Sore Loser
Jonathan Weiler (10:44AM) link
With social security "reform" gasping for oxygen, David Brooks took to whining yesterday about why reform efforts appear to have failed. Jonathan Chait, over at Talking Points Memo, has a very nice take on it. He observes that, contrary to Brooks' assertion that voters' selfishness contributed to the demise of Bush's reform plan, the fact is "that selfishness has always been at the core of Bush's economic agenda." In fact, Chait argues, the voters, specifically the elderly, whose own benefits will be unaffected by changes in the program, still overwhelmingly reject privatization, out of concern for what that would mean for future generations. As Chait points out, that's pretty much the opposite of a selfish impulse.
There's other pure nonsense in Brooks' column, aside from his black-is-white, up-is-down assertion about selfishness. He characterizes reformers as trying to "to create a risk-taking, dynamic society." No doubt, he has places like Chile in mind. I am sure most Americans crave the dynamism of Chile for their own. Brooks also refers to the "solvency issue." I think it's great that he's so concerned and conscientious about a solvency problem that's decades away from realization, if ever. But, why not concern himself with problems closer to hand, like exploding health care costs, out of control deficits or a shockingly reckless fiscal approach, none of which have anything to do with social security? Well, none of those were on the talking points memo from Republican headquarters, so…
But, Brooks grows truly hysterical when describing the role of the obstructionist Democrats: "When Social Security reform was broached, the party leaders went to the F.D.R. Memorial, as if the glory days of the 1930's were the guideposts for the 21st century. Meanwhile, the party base has grown militant with rage. The Howard Dean hotheads declare that they hate the evil Republicans, making compromise seem like collaborating with Satan. The militants, bloggers and polemicists have waged a relentless pressure campaign on any moderates who might even be thinking of offering constructive ideas." This paragraph would be a nearly perfect description of what the Republican party has become since 1994 – its militancy, its insistence that anyone who disagrees with its agenda is a tool of Satan, its insane, unslakeable rage, its framing of ALL political debate as one between good and evil. That Brooks has chosen to direct this characterization at the Democrats - for their perfectly fact-based rejection of the premises of Bush's social security plans - is one more piece of evidence that beneath his reasonable-conservative veneer, Brooks can be as reality-challenged as the best of them. And a sore loser to boot.
http://gadflyer.com/flytrap/index.php?Week=200511#1604http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/week_2005_03_13.php#005157 
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