Sunday, March 31, 2013

How Not To Interview David Brooks About Iraq


JUDY WOODRUFF: Last thing I will raise. We have only got about 30 seconds, so this is tough.  The 10th anniversary of the war in Iraq, just a very brief thought from both of you about how it -- looking back, some people are asking, was it worth it? I may not -- I don't want to put you on the spot in 15 seconds, David, but ...
DAVID BROOKS: Yes, I'm not sure it was worth it.  I think we look back, and we are more modest about what our intelligence can do, more modest about how we can nation-build, more modest about our own sort of role in the world. And so I think it's been a lesson in modesty, but not isolation.
Having picked through most of the inventory of 10-years-later apologies, obfuscations, alibis, revisionism and outright, "Fuck Yeah!" triumphalist lies from America's most infamous Operation Clusterfuck chickenhawk supporters, this was the sum total of David Brooks' opinion on the subject of Iraq.

Mr. Brooks can burn entire 800-word columns in America's newspaper of record musing about the Niebuhrian implications of a bowl of lemon custard, but when it comes to the biggest foreign policy debacle in modern history? 

 One which he fully and enthusiastically supported at the top of his voice?   

One which he gleefully exploited to curb-stomp every Liberal target in sight?  

One which he used to massively advance his career?

Uh...modesty, Judy.

I think it had something to do with fucking modesty.

Helluva way to begin my 8th year of blogging.

11 comments:

Lawrence said...

Does living in a four million dollar house disqualify someone from expressing an opinion about Humility?

DFB said...

Just realized lent is over...

Habitat Vic said...

Surely, it looks like you picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmW-ScmGRMA

Retired Patriot said...

F David F'ing Brooks. The spike would be insulted have his head put upon it.
RP

Fritz Strand said...

Lent must be over.

Cirze said...

Suck on this!

David Brooks!!!!!

meh

John said...

Humility. . . Humility . . . That's the topic of his Yale course.

Anonymous said...

I believe the humility shtick is simply a defense because he is beginning to sense the growing sentiment of "DFB is full of s-h-*-t". If he spends some time spreading that manure, then when someone finally confronts him, he will be able to attack his attacker for not having the humility he has been harping about. A simple deflection while knocking the goalposts aside, with an ad hominem attack, and the attack on his intelligence suddenly becomes proof that his last few months of articles are right.

Another possibility is that one of his paymasters got on his case for shoveling the poo too thick. Since the people he (and his ilk like Tom Friedman) write for tend to be shallow, venal narcissists, all this humble nattering about humility in a bowing posture must seem very contrite. There may have been a threat to his pay, and this posturing is to protect it.

If the humility masturbation ends in the next big-item news cycle, then the situation is the latter. However, I have a feeling it's the former.

Mike.K.

Batocchio said...

Come on, it was Brooks' blogiversary gift to you.

Anonymous said...

Wow. Just.. -wow-... Finally gave a look through some of your original blog posts from Wayback: Amazing stuff even back then - sure wish I had discovered you (..not to mention Mr. Gilliard of course, plus a select few others) back then. But I'm mighty glad to have found your blog anyway - better late than never I guess.

Please keep up the great writing and I hope we, your Gentle Readers can (HINT, HINT TO THE REST OF YOU), can pony up some pennies to send your way, to help feed you to feed our habit of reading your fine writing & 'Shopping.

Cheers and Happy "BV" day!

-mike from CA
p.s. And as to the whole 'Umble shtick - when do we get to start calling DFB his new most appropriate nickname, "Uriah"..?

Unsalted Sinner said...

See, you've made me hate Lent now - and I don't even celebrate it (or whatever it is Catholics do). Glad it's over...

And a very happy blogiversary to you!