Tuesday, February 19, 2008
It’s a terrific New American Century, right?
I read the paper in the waiting room of oral surgeon's office this afternoon. Bill Kristol and a root canal might seem like a dreadful combination, but, in fact, the unintented humor a Bill Kristol column can be quite the mood elevator.
Today's* column begins with a strained literary allusion that's even more of a George Will parody than George Will columns have been for at least fifteen years. You might think that imitating one famous pundit would be enough for one column, but today's assertion was so absurd that the George Will style literary digression was just the warm-up. To make his main point required a shameless David the Likable imitation:
In typical David Brooks style, Kristol admits to some minor fault common to Republicans in an attempt to seem fair and open-minded. Of course, that minor admission is followed by the assertion that we're better off putting our faith in Republicans to govern the country responsibly. He even throws in David Brooks style insinuations about Democrats as elitists; "refined people who snigger," "academic and media supporters."
Well, since Kristol wants us to believe that Republicans know how to govern responsibly, I'll repeat Stephen Colbert's question:
*In today's Picayune, yesterday's NYT.
Cross-posted at Katrinacrat
Today's* column begins with a strained literary allusion that's even more of a George Will parody than George Will columns have been for at least fifteen years. You might think that imitating one famous pundit would be enough for one column, but today's assertion was so absurd that the George Will style literary digression was just the warm-up. To make his main point required a shameless David the Likable imitation:
Republicans tend to think of themselves as the governing party — with some of the arrogance and narrowness that implies, but also with a sense of real-world responsibility. Many Democrats, on the other hand, no longer even try to imagine what action and responsibility are like. They do, however, enjoy the support of many refined people who snigger at the sometimes inept and ungraceful ways of the Republicans. (And, if I may say so, the quality of thought of the Democrats’ academic and media supporters — a permanent and, as it were, pensioned opposition — seems to me to have deteriorated as Orwell would have predicted.)
In typical David Brooks style, Kristol admits to some minor fault common to Republicans in an attempt to seem fair and open-minded. Of course, that minor admission is followed by the assertion that we're better off putting our faith in Republicans to govern the country responsibly. He even throws in David Brooks style insinuations about Democrats as elitists; "refined people who snigger," "academic and media supporters."
Well, since Kristol wants us to believe that Republicans know how to govern responsibly, I'll repeat Stephen Colbert's question:
How’s the New American Century?
*In today's Picayune, yesterday's NYT.
Cross-posted at Katrinacrat
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Have you been following Jonathan Schwarz's series on "The Lost Kristol Tapes"? This is the latest, but there are several posts. Highly amusing... in a depressing sort of way.
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