Mr. Brooks,
you sure are familiar Goethe's Dr. Faustus: How do I get rid of the demons I called?
A pact with the devil. Tough to resolve.
you sure are familiar Goethe's Dr. Faustus: How do I get rid of the demons I called?
A pact with the devil. Tough to resolve.
120
This may be the most insightful -- and the most significant -- column Brooks has ever written.
312
I applaud you Mr. Brooks for writing this piece, I think you are right on the money. You have always been a voice for centrism in these pages - of course that gets you disparagement as an enabler of the wing nuts but some of us Democrats see through that. Thank you for providing balance and for your intellectual honesty as demonstrated today.
184
Brooks is the centourian of the old leftist guard of which most Americans have had completely enough. November 2016 will be the cardinal turning point. Cannot wait!
9
Feels good to stop beating your head against the wall, doesn't it David? Water's fine over here on the other side. Give it a try.
113
This is a good piece.
I do agree it would have been better if you'd written it sooner.
I think too it would be good for you to develop your thinking on what does it mean for a party to hate government (a la Reagan) when they are seeking to run government. What kind of outcome does that lead to? I think what we have.
I do agree it would have been better if you'd written it sooner.
I think too it would be good for you to develop your thinking on what does it mean for a party to hate government (a la Reagan) when they are seeking to run government. What kind of outcome does that lead to? I think what we have.
181
Mr. Brooks, what was your role during the years since Reagan in helping the nation to get this point?
105
Let's hear the republican candidates for President and Speaker of the House respond. Most will see the column as a "betrayal" of their cause. Sen. Rubio and Gov. Kasich will understand and try to avoid being tarnished by it. Ms. Fiorina, Mr. Carson and Gov. Huckabee might need someone to explain what Mr. Brooks means by conservatism or by the word "government." Mr. Trump will respond by commenting on how Mr. Brooks looks on the Newshour on public television on Friday nights.
85
Couldn't agree more, Mr. Brooks. I've been saying for years that I didn't leave the Republican party - they left me!
124
Brooks: " It took a thousand small betrayals of conservatism to get to the dysfunction we see all around."
You, Mr. Brooks, and other media pundits with a conservative perspective have, unfortunately, waited too long to raise your voices in protest. The party is in shambles.
Reminds of Martin Niemöller's lament after WWII about his waiting too long to protest the treatment of the socialists, trade unionists and the Jews. By the time he got around to protesting, it was too late for him and many others.
You, Mr. Brooks, and other media pundits with a conservative perspective have, unfortunately, waited too long to raise your voices in protest. The party is in shambles.
Reminds of Martin Niemöller's lament after WWII about his waiting too long to protest the treatment of the socialists, trade unionists and the Jews. By the time he got around to protesting, it was too late for him and many others.
160
Nice to see Brooks catching up with the millions of us on the left who've known this for years. He's able to wrap the obvious in a cloak of colorful verbiage that masks the fact this is old news - nonetheless ominous for the two-party system and American governance, but hardly worthy of the revelatory "discovery" Brooks seems to make of it. Stale bread in a glossy new wrapper?
83
I don't know that the Republicans are worth saving. Tea Party Zombies have eaten their souls.
As for the Democrats, click your heels three times and repeat after me, "all politics is local".
As for the Democrats, click your heels three times and repeat after me, "all politics is local".
54
Welcome to realilty David. Please stay aboard.
122
As David Brooks has mentioned the key culprit is Rush Limbaugh and his style of poisonous rhetoric. Rush has single-handedly created a market for radical right-wing talk radio, and now we have so many others in the airwaves. Today's NYT article about Paul Ryan also mentions the effect of right-wing talk radio and blogs.
67
Wow! Mr. Brooks speaks the truth! Unfortunately, the fact that it took until now to admit what we have known for years means that one should take his confession with a grain of salt. The man is not to be trusted after twenty years of shilling for Greed Over People.
Why now, Mr. Brooks? What ulterior motive finally caused you to write these words?
Why now, Mr. Brooks? What ulterior motive finally caused you to write these words?
72
More thoughts prompted by the most thoughtful David Brooks column I've ever read:
The basic problem with even conceiving of a Burkean view of conservatism is exemplified by the "father of modern conservatism", William Buckley, Jr.'s, mission statement in the first issue of "National Review (1955) in which he clearly stated that his mandate was to stand "athwart history, yelling Stop."
And from Buckley's preface to “God and Man at Yale”: "I myself believe that the duel between Christianity and atheism is the most important in the world." "I further believe that the struggle between individualism and collectivism is the same struggle reproduced on another level.”
There is no commonality to conservatism. It isn't conservative, and really hasn’t been since 1964, and now there is nothing but inertia to hold it together. Burke would not recognize it. Or want to.
The basic problem with even conceiving of a Burkean view of conservatism is exemplified by the "father of modern conservatism", William Buckley, Jr.'s, mission statement in the first issue of "National Review (1955) in which he clearly stated that his mandate was to stand "athwart history, yelling Stop."
And from Buckley's preface to “God and Man at Yale”: "I myself believe that the duel between Christianity and atheism is the most important in the world." "I further believe that the struggle between individualism and collectivism is the same struggle reproduced on another level.”
There is no commonality to conservatism. It isn't conservative, and really hasn’t been since 1964, and now there is nothing but inertia to hold it together. Burke would not recognize it. Or want to.
56
The Freedom Caucus did do something. They gave us 50 votes to repeal Obama-care.
21
Dear David:
I wrote this last week to my CT Post which put it on the OpEd page on Friday Oct. 9.
Looks like plagiarism to me:
I sent this into the CT Post which printed it in a corner section of its opinion and editorial page on October which it labels the You Said It column:
Why so glum?
What did I miss? Oh yes the steady degradation of the Republican party as a competent body able to contribute to our governing and the virtual circus we see each day acted out by its GOP leaders and its candidates. Boehner gave up in disgust. McConnell is next. We have huge problems and we can't solve them with all of the lightweights focusing on unwinding everything and insisting on pushing a tiny minority's foolish priorities. It is very sad and unprecedented in my lifetime.
:-) Ahead of my time. Note also I have labeled Putin's antics "The Fossil Wars."
I wrote this last week to my CT Post which put it on the OpEd page on Friday Oct. 9.
Looks like plagiarism to me:
I sent this into the CT Post which printed it in a corner section of its opinion and editorial page on October which it labels the You Said It column:
Why so glum?
What did I miss? Oh yes the steady degradation of the Republican party as a competent body able to contribute to our governing and the virtual circus we see each day acted out by its GOP leaders and its candidates. Boehner gave up in disgust. McConnell is next. We have huge problems and we can't solve them with all of the lightweights focusing on unwinding everything and insisting on pushing a tiny minority's foolish priorities. It is very sad and unprecedented in my lifetime.
:-) Ahead of my time. Note also I have labeled Putin's antics "The Fossil Wars."
12
Power abhors a vacuum. Take down government and what you have isn't no government, but whatever tyrannical forces ooze their way into the void that remains. Beware tea partiers, some rule of law is absolutely necessary in order to preserve your freedoms.
76
Just maybe the republicans have heard the narcissist in the White House demean them and take every opportunity to try and rub their faces in any situation. When you are continually called out for a fight at some point you have to fight or the oppressor will know you have no will. The democrats will never accept anything but what they want and to oppose them is be be disparaged and demonized. Who are the moderates on the left? It's time to fight.
5
I would change the title and replace "Caucus" with "Circus."
30
The so-called Freedom Caucus is comprised of a minority in the House but they want to lead the majority. You can't get more undemocratic than that.
73
Is it only me - or does this description of the right wing of the Republican Party sound like a passel of religious zealots?
Get religion out of politics! The concept of a "belief" against all argument and any facts, the us against them philosophy, the closed mind and closed fist, have no place in our democracy.
Get religion out of politics! The concept of a "belief" against all argument and any facts, the us against them philosophy, the closed mind and closed fist, have no place in our democracy.
77
Gee Mr. Brooks, what happened to make you suddenly see what's been going on right in front of your eyes for the past three decades? You've been an apologist for this movement for much of that time, in print and on the NPR shows where you're supposedly the voice of the reasonable right. The distrust of government espoused by Good King Ronnie was taken into the realm of shameless vitriol by Evil Prince Newt in the 90's. Now the Republican party has tied in the nihilist vision of "disruptive capitalism" and courted the big money from the energy industry (by denying climate change) and finance ( by fighting all reasonable regulation). Add in the shameless toadying to the gun industry which keeps the Stars and Bars crowd in the fold and the anti-immigrant rhetoric for the nativist vote and voila!
And you're just noticing this?
And you're just noticing this?
129
Thank you for this column.
I'm guessing that most exhorting "no compromise" fail to realize that the inevitable result of failing to do so is bloodshed.
I'm guessing that most exhorting "no compromise" fail to realize that the inevitable result of failing to do so is bloodshed.
23
I think what we are witnessing here is David Brooks' wrenching discovery that he no longer has a home. The only thing worse than being wrong is being irrelevant.
33
GOP has badmouthed liberal education for so long, they've weeded out anyone who can think.
72
Says David, "Over the past 30 years, or at least since Rush Limbaugh came on the scene, the Republican rhetorical tone has grown ever more bombastic, hyperbolic and imbalanced."
This coming from a commentator who is more known for "do something" articles.
This coming from a commentator who is more known for "do something" articles.
10
"It took a thousand betrayals of conservatism to get to the dysfunction we see all around."
Really, Mr. Brooks? Apparently you seem to have forgotten the billions of dollars that Republicans have taken to sell out our democracy and the stunning incompetence of the people who took the bribes.
If you were to stand by your own assessment of conservatism you would have to find another political party to promote.
Let the exodus begin.
Really, Mr. Brooks? Apparently you seem to have forgotten the billions of dollars that Republicans have taken to sell out our democracy and the stunning incompetence of the people who took the bribes.
If you were to stand by your own assessment of conservatism you would have to find another political party to promote.
Let the exodus begin.
59
"...Basically, the party abandoned traditional conservatism for right-wing radicalism..."
David Brooks is a doctrinaire Neocon, and as such he has no patience for either paleo-conservatives or its new variant, Tea Party types. Neocons like Mr. Brooks take no issue with Big Government, and are totally flexible on both conservative social and fiscal issues (e.g., abortion, gay marriage, deficits and debt, etc.). In fact, as Bill Kristol has pointed out, Neocons could fit nicely into the (interventionist center) of the Democratic party. There's only one thing that Neocon hold inviolate and will never compromise on: That is the holy trinity of Global Empire, Permanent War and Greater Israel. Beyond that, they're a very easy to get along with bunch.
David Brooks is a doctrinaire Neocon, and as such he has no patience for either paleo-conservatives or its new variant, Tea Party types. Neocons like Mr. Brooks take no issue with Big Government, and are totally flexible on both conservative social and fiscal issues (e.g., abortion, gay marriage, deficits and debt, etc.). In fact, as Bill Kristol has pointed out, Neocons could fit nicely into the (interventionist center) of the Democratic party. There's only one thing that Neocon hold inviolate and will never compromise on: That is the holy trinity of Global Empire, Permanent War and Greater Israel. Beyond that, they're a very easy to get along with bunch.
20
There are Americans who disagree with David Brooks' rabid, foaming at the mouth rant who realize the blame is evenly divided among both establishment political parties.
We are known as the sane and sober caucus.
We are known as the sane and sober caucus.
4
I was glad to see Brooks call out Rush Limbaugh. I think his large audience craves politicians who get them as stirred up as he does. I wouldn't mind seeing the editorial boards of state newspapers begin to articulate the damage and distortions wrought by Fox News, Limbaugh, et al.
It's hard to understand the degree of animosity created by that swill. I'll never forget having lunch with a friend shortly after Barack Obama took office. I was shocked when she said, with emotion, "I hate him! I just hate him!" Really? HATE? He'd "apologized to Mexico," or some such thing, and Limbaugh had gotten her all worked up about it.
The creation of needless chasms based on watered-down versions of the truth is a disservice to all of us. Not only did it ruin my friend's day, it ruined mine, making me despair for progress and civility. It's one thing to have a paid performer like Limbaugh do it, but then to have an entire political party jump aboard, refusing to work with the president and openly stating that their sole objective was to prevent his reelection—and this at a time when the country was in crisis! Where was Brooks then? Where were decent Republicans then?
It's hard to understand the degree of animosity created by that swill. I'll never forget having lunch with a friend shortly after Barack Obama took office. I was shocked when she said, with emotion, "I hate him! I just hate him!" Really? HATE? He'd "apologized to Mexico," or some such thing, and Limbaugh had gotten her all worked up about it.
The creation of needless chasms based on watered-down versions of the truth is a disservice to all of us. Not only did it ruin my friend's day, it ruined mine, making me despair for progress and civility. It's one thing to have a paid performer like Limbaugh do it, but then to have an entire political party jump aboard, refusing to work with the president and openly stating that their sole objective was to prevent his reelection—and this at a time when the country was in crisis! Where was Brooks then? Where were decent Republicans then?
98
Now that you have presented your diagnosis of the problem, what do you propose as a solution? The Republican leadership who constantly rail against President Obama's supposed weakness and appeasement can't even stand up to a small minority in their own party. Mr. Boehner, Mr. McCarthy and so far Mr. Ryan cower before a handful of loud-mouth upstarts and confirm the worst fears of voters to the left of them, including many moderate Republicans, that a Republican President would yield to the radical far right and destroy not only the progress under President Obama, but over the last half-century.
66
"A conservative is someone who stands athwart history, yelling Stop, at a time when no one is inclined to do so, or to have much patience with those who so urge it." W.F. Buckley, Jr.- 1955
This blind obstructionism has deep roots. As does the incompetent bumbling: the Marine Barracks bombing, the destruction of the Iranian airliner and other events in the 1980's; as well as 9/11 and the invasion of Iraq in the last decade.
This blind obstructionism has deep roots. As does the incompetent bumbling: the Marine Barracks bombing, the destruction of the Iranian airliner and other events in the 1980's; as well as 9/11 and the invasion of Iraq in the last decade.
23
This can all be traced back to money in politics. It's not a particularly interesting conversation. GOP'ers are afraid of primary challenges and are bowing to special interests who are pushing them blindly, idiotically right. The Dem's, god bless them, spent a long time moving towards the center to try and meet them half way because that's what responsible officials do when they value their country over their job. The fact that conservative intellectuals keep trying to search for meaning in this cynical, corrupt enterprise speaks to their own fears of being marginalized like David Frum. But it's too late. David Brooks, you're not a conservative. You and the three other people like you are without a party. Become a Democrat. Push your causes from within. Lament.
24
I put much of the blame firmly on the media. The "both sides do it" dance of the navel gazers in media gave legitimacy to the radicals, contributing mightily to the disengagement of the electorate. They gave them the impression that unprecedented use of the filibuster, shutting down government of a whim, encouraging Netanyahu to politicize Israel and undermine the president; there are so many examples I could go on forever; were normal. When the "far left" kayaking flotilla attempting to stop Shell from drilling is held equal to the "far right" at Cliven Bundy's ranch taking sniper positions against the BLM, the media is no longer the truth teller. It's merely a referee.
54
The Republican Party is best unmasked in William Golding's "Lord of the Flies."
In stark terms, Democratic versus Republican has become a question of good versus evil.
In stark terms, Democratic versus Republican has become a question of good versus evil.
34
The only " loyalty and love " Republicans show today is when they worship at the altar of their corporate masters. Greed and avarice towards those with less is their politics, all the while pulling the wool over the eyes of middle America's working class whites.
37
At last, a conservative with a working brain surveys the carnage of the Republican Party. This is an important piece, something that needed to be said. What's not clear is how many thinking Republicans are left.
47
The GOP can hardly be pleased by its current state. There are rational Republicans but they don't get the air time that the party of good hair and messianic posing does. Just as people can't look away from an accident or disaster, their eyes and ears are drawn to posing and provocative statements which the ten second sound bite culture of ours can't get enough of.
There used to be a bit of balance when people had the opportunity to read newspapers. Those columns filled in the blanks and gave you the whole picture but with people relying on Fox news to give them the facts I'm afraid that we've reached a point where truth is whatever you want it to be. Just go to the show or website of your choice. In a nation consumed by tweets is it surprising we've become such twits? We're beyond radicalism Mr. Brooks. The GOP has become the refuge of anarchists.
There used to be a bit of balance when people had the opportunity to read newspapers. Those columns filled in the blanks and gave you the whole picture but with people relying on Fox news to give them the facts I'm afraid that we've reached a point where truth is whatever you want it to be. Just go to the show or website of your choice. In a nation consumed by tweets is it surprising we've become such twits? We're beyond radicalism Mr. Brooks. The GOP has become the refuge of anarchists.
27
Poor analysis. The idea that Conservatism is "prudent, measured and responsible" is borderline insipid, as is most of this analysis. The Country Club GOP made a pact with the far-right, because otherwise it was too small and elitist to win elections. Now, the barbarians have stormed the gate of the country club! It's really that simple!
53
I couldn't have said it better myself.
To paraphrase the inadvertent truth that emerged during the Vietnam War, the Republican radicals feel they have to destroy Washington in order to save it.
Include me out.
To paraphrase the inadvertent truth that emerged during the Vietnam War, the Republican radicals feel they have to destroy Washington in order to save it.
Include me out.
24
Maybe it's time for moderate Republicans to vote with the Democrats who actually believe in democracy and governing. The "Freedom Caucus" doesn't even seem to care that elections matter. There are two ways to neutralize this ridiculous 10% of the one chamber: 1) the moderate house Republicans make common cause with the Democrats and shut them out and 2) vote in a majority of Democrats.
46
I was surprised that Brooks did not reference the 2012 Senate refusal to approve a UN treaty along the lines of the Americans With Disability Act. Bob Dole appeared on the Senate floor in a wheelchair, barely able to speak but supporting the treaty. John Kerry led the effort. Two our military heroes, one from the left and one from the right, and they were humiliated. The measure required a two-thirds favorable vote but failed on a vote of 61-38. All of the 38 negative votes were cast by Republicans. Several Republicans voted with the majority but not enough to pass the approval of the treaty. These included John McCain, John Kyle Kelly Ayotte, Susan Collins, Olympia Snot and Lisa Murkowski, among others. An early sign of what was to come.
The radical Republicans are devouring their children and their elders, to the detriment of our nation. The Citizens United decision of the Supreme Court laid the table for this macabre feast.
The radical Republicans are devouring their children and their elders, to the detriment of our nation. The Citizens United decision of the Supreme Court laid the table for this macabre feast.
66
Says David, "Compromise is corruption. Inconvenient facts are ignored. Countrymen with different views are regarded as aliens. Political identity became a sort of ethnic identity, and any compromise was regarded as a blood betrayal."
How is that any different frm the way Democrats behave?
How is that any different frm the way Democrats behave?
2
Mr. Brooks has been providing intellectual cover for the growing "right-wing radicalism" that he skewers in this column for years. From his pronouncement of W as a visionary for invading Iraq to his endless philosophical justifications for the supply side economic theories that continually fail to produce anything except enriching the already wealthy, Mr. Brooks is just as much to blame for the state of the conservative movement as its most extreme participants. The conservatism movement has been rejecting facts and co-opting kooks into their tent for years. The intellectual cowardice of waiting until now to cry foul is shameful.
53
It is refreshing that David Brooks has finally written forcefully about the fringe anti-government radicals now controlling the Republican caucus. One of the reasons this 30 year creep toward Republican party chaos has progressed to this point is that it was unimpeded for the most part by responsible conservative legislators and opinion writers such as David Brooks and Bill Kristol.
As I recall only Senator McCain during the 2008 campaign spoke out when candidate Obama was accused on not being a Christian. There was deafening silence on the right when the birther flap was in full swing. The silence was enabling and helped the fringe to grow in absurdness.
Even in his column Mr Brooks mentions Rush Limbaugh but as with other conservative opinion writers he fails to mention the Rush like current and past commentators and hosts on Fox news like Beck, Hannity, O'Reilly and others who every day fan the flames of the anti-government fringe.
Only when responsible conservative opinion makers come out hard and often against the loose cannons controlling the right wing dialogue will the flames of chaos subside.
As I recall only Senator McCain during the 2008 campaign spoke out when candidate Obama was accused on not being a Christian. There was deafening silence on the right when the birther flap was in full swing. The silence was enabling and helped the fringe to grow in absurdness.
Even in his column Mr Brooks mentions Rush Limbaugh but as with other conservative opinion writers he fails to mention the Rush like current and past commentators and hosts on Fox news like Beck, Hannity, O'Reilly and others who every day fan the flames of the anti-government fringe.
Only when responsible conservative opinion makers come out hard and often against the loose cannons controlling the right wing dialogue will the flames of chaos subside.
45
"A politician needs warm passion to impel action but a cool sense of responsibility and proportion to make careful decisions in a complex landscape."
-David Brooks.
Sounds exactly like our current president, Barack Obama.
-David Brooks.
Sounds exactly like our current president, Barack Obama.
85
I was surprised reading this column . I thought at first it was some liberal columnist writing it. I check and it was the David Brooks. I was really amazed that it was a conservative thinker who is saying this. Well done. Do we have to wait for the mea culpa piece or this is it!
I am an immigrant and at times the republican speak is confusing to me. One one hand you want smaller government which means that they do not want to govern. So why ask the people to vote for you for president, since you would any way dismantle government.
Anyone who opposes Immigration and does not ascribe to Republican ideology of tax the poor is immediately said to be Liberal, Socialist and Commie . The Republican world view is I have done good because of my hard work and the poor is poor because they choose to be poor and get by on welfare. What a cynical view of life.
I have heard these so many times with my republican (rich!) circle of acquaintances that my stomach wretches to vomit during these discussion.
Hope this is a start for Republican thinkers to really see how tough life is outside the bubble. They should be adults about taking responsibility for governing people and not shut it down first, talk later attitude.
I am an immigrant and at times the republican speak is confusing to me. One one hand you want smaller government which means that they do not want to govern. So why ask the people to vote for you for president, since you would any way dismantle government.
Anyone who opposes Immigration and does not ascribe to Republican ideology of tax the poor is immediately said to be Liberal, Socialist and Commie . The Republican world view is I have done good because of my hard work and the poor is poor because they choose to be poor and get by on welfare. What a cynical view of life.
I have heard these so many times with my republican (rich!) circle of acquaintances that my stomach wretches to vomit during these discussion.
Hope this is a start for Republican thinkers to really see how tough life is outside the bubble. They should be adults about taking responsibility for governing people and not shut it down first, talk later attitude.
47
And what David did not finish with is the finish. These warmongering fools of the flat earth society will ultimately be run over by a conservative electorate.
7
"The House Republican caucus is close to ungovernable these days. "
Good. Get right to it. There is nothing in the Constitution that says there should be any political Party of any kind or that it should be governable by bosses. The governance disaster is not that either Party is in tatters. It is that the Parties exist at all.
Good. Get right to it. There is nothing in the Constitution that says there should be any political Party of any kind or that it should be governable by bosses. The governance disaster is not that either Party is in tatters. It is that the Parties exist at all.
1
Me Brooks fails to reveal the true catalyst in this Conservative sea change. I believe that the election and then re-election of the Afican-American President has propelled a movement which can only truly be seen as the predictable backlash to the growing political power of voters of color .
36
I am a staunch, life-long Democrat, but there used to be many Republicans I could respect and with whom I could carry on a rational conversation. David Brooks has explained well what has happened. And, as a Democrat, I am deeply disturbed by what has happened and is happening. We need a healthy two party system. I have run into some Republicans who consider Brooks a traitor to his party, but he is really a rational conservative who would like to help save the Republican party from itself.
50
The Republican Party has been hoist with their own petard. At least one study has shown that those who watch Fox News are more ill-informed than those who consume no news. The Republicans were willing to exploit this as long as Fox's sky-is-falling "reporting" and that of Limbaugh, et al, whipped their viewers and listeners into a Republican voting frenzy. This was especially important for the gubernatorial races that led to the gerrymandering that has given them their difficult to beat House majority. It was a brilliant, dubiously ethical strategy, but now this ignorance has metastasized beyond their control.
46
What with the Repbublican fiasco in congress, could it be that we as a nation have gone too far this time; that the assumption that America will continue to be as resilient as it has always been no longer holds true? Is it time to think about a worst case scenario in which the anarchists of the tea party succeed?
13
I hate to be as blunt as a Cruz-Trump Republican but the people elected these Republicans, and that's every two years, not every six, where they might take time to legislate between election cycles. Don't blame evangelical leaders or the media for getting the public to wear face-paint to the polls, there's enough going wrong in D.C. to engender feelings of needing to go to war - and Dems are just crying foul because war prevents their agenda from being accomplished. I wish we could just vote in the first 435 names chosen by lottery, but until term-limits are enacted, we are stuck with our lazy selves too impotent to train each adult to be a potential legislator.
3
I think the problem is our system, which was set up more to prevent George Washington becoming king than to make tough decisions about anything except war. Other countries do so much more with so much less. No system can cope with greed, ignorance, superstition, racism, etc. in general or lobbies, gerrymandering and Citizens Disunited to be specific. I hope the Republicans don't listen to Brooks before the next election.
15
Purity, whether in politics or religion, is a self-defeating project that inevitably leads either to isolation or chaos. Conservative Republicans (Republicants) have been pursuing purity for over half a century, and it has now devolved into the chaos of incompetence that Brooks describes. Perfection of purity is unattainable other than by withdrawal from the real world into the narcissistic isolation of one's own mind.
25
Alas, this disfunction is not limited to the House Republican caucus or the Republican Party. The United States Supreme Court's "originalism" is a further, and in my opinion, much more dangerous disfunction. We should be proud of Founding Fathers and our Constitution and its Amendments that allow for change and interpretation that keeps up with the times--through the Industrial Revolution and now the Information Revolution. Attempting to solidify judicial maxims based on what a leader who knew nothing of telecommunications, the Internet, world weather and climate history, or the threat of drones on privacy is an unjustified stance and does not serve our country well.
31
Couldn't agree more. I would point to two additional phenomenon:
1. the insidious role of gerrymandering in all this. Safe, single viewpoint election districts reward extremism, and make compromise a dangerous proposition. Both sides do it, but Republicans have taken it to a poisonous level.
2. the sense that Republicans are entitled to be in power. That meant they see their rampant obstructionism to anything proposed by President Obama as a virtue, almost a birthright, because Obama is, by definition, not supposed to be there.
1. the insidious role of gerrymandering in all this. Safe, single viewpoint election districts reward extremism, and make compromise a dangerous proposition. Both sides do it, but Republicans have taken it to a poisonous level.
2. the sense that Republicans are entitled to be in power. That meant they see their rampant obstructionism to anything proposed by President Obama as a virtue, almost a birthright, because Obama is, by definition, not supposed to be there.
56
Thank you, Mr. Brooks, for a very well written and insightful article. Admittedly, I am an independent who tends toward the rather liberal end of the spectrum, but I do my best to consider all candidates based on the issues, regardless of party affiliation. That being said, I've been hard pressed for a very long time to find a Republican candidate for whom I can even consider voting. I may be too young to have ever seen the Republican party before at least the rumblings of the full blown anarchism we see today came to the fore. However, I can sympathize with the cautionary tales of government overreach they told. Today's GOP sensationalizes almost any change or expansion of government, though, which turns off many younger voters, like myself. I would like to have a reasonable candidate from them for my consideration, at least, but for the visible future I'll most likely be voting Democrat (or in the case of the 2016 election, Sanders).
30
Your piece begs the question as to why the Freedom Caucus is here at all, and why it has so much support. The cause is this: a lot of people think that the government is just too big, tries to do too much, and that the bad unintended consequences of too much government are ignored or not taken in to consideration at all. The Republican Party has talked about reducing the size of government for decades but has never devlivered - just look at the overall budget and the deficit number (adjusted for inflation) under Reagan, Bush 1 and Bush2. They all grew the government significantly. Under Bush 2 (with a Republican congress with him) it was just too brutally obvious that the mainstream Republican party does believe in smaller government - at least in terms of what is DOES, versus what it says. After 8 years of Bush 2 and the insane increase in government, it is no wonder people are frustrated and acting crazy. What we need is a new Republican party that is pro-small government but will actually deliver when elected. It need to be non-Christian, not anti-abortion, and pro-environmental conservation, but committed to the idea that the free market works.
6
"...conservatism stands for intellectual humility, a belief in steady, incremental change, a preference for reform rather than revolution, a respect for hierarchy, precedence, balance and order, and a tone of voice that is prudent, measured and responsible." Well said!
We have allowed an outsize role for money in our political process and so have corrupted it. In conjunction with its other flaws - not having term limits (other than for the office of the President); having minimal "entry requirements" for office - the situation will continue to deteriorate further and only the voters can change it. By themselves, I don't think that the parties can self-correct
We have allowed an outsize role for money in our political process and so have corrupted it. In conjunction with its other flaws - not having term limits (other than for the office of the President); having minimal "entry requirements" for office - the situation will continue to deteriorate further and only the voters can change it. By themselves, I don't think that the parties can self-correct
7
Mr. Brooks: through those same 30 years you've written countless columns that start with cogent analyses and end with illogical conclusions. If the Party's current condition is the logical outcome of decades of decay, what did you do to stop it? You've been there throughout, and could have written this column years ago. Why didn't you? Your culpability is as great or greater than Limbaugh's and his stateless opportunism. Despite dangerous popularity, he's essentially a clown. You, however, paint yourself as the adult in the room - the "reasonable" person urging calm. But the patterns you identify here developed on your watch. Rather than call them out, you chose to feed yourself and thoughtful conservatives soothing rationalizations so all of you could ignore the spreading fire you now decry. And now, yet again, the Voice of Reason stands up to call true conservatives back from the brink. But didn't you help lead them to the brink? How many of your columns granted legitimacy to so many whom you now deride as "incompetent"? Again and again you claimed their zealoutry was nevertheless grounded in ideas worth considering. The endgame was clear from the start and you didn't see it -- so you've forfeited the right to round up the usual suspects. Limbaugh? He's a symptom, a tool. Look in the mirror; aren't you too? You have a chance to become a true Voice of Reason. Relinquish your party affiliation -- become an independent. That would be a penitential start.
87
I'm glad that Brooks mentioned Limbaugh's effect on the current situation within the Republican Party and among its voters.
"Those who corrupt the public mind are just as evil as those who steal from the public purse."
Adlai Stevenson
"Those who corrupt the public mind are just as evil as those who steal from the public purse."
Adlai Stevenson
45
Good column, Mr. Brooks. I hope to see more like it.
16
Mr. Brooks, what a case of the pot calling the kettle black! Haven't you indulged in the very disruptive uncompromising political bumbling you decry? I would happily refer to virtually any of your work from the year 2008-2015, which, coincidentally, runs concomitant to the presidency of Barack Obama!
37
The Republican leadership needs to go to the crazies and say if you don't do it our way we'll get our votes from the Democrats. And then go to the Democrats and say if you don't help us out we'll go to the crazies and do it the crazy way. I think they'll get the Democrats cooperation.
8
My God, what took you so long? Welcome back, Mr. Brooks!
16
Time to wake up, Mr. Brooks? For the last two decades you have been shilling for these people and NOW you're sorry? Stop pretending to be Rip van Winkle, and admit that you were consistently misled and misdirected all these years.
45
You really cannot blame Rush Limbaugh for the systematic work the Republican Party has done to issue voter-proof Kevlar sports jackets to Tea Party Republicans. This is the work of the establishment Republican Party that is now at a loss for what to do with their "Representative Frankensteins."
Take a look at the bizarre map of the 4th Congressional District of Arizona where Paul Gosar (R) hails. Representative Gosar is the fellow that made an international spectacle of himself by boycotting the address of Pope Francis to Congress because of the Pope's views on climate science. This guy is basically saying he will not listen to anyone or anything that disagrees with him...NOT EVEN THE POPE? Talk about a guy who "can't handle the truth." The only way he loses an election is in a primary based on his gerrymandered district which the Republicans allowed him to move to in order to stay in office. No kidding. The guy moved from Flagstaff to Prescott in 2012 so he could become essentially "voter proof."
Representative Gosar is not so much a creation of Fox News or Rush Limbaugh or Glen Beck. He is a creation that comes straight from the laboratories of the Republican Party that set out to alter American democracy at its core through gerrymandering and the reversal of voter rights.
Take a look at the bizarre map of the 4th Congressional District of Arizona where Paul Gosar (R) hails. Representative Gosar is the fellow that made an international spectacle of himself by boycotting the address of Pope Francis to Congress because of the Pope's views on climate science. This guy is basically saying he will not listen to anyone or anything that disagrees with him...NOT EVEN THE POPE? Talk about a guy who "can't handle the truth." The only way he loses an election is in a primary based on his gerrymandered district which the Republicans allowed him to move to in order to stay in office. No kidding. The guy moved from Flagstaff to Prescott in 2012 so he could become essentially "voter proof."
Representative Gosar is not so much a creation of Fox News or Rush Limbaugh or Glen Beck. He is a creation that comes straight from the laboratories of the Republican Party that set out to alter American democracy at its core through gerrymandering and the reversal of voter rights.
74
Part of the problem, Mr. Brooks, is that writers of this publication (you, on occasion, Mr. Douthat, often) have been guilty of either granting moral equivalence to these people or, as in the case of Maureen Dowd and her four straight flattering articles about Trump, swooning over the them.
59
David, welcome to the 'lunatic fringe of the left wing" along with everyone else who dares to say the emperor has no clothes.
36
This mess results from increasingly many Republicans wanting an ideologic party. Very few had any notion of what 'conservative' or 'liberal' means.
'Liberal' doesn't really mean 'anything goes', 'new always means good', 'mankind is perfectable', 'progress is guaranteed' or 'resources are limitless'. Those have, however, come to be accepted as liberal beliefs. Those are fantasies, not liberal beliefs.
At bottom, real conservatives can be liberal and vice-versa.
'Liberal' doesn't really mean 'anything goes', 'new always means good', 'mankind is perfectable', 'progress is guaranteed' or 'resources are limitless'. Those have, however, come to be accepted as liberal beliefs. Those are fantasies, not liberal beliefs.
At bottom, real conservatives can be liberal and vice-versa.
11
My favorite part of this article is how David Brooks completely ignores any role he or his fellow conservative commentators might have played in helping bring about this repudiation of conservatism.
68
There is a simple solution to this. Never take funding and advice from the same source. It makes you prone to being made redundant.
I am a progressive. I'm also an MBA with training in business strategy. If you take both funding and advice (especially legislation, fully drafted, or research, preformated with charts) from the same source, you have no unique competencies as a politician. As a result, your only value becomes how extremely you can steer into your donor's message.
As a politician, your donors are not your friends. This is a mistake Ryan, McConnell, and Boehner have all made. If you take advice and money from the same source, it makes you expendable as a politician. You have to limit it to one or the other. But you can't accept both or else you simply become a carrier for someone else's message and they will replace you with more and more responsive carriers.
Don't take advice from donors. Don't take donations from your research centers. One or the other, never both. Be a little Madisonian in order to maintain political competitive advantage.
I am a progressive. I'm also an MBA with training in business strategy. If you take both funding and advice (especially legislation, fully drafted, or research, preformated with charts) from the same source, you have no unique competencies as a politician. As a result, your only value becomes how extremely you can steer into your donor's message.
As a politician, your donors are not your friends. This is a mistake Ryan, McConnell, and Boehner have all made. If you take advice and money from the same source, it makes you expendable as a politician. You have to limit it to one or the other. But you can't accept both or else you simply become a carrier for someone else's message and they will replace you with more and more responsive carriers.
Don't take advice from donors. Don't take donations from your research centers. One or the other, never both. Be a little Madisonian in order to maintain political competitive advantage.
49
Mr. Brooks, well said, and for once I agree with you, and the other commentators.
The Far Right politicians are absolutely not "conservatives." The media should stop using that term, and instead call them what they are: "far-right radicals."
They don't want to govern; instead, they want to tear down our government.
Your 3rd-paragraph description of a "conservative" who wants Reform rather than Revolution, with "a voice that is prudent, measured, and responsible," applies much better to most elected Democrats than Republicans.
Thank you for (finally) naming the truth. To preserve our Republic, I invite you to vote Democratic in the next election.
The Far Right politicians are absolutely not "conservatives." The media should stop using that term, and instead call them what they are: "far-right radicals."
They don't want to govern; instead, they want to tear down our government.
Your 3rd-paragraph description of a "conservative" who wants Reform rather than Revolution, with "a voice that is prudent, measured, and responsible," applies much better to most elected Democrats than Republicans.
Thank you for (finally) naming the truth. To preserve our Republic, I invite you to vote Democratic in the next election.
30
It all started with the creation of the Fox network, which has no difficulty in spreading lies and distortions as facts, and calling it news.
47
You nailed it. I keep hoping for someone to take down Murdoch and Ailes...
7
It seems to me that today is the first time Mr. Brooks noticed the social, cultural and intellectual dysfunction in the Republican Party. Where has he been for the last 15 years?
52
I would be happy to welcome Mr. Brooks to my side of the aisle. He and other establishment Republicans seem to continue to be of the view that making common cause with centrist Democrats is apostacy. Once that changes, Tea Party Republicans will lose their power.
19
I am glad Mr. Brooks mentioned Rush Limbaugh. He is such a fixture, I am not sure there has ever been a real reckoning on what a massive and destructive influence he has had on the Republican party and its base.
He commandeered the so-called Reagan Revolution, and the rise of Gingrich, and turned it into a pessimistic, snarling, and lie-filled scorched earth crusade against anything and everything any Democrat -- or Republican he did not agree with -- tried to do. He almost single-handedly turned "liberal" into a slur for half the electorate. He was, and is, a hate-monger.
And he has also often been called the unofficial head of the Republican Party.
He commandeered the so-called Reagan Revolution, and the rise of Gingrich, and turned it into a pessimistic, snarling, and lie-filled scorched earth crusade against anything and everything any Democrat -- or Republican he did not agree with -- tried to do. He almost single-handedly turned "liberal" into a slur for half the electorate. He was, and is, a hate-monger.
And he has also often been called the unofficial head of the Republican Party.
34
Its sad to see what has happen to the party. They use to have excellent statesmen who could articulate a vision. They have clowns now who speck loud but say nothing but to the racist part of the base
17
I must apologize to Mr. Brooks. I thought he was just another fake and fraud promoting discredited socialist rhetoric, albeit with a better vocabulary, to bolster the hidden corrosive agenda of the left.
I was wrong. He is a brilliant tactician. Pretending to be incisive and thoughtful.
The media actually pays him to present the most bombastic. ridiculous condemnation of anyone who opposes the stupidity, self service and destructive policies of the current group hiding under the democratic banner. One need only look, even a glance would suffice, at Barack, Hillary, Nancy and Harry to ascertain the truth.
I was wrong. He is a brilliant tactician. Pretending to be incisive and thoughtful.
The media actually pays him to present the most bombastic. ridiculous condemnation of anyone who opposes the stupidity, self service and destructive policies of the current group hiding under the democratic banner. One need only look, even a glance would suffice, at Barack, Hillary, Nancy and Harry to ascertain the truth.
1
Nice job of proving his point.
4
Let us not forget that this is the group that refuses to refer to the elected officials on the other side of the aisle as their "Democratic" colleagues, since that might be inadvertently paying them a compliment. Instead, they choke on the word and simply call them "Democrat" colleagues, when "Democratic" is grammatically correct.
33
Maybe we should call the GOP the Republic Party. What's good for the elephant is good for the donkey?
2
What we're seeing in today's Republican Party is the same thing we've seen in deteriorating democracies over the decades. A group of people that doesn't believe in democracy nonetheless uses its levers as a way of empowering themselves. This happened in countries like Italy and Germany in the run-up to World War II and in the Eastern Bloc countries after World War II, to name just two of the most consequential examples. The GOP has become a party of the radical right.
39
I agree with the man who said these Republican obstructionists and Freedom Caucus members should not be called conservatives. Please find a more descriptive word for their total lack of common sense and their total hatred for any but them and their ideology and crazy ideas. I was a Republican many years ago but not longer and I could not stand Ronald Regan.
Thought recently why are these guys working in government if they hate it so much and cause so much insecurity and think they have all the right answers? Every time I even hear government shutdown I panic. I pray no Republican wins White House in 2016.
Thought recently why are these guys working in government if they hate it so much and cause so much insecurity and think they have all the right answers? Every time I even hear government shutdown I panic. I pray no Republican wins White House in 2016.
33
Great heavens, the most honest, insightful piece about the three decades leading to current Republican affairs that I have ever read. It concisely puts into words what I've been observing, disheartened by, even sickened by the mean, narrow, uneducated, close-mindedness the GOP has brought to politics in our beloved nation. What is transpiring right now can't even be dignified by the term politics.
38
Interesting you should compare political skills to carpentry. What I think every time I hear Dr. Carson speak is that I am listening to someone who might be the equal of a very good cabinetmaker. Those manual skills and a degree of decision-making ability do not make him a candidate for president of the United States.
12
The cherished ideals of Burkean conservatism are far from dead in the Republican Party. Hope remains that more enlightened and measured minds will ultimately prevail in the idealogical marketplace. David's column is testament to a rejection of free market radicalism by the GOP Washington establishment. The editorial is tantamount to a historical tipping point against the Tea Party. Enough is enough. The business of government is to govern while taking into account a pluralistic body politick. We must replace divisive revolution with cooperative evolution in order to preserve our republic.
8
I do not always agree with Mr. Brooks. But this piece is pretty spot-on. I was even a "Republican" of the old world he refers to but Bob Dole saw my way clear to leaving in his determined war on all things Bill Clinton.
I like to think there was a time when politicians ran for office as a service to their community and country. Now it is simply about the power of the office and the gravy train that comes along the way.
My question to Mr. Brooks: what's your recommendation? Thee is no way the Republican Party represents any majority in this country, but it is equally hard to believe that it can ever retain a single identity. The extreme ends should be invited to leave. The country would be better with more real parties anyway.
I like to think there was a time when politicians ran for office as a service to their community and country. Now it is simply about the power of the office and the gravy train that comes along the way.
My question to Mr. Brooks: what's your recommendation? Thee is no way the Republican Party represents any majority in this country, but it is equally hard to believe that it can ever retain a single identity. The extreme ends should be invited to leave. The country would be better with more real parties anyway.
15
I am a liberal-leaning independent. My view had long been that Democrats were the passionate idealists moving the country forward, while Republicans were the pragmatic adults in the room helping to keep things in check with dispassionate reason.
Republicans no longer fill that role. The are becoming the party of ignorance and idiocy, nurtured and indulged for the past 20 years by those who should have known better. I would feel a sense of schadenfreude if the situation wasn't so disastrous for us all.
Republicans no longer fill that role. The are becoming the party of ignorance and idiocy, nurtured and indulged for the past 20 years by those who should have known better. I would feel a sense of schadenfreude if the situation wasn't so disastrous for us all.
42
Here is why every American should love David Brooks: he makes himself vulnerable to speak truth, even when it runs counter to self-interest.
I could not agree more with this article (unless it points out Ronald Reagan's skillful yet unethically cynical manipulation of the very people Mr. Brooks now denounces into central pillars of Republican politics). Though I tend to be more progressive than Mr. Brooks, I passionately pray for a return to reasoned conservatism that challenges my ideas and even some of my favorite politicians. When we have that kind of strong challenge, each political wing is forced to reject bombast and turn to fact-driven policy proposals, in an attempt to win the minds and hearts of the electorate (as in Merton's analysis of scientific debate). We desperately need this kind of contest - regardless of political views.
I could not agree more with this article (unless it points out Ronald Reagan's skillful yet unethically cynical manipulation of the very people Mr. Brooks now denounces into central pillars of Republican politics). Though I tend to be more progressive than Mr. Brooks, I passionately pray for a return to reasoned conservatism that challenges my ideas and even some of my favorite politicians. When we have that kind of strong challenge, each political wing is forced to reject bombast and turn to fact-driven policy proposals, in an attempt to win the minds and hearts of the electorate (as in Merton's analysis of scientific debate). We desperately need this kind of contest - regardless of political views.
13
"By traditional definitions, conservatism stands for intellectual humility, a belief in steady, incremental change, a preference for reform rather than revolution, a respect for hierarchy, precedence, balance and order, and a tone of voice that is prudent, measured and responsible."
Really. I consider myself a moderate liberal and I believe in many of the attributes that Brooks thinks define conservatism. Most liberals and/or Democrats are not revolutionaries or bombastic blowhards. Look at Bernie Sanders, who is on the left of the liberal spectrum . Only one party has run off the tracks of reason and decorum.
Really. I consider myself a moderate liberal and I believe in many of the attributes that Brooks thinks define conservatism. Most liberals and/or Democrats are not revolutionaries or bombastic blowhards. Look at Bernie Sanders, who is on the left of the liberal spectrum . Only one party has run off the tracks of reason and decorum.
17
This is the predictable result of a party so consumed by the desire to win elections that it abandons policy and governance for cynical political strategy. Nothing else explains why the party dominates in places where its constituents enjoy all the benefits of government support while they pour into the streets to proclaim their support of those who would terminate government.
21
In this article, Mr. Brooks provides a cogent argument that a significant segment of the Republican party has wandered off into a corner where a dangerous corruption of conservatism reigns. Yet, they have managed to win a solid and unshakable majority in the House (helped by gerrymandering) and also a majority in the Senate. So, what does this say about the American people? I believe that one of primary reasons for the Congressional success of the Republican Party is the partly conscious, but mostly unconscious and unacknowledged racism that was engendered by the election of Barack Obama. Many of my Republican acquaintances, who continually aver that they have not a racist bone in their bodies, have a visceral, irrational hatred for Mr. Obama. Moreover, recall that just after his election, a group of Republican members of Congress decided to oppose everything he supported or proposed; this opposition has led to Congressional electoral success and the legislative quagmire in which we are currently mired. I have not the vaguest idea how we will rescue ourselves from this morass.
18
So true - and so costly. We need a strong conservative presence in our Federal government - not a cabal of anti-government crusaders. Where have all the moderates gone? Is this all a product of gerrymandering? Increasingly customized media consumption? The weird thing is that under the ugly surface of the national discussion there is actually a fair bit of agreement on many issues - not all, but many. But there's no ability to have a constructive discussion at the Federal level to advance policies that reflect majority opinion. Gun control. Immigration reform. Climate change. There's a middle ground that most of us can find, but Congress, particularly the radical GOP, couldn't find it with a GPS.
8
For thirty plus years Americans have digested a steady drumbeat of government = bad in increasingly strident language from the GOP. I think the use of "second amendment solutions" during the Nevada senate race a while back was the signal things were really heading downhill in a big way. Sure enough, the Tea party arrived and acceptance of crazy conspiracy theories, pseudo-science and revisionist history became the norm, not the exception.
I hope voters understand that abortion, gay marriage , deficit posturing and "entitlement reform" nonsense is about tax cuts. No principles, no fealty to the founders and the Constitution, not even religion, rather, tax cuts pure and simple. If government worked conservatives couldn't justify dismantling it simply to cut taxes for the donor class. If we truly practiced the golden rule, the GOP couldn't hypocritically accept Christian fundamentalist demand to enforce their particular brand of morality exchange for blind acceptance of GOP tax policy..
It requires wild rationalizations to make the GOP case and thats exactly what we have been fed over the years. Perhaps the donor class will realize some things aren't worth enduring simply for the payoff of a tax cut.
I doubt it.
I hope voters understand that abortion, gay marriage , deficit posturing and "entitlement reform" nonsense is about tax cuts. No principles, no fealty to the founders and the Constitution, not even religion, rather, tax cuts pure and simple. If government worked conservatives couldn't justify dismantling it simply to cut taxes for the donor class. If we truly practiced the golden rule, the GOP couldn't hypocritically accept Christian fundamentalist demand to enforce their particular brand of morality exchange for blind acceptance of GOP tax policy..
It requires wild rationalizations to make the GOP case and thats exactly what we have been fed over the years. Perhaps the donor class will realize some things aren't worth enduring simply for the payoff of a tax cut.
I doubt it.
14
Mr. Brooks has entirely missed the elephant in the room. The rebels believe America is responsible for the death of 52 million innocent children by abortion. (I got that number from a Tea Party online friend who helps me understand their position; I help him understand my Bernie-Sanders donating position.) If, to stop that ongoing mass murder, they have to destroy the nation, it has well earned that destruction by its failure to protect innocents.
The rebels believe that in most things, government is the problem, not the solution. It would be far better to have more private citizens carrying guns and fewer cops and courts. Private "justice" is quick and doesn't cost taxpayer dollars. I have been told, proudly, by a conservative from Wyoming how their county courthouse, built by the Federal Government back when they were a territory, collapsed. The county proposed a 1 percent raise in the sales tax just long enough to do enough to prevent the building from collapsing. It was defeated, the building collapsed, and they now only held court in a tent in warm months. The rest of the year only criminal work was done in a rented room. He thought that was great.
Of course they want to shut down the government. They believe the only legitimate government is a Christian theocracy. A secular government is the hand of Satan.
They want the Good Old Days. Like when Puritans ran Massachusetts, or when the Roman Catholic Church ruled Europe. Those good old days.
The rebels believe that in most things, government is the problem, not the solution. It would be far better to have more private citizens carrying guns and fewer cops and courts. Private "justice" is quick and doesn't cost taxpayer dollars. I have been told, proudly, by a conservative from Wyoming how their county courthouse, built by the Federal Government back when they were a territory, collapsed. The county proposed a 1 percent raise in the sales tax just long enough to do enough to prevent the building from collapsing. It was defeated, the building collapsed, and they now only held court in a tent in warm months. The rest of the year only criminal work was done in a rented room. He thought that was great.
Of course they want to shut down the government. They believe the only legitimate government is a Christian theocracy. A secular government is the hand of Satan.
They want the Good Old Days. Like when Puritans ran Massachusetts, or when the Roman Catholic Church ruled Europe. Those good old days.
24
Bravo! Civil discourse is severely lacking on both sides of the aisle.
3
OMG, a completely sane op/ed from David Brooks. Actual reality. No qualifiers this time around, just truths. Maybe we have a chance at hope.
10
Time to ask the Freedom Caucus what Joe was asked a few decades ago "Have you no shame!" Then the GOP needs to ask themselves why their party breeds so many of these destructive people? The GOP seems characterized by its hate, anger, and greed yet so many members of this same party are quick to remind us that they are Christians! Jesus wept.
15
So good to see Sabre is in church every Sunday. You missed the circus when a Democratic Congress fighting Ronald Reagan was just so many destructive people characterized by hate, anger, and refusal to cooperate with running things like the President needed. (Note his percentages of the vote both times he won.)
If you're really worried about greed, the richest people on the Hill are Democrats and the most money raised in 2008, 2012, ans 2014 went to the Democrats. We'll all assume you knew that.
If you're really worried about greed, the richest people on the Hill are Democrats and the most money raised in 2008, 2012, ans 2014 went to the Democrats. We'll all assume you knew that.
I'm shocked, shocked I tell you. When did Brooks wake up and join the real world from the the fantasy GOP world he normally lives in?
9
Wow! Is this a conversion experience?
8
This article is the quintessence of irony! For God knows how long, David Brooks and his ilk have been enablers of and apologizers for everything he's decried in this opinion piece. And now he suddenly realizes that the GOP is an "emperor with no clothes"? It's a pity that he and others like him have not had this epiphany a bit sooner. Things might not have gotten so bad.
Oh well, back to Bengazi, Hillary's emails and defunding Obamacare.
Oh well, back to Bengazi, Hillary's emails and defunding Obamacare.
23
Touche, Brother Brooks, but the question must be asked: What took you so long? None of this was done in a vacuum. Rush, Grover and Ted have been out there for years, as you commented, spewing their anti-government "patriotism" and Ayn Rand drivel. I applaud your new-found insight and welcome your views, but come on, Brooks, what took you so long?
18
David Brooks is the kind of nominally apolitical man who filled American newsrooms from the FDR days to Vietnam. They always had more liberal friends than conservative if only because the avant-garde types who said the outrageous things were liberals.
David might have a few thousand actual ‘’fans’’ while Rush Limbaugh lights up the day for tens of millions of people whenever he is on the radio. It would be perfectly natural for all the Daves of the world to be jealous even without Limbaugh’s media-star bank account.
But Rush didn’t break Congress, and the Congress David years for hasn’t been there in a generation. The manic-frantics of the Democrat fringe have pushed the craziest, undemocratic stuff there going back to the Reagan days. The Dem majority David seems to recall left in the 1970’s to be replaced by non-patriotic fans of Ted the K who preferred a world with the Soviet Union and Mao and had the grudge against capitalism that we see in our current president.
Return Congress to a place where all points of the political compass are heard from and the current anger of Right-wing voters will abate. They have NO voice on the Hill these days, however.
David might have a few thousand actual ‘’fans’’ while Rush Limbaugh lights up the day for tens of millions of people whenever he is on the radio. It would be perfectly natural for all the Daves of the world to be jealous even without Limbaugh’s media-star bank account.
But Rush didn’t break Congress, and the Congress David years for hasn’t been there in a generation. The manic-frantics of the Democrat fringe have pushed the craziest, undemocratic stuff there going back to the Reagan days. The Dem majority David seems to recall left in the 1970’s to be replaced by non-patriotic fans of Ted the K who preferred a world with the Soviet Union and Mao and had the grudge against capitalism that we see in our current president.
Return Congress to a place where all points of the political compass are heard from and the current anger of Right-wing voters will abate. They have NO voice on the Hill these days, however.
5
David's anguished lament reminds me of the famous scene in Casablanca where Captain Renault is "shocked, shocked" to find out gambling is going in on Rick's place. The seeds for the obscene and festering know-nothingism that is the current GOP started long before Rush Limbaugh, David, back with Barry Goldwater, Nixon's silent majority, Reagan's Philadelphia dog whistle to the racist white wing and even earlier, with the hate-filled Joe McCarthy. But I do understand that you are indeed, shocked, shocked at what has happened to your party, a party that hasn't been what you pine for since at least the days of Ike.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjbPi00k_ME
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjbPi00k_ME
16
The American Revolution neither tended toward anarchy nor ended up devouring its own.
6
And we were told all along "it's all Obama's fault."
Great Article, the question now is, where do we go from here?
Great Article, the question now is, where do we go from here?
15
Mr. Brooks, was it the GOP, or Harry Reid that disrespected tradition by going "nuclear" and destroying the staid practice of using the filibuster to provide a voice to the minority party? Was it a Republican president that blew past congressional oversight and purview to grant amnesty to illegal immigrants? And have you forgotten how ObamaCare was passed? Let me remind you- it was foisted on the American public without consultation or support from any Republicans, and rammed through Congress using smoke and mirrors special procedures. Do not lecture us on the uncollaborative nature of the "new GOP", when this Democrat administration has been the least transparent and least consensus building in history.
1
You mention a faction of the Republican party. I would argue that it is the entire party. If you don't believe me go and look what's happening in Wisconsin where seemingly every couple of days the majority is coming out with yet another solution in search of a problem. I also find it interesting that at no time does Mr. Brooks acknowledge his own complicity in this slide toward radicalism. You were an enabler for decades Mr. Brooks and are now surprised and dismayed that the chickens have come home to roost. We can only hope that the American people wake up.
14
Republicans have taken stupid to a whole new level. There's no going back and, for conservatives, no where else to turn. You can't unite people who refuse even to acknowledge different viewpoints. But, of course, they can't. It's ALL about reelection, and each is convinced he/she was 'sent to Washington' to 'fight the good fight,' regardless of what's best for the party or the country. If they don't they risk their cushy, powerful, do-nothing jobs, which they 'worked hard to get,' because they could be perceived as 'giving in.' Spare me. Republicans perform best when they're in the minority; they haven't a clue how to govern when they're in charge. Sad.
18
Brooks places the blame on right wing talk radio and demagogic candidates, but isn't it truly Republican voters who are culpable by buying into their message?
19
Don't forget that the members of the Freedom Caucus and Ted Cruz didn't ride into Washington and take over. They were SENT there by the voters who, it must be assumed, agreed with their views and believed their "lavish promises." The business of politics is not leading or governing but of getting elected. Appealing to the disenfranchisement and resentment of voters by using bombastic, hyperbolic rhetoric, half truths and full lies seems to be working. The people get the government they deserve (props to Don Henley).
8
Well David, given this spectacular abundance of GOP incompetence and inability, a groundbreaking, jaw-droppingly prosperous election must certainly lie ahead for Democrats, mustn't it? I mean, how could such a broken conservatism not possibly deliver the White House, a Senate supermajority and 350 House seats to the party - your party - of sanity, reason and intelligence? Any alternative would simply be unthinkable.
Or... Might it possibly be that the chattering class, in its obeisance to all things 'progressive' (and its panting audience, especially in attendance to the opinion pages of the New York Times), is resorting here to a touch of hyperbole? Nah.
See you next November.
Or... Might it possibly be that the chattering class, in its obeisance to all things 'progressive' (and its panting audience, especially in attendance to the opinion pages of the New York Times), is resorting here to a touch of hyperbole? Nah.
See you next November.
2
The following are two surely peripheral comments; yet it is an obligation of an op-ed writer to write every sentence carefully.
Brooks has written: "Every revolution tends toward anarchy and ends up devouring its own."
I suppose that American Revolution is among "every revolution."
After describing a few instances of manifestations of a radical mind-set, Brooks has written: "This produced a radical mind-set."
Stating differently, Brooks has written: "A radical mind-set produced a radical mind-set."
Brooks has written: "Every revolution tends toward anarchy and ends up devouring its own."
I suppose that American Revolution is among "every revolution."
After describing a few instances of manifestations of a radical mind-set, Brooks has written: "This produced a radical mind-set."
Stating differently, Brooks has written: "A radical mind-set produced a radical mind-set."
3
Mr. Brooks - You've redeemed yourself! I promise never to yell at you again as you reside inside of my TV and play point-counterpoint with Mr. Shields on the PBS Newshour. But while you allude to one crucial factor without expressly stating it, let's keep it even more real - a lot of what's driving the insanity is the right wing's utter contempt and hatred for Presiden Obama that began the day they woke up and realized he had been elected. I know our nation has been much, much more polarized - say, circa 1859 - than now but to shout, "You lie!" during a President's State of the Union address? Three guesses on the reason behind the hatred. By golly, I think that singular, utterly inappropriate event sums up as much as anything why we've been made to suffer the "never give in, never compromise" stalemate nonsense over the last 6-7 years and underscores why Paul Ryan is too "liberal" to satiate the secessionists. My respect for John Boehner increases with every minute of chaos. What a godawful mess.
10
The difference between David Brooks Rich Lowry and and Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck and Michael Savage is nothing but tone.
Brooks presents the utterly hackneyed definition of conservatism as "intellectual humility, a belief in steady, incremental change, a preference for reform rather than revolution, a respect for hierarchy, precedence, balance and order, and a tone of voice that is prudent, measured and responsible." That meaningless, vapid vagary has been co-opted and flown like a battle standard by every one of the maniacs Brooks now seeks to de-authenticate. Brooks himself happily sold all that out as George Bush's reliable shill on the Times masthead. Bush wore humility and incrementalism and prudence and responsibility and prudence like a costume flight suit and destroyed the GOP. David Brooks got rich helping Bush do it.
Now this rank hypocrite wonders how it all happened. Now he pretends that he doesn't know the vandals and pillagers. Now he insists that his hands aren't bloody.
Brooks presents the utterly hackneyed definition of conservatism as "intellectual humility, a belief in steady, incremental change, a preference for reform rather than revolution, a respect for hierarchy, precedence, balance and order, and a tone of voice that is prudent, measured and responsible." That meaningless, vapid vagary has been co-opted and flown like a battle standard by every one of the maniacs Brooks now seeks to de-authenticate. Brooks himself happily sold all that out as George Bush's reliable shill on the Times masthead. Bush wore humility and incrementalism and prudence and responsibility and prudence like a costume flight suit and destroyed the GOP. David Brooks got rich helping Bush do it.
Now this rank hypocrite wonders how it all happened. Now he pretends that he doesn't know the vandals and pillagers. Now he insists that his hands aren't bloody.
20
The disdain for "politics" dismays me.
"It's just politics." "It's become too political." And so on.
Politics, from the Greek "polis," means something to the effect of a group of people who hold similar beliefs and share a certain geography. A community.
Yes, please give me another helping of real, honest to goodness "politics." Despotic rule or rule by the 158 wealthiest families in the US in an ad hoc oligarchy will be thousands of times worse. Just ask Russia or the Ukraine.
"It's just politics." "It's become too political." And so on.
Politics, from the Greek "polis," means something to the effect of a group of people who hold similar beliefs and share a certain geography. A community.
Yes, please give me another helping of real, honest to goodness "politics." Despotic rule or rule by the 158 wealthiest families in the US in an ad hoc oligarchy will be thousands of times worse. Just ask Russia or the Ukraine.
8
All this chaos introduced by the so-called "Freedom Caucus" is much more than "incompetence," Mr. Brooks. There is clearly a considerable amount of malice that is inspiring the Republican Party. You speak of folks being "ill educated," but this is much more than an education issue. Malice prevails.
16
Loved this line: "Political identity became a sort of ethnic identity." It sums up modern US politics. The conservatives, far more than their scattered opponents, are indeed a tribe. But they're a tribe with a terrible demographic profile.
5
This may very well be Brooks best piece ever. He captures perfectly all of the worts that have obscured the beauty of a once great party and turned it into a cancer. So many great money quotes in this thing he must have been saving them for some time.
1
David's editorial reminds me of Benjamin Franklin's observation on the last day of the Constitutional Convention of 1787 : "when you assemble a number of men to have the advantage of their joint wisdom, you inevitably assemble with those men, all their prejudices, their passions, their errors of opinion, their local interests, and their selfish views. From such an assembly can a perfect production be expected? It therefore astonishes me... to find this system ( of government) approaching so near to perfection as it does..." Our current Congress could learn much from our founders about how to govern in a democracy.
4
I have frequently thought that the terms liberal and, especially, conservative, have taken on new meanings in their daily use by the media and politicians - meanings that adhere more to party affiliation than to accurate representations of traditional ideological categories.
4
Anytime a political party takes as it motto reducing the government until it disappears that political party is not serious. A nation cannot run without a government. A big nation, like the United States, needs a big government. How big, no one knows. What we do know is that our government should to be larger than one that can fit into a bottle.
The games played by the Republican Party with the budget and the national debt are the type of pranks played by fraternities. The GOP needs to wake up and meet its responsibilities and the nation would be better off as a result.
The games played by the Republican Party with the budget and the national debt are the type of pranks played by fraternities. The GOP needs to wake up and meet its responsibilities and the nation would be better off as a result.
14
There are basically three political parties in America today: liberal Democrats, conservative Democrats, and Republicans. I would say to thoughtful conservatives like David Brooks that you have a good deal more in common with socially centrist/economically conservative Democrats such as Lawrence Summers and Robert Rubin than any of the successful voices of today's Republican Party. If Donald Trump and Ben Carson were leading the polls in my party, I'd forget all about names and labels and simply go where the reasonable voices are. Strengthen those voices, and make them better. As Emerson wrote: "We linger in the ruins of the old tent, where once we had bread and shelter and organs...The voice of the Almighty saith, 'Up and onward for evermore!' We cannot stay amid the ruins."
3
Who is to blame? Anyone who has voted for any of those fear-mongering politicians, on any side of the aisle. Anyone who votes a ticket blindly without concern for the actuality of a politician's aims. Sadly, enough Americans give in to the emotional appeal so many on the extreme right make. There are plenty who would like to pay no taxes but enjoy the infrastructure created and maintained by government. Plenty that would clamor against the safety net but live in states that draw the most federal funds. Plenty that talk about decreasing government except for when it invades into our personal lives - then it's about how to control other people.
13
This is a succinct synopsis of what can only be called a political crisis. I hover out in Chomsky territory on the political spectrum, and thus hold no love for the GOP. However, I have watched with increasing alarm the appropriation of the Party's apparatus by right-wing reactionaries. These people have always been around (just like the purist leftists who view victory as selling out have), but they've never been an organized political force until now. And the result is that we now have half of our two-party system which has completely abandoned its commitment to democracy and the Constitutional system.
Look no further than the popularity of Donald Trump's insipid "don't sweat the details, I'll fix everything" pitch for evidence of the burgeoning authoritarianism among the GOP's new base. Of course, more evidence is near at hand, in the form of the Shutdown Caucus in Congress trying to coerce policies which they can't achieve democratically.
How did we get here? The GOP had to mobilize these elements to remain competitive as their agenda became more and more nakedly pro-corporate. And the media has sat idly by and let them get away with it: their lies go unanswered, their policies (such as they are) unchallenged. The obsessive compulsion of the press in falsely apportioning equal blame between the parties to maintain "balance" has provided carte blanche for their shift to reactionary politics.
Hopefully this column marks the beginning of the end of that mentality.
Look no further than the popularity of Donald Trump's insipid "don't sweat the details, I'll fix everything" pitch for evidence of the burgeoning authoritarianism among the GOP's new base. Of course, more evidence is near at hand, in the form of the Shutdown Caucus in Congress trying to coerce policies which they can't achieve democratically.
How did we get here? The GOP had to mobilize these elements to remain competitive as their agenda became more and more nakedly pro-corporate. And the media has sat idly by and let them get away with it: their lies go unanswered, their policies (such as they are) unchallenged. The obsessive compulsion of the press in falsely apportioning equal blame between the parties to maintain "balance" has provided carte blanche for their shift to reactionary politics.
Hopefully this column marks the beginning of the end of that mentality.
23
Is mr. Brooks reprising his role as leading apologist for the GOP? A refreshing change if true. Explaining the disjunction and deceit of the extremists is more useful, and brave, than just asserting that thinking republicans still exist.
8
David, you just do not get it. If you are trying to deconstruct government, like the GOP wants to do, the last thing you want to do is 'govern'. It is that simple. Let it fall apart. Incompetent at construction? The real talent needed is deconstruction. Incremental good? Nonsense, what is needed is depressing what is in place. Every politician is always about more, more. Reminds one of Oliver Twist, I want more, I want more. What you miss is that the electorate wants less government, not more.
3
With sentiment like that, it's no wonder New Jersey has such horrible roads!
1
I would have used all Past Perfect tense, since the situation continues to deteriorate.
I miss Bob Dole.
I miss Bob Dole.
5
Richard Nixon pushed through the formation of the EPA. Nixon took what was then an enormous gamble and helped thaw relations with China. All of Nixon's deep flaws notwithstanding, can anyone in their wildest dreams imagine the "modern" GOP doing anything remotely enlightening? That party is dead and buried.
16
th humour content of us politics has so drastically risen one might think thats its actual purpose
4
An option for the "disenfranchised" moderate Republicans: Join the Democratic Party, leaving the Tea Party / so called "Freedom Caucus" to talk to itself until it self destructs. The Democratic establishment has moved to the right so far that it fits Mr. Brooks definition of conservative pretty well. With an influx of moderate Republicans solidifying that drift, the Progress wing of the Democratic Party can separate into a viable and truly progressive national party, leaving two healthy perspectives to choose from.
AND to make sure this doesn't happen again, gerrymandered districts for the House of Reps needs to be eradicated...
AND to make sure this doesn't happen again, gerrymandered districts for the House of Reps needs to be eradicated...
9
Yes. Perhaps the two-party system is evolving from "leftist vs. rightist" to "centrist vs. extremist."
1
When a party engages in Tantrum-Based Politics, Donald Trump is the inevitable result. The sad thing, as Brooks correctly notes, is the corrosive effect this nonsense has on Americans' belief that government can accomplish anything. But hey, we can all sleep better knowing the Kochs will get a tax break.
9
It is sheer folly to lay 100% of the blame for the failed Obama presidency at the feet of one political party.
1
Most successful presidency I have witnessed and I have been around a while.
6
It is sheer folly to do anything you advise.
1
I'm assuming you're talking about debt, but debt in the US was an evolutionary process that started with Reagan and continued between Republican and Democratic presidents both. Obama is no better or worse than others in this regard. The only difference is that he "slightly" leans left on social policies. Failure is a near 40 year course.
3
As a hardcore liberal I've begun to appreciate the need for the balancing influences of the other side, the "old other side" not this hate-filled, paranoid, anti-thinking side. Thanks David.
8
It’s the science stupid.
What should be the scientific dividend is doing the devils work. However it is not just as you have focused on the Rep’s side, it is also working overtime within the Dem party.
Science has granted us such power and industry has done a fair job of utilizing that power that the most horrendous and foolish behavior can be overlooked for a while. As both creeds claim ownership of the perceived benefits.
Whether it is the satisfying the greed of the super rich (trickle down economics) or the vote gathering by dem’s by demonizing those opposed to illegal immigration; science & industry produce for now enough goodies to paint over it.
Yet those twin engines of S & I rely on the consumption of both the natural world evolved over eons and the tearing up of moral principles evolved over many millenniums.
But the world is beginning to brush up against even their limits, the consequences are finally starting to catch up to the human race rich and poor alike. Was it you mister brooks who spoke as much of a need for a spiritual revolution as an economic and political one.
Try asking IBM's Watson, because the next trip ahead is not more of the same.
What should be the scientific dividend is doing the devils work. However it is not just as you have focused on the Rep’s side, it is also working overtime within the Dem party.
Science has granted us such power and industry has done a fair job of utilizing that power that the most horrendous and foolish behavior can be overlooked for a while. As both creeds claim ownership of the perceived benefits.
Whether it is the satisfying the greed of the super rich (trickle down economics) or the vote gathering by dem’s by demonizing those opposed to illegal immigration; science & industry produce for now enough goodies to paint over it.
Yet those twin engines of S & I rely on the consumption of both the natural world evolved over eons and the tearing up of moral principles evolved over many millenniums.
But the world is beginning to brush up against even their limits, the consequences are finally starting to catch up to the human race rich and poor alike. Was it you mister brooks who spoke as much of a need for a spiritual revolution as an economic and political one.
Try asking IBM's Watson, because the next trip ahead is not more of the same.
2
I'd accept the incompetence of the Republicans way over the stupidity and incompetence of the DEMs in managing the budget. The public debt was 33% of GNP in the 80's and currently at 80%. The fundamental fact is the Federal Government is too bloated, too big, too fat, and too wasteful.
1
Government of the people, by the people and for the people has turned into government of the lunatics, by the lunatics and for the lunatics. It's obvious that the lunatics are running the asylum.
4
And I always thought Tom admired Mr. Obama, Chairperson Schultz, Ms. Pelosi and Ms. Waters.
So David, after writing so vehemently & accurately, this ol ex Republican wonders why you remain GOP by label? (unless you have already dumped the association, in which case I apologize for my mistake.) Consider:
Republicans are no longer the Party of Lincoln and have not been for decades with their cynical "southern strategy."
Republicans are no longer true conservatives. They are radicals and extremists by your own description.
Republicans believe government is the problem, never the solution. They have believed that since Ronnie Reagan told them so as if it were one of the 10 "conservative" commandments. That makes it hard them to work for a solution other than shut down or diminish govt. at every opportunity.
You need to switch David, or at least admit you are an Independent with true conservative leanings but not to the point of anarchy.
I made the switch during the Reagan debacle and have never looked back. Nixon (who I admit I voted for) set the standard for insecurity, hate and mistrust as the way to govern. Reagan glossed it over with his sugar coated City on the Hill line and his happy face while he did Iran Contra behind our backs, was subtly racist and sold us the scam of Trickle Down/Supply Side. Daddy Bush tried to govern honestly, won a real war honorably and could not win again. And G W Bush? The worst of the worst.
Come on over the other side. I did and have never looked back. It's a big pool & the water's great. Or, stay where you are for the money.
Republicans are no longer the Party of Lincoln and have not been for decades with their cynical "southern strategy."
Republicans are no longer true conservatives. They are radicals and extremists by your own description.
Republicans believe government is the problem, never the solution. They have believed that since Ronnie Reagan told them so as if it were one of the 10 "conservative" commandments. That makes it hard them to work for a solution other than shut down or diminish govt. at every opportunity.
You need to switch David, or at least admit you are an Independent with true conservative leanings but not to the point of anarchy.
I made the switch during the Reagan debacle and have never looked back. Nixon (who I admit I voted for) set the standard for insecurity, hate and mistrust as the way to govern. Reagan glossed it over with his sugar coated City on the Hill line and his happy face while he did Iran Contra behind our backs, was subtly racist and sold us the scam of Trickle Down/Supply Side. Daddy Bush tried to govern honestly, won a real war honorably and could not win again. And G W Bush? The worst of the worst.
Come on over the other side. I did and have never looked back. It's a big pool & the water's great. Or, stay where you are for the money.
12
Suddenly what has been bubbling just below the Brooks' surface now comes to the fore. David has effectively admitted that his party has been off the rails for his entire adult life. Actually, it's been longer than that but David was A kid in Canada...
This morning I was reading some words of a Jew railing against empty abstraction, false philosophers, concealment of the Truth within evil designs. And it reminded me of David Brooks, purveyor of empty abstractions, pretending to be a philosopher, shilling for a party wrapped in hypocrisy, selling evil in the guise of nonsense.
St. Paul to the Romans. Take a look at the first chapter, David. Lots of wisdom there. About false philosophers, the hiding of the Truth to foment evil, abstractions empty of meaning. The GOP - as described 2000 years ago!
This morning I was reading some words of a Jew railing against empty abstraction, false philosophers, concealment of the Truth within evil designs. And it reminded me of David Brooks, purveyor of empty abstractions, pretending to be a philosopher, shilling for a party wrapped in hypocrisy, selling evil in the guise of nonsense.
St. Paul to the Romans. Take a look at the first chapter, David. Lots of wisdom there. About false philosophers, the hiding of the Truth to foment evil, abstractions empty of meaning. The GOP - as described 2000 years ago!
9
I actually find it humorous that some Republican's are finally waking up to the reality that they vicariously created over the past thirty years. By standing silent all these years. David Brooks included. An act of omission is an act of commission.
I left the Republican Party back in the 1980's after David Stockman resigned as Director of OMB in protest over the Reagan Administration's overt hypocrisy in cutting taxes which resulted in budget deficits - all after Reagan preached from his "bully pulpit" about government spending and deficits as "evil". Reagan raised taxes several times after that - unbeknownst to Republican historical revisionists - and still could not balance the budget. Clinton finally raised taxes on the rich and - SHOCK - the economy went through the ceiling in the 90's.
I am tired of their mantras. They set the house on fire in 2008 and then blocked Obama's attempts at putting it out at every turn - stating from the beginning - I quote Mitch McConnell - "our only goal is to make him a one term president". Now that they have control of Congress, they want him to "cooperate" with them? Utterly laughable.
Welcome to the Insane Clown Posse Circus, Circular Firing Squad . . . otherwise known as the Republican Party. They "body count" has only just begun.
I left the Republican Party back in the 1980's after David Stockman resigned as Director of OMB in protest over the Reagan Administration's overt hypocrisy in cutting taxes which resulted in budget deficits - all after Reagan preached from his "bully pulpit" about government spending and deficits as "evil". Reagan raised taxes several times after that - unbeknownst to Republican historical revisionists - and still could not balance the budget. Clinton finally raised taxes on the rich and - SHOCK - the economy went through the ceiling in the 90's.
I am tired of their mantras. They set the house on fire in 2008 and then blocked Obama's attempts at putting it out at every turn - stating from the beginning - I quote Mitch McConnell - "our only goal is to make him a one term president". Now that they have control of Congress, they want him to "cooperate" with them? Utterly laughable.
Welcome to the Insane Clown Posse Circus, Circular Firing Squad . . . otherwise known as the Republican Party. They "body count" has only just begun.
9
David Brooks has clearly outlined the current status of the GOP, while providing us with a refreshing summary of what it means to be conservative. This should serve as an impetus to GOP leaders to shift the party in that direction, but in doing so it will come upon a concerning pitfall- dulness. Ironically, the Dems could be viewed as the true 'conservatives' at this point, but as we are likely to learn this evening they are suffering from the disease of "dullness".
1
Close, but no cigar! Everybody seems to know that the Republicans are no longer conservative but are unsure of what they are. They're not anarchists and not nothing. They're authoritarians in the finest tradition of early twentieth century Europe. They live in a reality they created for themselves and respond to any challenge to it with authoritarian aggression. What they want from us is obedience. If they get the power they crave, they plan a behavioral tyranny for America that will make the Saudis and the Taliban look like flaming liberals.
Everybody wants to roll their eyes when Hillary mentions a "vast right-wing conspiracy," but Gerrymandering looks like a careful plan to me. Most people just want to be left alone to live their lives and are unlikely to pay much attention to their highly motivated neighbors who have important plans for them that they aren't going to like.
Everybody wants to roll their eyes when Hillary mentions a "vast right-wing conspiracy," but Gerrymandering looks like a careful plan to me. Most people just want to be left alone to live their lives and are unlikely to pay much attention to their highly motivated neighbors who have important plans for them that they aren't going to like.
11
This is not some unfortunate random outcome of political devolution - the Republican party is where it is because its leadership (backed by intellectual enablers - including the author) sought to stoke the fears and insecurities of working class whites in order to grab and hold on to power. If you talk in racist/nativist code long enough, if you make the government the enemy of the people long enough - soon enough the codes will be dropped, destruction of the political order will take place, and anarchy will reign. Welcome to morning in America!
7
This is one of David's finest. But until the two parties decide that Citizens United has a big role in damaging our politics, and until both parties figure out that money in general is killing every election and re-election campaign and the performance and competence of those we elect, and until both parties decide that gerrymandering districts damages our democracy, how can we expect anything to happen. Maybe David can once again focus on these issues.
6
A democratic republic needs educated, knowledgeable and participating citizens in order to function optimally. Maintaining and governing a democratic republic is hard work.
The United States, for almost 50 years, has lacked either educated citizens, knowledgeable citizens or participating citizens while most citizens have opted to leave the work to others.
The United States, for almost 50 years, has lacked either educated citizens, knowledgeable citizens or participating citizens while most citizens have opted to leave the work to others.
5
Thomas Jefferson and Tom Paine are alive and well in Oregon. Who knew?
Unfortunately this trend of conservative turning radical has been going on for decades, but thanks for finally noticing, David Brooks.
I think you have to go back to the 1964 nomination of Barry Goldwater to find the seeds of this change. Look at the 1964 GOP convention at the Cow Palace in San Francisco, and you will see the grandparents of this current generation of know-nothing GOP radicals. You will see the same hate and anger in the faces of the right-wing Republicans attacking the moderate Republicans. It was ugly and hate-filled. Then consider Nixon's Southern Strategy, and Reagan's presidential campaign speech for States Rights outside Philadelphia, Mississippi, the cite where the 3 civil rights workers had been murdered with Mississippi law enforcements help. Rush Limbaugh and Fox News have accelerated the change, but the rot was already in the body of the GOP.
Eisenhower was the last traditionally conservative GOP president. The GOP has been turning into the radical party of the white South ever since.
I think you have to go back to the 1964 nomination of Barry Goldwater to find the seeds of this change. Look at the 1964 GOP convention at the Cow Palace in San Francisco, and you will see the grandparents of this current generation of know-nothing GOP radicals. You will see the same hate and anger in the faces of the right-wing Republicans attacking the moderate Republicans. It was ugly and hate-filled. Then consider Nixon's Southern Strategy, and Reagan's presidential campaign speech for States Rights outside Philadelphia, Mississippi, the cite where the 3 civil rights workers had been murdered with Mississippi law enforcements help. Rush Limbaugh and Fox News have accelerated the change, but the rot was already in the body of the GOP.
Eisenhower was the last traditionally conservative GOP president. The GOP has been turning into the radical party of the white South ever since.
8
The current mutant GOP which preaches and practices virulent rejection of government disqualifies itself from governing. The utter failure of a Congress controlled by 40-odd GOP radicals to accomplish anything useful confirms this.
A democracy needs at least 2 relatively healthy, functioning parties. Right now, America only has one, the Democratic party. It's terribly sad that so many moderate or truly conservative Republicans have abandoned their party to the ultra-radical right.
A democracy needs at least 2 relatively healthy, functioning parties. Right now, America only has one, the Democratic party. It's terribly sad that so many moderate or truly conservative Republicans have abandoned their party to the ultra-radical right.
4
The transformational event here would appear to be the Citizens United decision which put a handful of billionaires in control of the political process and to co-opt a moribund political party. Serendipitously the growing worldwide economic and diplomatic unrest have provided fertile breeding grounds for these con artists to create chaos and ignite the electorate who grow weary of steady incremental change, clamoring instead for simplistic sound bite solutions, and are easy prey for the steady diet of bombast and bloviation fed to them by these con artists.
11
I was moved by the third paragraph: "By traditional definitions, conservatism stands for intellectual humility, a belief in steady, incremental change, a preference for reform rather than revolution, a respect for hierarchy, precedence, balance and order, and a tone of voice that is prudent, measured and responsible. Conservatives of this disposition can be dull, but they know how to nurture and run institutions. They also see the nation as one organic whole. Citizens may fall into different classes and political factions, but they are still joined by chains of affection that command ultimate loyalty and love."
It's sad that things are the way they are, but this paragraph gives me hope that reason and decency still have a voice and that we are not trapped in some inescapable spiral to self-immolation.
It brought back a moment from the early 80s when a friend (he had a PhD so I guess he felt entitled to the lip curl) said to me, "So, you're a Jeffersonian?" At the moment, the best I could manage was "Um, yeah." I wish had instead been able to state what that golden paragraph contained, because that was what was in my heart.
Thank you, Mr. Brooks.
It's sad that things are the way they are, but this paragraph gives me hope that reason and decency still have a voice and that we are not trapped in some inescapable spiral to self-immolation.
It brought back a moment from the early 80s when a friend (he had a PhD so I guess he felt entitled to the lip curl) said to me, "So, you're a Jeffersonian?" At the moment, the best I could manage was "Um, yeah." I wish had instead been able to state what that golden paragraph contained, because that was what was in my heart.
Thank you, Mr. Brooks.
1
I've engaged in probably 1,000 hours of political discourse over the past 10 years with my conservative and liberal friends. Perhaps I'm getting intellectually lazy in my old age, but it now seems to me that many conservatives are very scared and that is much of the reason for the emergence of the radical right. They are very scared that no matter how strongly they believe in the principles of conservatism that Brooks states so concisely and accurately in this article, the world just keeps changing; it can't be conserved, which is the antithesis of the nature of conservatives. So those conservatives do what most humans do in those situations: they resort to desperate and extreme points of view -- they want the world to make sense again. They want to feel a sense of potency. So then, otherwise prudent and insightful people become bombastic ideologues. This overall situation is ripe for opportunists to take advantage of -- rant radio becomes the only source of expression and comfort for those in deep confusion and despair. It's not that those in the radical right are somehow shallow minded, stubborn and stupid. They're very scared.
15
The pro-business, anti-regulation ideologies of the Republican Party make it more susceptible to the corrupting influences of private interests (-- which may be destructive for the rest) over that of the public interest.
We only need to look at last Republican White House: the CEO of Halliburton (a company involved in both Oil and the Military Industrial Complex) was chosen to be Vice President, and the CEO of Goldman Sachs was chosen to be Treasurer, among other appointments. Conflict of private interest vs public interest was apparently not even an issue, and the subtle or not so subtle highly negative effects on public policy has been evident.
This is not to say that pro-business is automatically bad, nor that Democrats are immune to the corrupting influence of private donors and lobbying -- just that it's easier/cheaper to corrupt Republican policies for a focused special interest.
In addition, the effect of Ayn Rand's philosophy has also become the GOP's new religion (and for the rich). It has been a moral rationalization, and alternative to Judeo-Christian morality, that condones selfishness and the notion of entitlement among the well-off.
We only need to look at last Republican White House: the CEO of Halliburton (a company involved in both Oil and the Military Industrial Complex) was chosen to be Vice President, and the CEO of Goldman Sachs was chosen to be Treasurer, among other appointments. Conflict of private interest vs public interest was apparently not even an issue, and the subtle or not so subtle highly negative effects on public policy has been evident.
This is not to say that pro-business is automatically bad, nor that Democrats are immune to the corrupting influence of private donors and lobbying -- just that it's easier/cheaper to corrupt Republican policies for a focused special interest.
In addition, the effect of Ayn Rand's philosophy has also become the GOP's new religion (and for the rich). It has been a moral rationalization, and alternative to Judeo-Christian morality, that condones selfishness and the notion of entitlement among the well-off.
10
Here is what I would say to those who are in the "better late than never" camp, and question those of us, like me, who are not satisfied because Brooks still won't admit to his own role in this: Failing to act, or in this case, speak out, when it matters, when you might have an impact means that it often no longer matters when you eventually see the light. Just to take one example, the phony voter fraud justification for wholesale disenfranchisement of disfavored groups was and is wrong. People like Brooks shrugged their shoulders, and now that this tactic has helped to embolden and cement the power of the modern day equivalent of Know Nothings it is frankly too late for Mr. Brooks' insight to have an impact. The problem with enablers is that they have difficulty separating the reasonableness of their own beliefs and habits from the destruction that they are helping to sustain. It really is the case that all evil needs to triumph is for good men to do nothing. Mr. Brooks is a good man who has done nothing. One thing Edmund Burke had going for him that Mr. Brooks and his ilk do not, was his willingness to stand up to those he disagreed with on a real time basis, even if it imperiled his own status and position. E.g., the trial of Warren Hastings. I search in vain for an example where Mr. Brooks has done something even remotely similar.
21
This is one of those refreshing yet sad columns which lays out the truth in unsugar-coated terms. What makes these words so refreshing is that they come from Mr. Brooks. When you're good David, you are very good. And when the Republicans are bad, you are even better. Nice job!
18
A thoughtful reflection on the Republican party and its current fractured state. Given that the electoral college almost guarantees a two party system, it is extremely regrettable and dangerous that the Republican party has allowed disgruntled "revolutionaries" to shut down and oust those elected members of their party who do not adhere to their mantra and expectations. There is no room for moderates like Olympia Snow or pragmatic Republicans like John Boehner. At a time when the 1% increasingly "governs" what happens to the economy, this is most alarming. The growing dysfunction in Congress and in the party may well lead to another revolution. To the Freedom Caucus - be careful what you wish for! Thank you David Brooks for a wonderful piece.
6
How did this situation come about? Probably many reasons some of which you cite. You didn't bring up gerrymandering. The House is supposed to be the body of government most responsive to the people. Every 2 years incumbents have to answer to voters. However if you draw the lines in such a way as to make seats impervious to moderate voters (look at the districts in and around Austin TX for example), then you elect "leaders" who know their only vulnerability is not being crazy enough to appeal to the base. When you allow the party in power to redistrict you allow them to tilt the playing field and ultimately we get the house of unrepresentatives. money alone cannot explain why background checks failed to even get a vote when 90% of Americans supported them.
15
A marvelkous, wise, column though I must disagree with the first paragraph: I don't think the American Revolution against King George swallowed its own followers although there was a bit of anarchy following its success. Brooks may disagree, but it was a real "revolution" in thought aand practice, following the English liberal precedent - e.g., Locke.
5
I was raised in a very Republican family where dinner table political "discussions" were required. When in my teen years I headed in a different political direction, these became ever more animated. Though they sometimes ended in anger, they were always cherished as an important family ritual that sharpened all our thinking, our opinions and our debating abilities.
Then a few years ago, they lost something essential. It was as if we were talking different languages and could no longer communicate. I finally traced this back to a change in the TV remote -- the family set had found Fox News and rarely went anywhere else. The views espoused there were so out of right field -- and so devoid of factual basis -- that it became impossible to have anything other than a shouting match. We were no longer dissecting that day's news and issues: we each had our own "news," our own issues. It was impossible to build any sort of bridge between them.
Mr. Brooks mentions Rush Limbaugh and certainly right wing radio pioneered this trek, but Fox News allowed this wing of the GOP to grow up in an echo chamber of mistrust and misinformation, one there was never any need to leave. I think it is fundamental to the schism that this very insightful column illuminates.
Then a few years ago, they lost something essential. It was as if we were talking different languages and could no longer communicate. I finally traced this back to a change in the TV remote -- the family set had found Fox News and rarely went anywhere else. The views espoused there were so out of right field -- and so devoid of factual basis -- that it became impossible to have anything other than a shouting match. We were no longer dissecting that day's news and issues: we each had our own "news," our own issues. It was impossible to build any sort of bridge between them.
Mr. Brooks mentions Rush Limbaugh and certainly right wing radio pioneered this trek, but Fox News allowed this wing of the GOP to grow up in an echo chamber of mistrust and misinformation, one there was never any need to leave. I think it is fundamental to the schism that this very insightful column illuminates.
46
Well done, and long overdue, David. I agree that Rush Limbaugh, and Fox News, have a lot to answer for. But I would take the origin back further than 30 years to the first idea of the GOP "Southern Strategy." By co-opting the Dixiecrats' (not so) crypto-racism to claim the white southern vote they set the tone for all that has followed. Hate and intransigence became possible in political discourse, and gradually the norm. This governance by our basest and most ignorant instincts has at last brought our entire democracy to its knees.
20
The ideological rigidity described by Brooks could just as easily be applied to modern day Democrats, witness the rough tactics employed to pass Obamacare as well as the "pen and phone" strategy employed by our beloved president. Brooks is only looking at half of the picture.
1
The ACA was passed by majority votes in both houses and with dozens of GOP-sponsored amendments.
Why is that undemocratic?
Obama has used executive orders far less that his modern predecessors. Again, why is this more undemocratic than the actions of Reagan, Bush the Wiser Clinton, and Bush the Unwise?
Why is that undemocratic?
Obama has used executive orders far less that his modern predecessors. Again, why is this more undemocratic than the actions of Reagan, Bush the Wiser Clinton, and Bush the Unwise?
7
Then it won't be difficult at all for you to provide examples of a Democrat who's as shouty as Trump, as far left as Cruz is right, or as incompetent as Jindal.
Or as unwilling to bargain as anybody in the (hilariously titled) Freedom Caucus, where the important issues include introducing resolutions to rename fries "Freedom Fries."
Or as unwilling to bargain as anybody in the (hilariously titled) Freedom Caucus, where the important issues include introducing resolutions to rename fries "Freedom Fries."
5
This oft-repeated attempt to say both sides do this stuff ignores simple facts. Yes, both sides may argue their positions with biased intellectual approaches or selected facts, but what Brooks is talking about is something totally different. Where is the Democratic equivalent of birtherism, the demonization of a GOP candidate as an "other" or a "Un-American", etc? Where is the complete disregard for civility and process, acceptance of difference, diversity? These traits do not characterize all Republicans, not by any means. But you can't find any this on the other side. The GOP seems unable to return to our fathers' Republican Party. As a Democrat, that scares me.
5
Bravo!! Well argued and clearly stated. Sadly, however, those who most need to read this and think deeply about its implications will not.
10
Brooks accurately describes the present GOTP situation. But, as others have noted below, he misses or ignores the dark driver of this dangerous morphing. He correctly notes the predominance of emotion over reason, the validation of feeling over fact, but he fails to acknowledge the primary validater here: religious ideation.
Brooks is an avowed religionist and thus appears to think that religious ideation is inherently salutary. His critique here, however, documents the functional elements of monotheistic imaginings, imaginings that push vote-getters away from Brooks's ideal of "conservatism" -- authoritarianism, tribalism, the salience of feelings, the ever-present sense of threat from the fact-based world. Until opinionators like Brooks can verbalize this truth, the degradation of his "conservatism" will continue apace.
Brooks is an avowed religionist and thus appears to think that religious ideation is inherently salutary. His critique here, however, documents the functional elements of monotheistic imaginings, imaginings that push vote-getters away from Brooks's ideal of "conservatism" -- authoritarianism, tribalism, the salience of feelings, the ever-present sense of threat from the fact-based world. Until opinionators like Brooks can verbalize this truth, the degradation of his "conservatism" will continue apace.
4
David Brooks continues to claim that politicians should represent the political establishment instead of the electorate.
7
The genius of the old school Republicans -- the 1%-ers who want to consolidate their oligarchy -- is that they figured out a way to get "low-information voters" to join them and vote against their own interests. They did this by carefully selecting and nurturing wedge issues, encouraging low-information voters to blame the "others" for their woe:, the gays, the feminists, the immigrants, the heathens, the welfare queens, the drug-addicted. This is a monster the old school Republicans very deliberately created so that no one would notice while they robbed us blind.
35
When Nixon hooked up with the Southern segregationists in 1968, this was the inevitable outcome. As long as the modern center of the Republican Party stays in Texas, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee and the other Confederate states, nothing will change. As a life-long southerner, I can tell you it's not about revolution, it's about evolution. LOL.
18
I share your sadness, Mr. Brooks. I share your sadness.
1
Today's conservatism stands for bomb throwing and nihilism. Destruction is an end in itself. Who would support a (productive) piece of a system (e.g., a speaker of the house) if you were trying to destroy that system? Conservatives see a ruined government as a place where oligarchs rule. Destruction and privatization, in that order.
12
David you and a whole army of individuals who should know better have set this up. Within democracy and moderation lies all the tools to fix a substantial amount of what ails the United States. These fringe right wingers have no idea what they want, they just want to make sure that nobody else gets what they want. We are so lucky to have what we have in this country and we are on the edge of letting a group of misinformed, misdirected malcontents take it from us. Open your eyes David, help direct us away from government by the few back to what has worked for us for so long and is rightfully the envy of the world.
8
Possibly your best column ever, David! Especially powerful commentary coming from you.
9
Bravo!! You hit the nail on the head. Worrisome for our country.
2
David Brooks (R) for President. No executive experience, but he can hire to that weakness (unlike the graver deficiencies he describes). We need someone to channel our inner Edmund Burke, as he does in this column.
1
The Republican party lost its way years ago. Thoughtful discourse and discussion was an ability they used to have and is sorely missed now. The whole party is lopsided in a fanatical direction. There is no viable party to compromise with Democrats to give us the best possible solutions to problems for the American people. Thus the country is floundering. The whole spectacle is amazing to watch. I have long since become a Democrat and cannot relate to anything Republican anymore. Thank you for this great opinion piece, David.
8
While Brooks' column today nicely summarize the increasing ills of the Republican Party, his indictment of Rush Limbaugh fails to include Fox News for "bombastic, hyperbole, and imbalanced" rhetoric. When a TV Cable channel, where Pew Research reports 85% of Republicans get their news, through outright lies and lame distortions has such wide influence from its blatant propaganda, how else are these trolls to think? They are unlikely to research anything on their own and are happy to have the pablum spoon-fed while inert in their Lazy-Boys, wife-beaters, and guzzling redneck beers. And another columnist today bemoans the absence of an Everett Dirksen, a true statesman, admired on both sides of the aisle. And I am one of those ultra-liberal Democrats who miss his dignity and decency, while amused by his plea for the marigold to become our national flower. Indeed, the Tea Party revolution has led to anarchy. Just ask Boehner and Paul Ryan!
15
"The Republican Party’s capacity for effective self-governance degraded slowly, over the course of a long chain of rhetorical excesses, mental corruptions and philosophical betrayals. Basically, the party abandoned traditional conservatism for right-wing radicalism. Republicans came to see themselves as insurgents and revolutionaries, and every revolution tends toward anarchy and ends up devouring its own.”
I wonder if Brooks includes the American Revolution in the last sentence?
I wonder if Brooks includes the American Revolution in the last sentence?
1
Jeesh, NOW Brooks sees the light. Well, better late than never. When the chance was there to lend his cultural weight to evenness, he was lauding the likes of Lindsey Graham. May your evolutionary growth continue, Mr. Brooks.
21
And the best part of it all for this Dem....The GOPers still have to deal with Donald. My, my, what a tight, little ball they have woven themselves into!
7
And yet you still back the Republican party?
21
Excellent essay but unfortunately, it will fall upon deaf ears. Mr. Brooks has now outed himself as a traitor to the cause. An essential feature of the collapse of the GOP is for the true believers to only accept guidance from one of their spiritual oracles. If these words came from Limbaugh, Hannnity, Coutler, and the NRA as a simultaneous proclamation of GOP purpose, they "might" have an effect. The extremist fanaticism of the GOP prevents it from accepting or even listening to anything that contradicts its battle cries.
The Speaker calamity is a direct result of this impenetrable barrier. The rank and file GOP is desperately seeking a new Reagan to unit and lead them. But no such figure exists. They got rid of anything and everything remotely similar to Reagan. The GOP is now wandering hopelessly in the desert, searching for a Moses to lead them to the promised land but they threw all of those babies away when they were floating in their baskets. Their campaign of ideological purity has instead produced the likes of Trump, Carson and Cruz. They need to get some religion. Only divine intervention can fix this tragedy.
The Speaker calamity is a direct result of this impenetrable barrier. The rank and file GOP is desperately seeking a new Reagan to unit and lead them. But no such figure exists. They got rid of anything and everything remotely similar to Reagan. The GOP is now wandering hopelessly in the desert, searching for a Moses to lead them to the promised land but they threw all of those babies away when they were floating in their baskets. Their campaign of ideological purity has instead produced the likes of Trump, Carson and Cruz. They need to get some religion. Only divine intervention can fix this tragedy.
14
Has anyone stopped to think about how these idiots got their jobs in the first place? The were ELECTED by other idiots. Until a certain segment of the electorate decides to learn about the issues from credible sources instead of right wing provocateurs and buffoons, Congress will continue to feature the willfully uninformed, ignorant and dangerous.
17
Charming, David. "The party abandoned traditional conservatism for right-wing radicalism." Long before the current radicalism was two generations of race-baiting and fear-mongering campaigns (Willie Horton, "white hands," ebola kids at the border) that aggravated even implausible fears into steady state paranoia.
But where were the rational voices in the Republican Party? We ask that about establishment Muslims. We asked it about moderate Germans in Weimar. It's not the far right; the problem is with the disengaged center.
But where were the rational voices in the Republican Party? We ask that about establishment Muslims. We asked it about moderate Germans in Weimar. It's not the far right; the problem is with the disengaged center.
29
The House Republican caucus is a misnomer; it should be properly labeled the House Republican Circus.
3
So glad for the mention of Rush Limbaugh as a major facilitator of the disinformation, fearmongering and just plain craziness culture which has devoured the GOP in the past thirty years. In my family he will forever be known as "Rush Limbo" as in "how low can you go?"
5
The Republican lunacy started long before Rush Limbaugh - with the alliance between Republicans and Southern (racist) Democrats. Barry Goldwater and the John Birch Society gave it a big push. Reagan used most of the ridiculous talking points we still hear today, but he didn't completely abandon governing (although legal governance wasn't very important to him.) The growth (not the start) of anti-intellectual right wing "entertainment" is just made the political equivalent of reality shows much more frequent.
People like David Brooks are a big part of the problem. He is one the the brightest Republican intellectuals, but his positions aren't very different than those of the obvious crazies. He just doesn't scream as much.
People like David Brooks are a big part of the problem. He is one the the brightest Republican intellectuals, but his positions aren't very different than those of the obvious crazies. He just doesn't scream as much.
9
Brooks finally confesses what everyone has known for a long time, but he leaves out what the Republican party is actually defending, actually FOR: massive social inequality. The REASON that "traditional conservatism" supposedly believed in 'incremental change, reform not revolution, balance and order, etc' was it was the method to stave off calls for reduction in class inequality, racial inequality, gender inequality, etc. It was a DEFENSE of inequality, which being hard to directly defend, was protected via calls for 'conservative process and method.' What Brooks doesn't get is that the 'Republican reactionaries' (he conflates reactionaries with 'radicals') are simply eschewing the sham and more directly embracing the defense of growing class inequality and attacking the mild reforms that did take place in the past.
On another level, Brooks' neglects to point out that Weber lived to provide an alternative analysis of emerging industrial capitalism to Marx's critique; Brooks' typically tries to play a similar role, albeit offering an alternative analysis to today's mild-mannered LIBERALS. His critiques, much like William F Buckley before him, appear polite but simply encourage the very anti-statist Republicans he attacks here. He is as responsible for today's politics as anyone; he's just much more polite than his fellow GOPers when he picks up a pen.
On another level, Brooks' neglects to point out that Weber lived to provide an alternative analysis of emerging industrial capitalism to Marx's critique; Brooks' typically tries to play a similar role, albeit offering an alternative analysis to today's mild-mannered LIBERALS. His critiques, much like William F Buckley before him, appear polite but simply encourage the very anti-statist Republicans he attacks here. He is as responsible for today's politics as anyone; he's just much more polite than his fellow GOPers when he picks up a pen.
11
I would love to see the media ask the Republican presidential candidates their opinion of this opinion piece by Mr. Brooks. It would be very interesting.
4
David, you have encouraged the Tpublican masses over the years and now you're acting as though what they are doing is bad.
You can't have it both ways. Perhaps you will be more principled and "conservative" in the future.
You can't have it both ways. Perhaps you will be more principled and "conservative" in the future.
10
Takes two to tango,,, the GOP base is equally to blame for being so gullible
9
"It took a thousand small betrayals of conservatism to get to the dysfunction we see all around."
And could it be David, that the first of those betrayals was this appalling statement by Ronald Reagan: "The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help."
And could it be David, that the first of those betrayals was this appalling statement by Ronald Reagan: "The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help."
9
You miss the mark when you blame Rush Limbaugh. This started because Reagan famously misstated "Government isn't the solution to the problem, it is the problem" and and also stated the 9 most terrifying words in the English language are "I'm from the government and I'm here to help. He instilled in the American people a mistrust of the government that is unjustified and beyond irrational. Yes - government isn't always the most efficient - but that is especially true when you put incompetent people like Mike - Heckuva Job - Brownie in charge of FEMA. Governing by self-fulfilling prophecy isn't proof of your convictions.
I also saw a comment from Dave(Vestal NY) that tries to blame insane Democrats who scream disenfranchisement when states want people to show proof that they are eligible to vote. What Dave doesn't seem to understand is that they already provided this proof when they registered to vote. And while I don't have a problem in theory with showing ID when you go the voting booth, if this becomes the law, then states must ensure that voter ID's are free of charge and easily accessible. This isn't the case though. In some states, they are closing down DMV offices in minority neighborhoods, making it ever harder for the poor to vote. That isn't democracy - it's tyranny.
I also saw a comment from Dave(Vestal NY) that tries to blame insane Democrats who scream disenfranchisement when states want people to show proof that they are eligible to vote. What Dave doesn't seem to understand is that they already provided this proof when they registered to vote. And while I don't have a problem in theory with showing ID when you go the voting booth, if this becomes the law, then states must ensure that voter ID's are free of charge and easily accessible. This isn't the case though. In some states, they are closing down DMV offices in minority neighborhoods, making it ever harder for the poor to vote. That isn't democracy - it's tyranny.
16
Mr. Brooks states that "Over the past 30 years, or at least since Rush Limbaugh came on the scene, the Republican rhetorical tone has grown ever more bombastic, hyperbolic and imbalanced." Imbalance implies being or thrown out of equilibrium. That assessment is a bit too nuanced and kind. I think "unbalanced" might be the more appropriate adjective: Showing or marked by erratic or volatile emotions or behavior.
8
As Rick Perry would say, "a broken clock is right once a day." I can't believe I'm actually agreeing with Brooks, although I disagree with his conclusion. The disarray among the GOP is not a "betrayal" of conservatism.it is the inevitable result of the ideology's "every man for himself" mentality.
12
Or as the Koch Brothers think it should have been written, "a government of the person, by the person, and for the person."
1
David,
It's about bloody time you woke up!
It's about bloody time you woke up!
4
In failing to indict Fox News or admit his own complicity in what he now attacks, Brooks scams his readers.
4
NO David, what it took was 35 years of dumbing down, from St Ronnie the Dim and that "shining city on the hill" to "government IS the problem" and you and yours have touted that meme consistently for the last 35 years. So what's up now? Are you starting to panic a bit now when you see the potential for this entire country to go off the rails from the idiotic agenda that you and yours have pushed so relentlessly? This almost sounds like a mea culpa David, but not quite. You never once admit or own up to your part in pushing idiocy, but you're beginning to see some of the damage. But what do you really care? You'll live through the next meltdown just fine, and probably be writing for NYT long into your twilight years.
6
Excellent column. Finally, the truth.
2
Hallelujah! Finally, Mr. Brooks, you are willing to call the spade a spade -- and the crazies crazy. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
I suppose it's too much to ask you to cross over and join the grown-ups (and yes, some zealots of our own) on the other side of the aisle -- but there will be a seat for you if/when you do.
In the meantime -- I'll start reading you with renewed enthusiasm.
I suppose it's too much to ask you to cross over and join the grown-ups (and yes, some zealots of our own) on the other side of the aisle -- but there will be a seat for you if/when you do.
In the meantime -- I'll start reading you with renewed enthusiasm.
3
"By traditional definitions, conservatism stands for intellectual humility, a belief in steady, incremental change, a preference for reform rather than revolution, a respect for hierarchy, precedence, balance and order, and a tone of voice that is prudent, measured and responsible"
Whatever those definitions are, and wherever they come from has not been applicable to the Republican Party in 5 decades. This is a party who embraced the anti-democratic Southern Strategy. This is a party whose judicial appointees' ideology gutted the VRA in 2013. In support of the pernicious, anti-democratic GOP ideology, that which the VRA was designed to remedy has reared its head in Alabama.
Yet, there is nothing from you and GOP "intellectuals" on this. You would wage war on Iraq in pursuit of "freedom" and "democracy", beat the drums of war on Iran...yet American citizens' who have born a lifetime of systemic disenfranchisement from democracy (by violence and legislative fiat) are ignored.
Rush is a convenient scapegoat. It is easy to pretend that you are somehow "different" from those who behave antithetically to democracy and governance. It would be much harder to take personal responsibility for not confronting bigotry and ignorance. It would have taken moral courage to not enable those who fostered this bigotry and ignorance. It will take both to rid yourself of latent bigotry and walk away from that which feeds of of it.
Whatever those definitions are, and wherever they come from has not been applicable to the Republican Party in 5 decades. This is a party who embraced the anti-democratic Southern Strategy. This is a party whose judicial appointees' ideology gutted the VRA in 2013. In support of the pernicious, anti-democratic GOP ideology, that which the VRA was designed to remedy has reared its head in Alabama.
Yet, there is nothing from you and GOP "intellectuals" on this. You would wage war on Iraq in pursuit of "freedom" and "democracy", beat the drums of war on Iran...yet American citizens' who have born a lifetime of systemic disenfranchisement from democracy (by violence and legislative fiat) are ignored.
Rush is a convenient scapegoat. It is easy to pretend that you are somehow "different" from those who behave antithetically to democracy and governance. It would be much harder to take personal responsibility for not confronting bigotry and ignorance. It would have taken moral courage to not enable those who fostered this bigotry and ignorance. It will take both to rid yourself of latent bigotry and walk away from that which feeds of of it.
4
Where have you been M. Brooks the past few years..when your friends hoped Obama would fail before he even took office... Their wish was not a defeat of his agenda but the defeat of the man itself. It certainly took you a while to wail
8
In the Zen koan Hyakujo and the Fox, the ghost that attends Master Hyakujo's teachings is that of a monk who incorrectly taught that Cause and Effect could be transcended. These errors were so great -- both his incorrect understanding and his teaching of this misunderstanding to others -- that he was cursed to take the form of a fox for 500 lives. It was only when he genuinely accepted the truth, that Cause and Effect cannot be denied, that the curse was lifted and the monk allowed to die.
I think of this koan frequently when talking with colleagues at work and with my more politically-oriented friends. No one is walking around with the complete story -- we all have our own sliver of understanding of the world, colored by our personal experience -- and therefore humility when teaching, or purporting to teach, others is paramount. I can only think that humility when governing, which includes hearing others' slivers of understanding in order to create a more complete picture, is necessary for reasoned governance.
I wonder which of the misunderstandings, whether genuine or assumed, would net the House Republican caucus 500 lifetimes as a fox?
I think of this koan frequently when talking with colleagues at work and with my more politically-oriented friends. No one is walking around with the complete story -- we all have our own sliver of understanding of the world, colored by our personal experience -- and therefore humility when teaching, or purporting to teach, others is paramount. I can only think that humility when governing, which includes hearing others' slivers of understanding in order to create a more complete picture, is necessary for reasoned governance.
I wonder which of the misunderstandings, whether genuine or assumed, would net the House Republican caucus 500 lifetimes as a fox?
5
Not only correct. But a fundamentally profound observation.
1
Excellent article -- only a few things are missing. The brainwashing that FOX News conducts on a daily basis unfortunately has turned even some highly intelligent folks I know into right-wing radicals. Also, the Reagan years, from the beginning, started the vitriol that was later picked up and expanded by Gingrich in his demonizing of the Democrats.
14
Another aspect the GOP is confused about. Capitalism is a economic system, Democracy is a governing system. Too often the GOP confuses the two.
10
Thank you. I just wish that you, and others like you, who have influential platforms from which to speak to the issues, had been paying attention to, and speaking about, the transformation of your party from one with a proud history of commitment to equality and civil rights for minorities and women, mindful of the welfare of small domestic businesses and the communities that support them, a champion of consumer rights and conservation, to what it is today. Hostile to women and minorities, anti-compromise, refusing to acknowledge the legitimacy of constituencies that support the opposition, anti-science, refusing to acknowledge the rights of, or to accept any regulation that protects the interests of, consumers, workers, the environment, and controlled by an ever narrow group of wealthy individuals and large global interests increasingly divorced from the American people, and, even the domestic economy.
Sadly, the party has come to stand for celebrating the financial success of the powerful few while excusing them from fair taxation and responsibility toward the nation, disdaining and blaming the most vulnerable and powerless, and protecting established wealth, and heirs, at the cost of opportunity for the young and ambitions who have little but want to create more. That's what "conservatism" is now, and, in fact, has been for more than a quarter of a century.
Sadly, the party has come to stand for celebrating the financial success of the powerful few while excusing them from fair taxation and responsibility toward the nation, disdaining and blaming the most vulnerable and powerless, and protecting established wealth, and heirs, at the cost of opportunity for the young and ambitions who have little but want to create more. That's what "conservatism" is now, and, in fact, has been for more than a quarter of a century.
19
So, who will you be voting for, David?
4
This transformation began in the 1970s with the emergence of the Moral Majority in politics. It continued in California with a sustained effort by Edwin Meese, H.L. Richardson and other arch-conservative to hijack the state Supreme Court and eject its chief justice, Rose Bird. To accomplish this, conservatives needed to push voters' buttons with a focus on the death penalty, while corporate leaders stockpiled cash to use for the cause. It then moved to Texas and Karl Rove, etc., etc. Conservatives learned in the 1970s and 1980s to craft a "winning" narrative. Rush Limbaugh just capitalized on it.
7
This is a sad column. I admire Mr. Brooks, and I understand his respect for the ideological foundation of fiscal conservatism. Democracy works best when our elected officials represent many voices and opinions, and when they look on their fellow politicians not as bitter enemies but as colleagues engaged in doing important work.
To me, the only solution to the current mess is major campaign finance reform. Eliminate "soft" money and "issue ads" altogether, and require all candidates for federal office to rely exclusively on federal financing. At one time in relatively recent history, that all seemed possible.
To me, the only solution to the current mess is major campaign finance reform. Eliminate "soft" money and "issue ads" altogether, and require all candidates for federal office to rely exclusively on federal financing. At one time in relatively recent history, that all seemed possible.
7
The role and power of government transformed by republicans and Democrats from Theodore Roosevelt to Richard Nixon transformed America,it's people and its normative culture. From Eisenhower to GW Bush, Republican administrations have refused or have failed to restore America to the nation it was in 1895. The Republicans today claim to be "conservatives" but can not abide conserving the American government and culture the twentieth century created. Like all revolutionaries who abominate what is, they are revanchists who pine for the world as it once was. They fear the future and wish simply to destroy government because government changed their America. Their true goal is to destroy. That is surely an odd agenda for conservatives.
3
In "The Origins of Totalitarianism," one of the greatest analyses of the rise of Nazism ever published (in 1951), Hannah Arendt portrayed the people in Weimar Germany as "one great unorganized, structureless mass of furious individuals who had nothing in common except their vague apprehension that the hopes of party members were doomed, that, consequently, the most respected, articulate and representative members of the community were fools and that all the powers that be were not so much evil as they were equally stupid and fraudulent." We are not Weimar, but there is an eerie semblance to the psychology of the Republican base.
9
At last! Hopefully, this marks an inflection point in the political strategizing by the Republican cognoscenti. It is not simply a 'leftist' talking point to note that it is dangerous to empower a voting constituency which identifies the core principles of secular democracy as the "enemy".
2
Bravo, David, finally a column I can mostly agree with you. I'm saddened it's taken decades for you to see the poisonous, seditious, sabotage for what it has been, but perhaps "correcting-oversteer-before-we-go-off-the-road" is about all you can do. Nicely done. Sadly, I don't see Democrats as "fault-free," but I do wish you well on your journey of enlightenment and proselytising your new "message."
10
The Jacobin-like turn the Republicans is hardly surprising when one considers that Fox News is the oracle of the Party. The constant stream of lies, half-truths, invective and inanity have given the impression to the intellectually lazy and weak minded that Obama Care was going to destroy the country and climate change is a fantasy.
From the run-up to the Iraq war to Planned Parenthood selling baby parts, the more ridiculous and slanderous the accusation, the more the Republican Party either lapped it up or winked at the absurdity.
The irony for David Brooks is that he writes for a newspaper that strives for fairness and balance, while his party's unofficial news outlet is all about misleading and inflaming the viewer.
From the run-up to the Iraq war to Planned Parenthood selling baby parts, the more ridiculous and slanderous the accusation, the more the Republican Party either lapped it up or winked at the absurdity.
The irony for David Brooks is that he writes for a newspaper that strives for fairness and balance, while his party's unofficial news outlet is all about misleading and inflaming the viewer.
28
Incompetent? I think that they have been competent in the extreme in getting themselves elected to Congress, disrupting the forces opposed to anarchy, keeping tbe majority from achieving their aspirations for a better living standard, keeping the status quo of an unlevel playing field and surrendering their principles for a taste of the almighty dollar. They have inhuman competence, Mr. Brooks, and they have 'friends' in low, low places who will demand their due. In each national election to come, these payments will be denied.
12
Now I know why I keep reading David Brooks- he gets things right- always. JG-
We see a similar failing in the Democratic party. The party strives to survive by building its wall around Hillary. In the party's view, they don't feel comfortable with democratic views from Bernie Sanders the "socialist." They believe in institutions not ideas. Institutions appeal to donors and are signs of stability in an uncertain world.
We are seeing the end of the cynical politicians on both sides of the aisle. Next, comes the revolution.
We are seeing the end of the cynical politicians on both sides of the aisle. Next, comes the revolution.
1
By your definition of "Conservatism," Barack Obama is the perfect Conservative.
30
That is exactly what we on the left have been saying. But better a true 1950s-style conservative like Obama than a modern right-wing saboteur.
3
Barry Goldwater would be considered a liberal today. Hell, so would Bob Dole.
1
David, I will believe your analysis when you apologize for your own role in helping create the hot mess the GOP has become.
Until then, you can find me sailing with the wind at my back on Lake Schadenfreude.
Until then, you can find me sailing with the wind at my back on Lake Schadenfreude.
20
I doubt that humility was ever in the lexicon of American conservatives, but the current Republicans go far beyond governmental incompetence. They are inspired by a hate culture promulgated by Limbaugh, Fox, Breitbart, and others. The Republican leadership has now spent years nodding and winking at the racism, misogyny, bigotry, and cultivated ignorance and manipulated anger of the base. When most of the base has been encouraged to believe lies about the first black president such as his magical birth in Kenya or his Muslim religion, this was to the GOP's electoral advantage and was no accident.
The Republican Party has tried on every level and in every way to reject the core American value of equal rights and true representative government. The current tyrants running the Republican Party such as the 1% donors and the Freedom Caucus are as far from American principles as possible. Gold, God, and guns are being used as ideological weapons against the 99% and against large groups of American citizens.
The ethnic identity of current Republican ideology that Brooks mentioned is nothing new -- it is basically white supremacy and misogyny. The Freedom Caucus is all white but one, all male but one. The top donors are all white, all in enclaves of privilege. The Freedom Caucus represents only 25.56 m. citizens out of 320.1 m. Americans, less than 8%.
Modern day Republicanism is basically medieval feudalism or white oligarchy - nothing to do with democracy or America.
The Republican Party has tried on every level and in every way to reject the core American value of equal rights and true representative government. The current tyrants running the Republican Party such as the 1% donors and the Freedom Caucus are as far from American principles as possible. Gold, God, and guns are being used as ideological weapons against the 99% and against large groups of American citizens.
The ethnic identity of current Republican ideology that Brooks mentioned is nothing new -- it is basically white supremacy and misogyny. The Freedom Caucus is all white but one, all male but one. The top donors are all white, all in enclaves of privilege. The Freedom Caucus represents only 25.56 m. citizens out of 320.1 m. Americans, less than 8%.
Modern day Republicanism is basically medieval feudalism or white oligarchy - nothing to do with democracy or America.
30
SMB, you made the most relevant point avoided by Brooks: Republicans go far beyond governmental incompetence. Great summation of the facts!
3
SMB pretty much said it all here. It is not about wayward conservatism, but racism, misogyny, and greed. Thanks to Citizens United all of these anti-democratic forces can be sold to voters who don't realize the consequences for their own lives, let alone for the survival of democracy. The 92% have to stand up against the Freedom Caucus, starting with the rest of the Republicans in the House before it utterly wrecks the institution. I would like to think there are enough intelligent, fair-minded Republicans to put a stop to this nonsense.
1
Listening today to Bob Woodward explain his new book of yet more Nixon deceptions based on Nixon aide Alexander Butterfield's revelations, The Last of the President's Men . . .where Nixon and Kissinger continued bombing Vietnam with millions of bombs, killing many, years after they knew it was wrong, a lost cause, all in the name of Nixon getting re-elected, I realized that through a child's eyes, I thought Republicans the bad guys.
40 years later, nothing has changed. Incompetence and self-serving to a staggering degree. Perhaps David can write a column of things Republicans can be proud of ( a short column no doubt ).
40 years later, nothing has changed. Incompetence and self-serving to a staggering degree. Perhaps David can write a column of things Republicans can be proud of ( a short column no doubt ).
9
This is what happens when you dance with the Devil. The party dominated by white, Anglo-Saxon, protestants wanted to continue dominating the culture and society of the nation, as they always have.
When the unthinkable happened- a black president- they unleashed the hell-hounds and opened the the gates that held back all of the worst elements that lurked in the darkest corners and shadows of the Right. They invited the crazies; the wild-eyed, hate-filled bigots to the microphone, to the pódium, to the head table. They did it in a Faustian-bargain to claw their way back from the abysmal political disaster that G.W. Bush left them with.
The Devil always collects his due.
When the unthinkable happened- a black president- they unleashed the hell-hounds and opened the the gates that held back all of the worst elements that lurked in the darkest corners and shadows of the Right. They invited the crazies; the wild-eyed, hate-filled bigots to the microphone, to the pódium, to the head table. They did it in a Faustian-bargain to claw their way back from the abysmal political disaster that G.W. Bush left them with.
The Devil always collects his due.
27
Although I find it grand that one of their own is calling out the "whacko-birds" of the GOP, I don't remember Brooks as a moderate calling for reason & compromise. I also didn't read Brooks calling out the entertainment network contributing to the nut class GOP, Faux News. He did, however nail it when stating that the people voting the crazies into office are largely under educated and, per my opinion, Racist.
10
It is unfortunate that a generally interesting commentary starts with the premise that "every revolution tends toward anarchy and ends up devouring its own". I would assume he makes an exception clause for the American one, which would be coincidentally conforming with the viewpoint of the "ungovernable" Republicans he criticizes. As a thesis, everything that follows the claim to be a critique of "right-wing radicalism" should then be consistent.
1
If by 'betrayals' Mr. Brooks means the intentional, desperate and very dangerous manipulation of of the most marginalized and least educated segment of the White population by the spreading of malicious lies and the stoking of old fears and hatreds with the intention of creating some kind of demented political bulwark against the Left (really the Center), then I agree with him.
7
Thank you, David Brooks !! A voice of reason, and a Republican, who says what he sees, and is so "right on!" Now more reasonable voices need to speak up, or the "Grand Old Party" will do its best to kill AmeRica ....
2
It takes and took a truly classical conservative to state so exceptionally clearly and well what has become of the Republican Party and why it has become such a threat to the well being of the United States of America -- eating away at the innards of the democracy that sustains and has sustained us as a nation for nearly 250 years.
11
It's only taken you 30 years to realize this, Mr. Brooks?
7
"The House Republican caucus is close to ungovernable these days. How did this situation come about?" The rise of Tea Party.
Tea Party was created as an opposition to Barack Obama, a black man occupying the White House. The rank & file haven't been that smart, naive, gullible. Clever leaders pushed them.
Then something strange happened. Many incompetent characters came to the forefront. They were led to believe to be unyielding: "My/our way, or no way." Obstructionism became the order of the day.
If Obama is for something, we are against it. It's very simple. The leaders thought, "Why not?" Nation's interests are unimportant. Opposing Obama is the name of the game.
Still Obama was reelected, against the declared goal of Mitch McConnell! That enraged the Republicans even more.
Ted Cruz is the face of that opposition. He is delusional. He's irrational. But quite smart with a genius level intellect. He seems to believe since he's so smart he could mould the nation as he pleases!
Tea Party was created as an opposition to Barack Obama, a black man occupying the White House. The rank & file haven't been that smart, naive, gullible. Clever leaders pushed them.
Then something strange happened. Many incompetent characters came to the forefront. They were led to believe to be unyielding: "My/our way, or no way." Obstructionism became the order of the day.
If Obama is for something, we are against it. It's very simple. The leaders thought, "Why not?" Nation's interests are unimportant. Opposing Obama is the name of the game.
Still Obama was reelected, against the declared goal of Mitch McConnell! That enraged the Republicans even more.
Ted Cruz is the face of that opposition. He is delusional. He's irrational. But quite smart with a genius level intellect. He seems to believe since he's so smart he could mould the nation as he pleases!
10
Sorry David, but this paragraph had me baffled: "By traditional definitions, conservatism stands for intellectual humility, a belief in steady, incremental change, a preference for reform rather than revolution, a respect for hierarchy, precedence, balance and order, and a tone of voice that is prudent, measured and responsible. Conservatives of this disposition can be dull, but they know how to nurture and run institutions. They also see the nation as one organic whole. Citizens may fall into different classes and political factions, but they are still joined by chains of affection that command ultimate loyalty and love."
For one thing, they don't believe in change at all and there is no "embrace" of the nation as one organic whole. They want to go back to when they THINK it was all whites, all the time. The election of Barack Hussein Obama just exposed all their bigotry, fear and hatred and gave birth to the Tea Party and their radical zealotry. The only thing that can happen now is for the Tea Party to break off and stop calling themselves Republicans, for if the above paragraph has a grain of truth in it there might be hope for them if they can only purge the cancer that Rush, Glenn and Fox have created. McConnell and Bohner are just as much to blame, and now they want to bail on the monster they've created. Good luck with that!
For one thing, they don't believe in change at all and there is no "embrace" of the nation as one organic whole. They want to go back to when they THINK it was all whites, all the time. The election of Barack Hussein Obama just exposed all their bigotry, fear and hatred and gave birth to the Tea Party and their radical zealotry. The only thing that can happen now is for the Tea Party to break off and stop calling themselves Republicans, for if the above paragraph has a grain of truth in it there might be hope for them if they can only purge the cancer that Rush, Glenn and Fox have created. McConnell and Bohner are just as much to blame, and now they want to bail on the monster they've created. Good luck with that!
10
It's going to take a long time to undo these damage these betrayals to conservatism have wrought. or should I say, rot?
4
Too bad Rod Serling’s Twilight Zone is not around because if it were Ted Cruz, Donald Trump and the Freedom Caucus, Tea Party et al would all find their deepest wish come true waking up in the year 1860 and calling themselves what they truly believe in their hearts to be, Confederates. The twist to the story line would however not be so welcomed in the end, because they would be stuck their, unhappy at best as they could never figure out how to get back to 2015.
6
Possibly the best and certainly the most honest piece I've read from DB - and probably one of the hardest he's had to pen.
I would only add that nothing will change until right-wing media, principally Hate Radio and Fox News, stop peddling their vitriol and extremism. How many minds have they poisoned in the last two or three decades? Certainly a close relative on my wife's side who listened to "Rush" for 20 odd years whilst doing his postal route, and managed to turn an otherwise nice guy into an incoherent, practically frothing at the mouth raving lunatic when the subject turned to Hillary Clinton or anything Democratic or liberal.
We don't need propaganda in our media. We need to be better informed on the issues and to understand that ours is a democracy where others have legitimate views. Most of all we need an understanding that the essence of the US system of government is compromise. Without that nothing can work as it should.
I would only add that nothing will change until right-wing media, principally Hate Radio and Fox News, stop peddling their vitriol and extremism. How many minds have they poisoned in the last two or three decades? Certainly a close relative on my wife's side who listened to "Rush" for 20 odd years whilst doing his postal route, and managed to turn an otherwise nice guy into an incoherent, practically frothing at the mouth raving lunatic when the subject turned to Hillary Clinton or anything Democratic or liberal.
We don't need propaganda in our media. We need to be better informed on the issues and to understand that ours is a democracy where others have legitimate views. Most of all we need an understanding that the essence of the US system of government is compromise. Without that nothing can work as it should.
16
Radicalism ( as well as impatient fanaticism) goes pretty far back in America to the American Revolution and elements of Puritanism. The conservatives, as Brooks defines them, either left for Canada or stayed quietly behind, fearing violence or loss of property.
1
The anarchists on the far right are threatening the corporatist middle. Chaos threatens the Greed Oligarchy Privitization wing of the right wing.
4
Bro what would have constituted leadership two years ago is just stating the obvious now. meh.
2
It's "reap what you sow" for those who fired up the ignorant with lies and distortions. Once the mob gets rolling, it's difficult to control. It's not about "a thousand small betrayals of conservatism", Mr. Brooks. It is the fruit of a concerted effort to manipulate the base, to convince voters to cut their own throats- destroy faith in the value of government, destroy labor unions, destroy public education and allow lobbyists and the wealthy to dictate our national course. It's not a democracy- it's an auction.
21
Hooray Mr. Brooks:
Finally, someone with intellectual competence makes some sense of the senseless MRSA infecting the current GOP. MRSA: Modern Republican Systemic Aberration. There's nothing Grand about the extreme right's vision except the self-evident galactic raving lunacy it represents. As a progressive liberal, I enjoy watching the spectacle of the CONjob in CONserative on the big screen.
No offense, Mr. Brooks.
Finally, someone with intellectual competence makes some sense of the senseless MRSA infecting the current GOP. MRSA: Modern Republican Systemic Aberration. There's nothing Grand about the extreme right's vision except the self-evident galactic raving lunacy it represents. As a progressive liberal, I enjoy watching the spectacle of the CONjob in CONserative on the big screen.
No offense, Mr. Brooks.
2
It's great to finally see the Republican Party called out for what it is, a dangerous rabble with no business anywhere near elected office.
11
When Hillary Clinton spoke of a "vast right-wing conspiracy" more than a decade ago, she was mocked. She was correct—but the conspiracy was the plan to make our nation ignorant, and it has succeeded. Children no longer learn that they have responsibilities as citizens—responsibilities to vote—in every election— to inform themselves, to think. And the right wing would love to see education completely privatized, so that the less privileged become more and more ignorant. It's time to put civics back in the curriculum. It's time to vote in your local and state elections and get these Yahoos out!
21
The Republicans cannot govern themselves much less the nation. I cannot imagine how any intelligent person could logically be a member of this party much less vote for them.
I once voted for the best person. Now I cannot fathom voting republican even in local elections due to the lack of character of the larger organization. In other words, guilty by association.
I once voted for the best person. Now I cannot fathom voting republican even in local elections due to the lack of character of the larger organization. In other words, guilty by association.
11
A thoughtful and articulate column on the crisis of the functioning of our republic. We are fortunate to have the benefit of your wide and deep intelligence and reading, whether or not we agree with all or part of your analysis. Commentators making personal dismissive remarks do a disservice; more appropriate would be a statement of the points of disagreement and the basis therefor, from which we all may benefit.
1
The GOP Inquisition has arrived and it is a frightening spectacle to behold. It has its foundations in: Fox News, the cult that preaches not to believe in any other news source, the myth that MSM is liberal when it is corporate and trying to make a profit, anti-intelligence in science and the humanities, the Reganesque belief that government is the problem and that privatization is nirvana, and the Southern Strategy...vote for us and we will make bigotry politically correct.
A cabal of actors have been working on creating the GOP Creed for decades: unions and regulations are evil, pensions and Social Security are unnecessary,
no compromise, no taxes on the rich, ALEC/Norquist/Koch,/NRA ...
Some of these people are totally delusional. They think of themselves as William Wallace as portrayed by Mel Gibson but behave more like King Edward Longshank.
PS. The Inqustion took a long time and was a dark chapter in history. I think it's time to ask Pope Francis to pray for the GOP.
A cabal of actors have been working on creating the GOP Creed for decades: unions and regulations are evil, pensions and Social Security are unnecessary,
no compromise, no taxes on the rich, ALEC/Norquist/Koch,/NRA ...
Some of these people are totally delusional. They think of themselves as William Wallace as portrayed by Mel Gibson but behave more like King Edward Longshank.
PS. The Inqustion took a long time and was a dark chapter in history. I think it's time to ask Pope Francis to pray for the GOP.
10
I predict that David Brooks will not be asked to be the Speaker of the House. Who would have thought that he would write such a column. What does it portend for the future of the Republican Party and the U.S.? Maybe the gerrymandering will not be enough to give them a majority next year and this nation can have a government again. We sorely need it.
8
Human behavior at its worst. I will never vote republican again in my short life.
5
The Republican party is falling apart. For decades, the Republican party was an alliance of pro-business interests that paid lip service to social conservatism and socially conservative populists that kept on drinking the Kool Aid pitched by big business because they had nowhere else to go.
Well, the charade is up. The populists in the Republican party have figured out that Big Business doesn't really care about what happens in rural America and is actually working against their interests. At the same time they caught on to the fact that Big Business doesn't really care about conservative morals or about any one group's interpretation of the Bible. All that's left of their previous attachment to the Republican party is the 30+ years of rhetoric about how the Democrats are to blame for everything wrong in America.
You can only deceive people for so long. I have no idea where we go from here but the old alignment is breaking up.
Well, the charade is up. The populists in the Republican party have figured out that Big Business doesn't really care about what happens in rural America and is actually working against their interests. At the same time they caught on to the fact that Big Business doesn't really care about conservative morals or about any one group's interpretation of the Bible. All that's left of their previous attachment to the Republican party is the 30+ years of rhetoric about how the Democrats are to blame for everything wrong in America.
You can only deceive people for so long. I have no idea where we go from here but the old alignment is breaking up.
10
This is, in a nutshell, everything that is wrong with the Republican party today. The Rush Limbaugh and Fox News mindset has literally poisoned the minds of swaths of Republicans around the county.
12
Rush and Fox News are exhibits to all Americans as to how LOW humans can get.
2
Mr. Brooks, now that you've finally allowed yourself to notice the complete and long-standing dysfunction of the GOP as a governing party, can we expect a sequel column where you own your ownculpability for this foul mess?
You're correct that the current delusional state of these radicals wasn't arrived at overnight. No, a thousand cynical falsehoods led us to this pass, an alternate reality where falsehoods once put forth from cynicism are now swallowed whole as ideological sustenance. How many of those falsehoods were yours?
You're correct that the current delusional state of these radicals wasn't arrived at overnight. No, a thousand cynical falsehoods led us to this pass, an alternate reality where falsehoods once put forth from cynicism are now swallowed whole as ideological sustenance. How many of those falsehoods were yours?
3
Oddly, these people continue to be referred to in the media as "conservatives." Thanks to Brooks, a true conservative, for making a distinction.
4
We tried to warn you about the ending of civility. We tried to warn you about the over the top rhetoric. We tried to warn you about the racism, homophobia and nativism. We tried to warn you about the dangerous militaristic leadership. We tried to warn you that these extremists were going to lead the country right off the cliff. Who are we? The White Rose group, Munich. 1943.
4
It sounds like Mr. Brooks should abandon the Republican party and either become a Democrat or push for a replacement party that can return to the time when conservatism was an actual viable alternative to liberalism.
Political parties do die. It is time for the Republican party, as it now stands, to die.
Political parties do die. It is time for the Republican party, as it now stands, to die.
6
"It took a thousand small betrayals of conservatism to get to the dysfunction we see all around." Let's not forget to add a fair amount of gerrymandering.
15
And vote suppression
1
Again, the questions remain: Does the great (but shrinking) core of reasonable Republicans have the guts to stand up and push back on this trend of hate and ignorance, and bring their party back from the brink? And speaking of guts, will the center-left (where I live, though on the leftmost quadrant) show its face, and previous political might in the near future? Will it find its true, loud voice to stand up for the virtues of good, measured, balanced government?
6
Thank you David Brooks for this well written piece that bares the incompetency on the hard right. Also, you deserve immense respect for publishing this piece in full knowledge of the blowback that is sure to come from those quarters. I would just add that we see the far right and their followers being motivated by many things, anger, fear, betrayal, and mindless ideology, but we never see them being reflective, introspective, and open to learning. The hard right has stopped learning and is proud of that fact. The big question is, will enough reasonable voices respond to say enough is enough.
6
Politics is reflective of its society. America as a democracy was long ago replaced with America as a hyper-competitive business, promoting a winner-takes-all despotism in which I win, not by expanding the pie, but in taking someone else’s share. Politics is no different.
Policy changes in our tax and regulatory systems brought extreme “success” in the private sphere that merely migrated to public office, particularly on the right which always harbored contempt for the hoi polloi. However, the foundation of this power in a democracy is so fragile that no wonder the right is at the forefront of dismantling our democratic institutions, adopting corporate-equivalent strategies for blocking “competition:” gerrymandering, restrictive voting, even shutting down government. In a case of “be careful who you sleep with,” these politicians have been all too happy take corporate money from all too happy to contribute corporations (and wealthy donors), despite their public abhorrence of corporate welfare.
As in business, our reward system has so warped behavior that what’s good for me replaced what’s good for the nation, personal ambition justifies even the most egregious conduct and the cult of money and power have displaced any shared commonality, responsibility or cooperation.
Only by changing our reward system will changes in both spheres take place.
Policy changes in our tax and regulatory systems brought extreme “success” in the private sphere that merely migrated to public office, particularly on the right which always harbored contempt for the hoi polloi. However, the foundation of this power in a democracy is so fragile that no wonder the right is at the forefront of dismantling our democratic institutions, adopting corporate-equivalent strategies for blocking “competition:” gerrymandering, restrictive voting, even shutting down government. In a case of “be careful who you sleep with,” these politicians have been all too happy take corporate money from all too happy to contribute corporations (and wealthy donors), despite their public abhorrence of corporate welfare.
As in business, our reward system has so warped behavior that what’s good for me replaced what’s good for the nation, personal ambition justifies even the most egregious conduct and the cult of money and power have displaced any shared commonality, responsibility or cooperation.
Only by changing our reward system will changes in both spheres take place.
5
Excuse me, Mr. Brooks, its a little late for this column. The Tea Party was encouraged by the mainstream conservative pundits while the left was warning you guys that you were creating a monster. Now that it bit you, you don't like it. When it was just biting the left and the President, you didn't have much to say. Shame on all of you.
13
Our democracy must have more than one party, even if I adhere to and (mostly) agree with the principles of the one functioning party that deserves its place in our democratic system of governance. The other party, the Republican Party, has managed to bury its role as the opposing party with its own legitimate principles, agree with them or not. It is now the party of no principles, no paths to prosperity, no egalitarianism, no compassionate conservatism. Just uncompromising chaos without regard to the well being of our nation.
4
Excellent column. I would ask the Republicans two questions: 1) what does finish look like? and 2) how do you get there from here? If you can't answer those those two questions in a consistent, rational manner, then you have painted yourself into a corner.
4
Thank you, Mr. Brooks. For my money, this is a well articulated indictment of what ails the Republican Party in its current state. Present-day political behavior on the right has created stasis in government with a "my way, or the highway" mentality. The media has not helped by allowing distortion to enter the public consciousness, often presenting it as truth. The public devours the sound bites and has no time or seemingly interest to dig deeper. Your column today begins to shine a light on what has become a national disgrace. If we are to continue as a two-party democracy, pundits on the left and the right need to shine the light on what ails us.
4
"By traditional definitions, conservatism stands for intellectual humility, a belief in steady, incremental change, a preference for reform rather than revolution, a respect for hierarchy, precedence, balance and order, and a tone of voice that is prudent, measured and responsible. Conservatives of this disposition can be dull, but they know how to nurture and run institutions. They also see the nation as one organic whole. Citizens may fall into different classes and political factions, but they are still joined by chains of affection that command ultimate loyalty and love."
What David Brooks wrote.
What David Brooks wrote.
1
Politics is the process of making decisions amid diverse opinions. It involves conversation, calm deliberation, self-discipline, the capacity to listen to other points of view and balance valid but competing ideas and interests.
Sounds like you are describing Barack Obama to a tee.
Sounds like you are describing Barack Obama to a tee.
15
Where were the conservative voices such as these when congressional districts were rigged by conservatives such as these that resulted in this "Republican Incompetence Caucus".? As a first step, stop bemoaning and work towards a system of primaries as in California. This way the crazies content in theie craziness and the country will once again move forward.
6
Mr. Brooks's definition of conservatism is very Burkean. But many self-styled conservative Republicans seemed to have disowned Burke long ago, and long before Limbaugh. Remember, "Extremism in the pursuit of liberty is no vice...."?
3
A brilliant synthesis of the Republican malaise, Mr. Brooks.
5
Gilding the liley but why are you not changing parties. Why? The Republican party has been poisoned and Rush Limbaugh and 24'7 hate radio has degenerated our political discourse. Like the LA Dodgers they want to pay football when the game is baseball. Since they are radicalized and see anyone but themselves as the other, us an us against them game where democracy is an impediment to having their way democracy itself has to be destroyed and that has occurred in Congress systematically over the last 30 years. They are beyond repair or redemption.
Republicans see freedom as a zero sum game. They believe that there is not enough to go around and they intend to grab all of it for themselves leaving nothing for anyone else and they had been auctioning it off to the highest bidders. They have committed a monstrous voter fraud. These are not politicians nor do they want to be. They re insurrectionists who aspire to a permanent autocracy with incompetents who can build nothing in charge. They have rigged the system to destroy the system and people of intelligence, patriotism and good will should be fleeing that cult which was once a party and for now make common cause with the Democrats to rescue democracy.
Republicans see freedom as a zero sum game. They believe that there is not enough to go around and they intend to grab all of it for themselves leaving nothing for anyone else and they had been auctioning it off to the highest bidders. They have committed a monstrous voter fraud. These are not politicians nor do they want to be. They re insurrectionists who aspire to a permanent autocracy with incompetents who can build nothing in charge. They have rigged the system to destroy the system and people of intelligence, patriotism and good will should be fleeing that cult which was once a party and for now make common cause with the Democrats to rescue democracy.
5
Thank you David. And now, its time we all start laughing at the Tea Party. The Tea Party have proven they cannot be countered with rational arguments, using facts. They just pull out their mantra of lies, and chant them ever louder. The best way to counteract them now is with ridicule and humor. We must stop taking them seriously. Of course, rational conservatives and liberals must continue to use facts and rational arguments to conduct reasoned discussion on our very real problems and sensible avenues to solution. We must never stop using reason and facts to sway those many Americans who have not drunk the Tea Party Kool Aid,
7
There is a commercial on Fox News quite often for a company trying to sell you gold, or silver. I always ask people, if gold and silver are such good investments, why are these people asking you for your money to get their gold?
The same goes for the Tea Party. If government is so bad, why are they trying so hard to get your vote to join?
The same goes for the Tea Party. If government is so bad, why are they trying so hard to get your vote to join?
8
I will keep a copy of this article to remind me that there was once a conservative Camelot that I could cherish.
1
Wow! Is this man outside, behind, and oblivious to the times or what? He is as much a contributor as any thing or anyone to the irrelevance of the Republican Party. The definition that he gives of conservatism is enough to wonder how it has lasted as long as it has, except people are afraid of the new and don't like change. We know that, but we live in a changing world and we have to adapt. The Republicans have not adapted, basically because their philosophy does not include adaptation. It's all about the staus quo and avoiding change, not to mention that evolution has never really entered their line of thinking. These people are dinosaurs. Mr. Brooks is in another world. His comments are seldom relevant and this article is down right pathetic. He's got Republican RED on his hands, and he is looking for an escape route. The man knows no shame, and if one could be a bigger hypocrite, he would certainly be up to the task.
4
You sound just like today's Republican license party .... re-read what you wrote. .. how do your words differ from theirs?
I could not agree with you more. This ignorance is ridiculous and down right scary. We need an overhaul of all parties. We need a candidate, rep or dem, who not only recognizes the challanges America is facing but also willing to lead our country... not just spew politcal vomit just to tell us what we want to hear... we already had that for 8 years... don't need it anymore. I'm so tired of the republican bashing... if a dem thinks their party is better then prove it to America instead of party bashing. What we have seen in the past 8 yrs proved to be nothing but disappointment in our government... it's time our government act like leaders instead of politicians... this sickens me that I had to read such ignorant, one-sided, nonsensical garbage from people like this author and his disciples... think about your country instead of your party for once maybe then we will really see "change"!
1
Excellent article. Couldn't have been said any better.
4
David....
it's kinda like life imitating art....Apparently, many of our nouveau-Republican wannabe's have lost their minds & taken Aaron Sorkin's American President Screenplay to heart...namely..they want to do two things only.."make you afraid of it and tell you who's to blame for it...that's how you win elections".
Honestly.....as an American & a Democrat...I really miss WF Buckley and the Party of Lincoln !
it's kinda like life imitating art....Apparently, many of our nouveau-Republican wannabe's have lost their minds & taken Aaron Sorkin's American President Screenplay to heart...namely..they want to do two things only.."make you afraid of it and tell you who's to blame for it...that's how you win elections".
Honestly.....as an American & a Democrat...I really miss WF Buckley and the Party of Lincoln !
5
A decent summary of the last 30 years of American politics. And along comes Barack Obama in 2008, who, we have to believe now, actually thought he could work with those on the other side of the aisle. And when he couldn't, so many on the right (including Brooks, I suppose, but I haven't done my research) lambasted Obama on his inability to work with Boehner, et.al. Now, of course, we know why. You can't negotiate with crazy people. Will anyone on the reasonable right admit this? I am more and more confident history will treat Barack Obama well.
16
One usually only hears, over and over again, about what conservatives (or their far-right shipmates on the Titanic) are AGAINST--one issue at a time, one manufactured crisis at a time, one news cycle at a time.
I am amazed that anyone calling himself a conservative can actually lay out for in a column for readers, in a broad way, what conservatives stand FOR: "By traditional definitions,...a belief in steady, incremental change,..." You make conservatism sound so reasonable, Mr. Brooks!
I am amazed that anyone calling himself a conservative can actually lay out for in a column for readers, in a broad way, what conservatives stand FOR: "By traditional definitions,...a belief in steady, incremental change,..." You make conservatism sound so reasonable, Mr. Brooks!
5
So I'm assuming David has now come to the realization that
Donald Trump could indeed be the Republican nominee for
President. Friends of mine who are "traditional Republicans"
still completely dismiss the idea...I think they're going to be
in for a huge surprise.
Donald Trump could indeed be the Republican nominee for
President. Friends of mine who are "traditional Republicans"
still completely dismiss the idea...I think they're going to be
in for a huge surprise.
8
Perhaps Mr. Brooks might next consider and write about how the Koch brothers, ALEC, Citizens United, Fox News, the Heritage Foundation and other biased "think tanks" and, yes, even journalists like himself, have contributed to making the Republicans such a party of incompetence as he so nicely puts it.
16
Now a warning? Where were you all these years when these folks started saying & doing all their ridiculous things? Did you call them out when the determined to have PBO fail in the midst of a potential financial disaster that could have rivaled the Great Depression? Did you articles reflect that both parties had the responsibility to save the county from disaster? I could go on, now that 40 Reps., 1 of which is from my district, wants to hold the rest of the country as hostage, now ou decide to call them out.
8
Here in the US, sociopaths distinguish themselves by how they misconstrue the word "socialism".
5
There are a lot of angry, humiliated people in our country and finding someone to hold responsible has become the narrative for both parties. The Republicans want to blame "liberals," minorities, women, non-Christians, and now impure other Republicans, apparently. Even Paul Ryan is "too liberal?" Democrats have started trying to point out how the "game is rigged,' which, I think, explains our social condition and income inequality more accurately. I like the quote: "If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together." We need the Republicans to get it together, so we can keep moving together towards our potential.
3
At long last, Mr. Brooks, you acknowledge the reality of more than four decades of right-wing politics in America. From Richard Nixon's southern strategy to the culture wars to the attacks on the humanity of one minority group after another, the Republican political playbook has degraded to its present state. To use language that Evangelical Christians should understand, to gain power the Republican Party has "sown the wind" with politics designed to appeal to the worst in humanity. It is now time to "reap the whirlwind." Moreover, conservatives such as yourself, who knew better, were content to use ugly politics to gain power to advance your true agenda on behalf of the plutocracy. Today's essay comes far too late in the day. At this point, Mr. Brooks you are only a "voice crying in the wilderness."
10
I remember feeling sick to my stomach when Reagan was elected, appalled by the triumph of the politics of fear, division, intolerance and anti intellectualism. It has steadily gotten worse, fanned by great gobs of money, Fox News, a variety of toxic emotionally broken reactionaries and most of all, an irresponsible citizenry. True conservatism in this country is on life support.
9
This is a piece whose reasoning, perception, tone and responsibility encompasses the true conservative principles that David Brooks has described so realistically and so brilliantly. His insights are not without value to liberals of goodwill who want to improve their own ability to see reality and find more effective ways to converse with people of differing perspectives. We all need to find the common path upon which we can return our nation to the most fundamental political reality of all: Politics is the art of the possible.
3
John Cahill: oh poppycock. Where were Brooks and other 'leaders' a few years ago when it could have mattered?
1
It is hard to find words to respond to this column. For once David is spot on. Is it just me or did he just echo what Paul Krugman has been saying for years. "There are crazies on the right unlike anything on the left."
What are we in the center supposed to do? Cover our eyes and vote Democrat I guess.
What are we in the center supposed to do? Cover our eyes and vote Democrat I guess.
7
This is an excellent summary of the state of the Republican Party. But it's interesting that, aside from name-checking Rush Limbaugh, Brooks avoids any discussion of *how* the Party got to this state. The shift to radical mindset and bombastic rhetoric just sort of... happened. Mistakes were made.
As a rule, when someone starts talking about how mistakes were made while eliding the question of who made them, it's a good bet that person was one of the mistake-makers. This is certainly true of Brooks, who has built a successful career out of providing intellectual cover for the radicals while tut-tutting over their radicalism. If he wants to fix his party, perhaps he should start by reconsidering his own choices.
As a rule, when someone starts talking about how mistakes were made while eliding the question of who made them, it's a good bet that person was one of the mistake-makers. This is certainly true of Brooks, who has built a successful career out of providing intellectual cover for the radicals while tut-tutting over their radicalism. If he wants to fix his party, perhaps he should start by reconsidering his own choices.
6
When Republican leaders and legislators tacitly (or overtly) condoned birtherism, "death panel" attacks, and Congressman Wilson's outrageous behavior at the State of the Union address ("You lie!" he shouted at President Obama in the middle of his speech); when they made the filibuster their legislative go-to instead of addressing real problems through compromise; and when they chose to "investigate" rather than legislate, they made a pact with the devil. Finally, it appears Republicans will reap what they've sown.
Sadly, the nation has paid the price for far too long. This column is a step in the right direction, but I wish David Brooks had called out the Republicans over these and other destructive governing choices long ago.
Sadly, the nation has paid the price for far too long. This column is a step in the right direction, but I wish David Brooks had called out the Republicans over these and other destructive governing choices long ago.
9
How did this situation come about? Some guy named Rush?
i remember a guy named Reagan who said government is not the solution but the problem. The main theme of conservatism has been limited government since then. These current Republicans have simply taken this proposition to its logical conclusion - anarchy.
Instead of chastising these "true believers," examen your own limited government philosophy, which has not only spawned these anarchists, but also:
1. massive dergulation which gave rise to the greatest financial mess in a generation; and
2. inequality - on a scale not seen since the late 1800s.
Maybe the problem isnt anarchist conservatism, but the elites of the conservative movement who failed to see the logical outcome of their dogma.
i remember a guy named Reagan who said government is not the solution but the problem. The main theme of conservatism has been limited government since then. These current Republicans have simply taken this proposition to its logical conclusion - anarchy.
Instead of chastising these "true believers," examen your own limited government philosophy, which has not only spawned these anarchists, but also:
1. massive dergulation which gave rise to the greatest financial mess in a generation; and
2. inequality - on a scale not seen since the late 1800s.
Maybe the problem isnt anarchist conservatism, but the elites of the conservative movement who failed to see the logical outcome of their dogma.
9
Many of your phrases remind me of other radical movements. I fear that just as radical Islam is a distortion of a religion for violent political purposes, the radical right in our country is perverting conservatism as well as our whole political process and flirting with incitement to violence in pursuit of a misguided political agenda. This is anathema to democracy and governing.
"Compromise is corruption. Inconvenient facts are ignored. Countrymen with different views are regarded as aliens. Political identity became a sort of ethnic identity, and any compromise was regarded as a blood betrayal."
Sadly, true. And how far is it from the expression of these dangerous ideas to another Oklahoma City bombing?
"Compromise is corruption. Inconvenient facts are ignored. Countrymen with different views are regarded as aliens. Political identity became a sort of ethnic identity, and any compromise was regarded as a blood betrayal."
Sadly, true. And how far is it from the expression of these dangerous ideas to another Oklahoma City bombing?
6
I love the line 'if you cannot convince the majority of your colleagues.... you might be wrong!' If more people in every walk of life understood this maybe we could do something as a nation
1
I can't believe no one sees what seems so obvious to me. The wealthy, through many organizations, empowered by the Court and Citizens United, funds people to be elected to disable the democracy. If they fail to go along, at the next election the wealthy run candidates to oppose the persons they'd previously empowered. Grover Norquist wasn't kidding when he said Party Republicans and the wealthy wanted to "shrink government until it could be drowned in a bathtub". At this point the wealthy, through their corporations, would be able to run the government, what's left of it, and become dictators to the people. This is the point of "New World Order" George H.W. Bush spoke of. We'll be back to a feudal system, of kings and peasants, which has been the goal all along.
I just watched a program about the situations in Guatemala and Argentina. The vast majority of people are mired in a feudal system, ruled by wealth from external sources. It's the same conditions we're trying to be forced into here, by the same people!
What helps secure this system is that the Democrats are locked into it also. They need to accept some of the same dirty money, just to have a seat at the table, and try to tightrope their way along, doing as much good as possible while hoping they're minimizing harm.
The only way to defeat this cycle is by having better informed and better educated populace, but of course the wealthy and their party by default, the Republicans, oppose these things.
I just watched a program about the situations in Guatemala and Argentina. The vast majority of people are mired in a feudal system, ruled by wealth from external sources. It's the same conditions we're trying to be forced into here, by the same people!
What helps secure this system is that the Democrats are locked into it also. They need to accept some of the same dirty money, just to have a seat at the table, and try to tightrope their way along, doing as much good as possible while hoping they're minimizing harm.
The only way to defeat this cycle is by having better informed and better educated populace, but of course the wealthy and their party by default, the Republicans, oppose these things.
7
David,
You can blame Rush and Newt, and the lack of civility and the abandonment of conservative principles, but what we're seeing in the party has been in the making for decades. It began with Buckley, Goldwater, and Reagan saying that Government is the problem, which was easily translated into paranoid racism by the Atwater's and the Rove's in the electoral strategy apparatus.
Here's the unpleasant truth: the Republicans and /or conservatism are no where near a majority party and cannot get to 50% plus 1 without appealing to the worst instincts of people: their fears, their hate, and their narrow minded, anti-democratic religiosity (as opposed to their faith which tells them to love, forgive, and not to judge). Republicans have broadened their party to take in Confederates, militia members, anti-government crusaders, anti-immigrant xenophobes, and end-of-days types and these people are now the base of the party. You reap what you sow.
You can blame Rush and Newt, and the lack of civility and the abandonment of conservative principles, but what we're seeing in the party has been in the making for decades. It began with Buckley, Goldwater, and Reagan saying that Government is the problem, which was easily translated into paranoid racism by the Atwater's and the Rove's in the electoral strategy apparatus.
Here's the unpleasant truth: the Republicans and /or conservatism are no where near a majority party and cannot get to 50% plus 1 without appealing to the worst instincts of people: their fears, their hate, and their narrow minded, anti-democratic religiosity (as opposed to their faith which tells them to love, forgive, and not to judge). Republicans have broadened their party to take in Confederates, militia members, anti-government crusaders, anti-immigrant xenophobes, and end-of-days types and these people are now the base of the party. You reap what you sow.
11
Rush Limbaugh, the de facto head of the Republican Party in the 1990s flogged the story that the Clintons were responsible for the "murder" of Vince Foster, who of course committed suicide. I can recall not a single Republican who refuted that. They were too intimidated by Limbaugh.
He held sway through the 90s, with his rants about Whitewater, impeaching Pres. Clinton, etc., and his "ditto heads" bought it hook, line and sinker. With the advent of the rise of the right wing extremist media (Breibart, Sludge, FOX (fair and balanced, not), it appears that by 2010 Limbaugh had lost some of his clout, or at least had been subsumed into the right wing media establishment. Hence the proliferation of conspiracy theories and anti-government rhetoric, and the rise of the Tea Party.
Republicans embraced the Tea Party in 2010, thinking they could control them. They have allowed a nest of vipers into the House of Representatives, and find that they are indeed poisonous and if they don't get this nest of vipers under control, the Republican Party will not survive.
The Freedom Caucus is not about freedom. Its membership is secret (why?) and the only goal is to bring about the destruction of the Republican Party .
John Boehner could go the country a great service if he would put these people in their place by bringing forth a clean bill raising the debt ceiling, by funding the highway trust fund, and by bringing forth a sensible immigration bill.
He held sway through the 90s, with his rants about Whitewater, impeaching Pres. Clinton, etc., and his "ditto heads" bought it hook, line and sinker. With the advent of the rise of the right wing extremist media (Breibart, Sludge, FOX (fair and balanced, not), it appears that by 2010 Limbaugh had lost some of his clout, or at least had been subsumed into the right wing media establishment. Hence the proliferation of conspiracy theories and anti-government rhetoric, and the rise of the Tea Party.
Republicans embraced the Tea Party in 2010, thinking they could control them. They have allowed a nest of vipers into the House of Representatives, and find that they are indeed poisonous and if they don't get this nest of vipers under control, the Republican Party will not survive.
The Freedom Caucus is not about freedom. Its membership is secret (why?) and the only goal is to bring about the destruction of the Republican Party .
John Boehner could go the country a great service if he would put these people in their place by bringing forth a clean bill raising the debt ceiling, by funding the highway trust fund, and by bringing forth a sensible immigration bill.
10
I’m reading "Sons of Wichita," about the libertarian Koch brothers who think and act like many of today's Republicans. The book reads like equal parts wild success story, Greek tragedy and American horror story. That’s because the Koch brothers were raised like many Republicans at issue today. Although taught to be ethical, they ate fear and fighting at breakfast and with their entrees at dinner; served by their well-meaning but tragically paranoid father. Disagree with your brother? Put on the boxing gloves and duke it out.
In adulthood those boxing gloves morphed into litigation and vile philosophies starting with the John Birch Society. They learned to focus on business growth and profits at the exclusion of most else, including safety and personal fulfillment. They incentivized their employees to do the same with tragic consequences, some deadly, for people and the environment. They paid “largest ever” fines for violating rules designed to protect us all , learning only to fight those protections “smarter” and harder.
For the Kochs and all of us the problems and the solutions are the same. When considering which politician or policy to support, pause without engaging your belief system. Instead, think and act holistically. Employ the Scientific Method to research, hypothesis, and test, analyze and conclude who and what are truly best not just for one’s self but for the whole.
In adulthood those boxing gloves morphed into litigation and vile philosophies starting with the John Birch Society. They learned to focus on business growth and profits at the exclusion of most else, including safety and personal fulfillment. They incentivized their employees to do the same with tragic consequences, some deadly, for people and the environment. They paid “largest ever” fines for violating rules designed to protect us all , learning only to fight those protections “smarter” and harder.
For the Kochs and all of us the problems and the solutions are the same. When considering which politician or policy to support, pause without engaging your belief system. Instead, think and act holistically. Employ the Scientific Method to research, hypothesis, and test, analyze and conclude who and what are truly best not just for one’s self but for the whole.
8
I grew up in the Republican enclave of Nassau County, Long Island, NY, with power held by Teddy Roosevelt Republicans from the late 1800s through when I left home in the 1970s. They were considered Moderate Republicans.
There was not much difference between the political parties then. In fact, if it weren’t for East Coast and Midwest Republicans, the social changes for fair wages, civil rights and equality in the voting booth of the 1960s, would never have passed with the Democratic Party Congressional majority.
That is because the Dixiecrat-wing of the Democratic Party in the southern states blocked such legislation at every turn. When the social legislation passed, the white southern vote left in droves for the Republican Party.
In the 1970s, Lee Atwater geared up the growth of Republican Party in the South by playing the race and fear cards. This strategy brought on the era of the fact-rejecting bloviators on the far right in the late 20th century, which the Republican Party is now having to deal with now.
I do not recognize the Republican Party of my youth, although there are holdouts in parts of Long Island and New England. We may see in our lifetime the demolition of the Republican Party as it is currently concocted with the moderate Republicans leaving with hopes of attracting the most conservative elements of the Democratic Party to start again in the image and likeness of Teddy Roosevelt and William Howard Taft Republicans of a century ago.
There was not much difference between the political parties then. In fact, if it weren’t for East Coast and Midwest Republicans, the social changes for fair wages, civil rights and equality in the voting booth of the 1960s, would never have passed with the Democratic Party Congressional majority.
That is because the Dixiecrat-wing of the Democratic Party in the southern states blocked such legislation at every turn. When the social legislation passed, the white southern vote left in droves for the Republican Party.
In the 1970s, Lee Atwater geared up the growth of Republican Party in the South by playing the race and fear cards. This strategy brought on the era of the fact-rejecting bloviators on the far right in the late 20th century, which the Republican Party is now having to deal with now.
I do not recognize the Republican Party of my youth, although there are holdouts in parts of Long Island and New England. We may see in our lifetime the demolition of the Republican Party as it is currently concocted with the moderate Republicans leaving with hopes of attracting the most conservative elements of the Democratic Party to start again in the image and likeness of Teddy Roosevelt and William Howard Taft Republicans of a century ago.
4
David, why are you still a Republican? Seriously, I wish you would write a column about that, because I don't get it.
15
I very much second this call. Let's hear it David, why do you still align yourself with the GOP?
1
So Brooks is shocked that the lunatics he's been aiding and abetting for his entire career are finally threatening to burn down the asylum? He's just as culpable as Rush Limbaugh - in fact he's worse, because he's always been there to put a soothing, "reasonable" spin on the most wildly unhinged idiocies and rabid ideologies the GOP has trotted out since the rise of Gingrinch. Sorry, David, but you're part of the problem - don't try and distance yourself from the guys who are just taking your failed ideology to its logical conclusion.
16
If I were a Republican, I'd be thinking long and hard about voting for Hilary in the primary and at least assuring myself that some semblance of moderation would prevail. Fortunately, they are not this smart. I've lived happily under Bernie rule in VT for 40 years. The US will be a far better place with him in the highest office.
6
Hurray for David Brooks who has abandoned the George Will school of thought -- defend the Republican Party even as it goes down in flames and brings us all down with it. George Will: "the Pope is partisan!" Brooks shows himself to be about America first and foremost and calls it like it is in this column. Bravo.
4
Thank you for calling these folks what they are - radicals. Nothing like this is coming from the left. This small faction of people who represent a very small percentage of the electorate feel justified in doing whatever they can to bend the rest of us toward their agenda - anything except honest persuasion, that is. That might take talking to the rest of us, instead of living inside their echo chamber. A pox on the so-called Freedom Caucus.
5
As a life-long Democrat I miss the constructive counterpoint coming from responsible Republicans. In the past I believe we saw some very productive legislation and governance emerge from this interplay. I wonder now if our Republican politicians even have the skills now to engage in a democratic process. I also miss the time when I could have long and engaging conversations with my Republican neighbors. They no longer seem possible. Thank you David for this important column.
1
I am happy to see you have looked into the political mirror and cannot recognize yourself. The Republican party needs people like you to remind then of who they used to be. The best thing for our country is the checks and balances of competing ideas with in the politics of at least two honest political parties that are committed to governing and achieving the peoples business.
1
Another factor which plays in is the media abetting polarization with the routine use of "liberal" and "conservative" labels, as if everyone falls into one or the other camp. Nothing beats an educated electorate which keeps up with events, but equally, an electorate which should have learned in school all the short cuts to well-reasoned decision making such as unsupported assertion, smears, half-truth telling, distortion, etc. Unfortunately, politics as demonstrated by politicians, has become a metaphor for professional sports where there can only be winners or losers. There is no compromise in a football game.
1
I completely agree that many members of the Republican Party no longer represent conservatives! On Meet the Press this past Sunday, Charlie Dent represented traditional conservatives and Dave Brat represented the extremist members of the Freedom Caucus. Congressman Brat, please listen to the wisdom of David Brooks: “If you can’t persuade a majority of your colleagues, maybe you should accept their position. You might be wrong!”
I can't read all 900 comments, so perhaps somebody has already noticed that Brooks doesn't mention race as one of the deepest and strongest drivers of the political inflammation in the right. Republicans are acutely conscious of having become the White People's Party . . . and that white people are headed toward minority status in these United States. Their saeva indignatio isn't just about ideology. More of a primal scream.
6
If David Brooks were truly inclined to the sort of sober self-reflection and
conservative values he espouses, wouldn’t he question his own contribution to the Republican mess? Hasn’t Brooks thrown endless harpoons at Barack Obama, regardless of what the President did or how much his positions aligned with what Brooks admits are formerly Conservative ideas? Brooks’ newly-minted outrage rings a bit hollow, I think. His "bash-Obama at every turn" attitude, slightly disguised by a professorial and quasi-genteel writing style, has aided and abetted the right-wing lunacy he now derides.
conservative values he espouses, wouldn’t he question his own contribution to the Republican mess? Hasn’t Brooks thrown endless harpoons at Barack Obama, regardless of what the President did or how much his positions aligned with what Brooks admits are formerly Conservative ideas? Brooks’ newly-minted outrage rings a bit hollow, I think. His "bash-Obama at every turn" attitude, slightly disguised by a professorial and quasi-genteel writing style, has aided and abetted the right-wing lunacy he now derides.
3
Good on you for writing this, but you have not identified anything new. You have been carrying water for these people and their corrupt, incompetent, oligarchic agenda for years.
5
Refreshing to have David finally and so articulately and publicly, put his finger on what is wrong with the modern Republican party. There is now a whole generation of young Republicans who don't know a ' true conservative' if they bumped into one and haven't experienced that type of leadership in a generation. Instead of cowering from the extremists wing, someone needs to show leadership and start the process of educating a younger generation of Republicans abut true conservatism. Both parties also need to start a process to re-draw congressional districts so that gerrymandered 'safe' districts are more balanced. It is the safety of a gerrymandered districts that is driving extreme behavior of both parties.
2
I think the rot in the Republican Party began to destroy it from within with the brilliant Newt Gingrich discovery that the GOP didn't need to court the middle of the road or undecided voter if they courted their right extremists and got them to vote in the primaries, as well as in the elections. This discovery, unfortunately, came at a time when the racists -- who had fled the Democratic Party after Johnson got the Voters Rights Act passed --started calling themselves "Christians" and moved over to the extreme right of the GOP. I don't see a way out from this mess until we deal really with the facts on the ground: that we are no longer a mostly white society.
7
While readers are quick to point out that Mr. Brooks may have omitted this point or that, they seem to miss his clear elucidation of the trouble he asks us to heed in his column of 10/13/15. We're a little more than a year from electing the next president and members of congress and the political field is waist deep in chaos.
Vital issues are ignored for the perverse reality show that has nothing to do with substance and very much to do with noise. It's the kind of static that substitutes the circus maximums for thoughtful consideration. No republic can long endure pandemonium’s rule and the GOP players are gaming the diminution of America as if it were some holy crusade.
Sadly, it’s up to the voters who have so wearied that they tune it out, but in their hands is the electoral power to sweep out the show and bring a solution to Washington’s woe.
Vital issues are ignored for the perverse reality show that has nothing to do with substance and very much to do with noise. It's the kind of static that substitutes the circus maximums for thoughtful consideration. No republic can long endure pandemonium’s rule and the GOP players are gaming the diminution of America as if it were some holy crusade.
Sadly, it’s up to the voters who have so wearied that they tune it out, but in their hands is the electoral power to sweep out the show and bring a solution to Washington’s woe.
3
Mr. Brooks must be Rip Van Winkle in disguise just newly awake because the republicans have been excessively nutsy for a lot longer than 30 years, way before the current pantheon of fruit cakes, Rush Limbag, Sarah Palin, Grover Norquist, and the super-mega-angry tea partier know-nothings. Does he not recall a war-mongering, tyrannical petty thief drunk named Richard Nixon? He was crazy and a crook, resulting in a bumbler president we didn't elect, Ford and his own special kind of incompetence.
How could Brooks applaud McCain fir inflicting Mz. Palin on us? How could Brooks take seriously the 2010 cab load of clowns, Gingrich, Santorum, Perry, Cain, Romney? How can one with Mr. Brooks self-proclaimed and self-esteemed intellectual storehouse take seriously the likes of Trump, Carson, Fiorina, Cruz, Paul, Rubio and anybody else left in the republicans' long march without throwing up?
And then there are/were the Bushes. Doesn't Mr. Brooks consider W's dumb deadly war to avenge Poppy a little crazy? And now does Brooks support Jeb!? Now that's genuine incompetence.
Can Brooks really identify with any of this lot? One can only conclude that Mr. Brooks is partly to blame because he has enabled republican politicians, stayed silent and pretended that they were really okay, pretended they were capable of governing and pretended that they weren't crazy dumb and is some cases, when they were frothily insulting our president, downright vile.
How could Brooks applaud McCain fir inflicting Mz. Palin on us? How could Brooks take seriously the 2010 cab load of clowns, Gingrich, Santorum, Perry, Cain, Romney? How can one with Mr. Brooks self-proclaimed and self-esteemed intellectual storehouse take seriously the likes of Trump, Carson, Fiorina, Cruz, Paul, Rubio and anybody else left in the republicans' long march without throwing up?
And then there are/were the Bushes. Doesn't Mr. Brooks consider W's dumb deadly war to avenge Poppy a little crazy? And now does Brooks support Jeb!? Now that's genuine incompetence.
Can Brooks really identify with any of this lot? One can only conclude that Mr. Brooks is partly to blame because he has enabled republican politicians, stayed silent and pretended that they were really okay, pretended they were capable of governing and pretended that they weren't crazy dumb and is some cases, when they were frothily insulting our president, downright vile.
1
It's way past time that David Brooks, like Ben Bernanke, admitted that the Republican Party as now constituted has left him.
1
How did this situation come about? Follow the money.
2
As was once observed by the late, great Molly Ivins, putting people in charge of government who don't believe in government is never a particularly good idea on the best of days.
The chickens have come home to roost for the GOP. Thirty-five years ago, they began their courtship of a constituency that had previously been ignored in this country: the terminally brain damaged. They have no one to blame but themselves for what is happening tp what used to be known as the party of Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt and Dwight D. Eisenhower.
BREAKING NEWS: Right wing form of governance doesn't work. It never has. It never will. Someday maybe the people of this doomed country will learn this crucial lesson - but I'm not gonna hold my breath.
http://www.tomdegan.blogspot.com
Tom Degan
The chickens have come home to roost for the GOP. Thirty-five years ago, they began their courtship of a constituency that had previously been ignored in this country: the terminally brain damaged. They have no one to blame but themselves for what is happening tp what used to be known as the party of Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt and Dwight D. Eisenhower.
BREAKING NEWS: Right wing form of governance doesn't work. It never has. It never will. Someday maybe the people of this doomed country will learn this crucial lesson - but I'm not gonna hold my breath.
http://www.tomdegan.blogspot.com
Tom Degan
4
Yes, I always wondered why these people elect to govern when they hate government.
1
Thank you for highlighting the role of talk radio, although you should also have mentioned Fox news. Politicians no longer need a party's backing, just a microphone.
1
"...every revolution tends toward anarchy and ends up devouring its own." Really? "EVERY" revolution? Really?
Republicans are so mortified about the real damage their darling George W. Bush did to the country that they lash out against anything perceived as opposition. This distracts themselves and everyone else from the truth about how empty their party and its philosophy are.
1
"intellectual humility" is NOT a characteristic I associate with the Republican party. If anything, they have proven themselves full to the brim with hubris.
9
It was your "hero" president Ronald Reagan and his conservative revolution that has brought your party to this dysfunctional conclusion, as you praised him one column after another.
6
This is clear, honest, heart-breaking thinking from the center-right. Brooks could convert contrists to conservatism if the conservatism he defines and eulogizes so powerfully weren't so very, very dead.
3
If Mr. Brooks were describing the political history of a distant, unknown country, what would these phenomena be called? What would be their probable outcome?
1
Grover Norquist's no-new-taxes pledge that all Republican legislators are essentially forced to sign is one of the main problems. Without taxes, how can we raise money for needed infrastructure repair? Norquist needs to be shut down. Nobody elected him to anything. What I think is the most pervasive problem is voter apathy. People who are too busy with their daily lives to be bothered to vote, especially in off-Presidential election years. We basically get the government we deserve.
7
Charles –
Please be careful with defined terms. I think your "we" is not precise enough. The red states get the government THEY deserve. WE get the government that the red states foist upon us and do not deserve.
Please be careful with defined terms. I think your "we" is not precise enough. The red states get the government THEY deserve. WE get the government that the red states foist upon us and do not deserve.
1
Finally - finally - finally...the truth will out. One of the premier apologists for a party that has made naked appeals to the racist, conspiratorial, xenophobic, and misogynistic portions of our nation wakes up and says what EVERYONE ELSE has been saying for thirty plus years - the party is in the grips of dangerous loonies.
Jeez David, why has it taken you so long?
But now that the scales have fallen off your eyes can you maybe get some of the other "adults" in the party to reclaim the Republican brand and send the "kids" back to their room?
Jeez David, why has it taken you so long?
But now that the scales have fallen off your eyes can you maybe get some of the other "adults" in the party to reclaim the Republican brand and send the "kids" back to their room?
16
Well put Mr. Brooks. I doubt you and I would ever agree on much ideologically speaking but you have definitely made me see you as a measured and thoughtful individual with this piece.
6
It is past time for conservatives to recognize what has happened to the GOP and what it means for the country. It may well mark the end of the two party system in the United States. The GOP is no longer in touch with reality and as a result unable to contribute to solving our problems.
8
Thank you, David. A long discussion of how water is wet and the sky is blue, but the GOP needs to be talked off the ledge and better it come from one of their own.
9
Yes, the Republican party is full of wackos, but what about that other party that the public isn't exactly enamored with? Could the problem be the two party system which locks out anything that isn't congruent with the corporate consensus?
When the approval rate of major parties goes down into the 20s and 30s, a sane country would initiate mechanisms to throw them out and attempt to start over.
When the approval rate of major parties goes down into the 20s and 30s, a sane country would initiate mechanisms to throw them out and attempt to start over.
Enjoyable to read as it's honest, even poetic, depiction of the reactionaries (and not revolutionaries, which would require the courage of their convictions and a firm grasp of reality as is) of the republican party, obstructionists to the end, unable or unwilling to lead constructively, for the common good. Concur that most of these far-right wingers are ignorant, hence, prejudiced, and the appearance of knowledge being pure air...and conferring their arrogance. It is most unfortunate that, in the name of purity, we have so many "tedcruzes" in our midst, unwilling to make do with the messy business of politics...so we get things done when opportunity and need converge. In spanish, we have a saying: "el perro del hortelano no come ni deja comer" (the guard's dog doesn't eat, nor does he let others). We must eliminate 'gerrymandering' districts, so we can throw out the illegitimate badly- called 'representatives'; and summon real people instead, those who have our best interests in mind, and act accordingly. These hypocrites, declaring war to government, forget (conveniently) they are part of, and benefit handsomely from it.
7
When the "Freedom Caucus" which does not offer freedom for the majority, and the "opinion leaders" like the Rush Limbaugh and the Drudge Report urge a path for the country that is shared by a small, but vocal minority, then Democracy is in trouble. David Brooks is only too right when he mentions the lack of responsibility and inability to convince more than a small minority of their stand.
It seems the biggest problem with the Republican party is that the tail is wagging the dog. Most of its members in Congress seem too intimidated to make themselves heard.These are the legislators who rarely read the bills they vote on, are too worried about re-election to speak up on any matter, especially when their real intent would be to counter the loudmouth that claim to speak for the whole party. A member of Congress has a responsibility to use his own judgment after being elected, but most do not dare use their own convictions. They meekly follow the party line or submit to the likes of Grover Norquist's "pledge" and are afraid of being labeled moderate/sensible.
The "Tea Party/Freedom Caucus leads the way to authoritarianism. It would cement further the rule by an unelected elite, the corporations and 1%, all to the detriment of the nation and 90+% of its people. - That is how Hitler came to power in 1933.
It seems the biggest problem with the Republican party is that the tail is wagging the dog. Most of its members in Congress seem too intimidated to make themselves heard.These are the legislators who rarely read the bills they vote on, are too worried about re-election to speak up on any matter, especially when their real intent would be to counter the loudmouth that claim to speak for the whole party. A member of Congress has a responsibility to use his own judgment after being elected, but most do not dare use their own convictions. They meekly follow the party line or submit to the likes of Grover Norquist's "pledge" and are afraid of being labeled moderate/sensible.
The "Tea Party/Freedom Caucus leads the way to authoritarianism. It would cement further the rule by an unelected elite, the corporations and 1%, all to the detriment of the nation and 90+% of its people. - That is how Hitler came to power in 1933.
6
I think the real leader of the " new" republicanism of hate and fear is Fox " news". But lets be honest, David, you're still going to vote for their nominee, right? No matter how terrible?
12
Well I guess we can now cross David Brooks' name off the list of possible Speakers of the House. Sanity and honest self-reflection are disqualifying.
11
I am grateful we have had a steady leader in the White House to offset the lack of balls in Congress. The Obama administration has made mistakes, what president doesn't, we are all human. Rush Limbaugh is an 'entertainer' in the same vein as Howard Stern. Only difference is Stern has not created havoc with our democracy and if you actually listen to him, uses great logic and intelligence. Among other things that have driven the right wing nuts is crazy have been very few scandals in this administration. Politicians love to catch the other guy doing something stupid, now they're catching themselves. They can't believe a Black man has one upped them multiple times.
20
By their silence, their lack of alternative policies and their own unwillingness to cooperate/compromise even on such issues as infrastructure, education, research, and health care, Mr. Brooks' "traditional conservatives" are themselves deeply complicit in the pell-mell rush to destroy the functioning, faith and credit of the federal government.
Thanks to the eager help of "traditionals," the GOP's new firebrands can get by on funding from a few plutocrats; they represent gerrymandered districts so deeply red that local voters will go on rewarding extreme behavior no matter the consequences. National demographics may be shifting away from the GOP base, but Republicans (including "traditionals") have been quite open and successful in erecting new barriers to voting and to citizenship
Under the present rules of engagement, It's hard to see how Democrats can do more than slowly chip away at these structural challenges, So, right now, the entire American Experiment hinges on whether Brooks' "traditional conservatives" are able to show some courage and leadership. What are the odds?
Thanks to the eager help of "traditionals," the GOP's new firebrands can get by on funding from a few plutocrats; they represent gerrymandered districts so deeply red that local voters will go on rewarding extreme behavior no matter the consequences. National demographics may be shifting away from the GOP base, but Republicans (including "traditionals") have been quite open and successful in erecting new barriers to voting and to citizenship
Under the present rules of engagement, It's hard to see how Democrats can do more than slowly chip away at these structural challenges, So, right now, the entire American Experiment hinges on whether Brooks' "traditional conservatives" are able to show some courage and leadership. What are the odds?
10
'In his masterwork, “Politics as a Vocation,” Max Weber argues that the pre-eminent qualities for a politician are passion, a feeling of responsibility and a sense of proportion. A politician needs warm passion to impel action but a cool sense of responsibility and proportion to make careful decisions in a complex landscape.'
Kinda sounds like Barack Obama to me.
Kinda sounds like Barack Obama to me.
25
Yep.
It's a good that those Traditional Conservative values — intellectual humility, a belief in steady, incremental change, national unity, etc. — are still being upheld by a few stalwarts in Congress.
You know, the Democrats.
You know, the Democrats.
10
Grover Norquist and the Pledge were left off your list of 'visionaries.' He was the first to shackle many right-minded politicians to a dogma of 'starve the beast.' BTW, where is Grover nowadays?
8
You cannot deny it: Republicans want America to become a North Korea: The People jailed, starving, applauding, and Government spending all the money in weaponry (eventually, to defend Zionism.)
2
Congratulations. Mr. Brooks now joins those other crypto-left-wingers that the radical purists in his party have called out recently: John Boehner, Kevin McCarthy, and Paul Ryan (!).
3
Finally, a conservative spokesperson speaks out in a reasonable, insightful manner. I feel the Republican Party will soon split--between those who consider themselves to be true conservatives and the truly incompetent. Isn't it ironic that the author points out good decision making relies on a certain degree of intellectual detachment when one loud complaint Republicans have made about President Obama is his detachment?
3
The uber commentator Brooks again shows he is super god at identifying issues and problems but utterly incapable of understanding their true roots (and thus potential solution). Where is his insight regarding the unloosing of billions of dollars by the radical right who are indirectly manipulating so much of the Republican (sic) radical agenda-- for their own financial benefit of course, or his comments on how modern social communications technology has enabled these fringe groups to exert so much power over the (relatively) unsophisticated and lesser educated groups who constitute the core of the Tea Party adherents? Like so many of his ilk, Mr. Brooks is good at taking one to the edge but then demurs when he peers down into the abyss he has helped create and realizes the solution would force him to abandon his own wrong-headed core beliefs.
6
Finally a little truth telling. It's almost as if the disease of radicalism we seem in the Middle East has infect us as well--and somehow the nation seems completely blind to it.
5
An incredible column, in that I see agreement more or less on both "sides" in the comments section with David Brooks' points and fine analysis. My father, who voted for Nixon, began talking about a Republican conspiracy in the time of the first Bush; he saw what was happening. He died 10 years ago, and would utterly horrified by what is going on today.
3
It all boils down to "Law and Order."
It begins during the elections where claims in support or against a candidate are clearly untrue. With no recourse.
It moves to where some in elected office do not believe the laws and bills that are duly passed need to be followed.
It continues where court decisions are handed down and the court suddenly is call rougue and its place as an institution of government is questioned.
It has evolved into secret PACS where huge sums of money can be secretly funneled to given causes and given tax status while no one knows who is funding it.
It is permanently aided where partisanship is more important than our free and open elections.
We are a nation of laws with a heralded constitution, yet too many feel just want to circumvent our civil law and order for personal partisan reasons.
It begins during the elections where claims in support or against a candidate are clearly untrue. With no recourse.
It moves to where some in elected office do not believe the laws and bills that are duly passed need to be followed.
It continues where court decisions are handed down and the court suddenly is call rougue and its place as an institution of government is questioned.
It has evolved into secret PACS where huge sums of money can be secretly funneled to given causes and given tax status while no one knows who is funding it.
It is permanently aided where partisanship is more important than our free and open elections.
We are a nation of laws with a heralded constitution, yet too many feel just want to circumvent our civil law and order for personal partisan reasons.
5
Bravo Mr. Brooks. Your analysis is incisive and should spark some self reflection among all members of Congress but especially among the GOP members. As I write this, I have a book on the environment going to press. Each chapter, on topics ranging from biodiversity and energy to climate, begins with a quote counseling stewardship of the environment. A few are drawn from past U.S. Presidents, all Republicans. My favorite is from Ronald Reagan's 1984 State of the Union address, "Preservation of our environment is not a liberal or conservative challenge, it's common sense." We need that constructive perspective now more than ever. And by the way, my voting record would put me decidedly on the liberal side of the ledger. Again, bravo!
1
How about racism, Mr. Brooks? Don't you think it has anything to do with the GOP's rabid dysfunction? Even a little?
Many of us know it does.
Many of us know it does.
15
If the art of governing well means one needs to be able to see the other's point of view, while maintaining one's own, and then be able to reach out for a compromise - then yes, a percentage of Republicans are guilty of not being able to do that. By this measure then, wouldn't Obama, Pelosi and Reid also be guilty of the same thing?
1
I know I should be ecstatic over today's op-ed but David Brooks' recognition that the Space Cadets have taken over the GOP still leaves me with the feeling the Democrats have moved far to the right of where real conservatives dwell and we still need a viable opposition. Thirty five years of failing to respond to the changes that have taken place leaves little room for conservative remediation.
Thank you. Will the adults among those "true" conservatives heed your warning?Can they muster the will to act?
As a liberal grown from an Independent beginning, I appeal to those whose conservative ideas, based on thoughtful analysis and intelligent consideration of the facts, challenge my assumptions and sometimes change my perspective.
What we have from the Right currently, is the verbal/political equivalent of the guillotine as their only response to disagreement. The far Right is more and more resembling ISIS in their tactics and even philosophy, if indeed they could even be said to have one.
As a liberal grown from an Independent beginning, I appeal to those whose conservative ideas, based on thoughtful analysis and intelligent consideration of the facts, challenge my assumptions and sometimes change my perspective.
What we have from the Right currently, is the verbal/political equivalent of the guillotine as their only response to disagreement. The far Right is more and more resembling ISIS in their tactics and even philosophy, if indeed they could even be said to have one.
4
the national Republican Party has become an opposition party that cannot govern. sadly democracy's ain't that strong so it makes it hard to not beg the moderate republicans to spank their unmanageable fools
the house democrats should join with the house moderates, the Tuesday group, to select a moderate republican speaker and govern the nation
only both parties compromising will bring smart leadership able to the people's House. either party accepting the conditions of these foolish hard line republicans is contributing to the weakening of America
the house democrats should join with the house moderates, the Tuesday group, to select a moderate republican speaker and govern the nation
only both parties compromising will bring smart leadership able to the people's House. either party accepting the conditions of these foolish hard line republicans is contributing to the weakening of America
2
Your suggestion that moderate Democrats partner with moderate Republicans to select a leader is an excellent one. It will be interesting to see if either group has the courage to pursue such a bipartisan track.
I pray that this editorial is the watershed moment when conservatives take back the GOP from the radical right wing.
Our nation is under attack from the radicals posing as conservatives and they are doing serious damage.
Our nation is under attack from the radicals posing as conservatives and they are doing serious damage.
Wow. Finally a republican has the guts to speak up and say precisely what reasonable people have known for long time: the current crop of republicans "... are masters at destruction but incompetent at construction".
5
Wow. Just....wow. Thank you so much for this, David. Although our opinions rarely coincide, I see you as the last vestige of our fathers' Republican Party, of which few traces remain. Your Friday evening conversations with Mark Shields are balm to my soul: on more than one occasion, one or another of my adult children who happened to be viewing along with me remarked in some astonishment at how the two of you are able to hold such varied opinions, and yet be respectful and accepting of the other's views. They find it hard to believe that this was once the norm in the world of politics in this country. The enormity of our national devolution is difficult to grasp, unpleasant to behold, and agonizing to experience. Keep reminding us that it doesn't have to be this way. And thanks.
3
As a writer you choose your words carefully. In this piece you have chosen words that indicate you still cannot deal with our current reality. You use adjectives like bumbling, cynical, naive, referring to Cruz, Trump et al. Those words give them a smoke screen inferring incompetence and encouraging denial. It is time to confront the truth that conservative is now the identity of those who have no commitment or interest in the common good. In action as well as words, these people are clear there is no reason to care about those they consider “other” and the circle of those they will care about is very close and small. They also clearly dismiss and fight a foundational understanding that to insure the common good, personal sacrifice may be necessary.
You and those like you who remember the conservative of the traditional definition need to call out the mean spirited, every man for himself philosophy that now defines and drives the Republican party and those who now own the conservative label. Your deference to a history and common understanding that no longer exists, together with a fealty to a party that no longer exists, continues to lead you when you choose benign words to describe an ugly truth that threatens the very foundation of our life as a country. You and others like you must step away from the Republican party and stand with those who seek to confront this threat. It is time to chose words that are truthful and provide cover for no one.
You and those like you who remember the conservative of the traditional definition need to call out the mean spirited, every man for himself philosophy that now defines and drives the Republican party and those who now own the conservative label. Your deference to a history and common understanding that no longer exists, together with a fealty to a party that no longer exists, continues to lead you when you choose benign words to describe an ugly truth that threatens the very foundation of our life as a country. You and others like you must step away from the Republican party and stand with those who seek to confront this threat. It is time to chose words that are truthful and provide cover for no one.
6
yes, mr. brooks, the crazies are running the institution. you haven't even mentioned how aggressive jerrymandering my conservatives at the state level has turned the House hyper-partisan. My congressional district is a great example. my family lives in the city of milwaukee proper, but on the very edge between milwaukee and the suburbs. we used to be part of GOP rep. Jim Sensenbrenner's district. But with GOP gerrymandering a while back, we are now lumped in with Gwen Moore. So now, instead of a healthy debate among a diverse constituency, both Reps. Moore and Sensenbrenner only have to listen to the overwhelming majority of constituents who support them. There is no diversity in the House voting base. that is the real issue we are dealing with--that and Citizens United. I wish i had time to write more.
4
thank you Mr. Brooks for your wisdom. But will the Republicans even listen? they are cutting their own throats. Well I only wish them the best I vote Democrat.
1
After the Democrats won in 2008, they let their power get the best of them. Voters in 2010 wanted to reduce that power. While that power was reduced, it also led to what we are now seeing - a group of powerful ideologues who will continue to control the path of the nation from a very narrow perspective until a new census and redistricting can get us back on course to a nation progressing based on compromise and a willingness to be pragmatic.
Wow! When David Brooks has so clearly been lost, how can any media organization continue to lend credibility or equal time to the so-called conservatives in the GOP clown car.
This article made me feel a lot better about the perspective of traditional conservatives and their unwillingness to join the anarchists in their march towards devastation.
This article made me feel a lot better about the perspective of traditional conservatives and their unwillingness to join the anarchists in their march towards devastation.
1
Lee Atwater. The Republicans' adoption of his Southern Strategy.
Ralph Reed. The Moral Majority.
Donald Wildmon. American Families Association.
Elbridge Gerry. 1812 Massachusetts. Gerrymander
These and similar co-options were the incubators for what has become the force that rules the current Republican Party.
The future will be arduous for the GOP .
Ralph Reed. The Moral Majority.
Donald Wildmon. American Families Association.
Elbridge Gerry. 1812 Massachusetts. Gerrymander
These and similar co-options were the incubators for what has become the force that rules the current Republican Party.
The future will be arduous for the GOP .
7
It is infuriating that Brooks is writing this now. After telling us for 7 years that the problem is Obama's unwillingness to lead, he now all of a sudden, out of the blue, after government shutdowns and debt default threats, comes to the conclusion that the Republicans can't be led.
Great work Mr. Brooks, you'll be getting an F in Political Science 101.
Great work Mr. Brooks, you'll be getting an F in Political Science 101.
8
So if all of this is true (and I certainly agree it is), why is it that the Republicans hold a majority in congress which is unlikely to change during the next election or elections? Is it simply the gerrymandering of the districts? That is the real scandal of all this, that although very many people think the party is broken (including folks like David), but there seem to be no consequences of this at all. That is very unsettling.
3
I blame the Telecommunications Act of 1996 which removed broadcaster's responsibility for balance in political reporting. Just look at how Trump is treated compared to Hillary.
4
Brooks' column and most comments are about how the Republican party has become a party of destructive crazies, but we need to recognize that destructive craziness has been effective in winning elections. Both the House and Senate have Republican majorities. Those majorities were elected with full knowledge of obstructionist and destructive politics advocated and practiced by Republicans, I see no reason to believe the current uproar over the craziness of Republicans over the selection of the Speaker will have any negative impact on Republican prospects in the next election. By this time next year it will be a dim memory and what little residual recollection there may be will not be harmful to Republicans. Brooks will soon return to writing his usual pro-Republican fare.
Mr Brooks, the problem your accurate description of reality, one echoed by Norm Ornstein (AEI) and Thomas Mann in their book "It's Even Worse Than It Looks: How the American Constitutional System Collided With the New Politics of Extremism.", is that many or most "Republicans" will reject the description as readily as they reject climate change, evolution, the legitimacy of the Obama presidency. Reality falls on their deaf, delusional ears.
6
I completely agree. I'm a moderate who desperately misses the participation of honest and thoughtful conservatives in the political sphere. There is no longer much fruitful debate or discussion so there is less learning as well. I can still call out most of my liberal friends when they get too strident, but I'm afraid they'll take the lead from the radical right and imitate their horrible behavior. The media can help by seeking out more voices of reason instead of promoting the destructive attention seekers. Citizens can help by turning away from these enemies of democracy. I can only hope.
2
If David Brooks saw the deterioration of the Republican Party he describes, why has he continued to subtly support their candidates in his News Hour commentaries? If Mitt Romney had been elected, Democrats would not have controlled the executive branch and would not have been able to counter some of the destructive tendencies of the opposition.
5
One of Davids really insightful articles. Congratulations.However, its scary to know these folks are in our government and slowly destroying our democracy.
2
Mr. Brooks's strongest indictment yet of his own party. Yet I am not in full agreement with his definition of a conservative, who is really a person who has strong feelings in favor of the status quo and is resistant to change. The Republican Party is more than just conservative - it is right wing in the original sense of the term - that is, they favor the dominant caste over the Third Estate. All of their actions are in furtherance of the interests of the wealthy class, including shutting down the government, as attacking government means less taxes are taken from the rich. All other policy stands are red herrings or attempts to convince the naive to vote against their economic interests.
4
Good luck David. A really honest piece. Watch your back.
I kept reading waiting for Obama to somehow be blamed and also for the 'Democrats do it too' statement. The blame for all of this belongs on the right and it all started when Reagan sold out to the religious right many years ago.
I kept reading waiting for Obama to somehow be blamed and also for the 'Democrats do it too' statement. The blame for all of this belongs on the right and it all started when Reagan sold out to the religious right many years ago.
5
The GOP in the ‘30’s opposed New Deal reforms such as Social Security, unemployment insurance, graduated income tax, government controls of banking and corporations. After WWII, Republicans continued to oppose the New Deal, and stepped up its opposition to international Communism, including such “communist” institutions as labor unions. The current Republican base took shape after the passage of the Civil Rights acts of 1964 and ’65, with Nixon’s adoption of the “southern strategy” from George Wallace. Ronald Reagan subsequently adopted it too, blaming the nation’s ills on a Federal Government that enforced civil rights laws. Roe v. Wade added another issue to appeal to religious conservatives, distressed about equal rights for women. As women and blacks entered the work-force, uneducated white men began to feel discriminated against. The old Republican elite took advantage of the discontent among white men, and among religious conservatives – heavily in the South, and badly educated – to push its economic agenda favoring corporations and the rich. The elite Trilateral Commission issued a report in the 70’s declaring that Americans were “overeducated” - they like us to be dumb. In the 90’s, under Newt Gingrich, congressional Republicans shut down the government in order to get their way. In short, playing upon prejudices – racial, sexual, religious – the Republican Party has created this monster, the Freedom Caucus, which is in the process of eating its parent.
6
Heads up, this column is a prequel to Mr. Brooks's Friday column which will be about how Bernie Sanders, the radical on the other side, is just as bad if not worse!
6
This is a very important article. I think David Brooks misses that this has been a deliberatively crafted strategy by the GOP to push cynicism towards government as an election strategy by depressing turnout and making it easier for GOP politicians to be elected.
This had strong roots in Reagan’s worst words “I’m from the government and I’m here to help” that have systematically convinced low-information voters that the government is incompetent. It is no coincidence that half of the GOP primary electorate is backing folks with no government experience. This is the end result of that cynical strategy.
This had strong roots in Reagan’s worst words “I’m from the government and I’m here to help” that have systematically convinced low-information voters that the government is incompetent. It is no coincidence that half of the GOP primary electorate is backing folks with no government experience. This is the end result of that cynical strategy.
6
Great piece and should be required reading for all politicians esp. the "freedom caucus". Making politics a blood sport has only lowered the bar and raised the contempt for the "political class".
2
William F. Buckley once said that, "there is nothing new under the sun since the time of Jesus." I think that sums up the underlying premise of conservative thought. Conservatives consider attempts to change the way things are as destabilizing, as potentially causing worst outcomes that the status quo, so the tend to oppose reforms, even those clearly intended to correct egregious injustices. But conservatives believe in law and order, in consistency that allows reliable planning for the future, in government, in cooperation, in assuring that society is as fair is can be to everyone. The flip side of conservative attitudes is complacency toward injustices which tend to benefit themselves but which threaten all that they hold dear if left to persist. Republicans have traditionally been skeptical of popular democracy, usually pointing out that our system of government is not truly democratic but a republic directed by elected representatives with the ability to act despite the popular will when they decide it to be appropriate.
Enter Reagan and the conservatism born of private enterprises who wish government to stop constraining them and cultural conservatism which shares animosity for secular institutions, integration, and taxing people to support programs and institutions which while popular work in contrary to what they would prefer. That was and is not conservatism, it's reactionary radical opposition to the existing order of things.
Enter Reagan and the conservatism born of private enterprises who wish government to stop constraining them and cultural conservatism which shares animosity for secular institutions, integration, and taxing people to support programs and institutions which while popular work in contrary to what they would prefer. That was and is not conservatism, it's reactionary radical opposition to the existing order of things.
3
The Republican Party has ruined the state of Louisiana.
With few exceptions, we continue to have one of the worst public education systems in United States. Instead of improving public education with common sense approaches,i.e.reducing class size for those most in need.. What do they do hire novice Teach for America...under the pretense of cost saving.. No teacher unions to deal with only over paid out of town CEO's.
New Orleans is more dangerous then ever ,thousands of teens not in any public school.. Charter Schools don't want them,they are counseled out when special education is required.
Republicans want to privatize everything education, health care and any where they can make big bucks. The list goes on ... Prisons, war.i.e. Black water..Dick Cheney's retirement nest!
Thank goodness the American people can read between the lines...
Republican Party's lack of leadership ability .. No compromise ... No governance ability ..gets a big vote of NO thank you!
With few exceptions, we continue to have one of the worst public education systems in United States. Instead of improving public education with common sense approaches,i.e.reducing class size for those most in need.. What do they do hire novice Teach for America...under the pretense of cost saving.. No teacher unions to deal with only over paid out of town CEO's.
New Orleans is more dangerous then ever ,thousands of teens not in any public school.. Charter Schools don't want them,they are counseled out when special education is required.
Republicans want to privatize everything education, health care and any where they can make big bucks. The list goes on ... Prisons, war.i.e. Black water..Dick Cheney's retirement nest!
Thank goodness the American people can read between the lines...
Republican Party's lack of leadership ability .. No compromise ... No governance ability ..gets a big vote of NO thank you!
6
The politicians are not the problem, there is and always will be snakes in the grass seeking opportunities.
The problem lies with our society today, we ignore our responsibilities to this great nation by listening to rhetoric, hatred, divisiveness that supports our core beliefs rather than the facts for fear that may challenge our beliefs.
The problem lies with our society today, we ignore our responsibilities to this great nation by listening to rhetoric, hatred, divisiveness that supports our core beliefs rather than the facts for fear that may challenge our beliefs.
6
Brilliant and thoughtful piece! And, while I concur with your pithy statements such as "These figures are masters at destruction but incompetent at construction." you ignore the true shame of the 247 Republican members of the US House of Representatives. Are there not 40 Republicans who have the guts to walk up to the Democrats in the House and say. "It is time to lead the country. Let's join together and make this institution work." Pathetic that the Republican party is held hostage by 40 members, but an equal number can't find their backbone and actually demonstrate leadership.
Oh, I forgot that your insight apparently applies to all 247 Republicans: "These figures are masters at destruction but incompetent at construction."
Oh, I forgot that your insight apparently applies to all 247 Republicans: "These figures are masters at destruction but incompetent at construction."
7
Two points: This essay--if we are lucky--will not only stand the test of time; it will become a watershed moment in the evolution of Republican politics. And second, Mr. Brooks' definition of conservatism, "conservatism stands for intellectual humility, a belief in steady, incremental change, a preference for reform rather than revolution, a respect for hierarchy, precedence, balance and order, and a tone of voice that is prudent, measured and responsible," appears to fit Barack Obama better than it does all but a couple of the Republican presidential candidates.
14
It's almost like David Brooks woke up from a 10 or 15 year long coma, and is shocked, shocked! at how low his party has fallen, and how destructive it has become, both for the country and her citizens, as well as for itself.
12
"Politics is the process of making decisions amid diverse opinions. It involves conversation, calm deliberation, self-discipline, the capacity to listen to other points of view and balance valid but competing ideas and interests."
Well, we destroyed K-12 in this country a generation ago, as I've said elsewhere and we're reaping the benefits. After 23 years teaching at UC, Berkeley I saw undergrads in those 23 years increasing inability to think critically, and these were some of the brightest in the country. We no longer teach our children to think for themselves. Why are we, and Brooks surprised that we have nitwits running the show, particularly on the right?
Well, we destroyed K-12 in this country a generation ago, as I've said elsewhere and we're reaping the benefits. After 23 years teaching at UC, Berkeley I saw undergrads in those 23 years increasing inability to think critically, and these were some of the brightest in the country. We no longer teach our children to think for themselves. Why are we, and Brooks surprised that we have nitwits running the show, particularly on the right?
3
"They won’t respect tradition, institutions or precedent. These figures are masters at destruction but incompetent at construction."
It's called acting like a child. Sorry kids!
It's called acting like a child. Sorry kids!
4
Well Mr Brooks, any thoughts of your own culpability in the whole boondoggle the GOP is stuck in ?
7
The only insight I experienced while reading this editorial was related to its timeliness...or lack thereof. Thank you, Mr. Brooks, for writing what so many of with functioning frontal lobes have known for quite some time.
7
"every people has the government that they deserve" - Joseph de Maistre
1
CINO or conservative in name only, for the radical Right.
1
It's Obama they compare to Hitler, but it's the Freedom Caucus that the Republicans have been appeasing this whole time.
4
"This anti-political political ethos produced elected leaders of jaw-dropping incompetence. Running a government is a craft, like carpentry. But the new Republican officials did not believe in government and so did not respect its traditions, its disciplines and its craftsmanship. They do not accept the hierarchical structures of authority inherent in political activity."
I am in awe of you, David Brooks, for the courage, honesty and strength it took to write this column. This is EXACTLY what voters and NYT subscribers need to read, what I, a Republican, needs to read. Thank you for telling it straight and for offering a sound and valid opinion and point of view. You and this column ROCK!
I am in awe of you, David Brooks, for the courage, honesty and strength it took to write this column. This is EXACTLY what voters and NYT subscribers need to read, what I, a Republican, needs to read. Thank you for telling it straight and for offering a sound and valid opinion and point of view. You and this column ROCK!
3
Mr. Brooks has presented a concise account of why I have mainly stopped voting for republicans.
2
Another thought-
Letting fellow "conservatives" equate being informed AND, *gasp*, EDUCATED, as evidence of the taint-state of "elitism" by conveniently enough, high school grads like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, the GOP severed its own long philosophical traditions to its own roots. Combine with religious folk who distain traditions of rationality and you have a disaster.
You win but you cannot govern because there is no higher state of mind to even appeal to. It is called "mob mentality" for a reason.
Letting fellow "conservatives" equate being informed AND, *gasp*, EDUCATED, as evidence of the taint-state of "elitism" by conveniently enough, high school grads like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, the GOP severed its own long philosophical traditions to its own roots. Combine with religious folk who distain traditions of rationality and you have a disaster.
You win but you cannot govern because there is no higher state of mind to even appeal to. It is called "mob mentality" for a reason.
3
David Brooks laments the incoherence of the Republican party without acknowledging the nature of that party. It is, and remains, the party of big money - and the rank and file are, and remain, the 'useful idiots' that powerful interests always seem to manipulate in order to accomplish their ends. In this case, those ends are the massive and massively regressive changes to the tax and regulatory systems that have resulted in ever increasing concentration of wealth at the top. But we all knew that - only Dave seems to be 'suddenly' alarmed at how blatantly stupid the arguments he's being asked to support are.
And, while acknowledging the corrosive role of the Rush Limbaughs of the right in helping facilitate all this, Brooks fails to acknowledge his role as the 'reasonable' version - parlaying his trademark false equivalences in the tony New York Times to lend a thoughtful sheen to the policies and tactics of the party.
Well, this column sounds like Dave's system is finally vomiting it all up. Go ahead, you'll feel better. But I won't count on it...
And, while acknowledging the corrosive role of the Rush Limbaughs of the right in helping facilitate all this, Brooks fails to acknowledge his role as the 'reasonable' version - parlaying his trademark false equivalences in the tony New York Times to lend a thoughtful sheen to the policies and tactics of the party.
Well, this column sounds like Dave's system is finally vomiting it all up. Go ahead, you'll feel better. But I won't count on it...
5
the sad thing about it is that they will probably we returned to congress next year and i don't think things will get better. The one person that would really love to be speaker can't be and that's Ted Cruz. He is not very well liked in the Senate but loved by most House members and seems to be more comfortable with them....but alas he can't be a senator run for the white house and be speaker sorry Ted
3
David, this is your most insightful column in years. I would point out that the insurgents are not only betraying conservatism, but the country as a whole, and they do it in the name of patriotism. Thus are their comparisons about Nazi Germany directed toward the wrong side: the correct side is their own, and the parallels--including their use of propaganda, their tendency to cross lines that decorum has established so as to create new ones, their attempts to constantly find an enemy and blame everything on it, to gin up phony crises, to disdain academia, women, the arts...if this isn't sounding familiar, you need to do some more reading. Yes, Weber was insightful, but the Weimar Republic, the constitution of which was in part his work, gave way to a group of thugs with no respect for civil government.
8
Mr. Brooks makes lots of good points but misses one that is important. The Republicans (except for Trump) are financed by about 100 ultra-wealthy families as the NYT has reported. The olitical figures are doing the bidding of their masters, so they can make enormous profits for a few more quarters. Democracy, the American People and the survival of the US doesn't matter at all.
8
This is a very well written piece, perhaps several years late but that doesn't detract from its good analysis. What remains unsaid is why the vast majority of Republican legislators who are not in the so-called Freedom Caucus allow this travesty to continue.
At any time in the past several years, the majority of our Republican legislators could easily have moved to the middle and ally with moderate Democrats to pass sensible legislation. That they have not done so speaks volumes about the frustration of the electorate, and the impotence of the party.
As Yates wrote: The best lack all conviction, while the worst
are full of passionate intensity.
At any time in the past several years, the majority of our Republican legislators could easily have moved to the middle and ally with moderate Democrats to pass sensible legislation. That they have not done so speaks volumes about the frustration of the electorate, and the impotence of the party.
As Yates wrote: The best lack all conviction, while the worst
are full of passionate intensity.
7
The only thing good about the Freedom Caucus is that it identifies "who" are the problem!
3
I am glad that my parents - Taft Republicans - did not live to see the Republican Party as it is today.
1
David, there is a solution to this but you and the cowardly Republican moderate majority refuse to implement it across the board. By allying with the moderate Democrats in congress a majority could be formed to basically make the extreme wing of the Republican party powerless. We've see this coalition work in the passing of the TPP, the raising of the debt ceiling, and the coming reform of mandatory sentencing. This coalition could work with the president who is a moderate himself. It would also work with Hilary, if elected, or even Jeb Bush - both basically moderates. This is the only path back to responsible government and to marginalizing the extremists.
1
I love you Mr David Brooks for opening up the window to let the sunshine in.
1
Dear Mr. Brooks:
In complete admiration of paragraph three. But how are we going to meet the challenge of Climate Change on it's timeline? Don't we have to pick up our pace?
In complete admiration of paragraph three. But how are we going to meet the challenge of Climate Change on it's timeline? Don't we have to pick up our pace?
1
Our government is being destroyed by a ruthless minority that doesn't believe in compromise because they do not understand that our government was organized to not function without it. Mr. Brooks also misses that point. Unless the majority of more moderate Republicans pull out some courage to oppose these anarchists and join the Democrats to pass legislation, they may maintain their jobs but they will own the label of "democracy destroyer and traitor."
5
This is the biggest popular democracy with a truly liberal, in the traditional sense, for of government. It is a modern, industrialized, state that spans a continent and contains many local systems that do not always have the same needs and challenges but must be organized by common practices and customs to work as one whole. That means sharing in endeavors which might not have any direct benefits to ourselves because they are to others with who we share this great nation. Fundamentally, the Republicans now dividing the Congress have formally declared their refusal to cooperate with anything that does not satisfy themselves, breaking the tacit agreement which enables this country to even exist, and they see this as a good thing, as exercising their freedom as opposed to subjecting themselves to tyranny imposed upon them the national government -- the rest of the nation.
5
The threat to our democracy is not ISIS or the Taliban. George Bush and Dick Chaney were responsible for the deaths of more americans than Osama Bin Laden, and created the chaos in the middle east that has killed hundreds of thousands, displaced millions and threatens our nation's security. The major enemy of the United States is the Republican party and their billionaire sponsors. They are our real enemy and should be branded as such. They no longer should have a place in the American political process, let alone any ability to govern us. A concerted effort should be made to expose their lies and deceptions so the majority of our citizens will organize to consign them to the dustbin of history. I occasionally see Facebook posts from an organization that calls itself "Americans against the Republican Party" We all should join them. As for David Brooks, he seems to finally have the guts to see how wrong he has been all these years. Unfortunately he won't change, and continue with the false hope that the Republicans will become a responsible conservative institution.
5
Thank you for this piece, David. It's been a long time coming.
What I have not seen among these comments (although I'll admit not having read them all) is the role of tax fanatics like Grover Norquist. By adopting (indeed, requiring) allegiance to a policy of ever-lower taxation regardless of actual need, Republicans are determined simply to cripple the Federal government and virtually everything it does. This continues in the face of the tasks Republicans actually want it to perform, such as warmaking, border security and subsidizing industries that don't need subsidies. This is certainly a form of nihilism.
What I have not seen among these comments (although I'll admit not having read them all) is the role of tax fanatics like Grover Norquist. By adopting (indeed, requiring) allegiance to a policy of ever-lower taxation regardless of actual need, Republicans are determined simply to cripple the Federal government and virtually everything it does. This continues in the face of the tasks Republicans actually want it to perform, such as warmaking, border security and subsidizing industries that don't need subsidies. This is certainly a form of nihilism.
3
An excellemt piece. My only point of disagreement is with the timing cited. This began when the Republican Party chose to sell out to the far-right in order to get Ronald Reagan elected. And yes, I taught as much to my freshmen and sophomore university students at the time.
3
The extremism of the Republican party frightens me. A comparable article might read: ISIS "regards the messy business of politics as soiled and impure. Compromise is corruption. Inconvenient facts are ignored. Countrymen with different views are regarded as aliens. Political identity became a sort of ethnic identity, and any compromise was regarded as a blood betrayal."
Extremism breeds extremism so if we are not careful the extreme right wing might signal the end of the republic.
Extremism breeds extremism so if we are not careful the extreme right wing might signal the end of the republic.
10
But ISIS is organized, disciplined and with a definitive agenda..LOL
Mr. Brooks , how brave you are today, finally facing the cacophonous music played out by your brethren. You omitted the cumulative effects of how racism has denigrated not the President , but the very American values practiced by the Republicons. They have stained the conservative brand indelibly and failed to provide a formulae for governance the people can endorse. You can't soft pedal this failure.
13
I get both the NYT and WSJ. What a world of difference!
Speaking from the middle, I saw a hapless Democratic Party in the 1980s straighten itself out. I imagine the GOP will do the same - eventually.
Meanwhile we may get 4 or more years of Hillary. I'm not a fan. (I like Sanders on the left and Kasich on the right.)
At least Obama is generally honest and truthful.
Speaking from the middle, I saw a hapless Democratic Party in the 1980s straighten itself out. I imagine the GOP will do the same - eventually.
Meanwhile we may get 4 or more years of Hillary. I'm not a fan. (I like Sanders on the left and Kasich on the right.)
At least Obama is generally honest and truthful.
4
The Republicans have been very successful with their "southern strategy," and now it has come back to cause monumental problems for them.
4
Reactionary, parochial, exclusionary, and anti-intellectual best describes the dominant groups of the Republican Party. The United States as it became the most powerful and affluent nation in history left behind some time with which they recall as a better time. Our mass media and popular civil society are dominated by perspectives and values that came from cities which are made up of vast communities where most people are strangers and have learned to tolerate alien cultures and still work in cooperation with each other to make it all work. But that popular culture conflicts with many communities where people tend to know each other and to share similar values, who find strangers and non-conformists disruptive. The refusal to cooperate in national governance by the Freedom Caucus reflects the exasperation with having to deal with a vast nation, most of who are strangers who want things that they many not want but who expect all to support because of the rules of democracy -- which for them is a tyranny of the popular majority, The conflicts in the Republican Party in Congress reflect a great process of dissolution of a nation that has become too big and strange to many people for them to continue to try to join in to make it work. The anti-government attitudes are actually a rejection of popular democracy and of the liberal tradition of tolerating people with different views and values which allow this great nation to exist as it does.
3
We need to return to the days when all sides could listen, learn, and respect other's opinions. Members of the house and senate were actually friends regardless of party. Again we need to really listen to each other and find one tiny piece of common ground and build on that. No, you cannot get your way all the time but perhaps incrementally you and I can get to a good common spot together. Respect and good listening skills!
4
Aha! The Sixties, but fifty years late, and it's the Republicans putting us through the wringer this time.
Well said, let's hope some of the adults in the GOP finally listen.
3
Between the developments Mr. Brooks describes here and Citizens United, the nation is in serious danger. We should NOT take a functional democracy for granted.
7
Even Bernie Sanders fits Brooks's definition of a good Republican. That shows us how far to the right and, really, antisocial the radical Republicans are.
5
Those of us who remember the dissolution of support for the Vietnam war might think of this as Mr. Brooks' "Walter Cronkite" moment.
7
Mr. Brooks:
Modern conservatism has largely returned to classical nineteenth century liberalism - constitutionally limited government, individual freedom and American exceptionalism.
In contrast, both the Democrat and Republican party establishments are invested in our progressive political economy of unlimited government, limited individual freedom and American decline.
Therein lies the cause of the conservative political revolution against the progressive political economy and its political class (or if you prefer "educated class") defenders.
Conservatism is not dysfunctional. Rather, our progressive political economy and a party establishment which will not implement the will of the voters does not work.
When progressives speak of "compromise," they mean the political parties agreeing to nearly all of the expansions of government the progressives propose. We conservatives propose to turn that definition on its head. Shrink government and the parties can compromise on what to cut.
Modern conservatism has largely returned to classical nineteenth century liberalism - constitutionally limited government, individual freedom and American exceptionalism.
In contrast, both the Democrat and Republican party establishments are invested in our progressive political economy of unlimited government, limited individual freedom and American decline.
Therein lies the cause of the conservative political revolution against the progressive political economy and its political class (or if you prefer "educated class") defenders.
Conservatism is not dysfunctional. Rather, our progressive political economy and a party establishment which will not implement the will of the voters does not work.
When progressives speak of "compromise," they mean the political parties agreeing to nearly all of the expansions of government the progressives propose. We conservatives propose to turn that definition on its head. Shrink government and the parties can compromise on what to cut.
1
The "will of the voters" elected Obama. Twice. So exactly who is blocking the implementation of that will?
2
I think the nineteenth century is exactly where you folks wish you were, or at least the fantasy version. And turning definitions on their heads is no problem when you do the same for reality.
Bart, you should run for office as a republican, you are living up to the truth of this article.
I was left with one lingering question that went unanswered: Mr. Brooks, which party will you vote for in 2016?
4
What is the date today? Who are the candidates? You are guilty of trying to force a premature decision.
When I think of a Republican:
Against gun control-except in places where they work.
Wants to lower taxes-but mostly on the wealthy.
Says government is the problem-but spends all their time and money seeking reelection.
Wants to cut spending-on everything but the military.
Says government interferes too much-but not when it comes to women.
Worships the right to life-but leaves kids to starve and loves executions.
God fearing church goers-but have cornered the market on evil.
The ludicrous state of our current demise started in the speech of a so-called conservative senator-Mitch McConnell, the day after our president was first elected. He made it his sole business to do everything in his power to not let Obama have a second term in office.
As a well known blogger says, "it's not about race, it's never about race." McConnell set the tone that opened the flood gates of the crazies in the Tea Party. The dog whistling began. "Take back our government."
Every line of Brooks' adulation for a true conservative fits President Obama's style of governance. As for the lunatic right, when civility is lost, anarchy reigns.
Against gun control-except in places where they work.
Wants to lower taxes-but mostly on the wealthy.
Says government is the problem-but spends all their time and money seeking reelection.
Wants to cut spending-on everything but the military.
Says government interferes too much-but not when it comes to women.
Worships the right to life-but leaves kids to starve and loves executions.
God fearing church goers-but have cornered the market on evil.
The ludicrous state of our current demise started in the speech of a so-called conservative senator-Mitch McConnell, the day after our president was first elected. He made it his sole business to do everything in his power to not let Obama have a second term in office.
As a well known blogger says, "it's not about race, it's never about race." McConnell set the tone that opened the flood gates of the crazies in the Tea Party. The dog whistling began. "Take back our government."
Every line of Brooks' adulation for a true conservative fits President Obama's style of governance. As for the lunatic right, when civility is lost, anarchy reigns.
26
I wouldn't recognize Rush Limbaugh if he were my letter carrier. But, I guess he holds sway on many people, those in neighborhoods as well as those sitting in the hallowed halls of Congress. Why do we allow third-rate loud mouths create such havoc in our belief systems and thought processes? Why would the likes of David Brooks give such people as these even brief mention in his columns? Could it be because we have, as an electorate, abdicated our resolve to be prudent in what we think, feel, say, and do, regarding the management of our various governments in favor of the accepting the spewing opinions from the likes of Limbaugh? Brooks says that we were "ill educated" during former 'revolutions.' If there is any change, it appears that, now, it is worse.
2
What in the world motivated anyone to dump more than half a billion dollars on that seditious slob? Does he use the money to further corrupt politics?
1
BEING CONSERVATIVE IS NOT RADICAL CHHANGE . . .
...as it suggests measured progress while upholding the pragmatic ideas from the past. As all of politics involves the art of compromise in a democratic republic no one ideology can get all it wants and not avoid mediation.
There are many reasons that led to an attempted take over by radical right to subvert the very concept of true conservative ideology which morphed into a degree of intransigence which resulted in the paralysis which has become Washington.
The NYT reported that half of the monies thus far contributed for the 2016 election came from about 500 family fortunes as each one has a self serving agenda. This ignores the overwhelming majority of citizens and the electorate is now, in the main, ignorant of the political process.
The so-called grassroots Tea Party were actually created by a small group of wealthy Aynrandians only for their benefit. They enlisted celebrities like Sarah Kardashian to speak about real problems but, with no understanding of the root causes of our growing "challenges" but offered answers that would exacerbate the real problems.
As supply side economics, lowering taxes and the dismantling of government were preached there were many of the unsophisticated that were drawn in but this was the antithesis of conservatism for it was just an act of rationalized greed by those who thought that they owned the nation as a result their work.
Shutting down the government is radical and stupid.
...as it suggests measured progress while upholding the pragmatic ideas from the past. As all of politics involves the art of compromise in a democratic republic no one ideology can get all it wants and not avoid mediation.
There are many reasons that led to an attempted take over by radical right to subvert the very concept of true conservative ideology which morphed into a degree of intransigence which resulted in the paralysis which has become Washington.
The NYT reported that half of the monies thus far contributed for the 2016 election came from about 500 family fortunes as each one has a self serving agenda. This ignores the overwhelming majority of citizens and the electorate is now, in the main, ignorant of the political process.
The so-called grassroots Tea Party were actually created by a small group of wealthy Aynrandians only for their benefit. They enlisted celebrities like Sarah Kardashian to speak about real problems but, with no understanding of the root causes of our growing "challenges" but offered answers that would exacerbate the real problems.
As supply side economics, lowering taxes and the dismantling of government were preached there were many of the unsophisticated that were drawn in but this was the antithesis of conservatism for it was just an act of rationalized greed by those who thought that they owned the nation as a result their work.
Shutting down the government is radical and stupid.
3
But if one believes the country is off the rails, doesn't a conservative have to be more radical?
I just hope that the Dems have the smarts and strength to make sure the American people understand what has happened since 2010 when the this toxic congressional GOP swept onto our shores like a throng of dead Edelweiss. They pray on the white disenfranchised who seem to be united - not under any economic direction or sense of united nation - but under the misplaced cliche of "more guns and more Jesus". The economy is drastically better than in 2008. That is true by any measure imaginable.
"Wanting my America back" or "Make America great again" are proxy statements for what the GOP base really wants: Make America White again. Sorry, too late. Embrace the new demographic reality or risk being perpetually irrelevant and impotent. Without the gerrymandering coup of 2011 (under Karl Rove), the GOP would be neutered forever.
"Wanting my America back" or "Make America great again" are proxy statements for what the GOP base really wants: Make America White again. Sorry, too late. Embrace the new demographic reality or risk being perpetually irrelevant and impotent. Without the gerrymandering coup of 2011 (under Karl Rove), the GOP would be neutered forever.
8
Mathematically, think of how few (conscientious) Republican House members it would take to form their own caucus and (literally) hold the balance of power in the U.S. government. Surely there must be that number of members from districts, where getting government to work takes precedent over pie-in-the sky ideology. So what's stopping them? There is historical precedent. Several of the senior members of Franklyn Roosevelt's administration were part of his cousin's Bull Moose party. They understood the difference between ideology and reality.
3
What a superb piece by Mr.Brooks! For a student of history this is only a remainder of the tragic usurpation of good intentions.From the Jacobine party degenerating into the Terror in the frenh revolution to the Spanish Republic degenerating into anarchist parties and communism of the Stalinist variery mixed with Nazi folklore and civil war.The lesson is self destruction and corruption of ideas;The road from populism to demagoguery is a very short one.Watch your step......
2
Maybe we don't WANT to be governed.
Shouldn't a democratic country allow us to choose that?
Shouldn't a democratic country allow us to choose that?
It is a brilliant analysis of the state of affairs on that side of the isle. The thinking minds, the true conservatives of the Republican party will have to come to grips with the situation before this band of right wing extremists does irreparable damage not only to their party, but to our democracy as well.
4
That is as concise, sober and correct assessment of the state of the GOP as I have heard in years. Thank you for your views Mr. Brooks. We desperately need two functioning thoughtful political parties at work in this nation right now. I hope the right folks are listening.
6
David, Thank you for a thoughtful piece. Do you have any thoughts why the Republican Party does not do more to get mainstream republicans to vote during the primary. Why allow the tea party to have so much influence at this stage of the election cycle. If more moderate republicans were to vote in primaries we would not be so polarized. This also applies to the left.
It seems to me that with all the clever folks at the RNC and DNC there should be a viable strategy to deal with the problem at the source, the primaries.
It seems to me that with all the clever folks at the RNC and DNC there should be a viable strategy to deal with the problem at the source, the primaries.
2
"jaw-dropping" is right. For one, I'm surprised to find myself agreeing with David Brooks. For another, I'm astonished the well-educated and reasonable conservative faction took so long to acknowledge the seemingly obvious.
Mr. Brooks, you said yourself "30 years". Why couldn't we have had this conversation even in the past eight? Did it really require Party implosion to bring forth the notion of political compromise?
You know things are bad when even David Brooks can't defend certain elements of the Republican Party.
Mr. Brooks, you said yourself "30 years". Why couldn't we have had this conversation even in the past eight? Did it really require Party implosion to bring forth the notion of political compromise?
You know things are bad when even David Brooks can't defend certain elements of the Republican Party.
8
I really appreciate the distinction David Brooks makes in this article between the ideal of conservatism and the ugly incarnation it has, in actuality, assumed. Unfortunately, the schism between "intellectual" republicans and the party's loudest and most fractious elements has not resulted in an eschewing of the latter; instead, out of a pragmatic decision to hold onto votes or from pure fear, too many reasonable conservatives have tacked further and further to the right. Where is the integrity in that? Why is it so rare to see a Republican disown outright the ridiculous things that come out of the mouths of Rush Limbaugh or Ben Carson or Donald Trump? Instead, these people have all ears and, by sheer volume, become the voice of the Republican party, while others either join the chorus or, by apparent tolerance, lend the dangerous impression that there's a kernel of truth to their nonsense.
7
Things must really be getting bad when David Brooks starts ringing the alarm bells. The pundits on the right and the left and sane people within our society have been quiet for far too long. When Dick Armey and the Koch Brothers initiated their Tea Party Demonstrations after the Affordable Care Act became law and were instrumental in winning the House for the Republicans "the horse has now left the barn", "the ginnie is out of the bottle". There is be no turning back. The crazies in the Congress and the insane decisions of the SC will be impossible to reverse. This all began as a political gamesmanship, since Republicans can not get elected without cow towing to the special interest that put their interest ahead of the preservation of the Republic. Let's hope this tide can somehow be reversed but it is looking increasingly doubtful. God Bless America.
9
Here's the key, as I see it: today's GOP has morphed into a Manichean religion in which the forces of Darkness and Evil are swamping America. It has a set of dogmas: government can't do anything right, government is trying to take over our lives; Democrats hate America; Democrats buy their votes by giving away our tax dollars to those undeserving poor; American civilization is slowly being destroyed and only we conservatives can save it.
Politics is about compromise; Republican religion is about victory over Evil.
Politics is about compromise; Republican religion is about victory over Evil.
7
This is what happens when people let others do the so called thinking for them, Mr. Brooks.
4
The genesis of decline into chaos of the Republican Party coincides with the rescissions of the FCC's Fairness Doctrine and Equal Time Rule, implemented under Reagan's FCC Chair Mark S. Fowler (these rules were finally removed completely from the books after over 20 years of non-enforcement by Obama's FCC Chair Julian Genachowski).
This was the single act that has been the chief cause of our hardening partisanship and the rise of rignt-wing ignorance. Where those rules ensured that people actually heard all sides of every issue, now narrow minds only expose themselves to broadcast sources that agree with and augment their pre-conceived notions. This has had the inevitable effect of increasing partisanship as the doctrinaire right-wingers are no longer exposed to liberal views.
The effect is not so great in the other direction, as liberals do in fact tend to broaden their sources of information.
It would do more to heal our partisan rifts than any other steps we might take if we would reimpose the Fairness Doctrine and the Equal Time Rule, and extend it to cable broadcasts. Indeed, it might even be amusing to watch organizations like Fox News attempt to circumvent those regulations.
This was the single act that has been the chief cause of our hardening partisanship and the rise of rignt-wing ignorance. Where those rules ensured that people actually heard all sides of every issue, now narrow minds only expose themselves to broadcast sources that agree with and augment their pre-conceived notions. This has had the inevitable effect of increasing partisanship as the doctrinaire right-wingers are no longer exposed to liberal views.
The effect is not so great in the other direction, as liberals do in fact tend to broaden their sources of information.
It would do more to heal our partisan rifts than any other steps we might take if we would reimpose the Fairness Doctrine and the Equal Time Rule, and extend it to cable broadcasts. Indeed, it might even be amusing to watch organizations like Fox News attempt to circumvent those regulations.
6
Dear Mr. Brooks,
Yes, "How did this situation come about"
It is a mystery that the leading bigots, homophobes, misogynists, racists and xenophobes cannot coordinate their attacks on freedom and democracy.
But comparing the NRA to ISIS will open a clue to your understand.
ISIS is dedicated to the dream of re-making the world collectively in the image of Allah during the 8th century.
The NRA, like the G.O.P., hates collectivism. Each promotes the idea that each person can be her or his own terrorist group with no need to trust, or coordinate, with anyone.
You're welcome, Mr. Brooks.
Please email me a payment for taking the time to enlighten you.
Yes, "How did this situation come about"
It is a mystery that the leading bigots, homophobes, misogynists, racists and xenophobes cannot coordinate their attacks on freedom and democracy.
But comparing the NRA to ISIS will open a clue to your understand.
ISIS is dedicated to the dream of re-making the world collectively in the image of Allah during the 8th century.
The NRA, like the G.O.P., hates collectivism. Each promotes the idea that each person can be her or his own terrorist group with no need to trust, or coordinate, with anyone.
You're welcome, Mr. Brooks.
Please email me a payment for taking the time to enlighten you.
6
The trouble with the GOP is that most of its representation is so mired in a philosophy born out of ideology that it wants to "play the game my way or I won't allow anyone to play." I think it was well stated on the eve of Obama's win when Mitch McConnell said that their job was to make sure that Obama was a one-term president. It was the call to arms for a party who has shown itself to be able to manipulate a PR campaign of fear and empowerment without remembering that "winning" is not supposed to be the goal.....a well run machine propelling national interest is what a government is meant to be. They are acting like rebellious teens with hot rods....bursts of speed and power on a straight-away, caring little for the harm to their vehicles but filled with youthful hubris, outlandish boasts and bully power.
For me, I like the speed limit that keeps us all a little safer. And I want my government to govern...not to be a stage for puffed up buffoons.
For me, I like the speed limit that keeps us all a little safer. And I want my government to govern...not to be a stage for puffed up buffoons.
6
This is because, since 2008, the Republican official party platform has been:
"Government is the problem! Vote for me, and I'll prove it!"
"Government is the problem! Vote for me, and I'll prove it!"
10
People who think government is the problem should stay away from government.
1
Think Reince Priebus and Loretta Lynch must be hanging out together because both are MIA
1
Second column in a couple of weeks where Mr. Brooks seems to be edging close to saying goodbye to the Republican party. But he just won't do it. He still thinks the radical Republicans are a minority, a caucus within the party. Sorry, David, they aren't. They are the expression of the anger Republicans gin up as a way of getting elected. The real policy positions of the Republican party -- the ones they make sure get passed, compromising with Democrats to do so -- are nothing more than payback to their rich contributors, who want to keep on pumping gas and oil, polluting, and playing financial games. The Republicans cannot offer legislation that actually fixes any of the problems confronting this country, since that would step on the profits of their funders. So they deal in anger and chaos and distract their followers with bogeymen -- immigrants! liberals! minorities! -- as the cause of our problems. That is the party you belong to, and you give it credibility by supporting it with your words.
16
Dear, M. Brooks, It seems you have at long last awoken from your slumber, perhaps just in time to see your Country ripped to shreds by the "anarchists and revolutionaries" of what is left of your party.
You are so right when you say this did not happen overnight, but it did not start with Limbaugh either. He is just a bottom feeder taking advantage of the moment.
It started and picked up speed with Reagan, who was a revolutionary; albeit a soft spoken, smile at the ready, kind of reactionary.
Not so much trans-formation, but trans-fermative; a lot of wealth got transferred from the middle class to the uber riche while the republican leadership convinced the white working stiff that his enemy was the black working stiff.
The last 35 years we have seen low information and low IQ voters hop to the puppet masters pulling the strings of abortion, gay rights, women's rights, civil rights, my rights your rights. Voting against their economic interests in the call of some mythical morality play, these folks have helped turn a vibrant democracy into something akin to a banana republic. A banana republic with the largest military in the history of the world and lots of nuclear bombs.
If you want your party back, you will have to start working to get democrats elected every chance you get.
You are so right when you say this did not happen overnight, but it did not start with Limbaugh either. He is just a bottom feeder taking advantage of the moment.
It started and picked up speed with Reagan, who was a revolutionary; albeit a soft spoken, smile at the ready, kind of reactionary.
Not so much trans-formation, but trans-fermative; a lot of wealth got transferred from the middle class to the uber riche while the republican leadership convinced the white working stiff that his enemy was the black working stiff.
The last 35 years we have seen low information and low IQ voters hop to the puppet masters pulling the strings of abortion, gay rights, women's rights, civil rights, my rights your rights. Voting against their economic interests in the call of some mythical morality play, these folks have helped turn a vibrant democracy into something akin to a banana republic. A banana republic with the largest military in the history of the world and lots of nuclear bombs.
If you want your party back, you will have to start working to get democrats elected every chance you get.
21
Wow! Even David Brooks recognizes the dysfunction of the Republican party!!
7
Too bad he can't acknowledge his own contribution to the dysfunction.
2
Hmm... I think that saying the current crop of Republican maniacs is both cynical and naive is probably wrong.
There is something beautiful about being naive. It implies a willingness to to believe in the better better motivations of others and consequently a willingness to go along.
To me, being cynical is about thinking one thing but saying another. The cynic knows full well the likely impact of his or her actions, but chooses to bury, even potentially terrible consequences, under a flood of self-serving misdirection.
Given the intellect required to reach the level of Washington DC politician, I am afraid that I have a hard time thinking that they are simply naive.
There is something beautiful about being naive. It implies a willingness to to believe in the better better motivations of others and consequently a willingness to go along.
To me, being cynical is about thinking one thing but saying another. The cynic knows full well the likely impact of his or her actions, but chooses to bury, even potentially terrible consequences, under a flood of self-serving misdirection.
Given the intellect required to reach the level of Washington DC politician, I am afraid that I have a hard time thinking that they are simply naive.
1
Welcome back, DB! No more Tony Robbins, please.
Mr.Brooks is 100% right . The Republican party has become angry, frustrated, divisive, polarized and crazy party over the years. Rush Limbaugh, Michael Levin, Sean Hannity, Glen Beck, Savage and the FOXTv have contributed to divide and polarize our country. They were looking for their ratings and income but never thought for good of our country. I have doubt about their patriotic feelings. Who created Tea Party? The billionaires like Koch brothers created this radical party for their own interests. Another group ,the Evangelical groups are another responsible for this crisis. Most of us politically naive and ignorant listen to toxic radio talk show . I thank Mr.Brooks again for telling the truth.
4
There is no excuse for the Republican establishment to allow 40 members of the Freedom Caucus (out of 435 Representatives) to disrupt governing. They refuse to pass legislature with any Democratic votes and since they have only 247 Republicans, they do not have 217 republicans without the freedom caucus. They is totally arbitrary, sabotages democracy, and places party above country.
7
Ultra right wing nuts were welcomed into the Republican Party when the party needed their votes. The party thought they could control them, but they’ve metastasized and now threaten to kill the host.
There really is no halfway measure that will allow them to exist along side a healthy functioning body. If the cancerous cells aren’t removed, they really will devour the whole party.
There really is no halfway measure that will allow them to exist along side a healthy functioning body. If the cancerous cells aren’t removed, they really will devour the whole party.
7
Wow did this need to be said! The death of real conservatism has indeed been a cancer growing in the Republican party, and a tragedy for the nation and all of us who believe in democracy as an institution of rational governance. Not since the civil war have we seen such craziness. Where will it leave us, we despair.
Thank you, David, that this should be posted on every wall in every town in America.
David RAthbun
Thank you, David, that this should be posted on every wall in every town in America.
David RAthbun
3
One of David's best. The decision of the GOP to thwart every word or action of President Obama spoke to their lack of interest in any compromise. Compromise is the only way anything is accomplished. Those of us who love the democratic process are so disillusioned that $ and power, not a fig to the majority of citizens, is all that's sacred to the republican party. These "government haters" need to be expunged from their government "jobs", as they are insubordinate to the people and the Constitution. It's like Kim Davis refusing to perform job responsibilities for personal dogma.
6
Mr. Brooks,
Why has it taken you thirty years to write this article?
Now what?
Why has it taken you thirty years to write this article?
Now what?
11
Thank you, Mr. Brooks. Perhaps, coming from a conservative as they are, these thoughts will find a way into your party's consciousness.
2
Brilliant. Thank you.
It's not just "a thousand small betrayals" that caused this. The right in America has systematically encouraged a large, poorly educated (not stupid, just poorly educated) segment of the population to ignore their self-interest and follow the fact-free lead of bombastic pundits and demagogues who are guided by the self-interested "contributions" of a few very wealthy people. In other words, after 30 years of Rush Limbaugh and Fox News and (ore recently) super PACs, what do you expect? Well, now they have it. And, unfortunately, we all have it.
It's not just "a thousand small betrayals" that caused this. The right in America has systematically encouraged a large, poorly educated (not stupid, just poorly educated) segment of the population to ignore their self-interest and follow the fact-free lead of bombastic pundits and demagogues who are guided by the self-interested "contributions" of a few very wealthy people. In other words, after 30 years of Rush Limbaugh and Fox News and (ore recently) super PACs, what do you expect? Well, now they have it. And, unfortunately, we all have it.
7
David, you are too smart and too compassionate to be part of this particular Republican Party. I am not sure it ever really existed, but I hope you can be of some help to this fearful, angry, and wildly dysfunctional group.
3
At first I thought Brooks was finally going to own up to the colossal incompetence of the Bush/Cheney years. Pointing out the moronic behavior of the Freedom Caucus wins no Peabody Award for perceptiveness.
5
It is unfortunate that this wonderful opinion piece showed up with an advertisement touting the safety of the KXL pipeline, however because I am an intelligent person I can overlook that and believe you really hit the nail on the head. Thank you for putting into words what I feel. Great read.
1
I have the uneasy feeling that this apt analysis merely prefaces David's push in behalf of the "sane" candidate who is unwilling to say his own name. It would be well for us to remember who he is, though, and the kinds of results we had last time we voted in a republican president.
3
Good morning Mr. Brooks.
Finally waking up from you "Sleeping Beauty' sleep, after so many years?
Finally waking up from you "Sleeping Beauty' sleep, after so many years?
6
Mr. Brooks didn't mind the crazies when he could go to sleep at night secure in the belief that they were leashed to the "sane adults" the way Mr. Brooks is. From that perspective, he is as opportunistic as they are -- happy to tolerate their outrageously antidemocratic tactics, i.e., gerrymandering and even worse, naked attempts at disenfranchising people who disagree with them and who have historically been disenfranchised. You know, much as I loathe these bomb throwers, I would never vote for one, I totally understand why they are angry with the likes of David Brooks, who is all too happy to ride their antics to power but who starts whining about incivility the moment they threaten his own hold on power (or that of whoever he identifies with). They must feel like the mistress who finally becomes fed up with hearing a lover's promise to some day leave his wife, and takes matters into her own hands. The ruination and wreckage of a man's marriage and family life are an awful thing to contemplate, but please Mr. Brooks, do you really think he (that is you) played no small part in the disaster?
7
The role of technology, which spreads garbage, along with anger radio and TV (yea Fox), has helped drive our current insanity. Democrats drink from this beaten cup too, just not nearly as much.
2
Mr Brooks does this every time. He starts by sneaking in his idea of defining what a conservative is, which is totally nonsense if you look at their record stretching back to the beginning of the last century.
Everything after the first few lies doesn't count.
I'll give them a few points for Nixon environmental law, but for Christ's sake our rivers were burning down bridges back then, Lake Erie was dead, tires rotted off cars in LA.
But where are the past speakers of the house? In or destined for the big house!
How can you defend opposition to civil rights laws?
How can you defend anti voter registration las?
How about Jessie Helms?
Conservative starts with con, apparently is ends there too.
Everything after the first few lies doesn't count.
I'll give them a few points for Nixon environmental law, but for Christ's sake our rivers were burning down bridges back then, Lake Erie was dead, tires rotted off cars in LA.
But where are the past speakers of the house? In or destined for the big house!
How can you defend opposition to civil rights laws?
How can you defend anti voter registration las?
How about Jessie Helms?
Conservative starts with con, apparently is ends there too.
5
Which Republicans are exempt from the accurate appraisal of their competence to govern the most powerful country on the planet? Who. Mr. Brooks, would you like to see with his/her finger on the trigger?
The problem noted by Brooks, however, was also noted by Jefferson, who despaired of whether a citizenry as libertarian and anti-government as the US could be governed at all. Shay's Rebellion and the Whiskey Rebellion occurred shortly after the Constitution was adopted. Indeed, Washington had to be called out of retirement to deal with one of them.
The anarchy seen in the US Congress reminds one of what transpired in the decades before the Civil War when the slavery issue, a mixture of racism and property rights, dominated US politics. It wasn't a matter of "politics," but of "essentialism," of what the country really is about. Is the current issue of political legitimacy all that different? What is the essential role of the US government today? Isn't this question the key factor in the the current divide?
The problem noted by Brooks, however, was also noted by Jefferson, who despaired of whether a citizenry as libertarian and anti-government as the US could be governed at all. Shay's Rebellion and the Whiskey Rebellion occurred shortly after the Constitution was adopted. Indeed, Washington had to be called out of retirement to deal with one of them.
The anarchy seen in the US Congress reminds one of what transpired in the decades before the Civil War when the slavery issue, a mixture of racism and property rights, dominated US politics. It wasn't a matter of "politics," but of "essentialism," of what the country really is about. Is the current issue of political legitimacy all that different? What is the essential role of the US government today? Isn't this question the key factor in the the current divide?
Thank you, thank you, thank you, Mr. Brooks for this right-on analysis. Finally someone is calling out this fringe group for what and who they are. Indeed. they are a threat to our democracy.
2
Who are you? And what have you done with David Brooks?
8
It Is a true nightmare for a disciple of Burke. The rule of the mob, traditions overturned, reason does not prevail.
I remember decades ago Brooks loved the Evangelicals who are the core of this mob.
You reap what you sow.
I remember decades ago Brooks loved the Evangelicals who are the core of this mob.
You reap what you sow.
7
Thank you for the clear and well thought out column. I could be your type of Republican but not what has evolved now. Years ago when my father and cousins were all talking about how much sense Rush Limbaugh made, I tried to explain that he was entertainment pandering to our lowest instincts - not unlike Howard Stern. In time Rush has become the least of the problem. I hope the GOP can find themselves again - the country (that includes Democrats) needs them.
3
I'll vote for Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary if he's still around by the time it gets to NY. Not m because I distrust Hillary - I trust her completely but to keep him and his ideas in the debate.
I'll vote for Hillary Clinton in the general election - happily and I expect she'll win. The country is not ready to go off the cliff with the current Republican Party - I hope
I hope Republicans lose big and the adults in that party take over again. Perhaps they could remind their constituents that we live in a Constitutional Republic. If they want a parliamentary system of government (where the leader is not chosen separately and is the head of the party's that wins the most number of seats) - they should move to Canada. Of course they will have to leave their beloved 2nd Amendment behind.
I'll vote for Hillary Clinton in the general election - happily and I expect she'll win. The country is not ready to go off the cliff with the current Republican Party - I hope
I hope Republicans lose big and the adults in that party take over again. Perhaps they could remind their constituents that we live in a Constitutional Republic. If they want a parliamentary system of government (where the leader is not chosen separately and is the head of the party's that wins the most number of seats) - they should move to Canada. Of course they will have to leave their beloved 2nd Amendment behind.
8
i think maybe you are being too optimistic about the republican party..... the unruly ones do not care who else wins elections so as long as they get elected they will continue with their obstruction..... if they could have ben controlled or cooped they would have been by now.
1
Let's not forget John McCain, who elevated Incompetence to the Republican national ticket in the form of Sarah Palin.
11
The so called "Freedom Caucus" of 40 angry men represents approx. 9% of the Congress. President Obama, in contrast, won 53% of the electorate, likewise Democratic Senators received millions more votes than Republican Senators, though the Republicans won the Senate. The Republicans narrowly won 2014 the vote for the House, though not the 2012 vote. They retain power through sophisticated gerrymandering.
The Republican's problem is that they don't believe in democracy. They think that they are chosen by G-d to rule and they haven't accepted the legitimacy of the voters' choice since Carter won in 1980. They impeached twice popularly elected Clinton, stole the election from Gore and have misused the filibuster to stop Obama, and extend the recession, since 2008. They engage in voter suppression and support the whole enterprise with dark money. We need a new Republican party, the current one is dangerous to our democracy.
The Republican's problem is that they don't believe in democracy. They think that they are chosen by G-d to rule and they haven't accepted the legitimacy of the voters' choice since Carter won in 1980. They impeached twice popularly elected Clinton, stole the election from Gore and have misused the filibuster to stop Obama, and extend the recession, since 2008. They engage in voter suppression and support the whole enterprise with dark money. We need a new Republican party, the current one is dangerous to our democracy.
20
Wow, I never thought I would say this, but Brooks sounds like a leftist! And I never thought I would defend the Republican Party, but I think he is a bit overboard with the hyperbole. The party has not been overtaken by the fringe right. The mainstream GOP is having an epiphanic moment that will lead to a correction of course. Boehner supporters will come to the realization that it's time they strike a grand bargain with the Dems and marginalize the radicals. The Freedom Caucus is only about 40 members out of 435, less than 10%. Brooks is painting the party in too broad of a brush. This crisis will surely be resolved this month.
1
Republicans have tried to repeal Obama Care 50 times and have taken it to the Supreme Court twice. If that isn't extreme, what is?
2
The situation can best be described as an example of extreme selfishness/anarchy operating under the woefully misdirected guise of liberty or freedom. The consequence is an inability or unwillingness to compromise to advance the common good. an essential requirement of a democracy. Such selfishness has led to the notion that taxes are evil and that to reduce government -- assume to be the cause of all our ills-- one must "starve the beast " so that it will wither away. All this started in the early 1980s with Howard Jarvis's proposition 13, a call that was taken up by Ronald Reagan. And look at what it has given us. A crumbling, decayed infrastructure with bridges, roads, schools, libraries, hospitals and utility services badly in need of repair because of insufficient revenues to maintain them properly. The Tea Party movement and its representative in the Freedom Caucus fail to understand that the original Boston Tea Party was not initiated to protest paying taxes per se. It was all about taxation without representation.
8
Bravo! This is one for the archives Mr Brooks. I've printed this out and it's tacked to my cork board. And, to Mr Brooks' naysayers, I say better late than never.
However, it's extraordinary that Mr. Brooks did not once mention one 3 letter word - FOX! Has he never spent one day tuned into FOX News? For 20 years, FOX has produced a dangerously provocative and destructive screed of anti-establishment, anti-government, anti-Democratic, and anti-compassionate content that has at its core, a strategy to undermine democracy, create division and gridlock in order to protect the interests of the ultra-wealthy. To be sure, the rest of the media empire is not far behind through overt and covert complicity.
Maybe its not too late to turn this around. A concerted effort must be made to correctly and justly delegitimize FOX, Limbaugh, et al. It is time to expose and denounce the lies, misinformation and harmful innuendos. Today's Republican caucus is the product of a more imperious force that must be purged from governance. Denounce the politicians and promote the statesmen.
This country and arguably the entire world has been irreparably harmed by a rising power of self-serving wealthy elitists, be they individuals or corporations granted personhood. It is indisputable that the level of wealth and income inequality that exists is unprecedented and must be reversed. The narrative must change! Restore and protect democracy!! United we stand, divided we fall.
However, it's extraordinary that Mr. Brooks did not once mention one 3 letter word - FOX! Has he never spent one day tuned into FOX News? For 20 years, FOX has produced a dangerously provocative and destructive screed of anti-establishment, anti-government, anti-Democratic, and anti-compassionate content that has at its core, a strategy to undermine democracy, create division and gridlock in order to protect the interests of the ultra-wealthy. To be sure, the rest of the media empire is not far behind through overt and covert complicity.
Maybe its not too late to turn this around. A concerted effort must be made to correctly and justly delegitimize FOX, Limbaugh, et al. It is time to expose and denounce the lies, misinformation and harmful innuendos. Today's Republican caucus is the product of a more imperious force that must be purged from governance. Denounce the politicians and promote the statesmen.
This country and arguably the entire world has been irreparably harmed by a rising power of self-serving wealthy elitists, be they individuals or corporations granted personhood. It is indisputable that the level of wealth and income inequality that exists is unprecedented and must be reversed. The narrative must change! Restore and protect democracy!! United we stand, divided we fall.
17
As an intelligent person, Mr. Brooks could not have watched what has been going on in the Republican party for all of these many years and suddenly seen the light.
This is a calculated opinion piece that is designed to put pressure on mainstream (unicorns?) republicans to purge these anarchists from the party before they completely destroy it.
Good luck.
This is a calculated opinion piece that is designed to put pressure on mainstream (unicorns?) republicans to purge these anarchists from the party before they completely destroy it.
Good luck.
20
"The chains of love and loyalty." If Trump wins, I cannot conceive of how I could be connected to the party that wants to deport 11 million people. Or whoever think that defining Planned Parenthood is worth shutting down the government. Terrifying.
3
Thank you, David Brooks. This is a brave public statement to make from a conservative, even though everyone knows it's true. I appreciate your insights and your willingness to share them publicly. I do think it's important to mention Fox News in this conversation, as well - they are every bit as culpable as talk radio (and run by a foreign oligarch, no less.)
4
We have all fallen victim to big mouths at the expense of big ideas. Listening to either Rush or Sean Hannity yell louder then whoever they were interviewing has left us shouting at each other with no one listening at all. Their rudeness is being met with rudeness, and the spiral is a losing proposition. Just watch CNBC yell at Fox and visa versa. How pointless!
Civility has been lost and unfortunately replaced with the notion that me getting mine is more important then you getting yours. Draws are no longer politically correct. Your losing is more important than my winning. How sad!
Plenty equals enough! There is more money in our nation then we need. Sharing begets sharing. The best days are when one helps another, not outmaneuvers them. The concept that destruction is the new growth is leading us to ruin faster than Putin or ISIS ever could. Those who stand behind the veil of religion without any recognition that kindness and caring are its primary tenets are killing the ideals that set us apart as a nation. Its been long known that you catch more flies with honey then vinegar. How deep does our adversarial Congress need to sink before it realizes that the it has killed any chance of conflict resolution and more importantly, shared reward?
Civility has been lost and unfortunately replaced with the notion that me getting mine is more important then you getting yours. Draws are no longer politically correct. Your losing is more important than my winning. How sad!
Plenty equals enough! There is more money in our nation then we need. Sharing begets sharing. The best days are when one helps another, not outmaneuvers them. The concept that destruction is the new growth is leading us to ruin faster than Putin or ISIS ever could. Those who stand behind the veil of religion without any recognition that kindness and caring are its primary tenets are killing the ideals that set us apart as a nation. Its been long known that you catch more flies with honey then vinegar. How deep does our adversarial Congress need to sink before it realizes that the it has killed any chance of conflict resolution and more importantly, shared reward?
3
It seems to me for all of Mr. Brook's hand wringing, he fails to recognize that the Republican Party has failed to be conservative in a number of respects, which have contributed to its present role as the party of anarchy. For one, on the economic front, there is nothing conservative about the Republican "hands off" attitude toward economic activity; there is nothing "prudent, measured and responsible" about continuing to urge the burning of coal. There is measured in the condemning efforts to regulate drugs. For another, the Republican conservatism lacks a coherent moral focus: Why is it ok to condemn abortion but fail to address deaths from inadequate prenatal care? Why is it ok for hedge fund owners to make billions when people sleep on the streets? Why is it ok for health care to be dependent on a person's wealth?
6
If we know there's a problem with the Republican Party...why haven't we done something about it yet? You see gerrymandering, why not take it to court? You see new laws being introduced that limit a person's right to vote, why not take it to court? You see an elected representative not doing his or job, why not petition for his or her removal.
We had a chance in 2012 to put Republicans in the minority and I did my part...what happened to the rest of the Democratic and Independent Party? What happened to those moderate conservatives who had to have seen the writing on the wall? Hopefully in the upcoming election we make better decisions with our vote, if not, we deserve what we get!
We had a chance in 2012 to put Republicans in the minority and I did my part...what happened to the rest of the Democratic and Independent Party? What happened to those moderate conservatives who had to have seen the writing on the wall? Hopefully in the upcoming election we make better decisions with our vote, if not, we deserve what we get!
6
There are thoses within the Republican Party who think the Republican Party is a Christian demonination whose main goal is to make the United States into a Christian county base upon the Bible as it's authority.
This was why our framers wanted a separation of church from the state. The church can be that voice of religious thought within America but not be involved with governing the nation..If we are not careful the church will become the state.
This was why our framers wanted a separation of church from the state. The church can be that voice of religious thought within America but not be involved with governing the nation..If we are not careful the church will become the state.
3
It's astonishing to me when somewhat-rational, ostensibly intellectual Republicans note how the radicals have taken over their party - as if they're somehow tethered to a political party and have no alternative, as if they've signed some blood oath that can't be broken. Be an independent thinker and leave your party behind, Brooks. You're long overdue.
12
"every revolution tends toward anarchy and ends up devouring its own"
Extravagant overstatement. It would contain at least a smidgen of arguability if the connector "and" were to be replaced by "or."
So what do we have in the wake of the American, Russian and Chinese revolutions of the last 250 years? Anarchy? Reversal of all revolutionary sentiments?
Sometimes applecarts warrant overthrow, despite the dyspepsia created in Solomonic observers like Brooks, despite the potential "instability" created.
Instability is the nature of life to one degree or another.
Abrupt junctures can be fitting. Gradualism can be fitting.
Downstream results of any action, no matter how "gradual," can contradict, even substantially, the expected results.
I'll take Jefferson over Brooks as my advisor as to the possible need for a "revolution" every now and then.
For there only to be a "tendency" for a certain result to eventuate, there must be a "tendency" for it not to happen. Measuring likelihoods may be a prudent precaution, but not an excuse for turgidity.
Apologies for becoming pontifical. Kneejerk reaction: like for like.
Extravagant overstatement. It would contain at least a smidgen of arguability if the connector "and" were to be replaced by "or."
So what do we have in the wake of the American, Russian and Chinese revolutions of the last 250 years? Anarchy? Reversal of all revolutionary sentiments?
Sometimes applecarts warrant overthrow, despite the dyspepsia created in Solomonic observers like Brooks, despite the potential "instability" created.
Instability is the nature of life to one degree or another.
Abrupt junctures can be fitting. Gradualism can be fitting.
Downstream results of any action, no matter how "gradual," can contradict, even substantially, the expected results.
I'll take Jefferson over Brooks as my advisor as to the possible need for a "revolution" every now and then.
For there only to be a "tendency" for a certain result to eventuate, there must be a "tendency" for it not to happen. Measuring likelihoods may be a prudent precaution, but not an excuse for turgidity.
Apologies for becoming pontifical. Kneejerk reaction: like for like.
1
At first, it appeared to me that someone had hijacked Mr. Brooks column. Cogent. timely and brutally honest, is it possible that Mr. Brooks has lost his long held sanguine view of a political party that has lost its mind? As Dan Quale famously intoned, "a mind is a terrible thing to lose".
5
Brooks comes out of the closet!
5
"Really, have we ever seen bumbling on this scale, people at once so cynical and so naïve, so willfully ignorant in using levers of power to produce some tangible if incremental good?"
Yes. That would be the 1850s. It did not end well .
Yes. That would be the 1850s. It did not end well .
2
Excellent analysis and diagnosis of today's GOP status. I believe who has little bit faith to Lincoln's GOP needs to read this column and advice to be read it.
In the light of this short but exclusively descriptive Essay , I believe GOP sane part needs to devise a solution for rescuing to GOP from the hands of mob and insurgents.
Hopefully, this destructive trend will end soon, because American Government cannot be function optimally while one side seriously disabled.
In the light of this short but exclusively descriptive Essay , I believe GOP sane part needs to devise a solution for rescuing to GOP from the hands of mob and insurgents.
Hopefully, this destructive trend will end soon, because American Government cannot be function optimally while one side seriously disabled.
1
Who is this man writing as "David Brooks" today? He'd better be careful or he'll have his GOP credentials stripped from him.
2
Don't blame the politicians, blame the voters. The ones that elected them are the same from the left that did the same thing to lead us to this point, make govt the middle of everything.
Isn't this what Nathan Bedford Forrest said when he resigned from the Klan?
Good column today.
Republicans have been a constant form of entertainment as of late.
A good thing for us political junkies, probably a total embarrassment for the nation as a whole.
I personally am looking forward to POTUS Clinton, and plan on trying to send some Democrat congresspeople to help her out.
Republicans have been a constant form of entertainment as of late.
A good thing for us political junkies, probably a total embarrassment for the nation as a whole.
I personally am looking forward to POTUS Clinton, and plan on trying to send some Democrat congresspeople to help her out.
1
When I was in high school one of my best friends was a political junkie. His "team" was the Republicans. He had reached driving age by the time of the 1972 election and he drove us from one campaign office to the next collecting election pamphlets and novelties, from the Democrats and the Republicans and also from the little parties such as the American Independent Party. The AIP supported segregationists and was backed by the John Birch Society, an extreme flat-earth right wing group. Even as nonvoting high school teenagers we knew they were off the edge. My prize "score" from our visit to their outpost was a big injection-molded plastic car-door sign reading "Get US Out of the UN!" Some time after this season of relative innocence--Vietnam and Watergate notwithstanding--those John Birch Society folks abandoned the AIP and took over the Republican Party. And here we are.
4
I don't always agree with Brooks as I don't believe he's a republican, but I agree with some of his points. There is bombast but that may come from a sense of frustration of half of our country. A sense that we are losing our identity as a strong and powerful nation yes the dreaded and hated phrase of the left American Exceptionalism. When we don't lead we have the mess in Syria, the Ukraine and a Russia that wants the glory days of old and a Russian leader who has no respect for our president. Requiring a nation to enforce it's current laws is not asking for much with regards to illegal immigration, if you don't like the laws change them but they must be changed through the system that Brooks identifies, not because a group wants them changed now and if they don't they flout our laws. Immigration legal immigration is healthy for our country, immigration law breakers must be punished no matter what the excuse is, we can debate how much punishment but there must be a punishment, amnesty is abhorrent to the rule of law.
Maybe Mr. Putin disrespect of President Obama reflects the blatant disrespect exhibited by Republican Party leaders over the last 7 years.
"By traditional definitions, conservatism stands for intellectual humility, a belief in steady, incremental change, a preference for reform rather than revolution, a respect for hierarchy, precedence, balance and order, and a tone of voice that is prudent, measured and responsible. "
Sounds a great deal like the political history of Canada! But, up North, it has given rise to a mildly social-democratic society. Is Bernie Sanders a closet conservative, with a heart? Or is Mr Brooks about to finally pronounce a mea culpa of all that he has written over the years?
Sounds a great deal like the political history of Canada! But, up North, it has given rise to a mildly social-democratic society. Is Bernie Sanders a closet conservative, with a heart? Or is Mr Brooks about to finally pronounce a mea culpa of all that he has written over the years?
1
So Dave blames the political mess on the Democrats as if this is a schoolyard argument.
The country is facing some serious issues, like the budget, spending caps, voting rights and women's health care as he mentions. What has the House done? They have voted more than 50 times to repeal The Affordable Care Act.
The definition of insanity is to repeat the same action hoping for a different outcome. Anyone want to pick up a fiddle and join Nero's orchestra?
The country is facing some serious issues, like the budget, spending caps, voting rights and women's health care as he mentions. What has the House done? They have voted more than 50 times to repeal The Affordable Care Act.
The definition of insanity is to repeat the same action hoping for a different outcome. Anyone want to pick up a fiddle and join Nero's orchestra?
3
The role Freedom Caucus (as in freedom from intellectual honesty) in undermining any sensible compromise and consensus in the House is unforgivable. They aren't saving the country but actively destroying democracy and responsible governance in the name of conservative principles. They don't have any.
Eclectic Pragmatist — http://eclectic-pragmatist.tumblr.com/
Eclectic Pragmatist — https://medium.com/eclectic-pragmatism
Eclectic Pragmatist — http://eclectic-pragmatist.tumblr.com/
Eclectic Pragmatist — https://medium.com/eclectic-pragmatism
3
I fear for the future of our nation when one of our two political parties has gone destructively bonkers.
3
Much of Mr. Brooks OP-ED can be applied to both political parties. The difference being that the Leadership of the Democrat party had more power to enforce discipline with in the party. This enabled them to pass legislation not supported by a majority of the American people. Many Democrat Congress people lost their bid for re-election because they voted against the wishes of their constituents.
Now you have done it, Mr. Brooks! You have started speaking the truth. Ask Kevin McCarthy how this worked for him when he started to tell the truth about the Bengazhi committee. Please be prepared to be attacked by the wing nuts, who think that Paul Ryan is too liberal to become house speaker.
All your narrative about the Republican ideal is no match for what has replaced it. The modern day Republicans are the party of lies, where there is a silent agreement that if you don't expose my lie, then I will do the same for you. "Government is the problem", "global warming is a hoax", "evolution does not exist", "gay marriage is agains the will of God", "Planned Parenthood sells and murders babies", "Obamacare creates death panels", "guns don't kill people", "we need less taxes on the job creators", "there is a war on Christmas", "immigrants are taking our jobs", "welfare queens", "voter fraud", "liberal media", ... (I could go on for a long time)
Now that you have started to tell the truth, you are endangering the entire structure of mutually supporting lies. The fringe right will be furious and come after you with all they have got. Good luck!
All your narrative about the Republican ideal is no match for what has replaced it. The modern day Republicans are the party of lies, where there is a silent agreement that if you don't expose my lie, then I will do the same for you. "Government is the problem", "global warming is a hoax", "evolution does not exist", "gay marriage is agains the will of God", "Planned Parenthood sells and murders babies", "Obamacare creates death panels", "guns don't kill people", "we need less taxes on the job creators", "there is a war on Christmas", "immigrants are taking our jobs", "welfare queens", "voter fraud", "liberal media", ... (I could go on for a long time)
Now that you have started to tell the truth, you are endangering the entire structure of mutually supporting lies. The fringe right will be furious and come after you with all they have got. Good luck!
5
Nice analysis of where the GOP is, not so clear on how it got this way: Those traditional elements (with whom Mr. Brooks aligns himself) rode the Nixon/Buchanan Southern Strategy, which is only an update of that which the planter class has followed since the Nullification Crisis of 1832: create a (false) bond with the struggling white working class by pointing elsewhere as the source of distress; talk about "freedom" or "state's rights"; vilify "other" (blacks, immigrants, "welfare queens"); hold out the virtually impossible notion that you too may someday be rich enough to need a tax benefit protecting you from tax on your parents' estates; and adopt positions on cultural issues (abortion, guns, gays) that have nothing to do with what you're about -- amassing wealth and diminishing government's legitimate purpose of regulating commerce for the benefit of all the people.
5
And who do we trace the demise back to? Bush Jr. when he invaded Iraq and all the liberal Republicans then left the party and they were the gate keepers who kept the crazies out and the flood gates were opened.
1
There might be a fitting medieval analogy here: when one family is so powerful it has no true external threats (like the Soviet Union), it starts to see other family members as the enemy.
The Freedom Caucus (or tea party) appears to be an intractable minority, unwilling to compromise--on just about anything. Their strength appears to be the ability to frighten main stream republicans, threatening to defeat them in primary fights. There seems to be a common belief that republican voters are chomping at the bit to vote for more conservative radical candidates like the members of the Freedom Caucus.
Has anyone challenged this paradigm? I know that republicans and democrats are not supposed to cross the isle these days, but I've got to ask: Are there sufficient right leaning democrats and left leaning republicans in the congress to forge a majority?
A final thought...if the Freedom Caucus is as extreme as Mr Brooks (and several other people I respect) suggests, doesn't someone need to tell them NO! NO, you can't control government with a minority of votes. NO, you can't shut government down. NO, the majority of the American people do not want fear mongering.
Congress allowed Joe McCarthy to ride rough shod over them for a long time also. Shame on them.
Has anyone challenged this paradigm? I know that republicans and democrats are not supposed to cross the isle these days, but I've got to ask: Are there sufficient right leaning democrats and left leaning republicans in the congress to forge a majority?
A final thought...if the Freedom Caucus is as extreme as Mr Brooks (and several other people I respect) suggests, doesn't someone need to tell them NO! NO, you can't control government with a minority of votes. NO, you can't shut government down. NO, the majority of the American people do not want fear mongering.
Congress allowed Joe McCarthy to ride rough shod over them for a long time also. Shame on them.
3
You've exhausted your checklist of excuses and rationalizations for what many of us have seen as the useless,rotting corpse of the Republican Party and now declare your Road to Damascus conversion. The question now becomes, where do you go from here, David?
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David, the problem of anarchy-creep has been obvious to most of us for a long time. Will your next column propose some solutions? A constitutional amendment overturning Citizens United is one of two badly needed first steps; the other is creation of nonpartisan commissions in all 50 states to draw congressional districts without gerrymandering.
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Some of the factors that have gone into the crazy making:
Focus on divisive wedge issues to capture the single issue voter;
The change in control of campaign funds from the senior party members to wealthy donors;
The amount of money devoted to a successful, radical propaganda effort, from talk radio to captive Universities like Regency;
The amount of money devoted to taking over state governments in order to gerrymander districts and engage in crony capitalism, largely unchecked and unnoticed.
The unraveling of the alliance between Wall Street and Oil and Gas, with Oil and Gas winning.
Focus on divisive wedge issues to capture the single issue voter;
The change in control of campaign funds from the senior party members to wealthy donors;
The amount of money devoted to a successful, radical propaganda effort, from talk radio to captive Universities like Regency;
The amount of money devoted to taking over state governments in order to gerrymander districts and engage in crony capitalism, largely unchecked and unnoticed.
The unraveling of the alliance between Wall Street and Oil and Gas, with Oil and Gas winning.
4
Perhaps it's time for Republicans to call the Freedom Caucus what it is: the birth of a new American political party. Until Republicans face the truth and take action, they can't regroup, and they certainly can't govern. These extremists are going to take the Republicans down with them unless the Grand Old Party accepts reality and shakes them off soon. Get rid of them before reasonable Republicans become pure crazy by association. Center-right America need you.
3
Thanks for another well thought out column, describing the chaos known as the recent GOP. Your description of politics sounds a bit like Pope Francis, making difficult decisions for the common good. Since you have helped define the problem we now need some feasible solutions or at least some options.
Option A, let it all play out and loose the Presidential election; Option B. organize a "thoughtful party" that can glean the values of both parties; Option C. Encourage media/thinkers to educate the public to demand changes.
Help.
Option A, let it all play out and loose the Presidential election; Option B. organize a "thoughtful party" that can glean the values of both parties; Option C. Encourage media/thinkers to educate the public to demand changes.
Help.
1
Your just going to have to nurse your disappointment, that Rush Limbaugh, has changed America (for the better, BTW) and you have as much influence as a mouses squeal during a gale.