A Wager on David Brooks

David Brooks likes to be the conservative that all liberals love. He plays the part really well- except for one thing: he is really a whore for the GOP. He obviously checks in with the RNC before his weekly appearance with Mark Sheilds every Friday on the News Hour. The same arguments he makes on Friday will often be heard over and over on the Sunday shows.

What would Brooks do with the fact that George Bush lied over and over about the leaks involved in the Valerie Plame Case? Our friend Shawn thought Brooks probably would not take either side, but would admit that it is damaging to Bush. I thought this would be an example where Brooks would just be a whore. We decided to put our money where out mouths were.... well actually a beer. Lets see what happened shall we? From the News Hour Website:

DAVID BROOKS: But there's a lot of hypocrisy on the Democratic side. I don't remember Democrats getting upset about leaks that made Donald Rumsfeld look bad or the NSA story.

People like the leaks that help themselves. So, is Bush hypocritical about the leaks? Yes. Are Democrats hypocritical? Yes. Is it a scandal, a legal scandal? No. It's -- it's embarrassing. But it's not the scandal that some people think it is that's going to lead to resignations and firings. (emphasis mine)

And, by the way, I think, just on political terms, I -- I think this Plame thing has never had any political traction out in the country. Iraq has political traction. This Plame thing is of interest to a lot of people, but it has no real political traction.

The reason Brook's arguments are so damaging to the Democrats is that a lot of people watching Brooks really do think he is not a partisan like other talking heads. Even Dems that watch the show might walk away thinking that the leaks are really not that big of a deal. There is no way that Brooks does not understand how damaging they really are. He is LYING to advance the GOP cause. The sooner we understand that the better. I mean he calls the story "embarrassing"- are you kidding me?

Brooks has made his career by describing us "Bobos" who are too busy driving Volvos and drinking lattes to understand how real Americans think. In this case he sure sounds like a guy right in the Beltway. Bush said he didn't leak, but he did. Big deal. Everyone is doing it. (As long as it doesn't involve sex in the Oval Office it is OK)