Stanford got there on their parents’ shoulders/money and a great many do not intend to use their status to build a personal gold mine and quote Marie Antoinette. The entire spectrum of working class and middle class is undervalued. The “elites” are a nuanced group and do not define all that’s bad.
David Brooks: One rule for Conservatives, another for Democrats. It is definitely both sides fault, in spite of GOP control of Congress the last 8 years.
7
As Alexis de Tocqueville points out in Democracy in America, democracy is not so much a political system as a culture and a way of life. Our greatest risks come from not teaching that culture to our children. That means teaching them our history, good and bad, teaching civility and teaching the importance of grass roots associations and activism. And teaching empathy.
In our collective aspiration to be a better people, we are stronger than the forces that would tear us apart.
16
@dave And yet society is now teaching that civility is wrong, that empathy is bad, that militant activism is admirable, and that America is abhorrent. What does Tocqueville say about such a society?
I believe that Mr. Brooks is giving the Senate leadership too much credit. Sen. McConnell already evidenced his willingness to violate his oath to the Constitution by refusing to allow the Senate to act on the nomination of Merrick Garland. His colleagues followed him.
Nor do I beleive that it is a matter of partisanship, at least a partisanship based on Republican ideas. The Senare leadership has abandoned its long time goals on foreign policy, fiscal prudence and support for our key institutions of government, among others, to maintain power. The Senate leadership’s decision will be based solely on its calculation on retaining political power.
49
Wonderful analogy and couldn’t have hit closer to bullseye.
2
First, any contemporary columnist who cites "My Antonia" as a reference is admirable. A great book that captures the diversity, travail and hard work that defined America during the last century. Second, I am a lifelong Republican and will probably stay registered that way; but during the midterms, I voted the straight Democratic ticket. Just pulled the one lever. Have never done that before for either party and I am an "old woman." Third, I remember the words of the intelligent and insightful congresswoman Barbara Jordan, who during the Watergate hearings stated that her belief in The Constitution was total. Fourth, yes the Republicans in power have not served us well. I hope that the Democrats can be wise, purposeful and also aware of how we got to this point. Our greed, our self-absorption, our embrace of celebrity and glitter and our lazy approach to civic duty, pretty pervasive among all of us. Peter and Pavel and the desire to escape the wolves, a good story for our times.
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@Ann A "good story" needs to be a truthful one, or at least an admission that it is an allegory or a fairy tale. Wolves do not behave in the way that the Peter and Pavel tale describes, and wolves being the honest creatures that they are, don't deserve being demonized century after century. They are family oriented animals, who love their pups and work together in order to survive. Their reintroduction into Yellowstone brought about a transformation that was close to miraculous. Calling 2019 "the year of the wolf" is ludicrous; wolves would never behave the way these insane Republicans do. They are self-respecting animals, not monsters.
1
@Ann
Well said. Thank you.
Mr. Brooks keeps raising this question as if it has already been determined, "At that point congressional leaders will face the defining choice of their careers: Where does their ultimate loyalty lie, to the Constitution or to their party?"
Now that all but the most partisan recognize the Republican party has betrayed our country it's time for all of us (Republicans, Democrats and Independents) to vote them out. It's a shame Mr. Brooks can't accept this reality like other conservative pundits have, i.e., Jennifer Rubin and Max Boot.
I was hoping Mr. Brooks would greet the New Year with a definitive statement. Vote Democrat.
33
Mr. Brooks has been an astute observer of our body politic for many years, and it is mistake to opine that he is always overly even-handed, failing or unwilling to lay blame on one or the other parties, despite the uneven score that many of us believe is often the case. This reflects his personal style in always seeking to shed more light than heat on his subject matter. The fact that he so clearly appears to hold Republicans to account here is a barometer of how far he has come in his views on our current national crisis. Watergate, summoned so specifically in this essay was a clear case of violation of law, and citing it here reflects his unqualified opinion as to the illegality of what Trump and a Republican Congress have wrought and the duty we all now have before us to address their continuing undermining of the Republic. As Brecht wrote so pointedly at the end of his "Galileo", in response to the comment "Woe to the country that has no hero", Galileo responds "No, woe to the country that needs a hero". Pray we find one.
17
I feel fairly certain the "ultimate loyalty" of most members of Congress is to whomever controls the money flow. OVERTURN CITIZENS UNITED.
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For God’s sake lay off on the wolves and use another example to make the point. Where is the evidence in real life of wolves having ever done the sort of thing they are portrayed as having done in the Cather novel? Think human treatment of wolves by contrast.
36
@Judi BW: Good point. From what I've heard, there are hardly any recorded cases of humans killed by wolves in this country, ever. Maybe none. Sounds counter-intuitive, but I think that's the reality.
(And, even taken as a thrilling folk-tale, the more you think about it, the less it relates to our current political situation. If the bride is the Constitution, and the brothers are the Republicans, who are the wolves? The Mueller investigation?)
5
@Judi BW Thank you. Wolves have been demonized for centuries by those who don't understand them. Where do they think dogs come from? Those who love dogs, but hate wolves are ignorant in the extreme; the good nature of dogs is only a tame version of the good nature of wolves. Wolves prey on the weak "animals" because they are easier to kill, and this culling is a good thing. They do not prey on weak "humans".
1
@Judi BW
Yes, well said.
1
How soon we forget that the reason why "our Constitution and system of law aren't strong enough to withstand the partisan furies that now define our politics" is the same reason by which our partisan politics had originally defined the birth of same Constitution and system of law. That our due INDEPENDENCE unduly DEPENDED on "fine people on BOTH sides" of the human bondage debate was an accident at conception waiting to happen again and again until our of/by&fors finally DO perish from the earth!
2
I have no doubt that the wolves will prevail! To look out into the political landscape and see the potential of more Donald Trump or Corey “bring it” Booker, Kampala Harris, Elizabeth Warren and Kristen Gillibrand what hope is there to be found. To these politicians there is nothing greater than themselves not a national integrity, not a Constitution and certainly not a once great country that was a beacon of hope for so many. God help us.
2
@Stephen A You haven't really been listening to Democratic representatives. You have to up your game
if you are interested in preserving America.
I often wonder, especially after the election of DJT, if a large portion of the voting public has decided that our constitution and political system are no longer a viable means of governance. I recall DJT, during his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention, stating "....we have problems and only I can fix them....."
If that be the case, we are truly in for a very tumultuous year!
7
@peterV....No. No one made a "decision" that our Constitution was not a viable means of governance. That someone made a "decision" implies that they are capable of thought. More like there are a very significant number of people out there who have no idea what the Constitution is or what it represents.
1
I voted for Nixon in two presidential elections. I was a card carrying Republican for most of the my life and remained a Republican after Watergate because the constitutional process worked. Neither Republicans nor Democrats have the answer but, historically, they have come together to do what is right for America. President George H. W. Bush knew he would be seriously damaged politically when he raised taxes, but did it because it was the right thing to do. Trump back tracked from finding a way to avoid a shut down because his base (36% +/- of voters) would not like it. The only vision of America that Donald Trump and his loyalists have is one where they get to decide right and wrong on the basis of a Tweet.
17
@Pinotpomeroy "Trumpery" is the perfect word to
describe the President.
1
While this column is as erudite as one expects from Mr. Brooks, it still seems little more than the "both sides do it" argument that lesser conservative/Republican (I recognize that the two are no longer the same in the Age of Trump) commentors make. It would have had significantly more crdibility had Mr. Brooks written similar concerns about the voluminous, actual Show Trials that the Republicans put the Obama administration through -- only to become silent and uninterested once their guy got into power. Absent that history, the column comes across as "we can't have the Democrats to what the Republicans have done so successfully ... that would be bad."
23
Mr. Brooks succeeds in illuminating the problem, but not in the way he thinks. Brooks would have us believe that we face a choice between behaving politically and behaving like serious adults. In his worldview, partisanship is always evil and non-partisanship is always high-minded. It doesn't work that way.
Politics is agonistic, a philosopher's fancy way of saying it's about conflict. Brooks references the conflict of interests that consumes much of the media's attention when reporting on politics. But politics also involves a conflict over ideas and ideals. "America" is a contest concept. Its founding principles are not pristine and immutable; they are interrogated and reinvented by each new generation. Even when "interests" are foremost in our politics, ideas and ideals are in play.
And this is what makes Trump such a grave threat to the American experiment. He embodies a radical reinterpretation of American governance, one that does more to break down the institutional barriers to personal rule than any president before him. The "kingly" aspect of presidential power grew enormously in the 20th century as the federal government took on new responsibilities at home and abroad. Trump hasn't added any new powers to his office, but his style has magnified what political scientist Ted Lowi aptly named "the personal presidency."
Yes Mr. Brooks, little will be gained calling Trump names. But it will take concerted political opposition to rein him in.
16
At their bases, legal and constitutional systems exist to allow peoples to govern among a diverse set of interests and identities, without needing to resort to violence and physical revolutions. It all only works if those laws and institutions are respected.
If those in power determine that they can absolve themselves of such limitations and rules, then we revert back to the old bargain; "You cause me injustice, I will visit it upon you."
Not surprisingly, a lot more of those people who would have hewed to non-violence and discourse for change, are now more direct, arming themselves and hardening their stance against those they believe to be insensitive to what had been a sacred duty to equal application of the law and The Constitution.
The GOP ought to reconsider their position in all of this. It could end badly for everyone, and particularly for them.
6
"At that point congressional leaders will face the defining choice of their careers: Where does their ultimate loyalty lie, to the Constitution or to their party?" I'm not sure that it's a question of putting party first for the Republicans in congress. It's a matter of finances -- their pocketbooks -- for many.
10
I’m sorry. This piece gives the false sense that the problem of partisanship and putting part over country falls equally on both sides — Democrats and Republicans. This just simply is not true. The problem is more one sided than this. One party — the Republicans — have more consistently put party first. Winning partisan party advantage has become everything to this GOP. Some have convinced themselves that what’s good for the GOP is good for America. Some just seem to go along with this because it keeps them in office. Regardless of why though, it is the GOP that is the problem. And ultimately our Constitution will be saved only when about 20 GOP Senators step up, like Cox did in the 70s, and break with their party’s recent enabling past.
58
David sounds like he believes that if someone feels the system is rigged because there are some safeguards against wholesale voter suppression it is the same thing as someone feeling the system is rigged because voter suppression is as pervasive as it is.
13
"At that point congressional leaders will face the defining choice of their careers: Where does their ultimate loyalty lie, to the Constitution or to their party?"
A better question for congressional leaders would be: Where does your ultimate loyalty lie, to the Constitution or to Trump?"
The Republican Party no longer exists, and at this point we need to seriously examine the mental health of not only the president, but of the so-called congressional leaders who have allowed this farcical presidency to continue for so long.
45
I am moved by this column, in the sense that I do think David Brooks captures the critical crossroads at which we stand. On the other hand, I think his retelling of the Republican response to Watergate gives them too much credit. I was too young to pay attention, and it was a long time ago, but as the wonderful podcast, "Slow Burn" tells it, the GOP was no more interested in investigating their rogue president then, than their colleagues are now. Richardson was a hero, as was George Beall of Maryland in the face of Agnew's corruption, but they stood alone, as we see with Mueller now. The Republicans only stopped being obstructionist when they could see no future in continuing. The thing that is so dangerous now is the rise of right-wing disinformation media that will keep the truth from seeping into the awareness of the wolf pack of the Trump true-believers.
50
@Ellen Thomas: Right. What the Republicans back then saw was that they could salvage everything by throwing Nixon to the wolves, making sure that the wolves wouldn't mistreat him in any way. With Ronald Reagan and the Iran Contra gang waiting in the wings...
Is this the best David Brooks can up on Jan 1, 2019. In the name of Constitution the Democrats should go soft on Trump despite all his bad deeds. I like to ask David Brooks to identify 10 Republicans members of the House and 10 Republican senators who defy Trump and co-operate with the Democrats. Even some Senators who voiced some opposition to Trump voted for his agenda almost all the time. David Brooks is disgusted with Trump but confused what to do about it. As long as the Democrats in House use legitimate and reasonable way to investigate Trump there should be any constitutional crises and one would hope that Republicans who are concerned about the Constitution and rule of law should join them. American people and rule of law can not wait for timid and wavering Republicans to act.
27
@Hoshiar....Eventually intelligent people will reach an epiphany and realize that the Republican party has so dramatically changed that the only alternative is to admit that continuing too beat the drum is not who they are our who they want to be
1
What is scary to me is that throughout my long life I have been registered as an independent. Until the last election I have never voted completely Democratic. If I still lived in the state where I grew up I would have voted for the Republican governor. MA and RI, where I lived for 45 years, often vote for Republican governors to balance Democratic legislatures. Republicans in the state where I now live, NC, are truly awful (Mark Meadows is my representative and won 59% of the vote) and I doubt I will ever vote for a Republican again. I find this situation disturbing and destroys government balance and makes me choose one party over another. Leaning left didn't mean never voting Republican, but there are no Republicans like the long term senator from RI John Chaffee. Very sad indeed and the war between parties will not end well and is certainly disastrous for our country.
37
Hyper-partisanship has arisen because one party uses hot-button social issues of race and religion to divide us, drawing our attention away from the critical interests we share.
Take those red-rural, blue-city maps. There may have been a time when rural areas had radically different interests from the cities. But that's no longer true where real-world problems are concerned.
By the end of this century, some large cities will become intolerable, some uninhabitable, without air conditioning. A farmer whose fields are too wet to plant or to harvest, whose topsoil is being washed away by torrential rains, is affected by the same forces of climate change as the sweltering townie.
The farmer, who is probably no longer young, shares the need for Social Security and Medicare and assisted living with the city dweller. There's a good chance his local hospital has closed and access to good medical care is a serious problem.
Meanwhile, we argue about whether a baker can refuse to put two little men on top of a wedding cake.
Those red and blue maps have very little to do with genuine interests. If we focus on issues like medical care, climate change, Social Security, and making college education available without a backbreaking load of debt, we can bridge the divide. The only truly intractable social issue is abortion. But that's a topic that needs its own space.
49
@writeon1
Then explain to me why voters in red states consistently vote for people who deny climate change, want to dissolve our Medicare and Social Security programs, and are even now cutting more funding for education in their states and pay their teachers so little they all need second jobs. You might offer that they believe in 'supply side' economics. Okay, then explain how the more we cut taxes, the less our citizens actually get. If they had any sense at all, they would have figured out the con a long time ago.
Yes, you are correct about what which issues actually matter, but I am daily held intellectually hostage by people who want the same things I do but who absurdly believe that Republicans and Donald Trump want to help them.
3
@writeon1: Rigorous enforcement of "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion" is the simplest and most efficacious cure for what ails the US.
2
@writeon1 Your divide bridging examples are pure Democrat agenda. How does advancing a partisan agenda help? The fact is Red America doesn't believe in or worry about climate change, and while the loss of local hospitals and medical care is a concern, it's not one Democrats are interested in solving. As for a baker having the right to determine what services he offers, you're grossly oversimplifying a First Amendment issue. If the First Amendment is no longer a vital unifying concern then what is?
Remember that Trump was nominated by the Republican Party, lost the popular vote by 3 million, and was supported by the legislative branch, controlled by Republicans, for 2 years. This is not a "both sides are at fault" issue, nor did David Brook's "let's give him a chance" and "politics as usual" for the first year or so prove helpful. It's time that David Brooks, a Republican, recognize the authoritarian leanings of his party and try to correct them.
85
@ly1228: Basing a radical revolution on the most stupidly conducted and counted election in US history is extreme over-reaching on no mandate at all.
If just-concluded 2018 is at all predictive of how House and Senate GOP members will respond to the many "party or country?" challenges we all know are coming in 2019, then I'd say Mr Brooks's worst-case scenario is all too likely. Far too many of them, whether out of fear of the wolves among their constituents or out of lust for power and dominance, have already embraced Donald Trump as their alpha male. Witness the snarls and bared fangs directed at Christine Blasey Ford during her ill-fated appearance in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The typical response of the rest of them, when asked about the Trump Pack's almost daily assaults on the very foundations of our democracy, has been, "Ba-aa-aa."
Given that reality, I fear that before 2019 is even halfway over, we'll look back at 2017 and 2018 and call them "The Good Old Days."
Happy New Year.
22
@REF: Evidently Trump has the personality his enablers project onto their imaginary God.
As the new year and a new congress start most years bring hope. You have been moving more negative for a long time. I'm sorry to see that. Your News Hour commentarys show you do not have much hope for our country's institutions as does this article. As a voice with national access you need to help the country work for solutions rather than decry the problems.
1
@Joe: The problem is a mob of people who are more concerned about their expected lives after death than in the only life they will ever have, and demand idolatrous legislation to appease an utterly imaginary being modelled on themselves.
The question is quite simple: will Mitch McConnell stop giving Trump a free pass?
68
Unless Mitch asks his wife to resign from Trump’s cabinet, I doubt it. Trump would publicly humiliate her a la Jeff Sessions, and what husband, aside from Ted Cruz, is willing to put up with that?
1
Too many things inaccurate in this article, for example, " It will be a year in which Donald Trump is isolated and unrestrained as never before" For the first time there will be some Congressional restraint, the Democrats will control the House. There is no equivalency on the right and the left. But, it's David Brooks what would one expect?
20
We passed Civil right Bills not because politicians finally saw the light but the people had had enough and were willing to change the system violently. Labor laws pretty much the same. The finally check has always been the people. The same group and the same percent that follow Trump are the same group who opposed both of those things. They are in the minority but have power they think because some of the elite are using them and manipulating them. Nothing is really new. We have always had this element of hate and fear in our country being used by the ruthless to as a means to their ends which are wealth and power. I suspect the majority of us have had enough again.
26
JFK's assassination got Civil Rights passed, Anthony. Otherwise we'd STILL see "fine people on BOTH sides" of THAT debate.
If Trump is lucky enough to finish his first term he will not be fortunate enough to be nominated by his party for a second term. I think that is the GOP's long term strategy that will intensify as the campaign season gets into serious mode. In the meantime he and the rest of the wolves will viciously survive.
3
“Where does their ultimate loyalty lie, to the Constitution or to their party? “
I believe that this will be The Year of the Constitution and that justice will somehow manage to stay one step ahead of the wolf.
6
This well-expressed piece is effective for focusing the poles of our polarized national condition. Going to extremes to dramatize points of concern and contention is valuable to some extent for the sake of simple argument; but it’s what’s in between that winds up dismissed. And over time and with emotion dismissed, forgotten. And that’s problem, in my view. Are you a Democrat or a Republican? Are you on the left or the right? ... as if answering these simplified questions tells it all. I don’t consider the disaster of Trump to be the result of the individual, Trump. Not to say that he hasn’t and won’t make matters incredibly worse. The disaster of Trump is, I would say, collectively on us. And the Constitution has been cleverly manipulated by “us” to justify themes that have gained popular acceptance, including through much non-involvement and resignation. Our problem in Trump, in other words, is basically a problem with our collective self. The ultimate concern for self is not exactly new! We all have it, the advertised nobility of “America” notwithstanding. The issue in this connection would seem to discipline ... which at least present-day Americans don’t want to be burdened by. And as long we hold to that mindset with the political divide that now represents us, this may well be “a year of wolves.” Without a sense of community and loyalty to that, we will stay embattled. And our adversaries in the world will watch and wait for the right time to “rescue” us.
11
Why write that 2019 is the Year of the Wolves?
Why not write that 2016, 2017 and 2018 have been the years of the wolves, the human wolves who preyed on our system of government?
And I agree with many other writers that comparing the Trumps, and Mitch McConnell, and Paul Ryan to wolves is very unfair to wolves.
65
Experiencing Watergate, I came to despise corruption in government. Such corruption was suggested by the evidence of witnesses during congressional hearings and by disingenuous defenses by congressional Republicans of a likely corrupt President, defenses that could themselves be considered corrupt.
Watergate occurred at the tail end of the “violent and turbulent” 1960’s, something Americans are not experiencing today. It was a time of social upheaval, likely a response to several years of threats of nuclear annihilation from outside; assassinations of a President, a presidential candidate, and a Civil Rights icon; and response to a war considered unjust by those who did not want to die before they had a chance to live. There were peaceful protests for Civil Rights turned violent by hateful police actions and thousands of peaceful anti-War college campus protests - one, at Kent State University, resulting in deaths at the hands of the National Guard; there were nation-wide riots and seemingly countless and senseless acts of domestic terrorism.
Today, Americans are witnessing the result of an apparent planned anti-democratic movement toward one-Party rule. The origins are likely rooted in the fear of democratic social advances of the 1960’ and 1970’s. The consequences have been increasingly corrupt government negatively impacting the voter franchise, democratic and human values. The wolves are domestic, in positions of power, and there is no place to run.
44
@Kathy White Thank you Ms. White, your perspective is helpful and accurate as I too experienced the era, including service in that unjust war. We no longer have a choice about where to run. We must stop running and find the commonality of support for our Constitution and bring the fourth branch of government, the people, to the fore. While I know it will be considered naive, I do trust that people who don't share my views on many issues will share support for mutual respect as we explore how to return to some semblance of mutually respectful governance. Please don’t give up on yourself. Together we can find our way back.
6
I won't give up on the Republic, but I worry, terribly, that David Brooks is right. Njglea makes many important points, but, sadly, there is not a 99.9% who see that way. There is a large minority, as Brooks says, that are either nearly as twisted as the President or dangerously naive and fearful of what they don't understand, and thus defensively seeking refuge in his hate speech. We must acknowledge the danger of being as divided as we are and move forward to courageously engage in the struggle that we face. I have to believe that the Constitution and the rule of law will prevail. I have to believe that the idealism, intelligence and energy of the new House of Representatives, will provide a turning point in our governance, but I cannot believe that it will be easy. We must steel ourselves for the struggle, for the wolves are there.
8
You write as if we are at a crossroad. We passed through the crossroad a long time ago. It did not start with Trump. The rot was evident when the Democrats led by Bill Clinton abandoned their natural constituency, the working class, and pursued his version of the “third way” by courting Wall Street for political donations, when Obama did the same, and when Hillary did the same. They all sold out to money and power over the rule of law and justice for the weak. How could they defend our institutions against the rich and powerful when they were so eager to be one of them?
20
@John Kontrabecki. You make the 'easy case' for Republicans very well. It all started with the Clintons and the Obamas learned from them. Thank goodness for the GOP. The ever-brave Ryan and the ever-blind (certainly not conniving) Mitch McConnell. Plus the great social movements, like in North Carolina with Mark Meadow and the absent ballot bunch. But seriously, has ANY politician since Truman simply driven away in their very own car to rest at home?
Thank you Mr. Brooks for stripping everything down and discarding the distractions. I am wondering whether any of the folks I saw on TV last night in New York, Nashville and Los Angeles whooping and celebrating amongst the dropping ball, fireworks and confetti and rain give “two cents” about what you so vividly depicted. I guess we can hope they still know Abraham Lincoln’s image is on those two pennies.
8
Conservatives have been preparing for this for years. The impeachment of Bill Clinton was a start. Was his affair with Ms. Lewinski sleazy and a scandal? Yes indeed. Was it high crimes and misdemeanors? Not even close. And the crime they actually charged him with - lying under oath - is so common among today’s herd of DJT hangers on that you might as well just call it talking. DJT himself can’t be trusted to testify under oath, because he will lie himself orange in the face. His aides know it, his lawyers know it, his family knows it. Then there was the expansion of presidential powers under Dick Cheney. The constant scandals and financial mismanagement of the GW Bush administration. And of course, the constant undermining and obstruction of Barack Obama, complete with hysteria over how divisive he was! His “imperial” decrees! His birth certificate! All right wing tropes encouraged and trumpeted by GOP politicians. Add in voter suppression, gerrymandering, and racial fearmongering, and it is clear, Mr. Brooks: the Republican Party has been undermining honest governance for so long it could be they no longer recognize it. We are in great danger, because the GOP has lost all respect for and allegiance to the Constitution. Let us hope that there are enough trickles of decency left in the Republican Senate to curb the damage DJT is causing, and will continue to cause.
143
I enjoyed this column, which surprised me. However, I would agree with it more if evert occurrence of “partisan” was replaced with “Republicans “. Republicans are the ones that have given priority to their party over the last two years. The result is the mess we have now. The Republicans will continue this behavior for the duration. I anticipate a future column from Mr. Brooks decrying the partisan behavior of “both sides” when the Democratic House attempts to exert their power.
52
@Michael Strycharske
Democrats have always done the things that this President decided he would do for once - fight back.
The Bush presidents never once fought back and Reagan laughed at the Dems during a time when a small part of the media still held onto a shred of respect for the Constitution.
But President Trump has never bit his tongue in the face of an all-out attack by the 90% of the media swearing its loyalty to the Democratic Party.
This is the only thing different from what came before. This President is clearly blameless even as he is different from most other Republicans.
All those in favor of throwing the oligarchs to the wolves say aye. The ayes have it. Wolves, by the way, choose their prey carefully in order to minimize risk to themselves. Time to turn the tables.
19
Please count the US flags flying from pickup trucks each time Trump is further cornered and rages. Please count the "Trump" and "Gun Rights" decals on these and other vehicles across our country.
Am I being alarmist to think that many of the heavily armed Trump backers -- the 40% who Brooks says will not care about serious evidence -- will not hesitate to wield them when Trump inevitably tweets that the Government, the police, the courts are rigged against him and "True Americans"?
Such folks have never sworn to uphold our constitution. Many seem to think it consists of only a single "Second Amendment" to defend their arms. Others, who are even better armed and actually HAVE sworn to protect the constitution, seem already so torn in their allegiances that they actively waved Trump signs and red hats while on military duty and in uniform!
How ready are the 60% who may care about Trump's misdeeds and might believe our constitution to be sacred? By Ready, I mean able to deal with a society in which the Commander in Chief is unhinged, the military is visibly pro-Trump, and the pro-Trump populace is already angry and armed.
Though they wail and grind teeth over legislative gun control, the pro-Trump corps have currently mastered the balance of de facto partisan Gun Control: They have the most of the guns! Is now the time for a less armed 60% to seriously consider whether the second amendment is meant to help US protect the constitution?
Should WE buy guns???
24
@Bill
Yeah, you're getting a little overwrought. First off, our police departments nationwide are not going to align themselves with anarchic Trump supporters. Also, we have state national guards with weapons, and again, they're not going to align themselves with Trumpists. Further, individual homegrown militia right wing citizens are more likely to amass weapons because they are loony toons, while the liberal gun owners I know only own one or a few guns for hunting, so that skews the data. Oh, yes, Democrats, including liberals, do own guns. Look at our conservative Western states--there are plenty of Democrats in red states, they just don't win congressional seats. But, I'm pretty sure the Democrats in those states own guns just like the Republicans do. Plus, there are still a few sane Republicans.
Nationally, even though Trump is (cough) Commander in Chief, he can't order our armed forces to attack Americans. Sure, there may be a few enlisted who are Trump supporters, but so what? Most of our command military are still rational.
So, try to relax. We're nowhere near the cliff yet.
1
@Bill Yes. At a minimum, we'd get tough gun laws if liberals and minorities started arming up.
Maybe Peter and Pavel were the conservatives who saw the wolves of Trumpism and decided to save themselves by tossing the American people out of the sleigh of the republic.
22
..." the roughly 40 percent of Americans who support Trump will see serious evidence that he committed felonies, but they won’t care!"
Trump supporters believe he posses the sole truth because his truth reflects their own perception of the truth. They will not be easily dissuaded from their beliefs -- thus we have the Kool-Aid drinkers who believe in Trump and not the Constitution.
They don't care now and never have. "The 5th Ave. Principle" is alive and well.
13
Democrats held both houses of Congress during Watergate. If Republicans were in a majority in the Senate, who knows, Nixon might never have had to resign. Impeachment is a political course of action. Indictment is the legal course of action for a criminal president.
8
In defense of wolves: they have always been mis-portrayed. Wolves are pack-animals who care very deeply for their families and other pack members. They are intelligent, playful, loving of one another, and compassionate at times. They are attacked by humans because they hunt other animals to survive. Humans torture millions of animals daily on farms and in slaughter houses, including hanging chickens and cows and skinning them alive, kicking and prodding cows and pigs till their bones are broken, and far worse torture. No animal is more evil than a human.
30
Happy New Year to you too Mr Brooks! Spot on, but so depressing. I continue to have faith that the GOP wolves will turn on Trump when they believe he begins to have a net negative impact on them and their futures. That's a feast I relish watching.
7
2019 could very well be the first time in our history that the military interferes in our politics. The vocal discontent of powerful, retired military hierarchy is an indication that there are restive factions in this country.
Will the powerful forces of this nation sit idle while one unhinged man destroys a society? A sober question.
9
All media will have a critical hand to play in how this frightening year is portrayed. I pray they don’t flame the ugliness for profit. Perhaps they can help knit the fabric.
7
"Much of the Strength and Efficiency of any Government in procuring and securing Happiness to the People depends on Opinion, on the general Opinion of the Goodness of that Government as well as of the Wisdom and Integrity of its Governors." -- Benjamin Franklin
The first and foremost duty of those at the head of affairs, is to maintain our (the people's) confidence in our system of government. To do otherwise is subversion at the highest level.
For if people generally lose that confidence, become convinced that the entire system is irrevocably corrupt, then indeed the age of "every man for himself and the devil take the hindmost" ... the age of wolves, to use Brooks' metaphor, has arrived.
The little orange man in the big white house has gone to great lengths to corrupt the system, to destroy confidence in all our institutions, and is himself an example of that corruption and destruction.
Our officials swear an oath to uphold the Constitution, not an oath to be loyal to the nation, to the people, to their party, but to the Constitution, for a reason. Let's hope enough of them stick to that we don't end up replacing a red Trump with a blue Trump, ad infinitum.
"Beware that, when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster." -- Friedrich Nietzsche
16
It’s not just nostalgia to say that nothing in Obama’s eight years compares to what we have seen in government during these last two, except the blind tenacity of Mitch McConnell’s leadership. There’s your wolf.
38
My god, what a bleak vision emanating from the gentle soul of David Brooks! I hope and pray that it doesn't come down to the fact of whether or not the GOP believes in the Constitution or not. That's a litmus test we may not survive...
11
I predict that the extremists in the White House will cause a fake emergency and threaten to suspend the constitution so that Trump tries to seize power as he faces either defeat in 2020 or impeachment. They have already stolen key secure info to fit their own preferences. Congress needs to be ready .
14
I do not appreciate the story from "My Antonia." There are no wolves waiting to tear apart our democracy. Just us. We are all watching now. We are thoughtful and able to discern truth from fiction. We are beginning to recognize that democracy everywhere, even in the United States, is fragile and in constant need of care. Whether Trump is impeached and convicted or not, he will not see a second term.
4
@Robin
Excellent point. I think there are wolves, but not the ones that Trump et al would have you see. First, climate change may well disrupt our civilization to the point that with wars caused by immigration from rising sea levels, the Earth will have a hard time feeding itself. Then we have the wolves of nuclear war. Unfortunately, this prospect is not getting better with the proliferation to more and more marginal states, like, say, North Korea. Given these existential challenges, I would be comforted by having some vestige of competence in the federal leadership. This, apparently, is too much to ask of America.
5
This is all a show. 80% of working families live paycheck to paycheck. 60% of working families cant overcome a 600 dollar emergency without borrowing .
The billionaires and large corporations are at war with the middle class. They want all of the wealth accumulated after WW2.
The game is rigged. Trump sold that to his base. He isnt going to do anything about it but that is how he got the presidency by going to Hillary's left on War , Trade and taxes.
Remember he was going to get rid of carried interest. A lie but a great lie to get working class on board.
Bernie Sanders was going to do something about it and thats why the Corporate dems had to rig the primaries for Hillary.
Wake Up People! Fight the takeover of our government by the rich on both sides.
10
The way I see it, Mr. Brooks, 2019 may be the year that the wolves were leashed.
2016 saw Trump and his Republicans attack Latinos, break the law with impunity, thumb their noses at their Constitutional duty to advise and consent instead of obstruct and collude with Putin to corrupt our democratic systems. 2017 saw Trump and his Republicans ignore the fact that most Americans didn't want him as president, ride roughshod over central American tenets of responsible foreign interactions and protections for the environment and minority rights, install an insipid partisan incompetent to a SC seat he was not entitled to, lie and lie and lie and lie, cozy up to dictators like Kim and, again, Putin and use the tax code to enrich the rich, burden the middle class, punish the poor and strip health care from the most vulnerable. 2018 was the year that Trump attacked women most egregiously by shoving a drunken, loutish, hysterical sexual assaulter onto the Court while expanding the NRA's agenda against the will of the people, stifle the scientific community's evidence on a wide swath of important issues that could depress the profits of the very rich, accuse African Americans of every crime imaginable, ignore the rule of law and use vile electoral maneouvers to rip power from the voters.
If 2019 brings some measure of restraint by the House Democrats and exposes some of Trump's criminality, it has to be an improvement over what has gone on to date.
19
I have been saying in my comments to your writing for years, long before Trump, that we are living in a New Dark Age. You are an optimist by nature and just do not see it.
I would not worry so much about 2019 or 2020 being The Year of the Wolves. I would worry that 2019 or 2020 will be 1968 or even 1861.
4
Congress, the top leaders in government and in fact the elites in mainstream media all face a difficult 2019. I agree that if these investigations yield credible allegations, then a serious & sober process should proceed. If that includes impeachment and a Senate trial, so be it.
But we won't get a serious & sober process. It is clear that the Mueller investigation is biased & tainted. It is clear that there are serious ethical problems throughout the DOJ and FBI. It is clear that there are serious and yet-to-be investigated allegations relating to much of the Obama administration. It is clear that there are serious concerns with the conduct & activity of the Clinton State Department and Clinton Foundation.
The average citizen has every right to be highly circumspect & skeptical of just about anything government 'investigates' today. I think I speak for many when I say that hardly any of them in the beltway can be trusted, from either party.
I'm waiting for ethics to appear somewhere - anywhere - in Washington DC.
1
Ah, Mr. Brooks is finally taking this seriously. For much of the past couple of years he has openly wondered whether "there was really anything there" and expressed skepticism about the existence of "smoking guns." What a difference time, indictments, convictions, numerous defections, myriad corruption scandals, and several thousand presidential lies make.
13
The Secret Service needs to keep an eye on Hinckley when he goes on furloughs.