David Brooks: GOP losing the center

#1
TennNC

TennNC

a lover, not a fighter
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#1
While nutjobs like Glenn Beck have shown their true colors by spending their time stirring up fear of a "Socialist, Communist and Fascist" Obama presidency, reasonable observers like David Brooks call it like it is.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/26/opinion/26brooks.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

But there is a third tendency, which floats between. It is for using limited but energetic government to enhance social mobility. This tendency began with Alexander Hamilton, who created a vibrant national economy so more people could rise and succeed.
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McCain would be an outstanding president...But he never escaped the straitjacket of a party that is ailing and a conservatism that is behind the times. And that’s what makes the final weeks of this campaign so unspeakably sad.
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#4
#4
All I need to do is read your boring predictable posts and it's lights out.
 
#5
#5
he's not calling it like it is. He's calling it like a liberal hopes it is. There is nothing new about anything he says, especially in bastardizing Alexander Hamilton's views of an upwardly mobile society hinging upon the federal gov't.

Hamilton was a federalist, but not in the least a socialist.
 
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JZVOL said:
All I need to do is read your boring predictable posts and it's lights out.
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doesn't make it any less true.

i suppose some talking head is branding Brooks a communist sympathizer as I type.
 
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TennNC said:
doesn't make it any less true.

i suppose some talking head is branding Brooks a communist sympathizer as I type.
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and that makes his stupidity no less socialist.

I guarantee you that on this board you can expect a spade to be called a spade. You tried to make this out to be some proof that the right has lost the confidence of the center, when it was nothing more than liberal tripe declaring victory.
 
#9
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BigPapaVol said:
and that makes his stupidity no less socialist.

I guarantee you that on this board you can expect a spade to be called a spade. You tried to make this out to be some proof that the right has lost the confidence of the center, when it was nothing more than liberal tripe declaring victory.
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you're calling David Brooks a liberal.

are you serious?
 
#10
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TennNC said:
you're calling David Brooks a liberal.

are you serious?
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I'm calling the commentary liberal. I couldn't care less about David Brooks.

His commentary passed muster at NYT and that should tell you all you need to know about what was written.
 
#11
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BigPapaVol said:
I'm calling the commentary liberal. I couldn't care less about David Brooks.

His commentary passed muster at NYT and that should tell you all you need to know about what was written.
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then Bill Kristol's commentary is liberal too. Commentary you've referenced and espoused. That passes muster at the NYT on a regular basis.
 
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TennNC said:
then Bill Kristol's commentary is liberal too. Commentary you've referenced and espoused. That passes muster at the NYT on a regular basis.
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David Brooks is not Kristol and is not going to be. Many want to call him conservative, but he breaks against conservatism on far too many issues to fit the bill for what you're suggesting here.

I guarantee you that Kristol does not remotely agree with the article you posted here and he certainly won't agree with the implications about Hamilton's politics.
 
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When I talk to friends/co workers that lean much further to the left they always say one thing: "At the very least you should be able to trust Republicans with your money."

To pretend that this is some huge social shift to the left is ridiculous. Obama is acting like a poplulist right now, and that is his appeal. We will see what happens during the midterm elections when he is elected. That will be the ultimate test for this theory.
 
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TennNC said:
I don't care about Kristol. I just care that his commentary regularly passes muster at the liberal NYT, making his commentary liberal.
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good point. he definitely has to tone down any conservatism to keep any syndicated column being picked up by that crowd.
 
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#16
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Lexvol said:
When I talk to friends/co workers that lean much further to the left they always say one thing: "At the very least you should be able to trust Republicans with your money."

To pretend that this is some huge social shift to the left is ridiculous. Obama is acting like a poplulist right now, and that is his appeal. We will see what happens during the midterm elections when he is elected. That will be the ultimate test for this theory.
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the Republicans have temporarily, and rightfully, lost any trust Americans might have regarding their tax money.

Obama has used Iraq and class warfare as his central themes. Iraq has become immaterial since he won the Dem primary and he has now turned this into a contest about who will give people the most free stuff on the top 5% dime.

Every columnist on earth can call it anything they choose, but that's what this is.
 
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While the Republicans are in disarray right now they group better than the Dems do. I laugh when everyone gets worried about a Dem super majority.

The Repubs need a dose of humility and new leadership. Obama's one term will help them along nicely
 
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MontereyVol said:
While the Republicans are in disarray right now they group better than the Dems do. I laugh when everyone gets worried about a Dem super majority.

The Repubs need a dose of humility and new leadership. Obama's one term will help them along nicely
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The Repubs need to stick to conservatism and get out of this populist garbage they've been pushing since W was elected. He has spent money like a drunk in a whorehouse and McCain continued it with discussions of healthcare fixes and tax rebates, etc.
 
#19
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BigPapaVol said:
The Repubs need to stick to conservatism and get out of this populist garbage they've been pushing since W was elected. He has spent money like a drunk in a whorehouse and McCain continued it with discussions of healthcare fixes and tax rebates, etc.
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yep, and keep fighting gays and flag burning and abortion. those are the emotional drivers.
 
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TennNC said:
yep, and keep fighting gays and flag burning and abortion. those are the emotional drivers.
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you know full well that I don't give a rat's ass about any of those fringe social issues.

Conservatism toward gov't, spending and taxes is exactly where the conservative strengths are. Stick to them and folks will remain relatively happy. Meddle in other garbage and the movement loses.
 
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TennNC said:
yep, and keep fighting gays and flag burning and abortion. those are the emotional drivers.
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You mean like oppression, privacy invasion, rich get richer, Republicans hate minorities and the poor, the world hates us, etc. are for libs?
 
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First off, Beck is not being serious.............. about as serious as the time he was going to kill a puppy during a show.

Second, just like the socialism kick, he poked fun at Putin for being the anti-christ.
 
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BigPapaVol said:
you know full well that I don't give a rat's ass about any of those fringe social issues.

Conservatism toward gov't, spending and taxes is exactly where the conservative strengths are. Stick to them and folks will remain relatively happy. Meddle in other garbage and the movement loses.
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The fringe social issues are what brings people to those rallies, what makes them passionate. They are the emotional drivers, and intellectual conservatives have remained silent while the conservative messiah, W, was reviving the base through these fringe issues. And that approach leads to an old, stale Right-wing narrative: Us vs. Them. The "Real America" vs. the "Fake America."

The right wingers are controlling the dialogue in McCain's and Palin's stump speeches, and it's manifested a thousandfold on talk radio. "Be afraid!" "They're coming after you!" "They're gonna take away your guns!" "Socialists!" "Communists!" "Fascists!" "Elitists!" "Anti-American!" "Them!" "That one!"

That ideology is being marginalized in this campaign, however. When the pocketbook is light, those issues don't matter as much - divisiveness is not as powerful. People move toward pragmatism.

I understand you're a conservative, and it should pain you that your ideals have been bastardized by a party more motivated to divide than heal.
 
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OrangeEmpire said:
First off, Beck is not being serious.............. about as serious as the time he was going to kill a puppy during a show.

Second, just like the socialism kick, he poked fun at Putin for being the anti-christ.
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that's BS. He knows full well what he's doing. What he's fomenting. There's a difference between saying someone's inexperienced, or arrogant, and calling someone a fascist.
 
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TennNC said:
that's BS. He knows full well what he's doing. What he's fomenting. There's a difference between saying someone's inexperienced, or arrogant, and calling someone a fascist.
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And yet, you keep watching him..... and he keeps making money.
 
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