Thursday, June 6, 2013

David Brooks, "The Power Inversion": David Brooks Has Now Lost All Credibility . . . on This Issue


As I suggested yesterday, Jill Abramson of The New York Times has lost her patience with Obama (http://jgcaesarea.blogspot.co.il/2013/06/new-york-times-us-is-secretly.html). Alluding to a lead online Times article entitled "U.S. Is Secretly Collecting Records of Verizon Calls" (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/06/us/us-secretly-collecting-logs-of-business-calls.html?_r=0) by Charlie Savage and Edward Wyatt, I observed:

"What has happened to The Times? After refusing to participate in Eric Holder's off-the-record discussion, they are now investigating violations of Americans' basic First Amendment rights? Is Jill Abramson finally getting wise to Obama's 'Little Shop of Horrors'?"

But who would have thought that The New York Times would then write an editorial entitled "President Obama’s Dragnet" (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/07/opinion/president-obamas-dragnet.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&pagewanted=all&) and declare:

"The administration has now lost all credibility. Mr. Obama is proving the truism that the executive branch will use any power it is given and very likely abuse it."

But not so fast! Needless to say, the language of this editorial was subsequently edited to read (italics added):

"The administration has now lost all credibility on this issue."

Was there a certain livid West Wing staffer who called The Times to demand this amendment? Easy enough to find out: Simply check the phone records collected by the NSA.

And of course, the redaction was necessary given how credible the Obama administration remains vis-à-vis the IRS scandal, the Benghazi travesty, the AP/Rosen horror, and its spurious overseas "red lines." Yeah, right.

Given all of the above, David Brooks today decides to wade into the fray (. . . not) with a Times op-ed entitled "The Power Inversion" (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/07/opinion/brooks-the-power-inversion.html) in which he contends (yawn) that "city governments are likely to be more dynamic than the federal government." Brooks writes:

"There’s a weird calm around Washington these days. The Obama administration only has a year before the lame-duck status sets in. Yet you don’t get a sense of urgency. White House officials seem busy running the government, but they are not filling the public space with a transformational second-term agenda."

"A weird calm"? Sorry, David, this is not "sclerosis" but rather paralysis. The West Wing no longer knows where from where the next scandal is going to arise, and there is no place for a "transformational second-term agenda" when White House staff are worrying who will be forced to testify before Congress.

Write about PRISM, Verizon, Benghazi, the IRS, AP/Rosen, Syria, Iran? No way! David Brooks appears intent upon avoiding these topics like the plague, except to the extent that Benghazi tarnished the reputation of his friend Victoria Nuland (see: http://jgcaesarea.blogspot.co.il/2013/05/david-brooks-next-scapegoat-benghazi.html).

Time to wake up, David. Time to take a stand.

4 comments:

  1. No shit? NSA spying on Americans?

    I think I'll watch "Enemy of the State" again tonight and try to figure out if reality mirrors fiction or is it the other way around?

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R90vWtcHLlE


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    1. My recommendation today is a double feature. After you watch "Enemy of the State" (1998), then watch "The Lives of Others" (2006).
      The Stasi did it with pen and paper, and probably were more effective...

      Next week? Give everyone the weekend to recover from Tropical Storm Andrea.

      We'll find out the NSA has an algorithm to unravel cable television channel-flipping.

      btw, The Weather Channel now includes news updates from MSNBC, which recently admitted they are not a news channel.

      K2K

      K2K

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  2. The warrantless surveillance controversy is headline news on nearly every US media site, except one: CNN.

    What can be more important?

    From today's CNN's top headlines (US Edition):

    1."Former Navy SEAL comes out as transgender: 'I want some happiness'"
    2. Putin announces divorce: 'We have different lives'
    3. UK's Prince Philip to undergo 'exploratory' surgery
    4. Police: Life-coach radio hosts commit suicide together

    I kid you not. Go check.

    In fact, the only reference CNN makes to the story is an op-ed by security specialist, Bruce Schneier who is actually advocating the government's policy.

    http://us.cnn.com/2013/03/16/opinion/schneier-internet-surveillance/index.html?hpt=hp_t4

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  3. Ha ...
    This what a human rights activist has to say about our wonderful, wonderful, wonderful Samantha:
    "Power is a phony at best. The second her husband joined the Obama campaign in 2008 (she would later join) she ended all her Darfur advocacy - I know human rights activists who reached out to her during the campaign pleading with her to say *something* but got no responses"

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