Friday, April 12, 2019

America's Most Sanctimonious Moral Scold Wouldn't Try To "Both Sides" Immigration, Would He?



Damn betcha he would (from The New York Times with emphasis added):
Our Disgrace at the Border
The agony of the refugee and the posturing of showbiz politicians.

By David Brooks
Opinion Columnist
April 11, 2019

...
There is nothing remotely like an adequate system in place to handle the hundreds of thousands of people fleeing violence in Central America or seeking economic opportunity. And there is no prospect of a plan being put in place from either Republicans or Democrats...

Both parties are content to adopt abstract ideological postures. Neither is interested in creating a functioning system that balances trade-offs and actually works. In the age of Trump, national politics is showbiz — self-righteous performance art to make the base feel good about itself...

Aside from baring his fangs, Trump is uninterested in processing the extra refugees...

But on many issues the 2020 Democrats aren’t really having a primary campaign; they’re having a purity test. The candidates are not sure if they can deviate from wherever the social media warriors have defined the leftward edge. So the Democratic show consists of indignant generalities intended to sound radical while changing nothing.

On the one hand, these people...

On the other hand, many who are coming...

...Much of today’s politics starts from a different question: What posture can I adopt that will reflect well on me? What can I say to prove I’m manly or woke?

This is what happens when the politics of practical action get replaced by the politics of performative narcissism.
Today I have nothing to say about this that I haven't already said (literally) a 1000 times before.

I'm mostly just pinning this here for my own future reference, and for future generations who will wonder how the American media ever got away with passing off such hollow frauds as moral giants.



Behold, a Tip Jar!


2 comments:

Robt said...

If I had the "umpf" to submit a question and response from the might DFB high atop his majestic imperial royal throne of self concluded brilliance.
Where he cast down upon the retched . Out of the kindness of his self promotional signature twisted perspective. Casting this down on us undeserving,
is equal to the "Thoughts and Prayers" Americans received from republicans after a mass shooting in Las Vegas. Where their 2nd Amendment right on their belts at an outdoor concert did nothing but leave them helpless.

DFB is the distraction to waste time while the cement is poured and dries around your feet.

Andrew Johnston said...

Much of today’s politics starts from a different question: What posture can I adopt that will reflect well on me? What can I say to prove I’m manly or woke? This is what happens when the politics of practical action get replaced by the politics of performative narcissism.

For want of taking an actual position, Brooks accuses everyone of virtue signalling and throws up his hands. Not new for him: He's previously claimed that working for a charity is sometimes just a sign that one is morally "inarticulate" and shallow.

The "abstract ideological postures" thing is cute, too, given that Warren in particular is taking shit for being too "wonky." It's almost as though he has no interest in what's going on in the nation's politics. Thus is the conundrum of the man with his commitment to "vocation" - he doesn't want to write about politics but he also doesn't want to give up his position as a political writer.