The Mysterious Stranger (Howard Dean) NYT David Brooks

[chimpymustgo]

------------------------------------------------------------------------

December 9, 2003
OP-ED COLUMNIST


By DAVID BROOKS

-snip-

It was then that I saw how Dean had liberated himself from his past, liberated himself from his record and liberated himself from the restraints that bind conventional politicians. He has freed himself to say anything, to be anybody.

-snip-

The old Dean was a free trader. The new Dean is not. The old Dean was open to Medicare reform. The new Dean says Medicare is off the table. The old Dean courted the N.R.A.; the new Dean has swung in favor of gun control. The old Dean was a pro-business fiscal moderate; the new Dean, sounding like Ralph Nader, declares, "We've allowed our lives to become slaves to the bottom line of multinational corporations all over the world."

-snip-

But the liberated Dean is beyond categories like liberal and centrist because he is beyond coherence. He'll make a string of outspoken comments over a period of weeks — on "re-regulating" the economy or gay marriage — but none of them have any relation to the others. When you actually try to pin him down on a policy, you often find there is nothing there.

For example, asked how we should proceed in Iraq, he says hawkishly, "We can't pull out responsibly." Then on another occasion he says dovishly, "Our troops need to come home," and explains, fantastically, that we need to recruit 110,000 foreign troops to take the place of our reserves. Then he says we should not be spending billions more dollars there. Then he says again that we have to stay and finish the job.

At each moment, he appears outspoken, blunt and honest. But over time he is incoherent and contradictory.

-snip-

Everybody talks about how the Internet has been key to his fund-raising and organization. Nobody talks about how it has shaped his persona. On the Internet, the long term doesn't matter, as long as you are blunt and forceful at that moment. On the Internet, a new persona is just a click away. On the Internet, everyone is loosely tethered, careless and free. Dean is the Internet man, a string of exhilarating moments and daring accusations.

-snip-

http://nytimes.com/2003/12/09/opinion/09BROO.html?pagewanted=print&position=

Please read this. Yes, it's a conservative columnist in an ostensibly "liberal" newspaper. But I think David Brooks has captured the elusive essence of Howard Dean.

[Jacobin]

1. Why does anyone think the NYT is a liberal paper?

It's a PNAC promoting rag whose only bright spots are Krugman and Rall.

Why do we post extreme RW trashing of our presumptive Dem nominees on this board?

Brooks' extreme RW credentials are there for all to see. I believe his last gig was at the WSJ tabloid.

[creativelcro]

21. David Brooks is a prude, slimy right winger..

Pretty well known... The only thing he ever said that surprised me is that he is in favor of gay marriage (which may me wonder whether he, or somebody in his familiy, is gay; the only way these guys have liberal pockets is if something happens to THEM). -CV

[tlb]

2. Good analysis of Dean.

But too little too late. It seems the Dean trainwreck is almost unstoppable now.

[papau]

4. it is a good analysis - because EACH Dean comment makes sense

and Brooks wants an easy theme, rather than real thought.

It tells us a lot about Brooks.

[Clark4Prez]

3. Reads like Rove Dis-info to me

Look, I am not for Dean, but, this is complete Rove job.

Make him look inconsistent and say anything to get elected, and they Bushy doesn't have to run on his record.

[slinkerwink]

7. thanks for syaing that's a rove job because it is....

[DemNoir]

5. OK im convinced!

Dean is the devil. Now will you stop posting every piece of right wing crap you can get your hands on?

[Sugarbleus]

6. Finally!

I've been groping around trying to put my finger on why I have misgivings about this guy Dean. As I read through the DU forums and now this article, I can say, AHA! my instincts were right! All these bits of info are the missing links. Now I get the picture.
He's a BOYSCOUT, not a world leader.

[vi5]

8. Josh Marshall had a good comment on this...

The part where Brooks gets up in arms because Dean refers to himself as "rural". Marshall points out that Dean has lived in Vermont for 25 years and it is the most rural state in the country. What part of that does Brooks not understand.

[DemNoir]

10. I would think the anti Deans could find a better example than this

What junk. Its not difficult to pull four word quotes out of context to make someone look inconsistent. The NYT sinks to new depths daily.

[Hamlette]

32. Brooks is describing Bush

Who ran as a Texan (from Conn. and Kennybunkport) and a moderate (then chose Ashcroft, Cheney and the like to run his ship) and a compassionate (can you say Karla Faye Tucker who's pleas for her life he mocked?) conservative (what happened to fiscal responsibility?)

And if it's remaking oneself that bothers Brooks he might want to look at how Bush has remade the reasons for going to war in Iraq. It wasn't because we were in danger it was because we want to spread democracy to the world. <gag>

Brooks is a hack. The hypocracy of this column is just breathtaking.

(I'm not a Dean supporter, I like Clark. But Brooks is just trying to pin Dean with the "liar" moniker (to say nothing or "he's just remaking himself") they gave to Gore. Damn. They will do the same thing to whoever we run. We gotta start countering it now but pointing out that Bush is the biggest liar ever.)

[cryofan]

9. Exactly what I have been saying!

Dean has adopted the angry rhetoric and stance of an outsider and a populist. But he should not be able to do these things--he already has a LONG RECORD AS ANYTHING BUT AN OUTSIDER AND POPULIST as governor of Vermont. Just look to what he has done there. Look at what the true liberals of VT say about him.

Yes, this columnist is a aligned with the GOP, apparently. And I bet he likes the access and power the present GOP. And probably he thinks Dean is a threat to the GOP. And Dean definitely is a threat, as he is quite electable in the general election, if things keep going the way there are, and if Nader does not run.

THe problem is that Dean may not be that much better than Bush for AMericans. Yes, Bush has made a mess of foreign policy. But on the domestic front, Dean may be just as bad. Look at his Vermont record!

The Democratic Establishment and Corporate Media has crammed Dean down our throats, because the Democratic Establishment and their friends in the media want power again.

BUt is Dean what LIBERALS want? I doubt it ......

[CWebster]

11. David Brooks

Who needs republicans when Democrats...

[vi5]

12. Brooks is a democrat?

Are you sure about that?

[CWebster]

13. No

meaning...here on DU, so many Democrats so willing to embrace Republican tactics and spin to attack their own.

[vi5]

15. I'm assuming you mean against EVERY candidate...

Or is this another one of the many "my poor candidate is a martyr who gets picked on more than anyone else" posts I see from some of just about every candidates supporters on here. Nobody is exempt from it and nobody gets it any worse than others.

[chimpymustgo]

16. You're either with us or against us. Now, THAT's rethug tactics.

I don't believe the primaries have been cancelled - yet.

Please stop labelling anyone who doesn't support Dean to be a Republican. Do you hear how you sound? The MAJORITY of Democrats support someone OTHER than Howard Brush Dean. And we all have our reasons.

I think David Brooks nailed Dean. And I have just as much right to my opinion as you do yours.

[Jerseycoa]

17. For me, Brooks nailed Dean

Right here:

"But the liberated Dean is beyond categories like liberal and centrist because he is beyond coherence. He'll make a string of outspoken comments over a period of weeks — on "re-regulating" the economy or gay marriage — but none of them have any relation to the others. When you actually try to pin him down on a policy, you often find there is nothing there."


The closer I came to Howard Dean as a candidate, what I saw was incoherence. It moved me from being a Dean supporter to a generally supportive observer of Dean to a Clark supporter. Sorry if this doesn't fit with the scenario, but it's true. I'll vote for him if he is the nominee, but I hope to hell he's not.

And I, too, am not bending to this "you're with us or against" us baloney. Dean supporters need to step out of the bubble once in a while and understand that all Democrats do not like, never mind love Howard Dean.

[Terwilliger]

38. but what happens when you have to vote for him next year?

Are you going to remind other people that you don't really like Dean but you're voting for him anyway?

[CWebster]

19. Brooks is on the right

Enough said.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

14. The rightwingers are sounding worried.

The repugs and the rightwing dems are getting a tad nervous about Dean.

[HFishbine]

18. Wait a minute

I thought the reight wing was pumping up Dean because he's the one they want to run against. Is this just an anomoly, or did somoene not get the memo?

[Hep]

20. Confuse-A-Cat

It's their game. Soon, they'll start speaking hindi.

[fsbooks]

24. Reverse psychology

The right wing has been pumping up Dean pretending they wanted to run against him because they figure all the wishy-washy posturing liberals would throw their support to someone who they could beat, knowing all the time that Dean was the one candidate (well, Clark maybe), who could beat Bush.

[Hep]

22. Hey I've never seen this before!

Someone posting a conservative column, Dean critics lining up against Dean (the article is RIGHT ON!) and Dean supporters defending him.

Gee, I really didn't know what you people thought before today. My favorite thing about this board is that it isn't redundant. Not one bit repetitive. Always new and unique. Not a bit of redundancy.

[theboss]

23. I like Brooks as a writer

I don't care that he leans right. He often makes good points. And I think he has here.

I still don't know what Dean stands for. I ask for a position and I get three answers. I just know he is pissed off.

But he has the most money and Gore endorsed him. I'll go home now.

[Hep]

25. Dean stands for

THe national anthem.

Seriously, ask me anything. I'll give one answer.

[Ramsey]

26. He certainly doesn't get the Internet

"On the Internet, the long term doesn't matter, as long as you are blunt and forceful at that moment. On the Internet, a new persona is just a click away. On the Internet, everyone is loosely tethered, careless and free. Dean is the Internet man, a string of exhilarating moments and daring accusations."

Does that accurately describe DU, or any number of internet sites and forums that have been around for years? I think we are a more coherent force than Mr. Brooks cares to acknowledge. We're not a bunch of teenage hackers after all.

[HFishbine]

28. No

That doesn't accurately describe the internet. It does re-enforce the meme "professional" journalists have been pushing for years now because of the challenges the Internet presents to their power.

[blm]

27. Is it the truth or not? Will Rove use the disparity between Dean's record

and his current rhetoric to show him as unprincipled opportunist who coopted the language of the internet message boards?

Can Dems show Dean as a principled, longtime populist and use his record to prove it?

Or will it be too late?

[cryofan]

Fantastic comment!

You pretty much nailed it. Dean talks the talk, but his Vermont walking tells the real story....

[cryofan]

33. Fantastic comment!

You pretty much nailed it. Dean talks the talk, but his Vermont walking tells the real story....

[janx]

29. MORE right wingnut propaganda.

Why do you fall for it?

[creativelcro]

43. because they're iDUts

[dsc]

30. Here is an example of his great analysis

My moment of illumination about Howard Dean came one day in Iowa when I saw him lean into a crowd and begin a sentence with, "Us rural people. . . ."

Dean grew up on Park Avenue and in East Hampton. If he's a rural person, I'm the Queen of Sheba. Yet he said it with conviction. He said it uninhibited by any fear that someone might laugh at or contradict him.

end of quote

Dr. Dean has lived in Vermont, which as all of his critics point out, is such a small state, for 25 years. That is slightly under half his life. He chose to move to VT. He apparently likes VT. If he doesn't have the right to call himself rural then who in God's name does? I mean really. Is this your idea of thoughtful analysis?

Here is another example of his wonderful analysis.

For example, asked how we should proceed in Iraq, he says hawkishly, "We can't pull out responsibly." Then on another occasion he says dovishly, "Our troops need to come home," and explains, fantastically, that we need to recruit 110,000 foreign troops to take the place of our reserves. Then he says we should not be spending billions more dollars there. Then he says again that we have to stay and finish the job.

end of quote.

First, there is a lot of error in this and not alot of quotes and no sitations. Nothing here can be checked. This is typical of the lying liars you have chosen to disgrace this board with. But let's assume the quotes are accurate. What is inconsistent here? We can't pullout responsibly without having some foreign troops replace us. That seem pretty friggin clear to me. But this lying liar you have disgraced us with pretends it isn't. Then he adds stuff at the end that isn't even in quotes. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out why because Dean didn't really say the rest of those things . This lying liar is lying to your face and you reward him by bringing him here.

[mrgorth]

31. A point by point refutation

But the liberated Dean is beyond categories like liberal and centrist because he is beyond coherence. He'll make a string of outspoken comments over a period of weeks — on "re-regulating" the economy or gay marriage — but none of them have any relation to the others. When you actually try to pin him down on a policy, you often find there is nothing there.

Rhetoric. Nothing to disprove.

For example, asked how we should proceed in Iraq, he says hawkishly, "We can't pull out responsibly." Then on another occasion he says dovishly, "Our troops need to come home," and explains, fantastically, that we need to recruit 110,000 foreign troops to take the place of our reserves. Then he says we should not be spending billions more dollars there. Then he says again that we have to stay and finish the job.

These things all complement each other. Dean has been calling for internationalizing the Iraqi mistake ever since we got bogged down. Of course, before that, he was against the whole mess. Internationalizing allows us to bring some troops home and spend less without leaving the power vacuum that a quick pullout would.

The old Dean was a free trader. The new Dean is not.

He was a free trader because it benefitted his state which is what he was supposed to be doing. Do you honestly think Dean could have prevented NAFTA from passing anyway?

The old Dean was open to Medicare reform. The new Dean says Medicare is off the table.

Yet he refuses to say that he won't slow it's growth. He's being responsible.

The old Dean courted the N.R.A.; the new Dean has swung in favor of gun control.

He led one of the most rural states in the country and I'd hardly call his current position pro-gun control.

The old Dean was a pro-business fiscal moderate; the new Dean, sounding like Ralph Nader, declares, "We've allowed our lives to become slaves to the bottom line of multinational corporations all over the world."

He still is a fiscal moderate he just wants the same responsibility from corporations. I'm not even sure if Wal Mart is in VT yet. They kept them out for a long time because of their very nature.

This filth isn't even good filth. It attempts to contrast his governing style with his campaigning style. Well, I'm guessing you might have to change your views a little when running a country as opposed to one of the smallest most rural states in the country.

[blm]

34. Dean smoothed the way for WalMart in Vermont.

He also pushed for Yucca Mt. as early as 1996, pushed for deregulation in the energy industry and smoothed the way for Bush pals, the Koch brothers to puchase the utility Vermont Yankee. Of course, Dean is keeping those papers sealed because someone had a medical problem.

[dsc]

35. You have no citation of Walmart (editted to add link)

because that is an utter falsehood. The facts are that WalMart changed its store to fit the Burlington zoning reguations and the Vermont law that Dean inherited. It is illegal, and for good reason, to not permit businesses that abide by your zoning just because you don't like the business. Just how many gay clubs, porno shops, or liberal bookstores would we have if states could do what you want Dean to do. Answer is none.

http://www.thelocaloption.com/option/issue2/walmart.htm

Go there and tell me where Dean is mentioned. He isn't. As usual you tell us stories you like and have not a thing to back them up.

[blm]

45. The poster was incorrect when they said Dean kept WalMart out.

It wasn't true and Dean DID work with WalMart to get them in and did NOT work to keep them out.

[realFedUp]

36. It's bad when a DUer has to post rightwingcrap to make his opinion

:-(

[Terwilliger]

37. And we're listening to RIGHT-WING David Brooks BECAUSE???

Lawdy, what a bunch of simps.

[dsc]

39. because he is telling stories that Dean bashers like

and that is enough for them to be brought here.

[Terwilliger]

42. I do see the need to find out what the media might say about any...

of the candidates, but this is ridiculous.

Personally, I don't trust any "journalist" with a right-wing view to spell anything out truthfully as they see it. They see it with spin, and acknowledging that spun effort as legitimate only empowers them.

[HuckleB]

41. You're right. I thought threads based on right wing columnists got locked.

What gives?

[chimpymustgo]

44. Because I think he's right. And I'm not alone.

Simps? Back at you.

[Name removed]

46. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[HuckleB]

40. Interesting.

You could write this same column about Bush or Clark or just about everyone, but Brooks decided to write it about Dean. We know why he won't write it about Bush, but is he more afraid of Dean than Clark or any other Dem candidate? Hmmm.