Free Republic

Paul Ryan vs. David Brooks. Brooks is best known for his admiration for the crease in Obama's trousers. He is also a New York Times columnist.

Three Major Endorsements of Health CourtsNew York Times Columnist David Brooks, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, and Esquire Magazine Endorse Special Courts NEW YORK, Nov. 1, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Three major endorsements of health courts (also called medical courts) have recently emerged, as the nation grapples with ever-rising health care costs and the reality that better care at a lower cost is needed. In his October 28th column in The New York Times, David Brooks endorsed medical courts, writing: "Companies like Ford cut wasteful spending while doubling down on productive investment. That's exactly what the nation has to...

David Brooks writes a good article here, with some biting commentary, but it's hard to take the guy seriously. When the Obama lovefest was going full tilt he fell for it hook, line and sinker humping the guys leg. But now that the winds have shifted he wants to be in the good graces of those right of center types. Not gonna happen. Given all that, it's worth a read: Lesson one. Think happy thoughts. Never allow yourself to dwell on downer, depressing ones. Over the past year, many Democrats have resolutely paid attention to those things that make...

And of course, this wouldn’t have been news all the time while Barack Obama kept claiming that these “shovel ready jobs” had prosperity just around the corner, right? Brooks says that the admission came in an off-the-record session with the President, which kept him from reporting it. I wonder if Brooks or anyone else would have been that particular had George Bush admitted “off the record” that he knew Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction in 2003 or 2004, while continuing to make the argument that the war was necessary because of them. What happened to sourcing as “a...

Paul Ryan has responded to a David Brooks column that had in turn took issue with an op-ed co-written by Ryan and AEI president Arthur Brooks on the decision facing America “between an opportunity society, where the government promotes a vibrant free enterprise system and sturdy safety net v. an expanding social welfare state – one where the government assumes greater control of more sectors of the economy and more aspects of our lives.” -snip- Ryan’s response — a concise defense of his Roadmap for America’s Future — is excellent, as you’d expect. Here’s a taste: The challenge goes beyond...

Columnist David Brooks has a reputation for being every liberal's favorite conservative. It's a debatable moniker, but it does seem to fit so far as the White House is concerned. The Obama administration has courted centrist to left-leaning pundits since coming to Washington. White House officials regularly make advisers and experts available to liberal columnists on deadline. They've also held several off-the-record lunches with the president during major policy rollouts. Brooks is one conservative among the White House favorites. (SNIP!) Brooks' favorite soundtrack these days also seems entirely apt for the even-tempered columnist: "Sense and Sensibility."

The New York Times token resident conservative, occupying the Larry Craig distinguished columnist chair, recently wrote a fascinating article (Two Theories of Change) on the differences between the French Revolution and the American revolution, based upon the differences between their respective philosophical bases. As usual, it is concise, contains a wealth of material, and draws from a wide variety of sources. Also, as usual, it is completely wrong: this piece virtually cries out for a Fisking. Let's start with the first two paragraphs, to get off on the wrong foot(*)."When I was in college I took a course in the...

We went to the Brooks and Dunn concert last night....what an experience..

Most of this opinion article from David Brooks is the usual "Obama is so great, so wonderful, so thoughtful" baloney but then you get to the bolded paragraph below and you will have to re-read it a few times just to make sure you reading it right. Yes, he is calling out the left if they fail to learn from Massachusetts: The country is now split on Obama, because he is temperate, thoughtful and pragmatic, but his policies are almost all unpopular. If you aggregate the last seven polls on health care reform, 41 percent support it and 51 percent...

How many times have I as a libertarian-minded advocate for individual liberty and free markets been in an argument with liberals, progressives, statists, whatever you choose to name them, and heard that my ideology is too simplistic, too impractical, etc.? Of course, these are the nice versions of what usually comes out of their collective mouths: idiot, fascist, racist, hick, redneck, and the glorious list of intellectual vocabulary marches on and on into pure brilliance. Oftentimes the liberal progressive breaks out into über-intellectual speak as illustrated in the following clip:

New York Times's columnist David Brooks -- never a huge fan of Sarah Palin -- laced into the former vice presidential candidate on Sunday, calling her a "joke" and a "potential talk show host." Below Link Takes you to video

McCain standard bearer and “conservative” columnist David Brooks launched his own salvo at actual conservative Sarah Palin on ABC’s This Week, joining other bitter RINOs who have attacked the former Alaska governor in recent days. If I may channel Chandler Bing for a moment: “Can he be any more elitist?” Perhaps Brooks hasn’t seen the Amazon sales lists, the thousands attending her book signings, or, for that matter, the book sales list published by his own worthless rag. Remember, folks, this is the same guy who talked about how great John McCain was as a candidate and the very same...

[Excerpt discussing the media's initial reaction to Ft. Hood] A shroud of political correctness settled over the conversation. Hasan was portrayed as a victim of society, a poor soul who was pushed over the edge by prejudice and unhappiness. There was a national rush to therapy. Hasan was a loner who had trouble finding a wife and socializing with his neighbors. This response was understandable. It’s important to tamp down vengeful hatreds in moments of passion. But it was also patronizing. Public commentators assumed the air of kindergarten teachers who had to protect their children from thinking certain impermissible and...

Liberals and conservatives each have their own intellectual food chains. They have their own think tanks to provide arguments, politicians and pundits to amplify them, and news media outlets to deliver streams of prejudice-affirming stories. David Brooks Go to Columnist Page » The Conversation David Brooks and Gail Collins talk between columns. All Conversations » Readers' Comments Readers shared their thoughts on this article. Read All Comments (316) » Independents, who are the largest group in the electorate, don’t have any of this. They don’t have institutional affiliations. They don’t look to certain activist lobbies for guidance. There aren’t many...

David Brooks, the NY Times’ left of center conservative (what?), tells Jim Lehrer (to Jim’s apparent dismay) that Obama’s Nobel is a joke and he should have declined the award. Wow! Even the left is coming clean on this bizarre event. Video Link

On CNBC's "Squawk Box," yesterday, Joe Kernen questioned New York Times' "token conservative," David Brooks true conservatism, and took aim at the liberal mainstream media's diminishment of the tea party movement, Fox News, and Rush Limbaugh.

Jim Sacco estimates that his son Josh has watched "Miracle," the film about the 1980 U.S. Olympic men's hockey team's legendary upset of Russia, nearly 150 times. Apparently, the movie has made quite an impression... Nicknamed "Rizzo" after the gold medal-winning team's captain Mike Eruzione, Josh sparked an Internet sensation this week when his hilarious, inspirational and eerily impeccable interpretation of actor Kurt Russell's locker room speech as Coach Herb Brooks went viral -- spreading everywhere from blogs to USA Today to the "Ellen" show. No professional coaching. No fancy editing. No script, because Rizzo hasn't learned to read yet...

From Mel Brooks' movie "History of the World, Part 1": The People are Revolting.

In today's "That's WAY Too Much Information" segment, New York Times columnist David Brooks claims that while he was dining with a Republican senator, the guy had his hand on Brooks's inner thigh the whole time.

... Obama inherited a $1.2 trillion deficit and has quickly pushed it up to $1.8 trillion, a whopping 13 percent of G.D.P. The new debt will continue to mount after the economy recovers. The national debt will nearly double over the next decade. Annual deficits will still hover around 5 percent or 6 percent of G.D.P. in 2019. By that year, interest payments alone on the debt are projected to be $806 billion annually, according to the Congressional Budget Office. ... Unlike just about every other Democrat on the planet, he emphasizes cost control as much as expanding health coverage....