Sunday, September 27, 2015

Today In "Both Sides Do It": Frank Bruni



Every aspiring Beltway pundit knows the Royal Road to fame and fortune is the Dave Brooks Highway, and yesterday it was Frank Bruni's turn to pop the top on the Both Siderist convertible and take a leisurely drive through the Safe Center of American punditry (h/t Alert Reader "IR" for calling this to my attention.)

It's really a very easy.

First, since the evidence of the Republican Party's dementia and nihilistic fanaticism is now overwhelming and absolutely unimpeachable, it is necessary to establish one's honest-broker pundit cred by acknowledging the existence of the rabid beast which is staring you right in the face:
...
One of our two major political parties is hostage to an extreme subgroup that won’t brook compromise, values theatrical protests over actual governing and is adolescent in its ideological vanity.

Of course Boehner couldn’t last: He’s an adult. And as Donald Trump’s perverse currency and a Republican nominating contest that’s often indistinguishable from a temper tantrum demonstrate, the qualities of maturity, steadiness and prudence aren’t in especially big favor right now with an animated, engaged and frighteningly influential segment of the Republican electorate.
 But then it is vital to pivot immediately to the safe harbor of Both Siderism by positing an equally vast yet mysteriously invisible Army of Dirty Hippies on the Left, which "journalists" ominously refuse to talk about:
...
I’m not saying that the Republican Party alone has wing nuts, disrupters, brats. Too often that’s the impression left by journalists ruing the G.O.P.’s unruly ways.

But Democrats over recent years haven’t been bedeviled by internal dissent and rendered dysfunctional to the extent that Republicans have. They’ve kept something of a lid on things and maintained a semblance of order.
See, it's all just tactics.  Both parties are equally crazy, uncompromising, vain, immature, perverse and tantrum-y.  It's just that the Democrats cover it all up better than the GOP.

Wow.

Who would have guessed that the Dirty Hippies were so powerful that they could be just as whiny, nihilistic, volatile and batshit crazy as the GOP while at the same time being such brilliant and disciplined tacticians that they can keep any actual evidence of their whiny, nihilistic, volatile, batshit craziness from leaking out into the real world?

Frank Bruni, that's who.  

7 comments:

ELSKY said...

Glad as usual to see you nailed it. Bruni's another NYT both sider good soldier. Will it ever end? Is the Times just spiffing up it's brand before listing it for sale to Murdoch (Koch, Adelman…..)?

steeve said...

"I’m not saying that the Republican Party alone has wing nuts, disrupters, brats. Too often that’s the impression left by journalists"

By "too often", he means zero times. Journalists make sure to tell us the other side is bad as reliably as football pundits tell us that you need indisputable evidence to overturn a call on the field.

Unknown said...

"Republican Party alone has wing nuts, disrupters, brats." When I read this I wondered who could this be, what other parties, pray? The Revolutionary Army of the Infant Jesus? The Nihilists in The Big Lebowski? Surely, out there, somewhere, there is some group meeting in a VA hall, or bowling alley, that calls themselves the Such-and-So Party and are likewise nuts, disrupters, and brats, but the likelihood is that they are disaffected or die-hard (it doesn't matter which) Republicans!!

I like the media balancing act between the whimpy, weak-kneed, straw man liberal that they put on their panels, where all along liberals really are all a bunch of bomb throwing anarchists working for the Soviets. It is a bizarre narrative, a charade all the more remarkable that they can keep it up with a straight face. It is enough cognitive dissonance to ignite cold fusion.

Unknown said...

@ELSKY

I fear it will never end. I "watched" Toddler interview Hilary Clinton this morning and marveled at his obvious glee in pushing back on everything Hilary said about the email account and wondered why (yeah, silly me) we only see his tenacity when he takes it to "The Librul, Man" (PBO being another example). I guess he's not worried that PBO or Hilary won't want to come back on his ho' show (and I mean no disrespect to those in the world's oldest profession).

How I loathe, despise, abhor, and revile these Pig People (and I mean no disrespect to those of the porcine persuasion).

bowtiejack said...

"One of our two major political parties is hostage to an extreme subgroup that won’t brook compromise, values theatrical protests over actual governing and is adolescent in its ideological vanity"

Why, mah lawd, that sounds like early 1930's Germany, but that couldn't be because America is exceptional.

dinthebeast said...

Ahh yes, no mention of the forty years they've spent wooing that "extreme subgroup" to pretty please come vote for their party and celebrate all of their worst qualities in the light of day as if they were junior's bowling trophies...
And off topic, but I totally stole your word "shoutycracker" and used it in a comment over at the Field Negro, and it appears to have been a big hit, although sometimes it's kind of hard to tell there.

-Doug in Oakland

Cinesias said...

As John Mac above states, the dichotomy of the "nuts" is always hilarious.

Sure, the Republican party has nuts like SITTING Senator Cruz saying crazy crazy shit, and SITTING House Member Gohmert saying crazy shit.

But, like, there's some liberals posting anonymously on comment sections saying crazy shit too!

See, BothSidesDoIt™!

Fucking brilliant.