David Brooks Castigates President Hillary, House Speaker Nancy and Senate Majority Leader Chuck...

...for squandering their unlimited political power.

Normally, Mr. David Brooks of The New York Times needs an entire week of straining and pushing and struggling to poop out 800 words of his brand of wish-book, Both Siderist anti-journalism which then scuttles away to live behind the Times' paywall.  But now, thanks to Twitter, you can enjoy Mr. Brooks' trademark, clueless claptrap for free and in 280 character pill-form:

Instead of spending the past 3 years on Mueller and impeachment suppose Trump opponents had spent the time on an infrastructure bill or early childhood education? More good would have been done.

— David Brooks (@nytdavidbrooks) February 5, 2020

David Brooks may be galatically awful at the most basic elements of journalism, but he genuinely excels at that uniquely Conservative knack for blithely ignoring observable reality when it conflicts with his asinine opinions.

First, consider that for two out of the last three years, the entire federal government was 100% in the hands of Mr. Brooks' Republican Party during which time they were free to pass an infrastructure bill or an early childhood education bill or a "Give Every MAGA Meathead a Free Pony" bill or any other bill they damn well pleased.  They would've sailed through both houses and President Stupid would've signed it and showed it off on teevee like a two year old who has learned to go boom-boom in the potty like a big boy.

And what has Mr. Brooks' Republican Party been up to since the Democrats took control of one half of one branch of the federal government?

House Democrats have passed nearly 400 bills. Trump and Republicans are ignoring them.

Legislative paralysis gripped Capitol Hill well before impeachment started.

...
This has led to House Democrats decrying McConnell’s so-called “legislative graveyard,” a moniker the Senate majority leader has proudly adopted. McConnell calls himself the “grim reaper” of Democratic legislation he derides as socialist, but many of the bills that never see the Senate floor are bipartisan issues, like a universal background check bill, net neutrality, and reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act.

“From raising the minimum wage to ensuring equal pay, we have passed legislation to raise wages. And we have passed legislation to protect and expand health coverage and bring down prescription drug prices,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said in a statement to Vox. “We continue to urge Senator McConnell to take up our bills, many of which are bipartisan.”

McConnell is focused on transforming the federal judiciary instead, with the Senate confirming over 150 of Trump’s nominees to the federal bench. And he has refused to bring Democratic bills to the Senate floor in part to protect vulnerable Republican senators from having to take tough votes that could divide the GOP ahead of the 2020 election. Still, some Senate Republicans fear inaction could make them just as vulnerable...

For those of you who many be new here, I've been writing the despicable Mr. Brooks for 15 years now and, yes, he has always been just this fucking awful.

And, yes, the New York Times has inexplicably continued paying him a king's ransom for being just this fucking awful on their op-ed page every week during all of that time.

And, yes, his Beltway colleagues have praised him and feted him and held him up as a role-model of professional rectitude during all of that time.

All of which should tell you all you need to know about why the Americans political press is so irreparable fucked-in-the-head.

Driftglass Legal Defense Fund