I Had Almost Forgotten About David Brooks

Thanks to the wonders of TimesSelect, I had almost forgotten about the hackery of David Brooks. I caught him debating Mark Shields on Jim Lehrer last night. Brooks pulled out the ol' Harry Reid is playing partisan politics with Iraq card. I'm amazed that Republicans are brazen enough to say this since the entire war has been a partisian political project from day one.

Well, actually, I am not amazed that they would do it, because nothing they do amazes me at this point. Maybe this is a sign of desperation and they are going into their tattered old bag of dirty tricks to find something that will work. Not this time though.

Mark Shields called Brooks out:

And if somebody's feelings are hurt -- you know, I mean everyone has made a big thing out of John Warner making a big speech and Dick Lugar making a big speech, respected members, and George Voinovich. You know, Jack Kennedy said, "The easy part is making the speeches. The tough part is making the decisions and making the votes."

And, you know, there's a great test in Washington. You know, "I'm outraged, I'm upset." What are you going to do about it? What are you going to do about it? And what are they going to do about it? What are these people going to do about it?

I mean, I'm sorry that Harry Reid didn't somehow hold Arlen Specter's hand, and Arlen Specter is upset. He talked to the New York Times about being hurt and taking umbrage. That's fine. But this is a big, big issue. And we have to be grown-ups at this point.

The so-called moderate Republicans are real good at the speeches. Not so great at actually standing up to their president.

The hypocrisy of Brooks' argument is a sign with flashing neon lights and sirens going off. Because what would the Republicans do in the same situation? Do you think they would not press their partisian advantage and try to connnect Democrats with their unpopular president? Of course they would. Absurd.

This theme has dominated political rhetoric since the all-night session on Iraq this week. Yglesias takes down the Washington Post for their stupid editorial criticizing Reid while Rob Farley points out that war is always political.