Leadership: As seen by David Brooks

[Wonky]

40 replies to Bristol Palin date rape.

NOW we know who we are!

Actually Wonky what you are saying is that you know who you are and you know that the rest of us dummies are more interested in Palin.

You, are the well read serious guy and the others .. not so much.

Here's a news flash my friend, this place for me most of the time is nothing but entertainment and I bet the same goes for many others. So a post about David Brooks opinion to me is boring. Sorry but with no elections going on I really don't care what David Brooks thinks about Emanuel or what makes Obama the way Obama is.

I've read more about Obama than any other president and what did I get for it? not a T-shirt OR a great president. I should have voted for Snoopy. Obama to me is a beaten horse.


.
I realize you hoped others would want to pontificate and share their views but you certainly aren't going to shame anyone in to doing that.

As far as Palin's daughter's alleged date rape. The post was ripe for satire and then the comments sparked controversy. But mostly the comments were tongue and cheek. That's why it got 40 hits, not because anyone gives a crap about Bristol or her dumb ass boy friend.

"How do you lead those who won't be lead"?
The good member above asks.

Well, TV want's not only to be free from leadership, he wants a return of HE-HAW!
Or so he says. Having broken bread with the guy (TV) I know him to be aware, bright, and full of crap.
He stirs the pot. Might even smoke some. (Or did back in the day).

David Brooks is keenly aware of our national condition. He wrote The Social Animal in an attempt (in my view) to show us the possibility of our "better selves".

Yea TV, he does matter. As do many who write about the problems (and few successes) of our national debate.

This forum is indeed a place for fun and games, a place to retreat from the serious business of citizenship. It's also a perfect place to share our views and understanding of the critical themes that fill our lives with the need for mature reflection.

I want it my way. And I want it your way. I won't be cowered into "taking the highway".

We are complex and simple, at once, depending of the hour. Don't lecture me about behavior, and I won't expose you for your lack of consistent attitude.

This is a good place. It provides a valuable space. It can reflect the varied views of all of us, and the views of our moods from hour to hour.

David Brooks does matter. Just one voice, but one that contributes to the dialog of national understanding.

We come back to square one. May the circle be unbroken.

I didn't say Brooks doesn't matter, I'm saying you don't, I don't, we don't.

The only thing that can matter is our votes. And when was the last time your man one by one vote?

I'm not saying we should be ignorant by any means. We have enough of that already. I'm just not buying that because a joke thread get more attention than a thread about a NYT columnist reflects who we are. And I'm not buying the notion that if we all read and discussed this guys words that it would make any freaking difference at all.
Have you noticed that every one ALREADY has their political minds made up?

Ah ha!
NOW I know why you bought the used Edsel.
(will someone please explain to BZ and the other young-un's what an Edsel is (was)?
TV, you are a prisoner of your own good mind.
You know everything there is to know about electricity but always forget to turn off the lights.
You are as witty as Steven Wright, but as dense as the forest where Ponder lives.
You are an enigma wrapped in a riddle. (Sorry, can't remember to whom to credit that)
If I must be trapped on a deserted island, I want it to be with you. And Crone. (Don't ask).
So, while I hear you, I just can't hear you.
Let's do lunch sometime so I can bitch slap your ass and square you up. Joking, TV, joking. (Don't hurt me).
Now wash your hands and go eat something. I think your blood sugar is low.

[tvguy]

Lunch again? Jeeze is eating all you do? Next you be eating two maybe three times a day:wacko:

Just kidding but guess where and when I was last in a restaurant

A real friend would come over and paint my house. Make it on a day with a good baseball game. That way I can yell out the window when someone scores.

[Wonky]

Lunch again? Jeeze is eating all you do? Next you be eating two maybe three times a day:wacko:

Just kidding but guess where and when I was last in a restaurant

A real friend would come over and paint my house. Make it on a day with a good baseball game. That way I can yell out the window when someone scores.

There was a time when I could have hurt your sorry ass!

Now all I can do is fume and fuss. The day I come to paint your house and miss a baseball game is the day Jesus comes back.

[PonderThis]

That was just the other day, apparently.

[Willie Krash]

David brooks does matter. I'm glad he is out there. Are we up to the Bristol Palin number yet?

An asylum for the sane would be empty in America.
George Bernard Shaw

I suspect Mr. B. Shaw was a cynic.

But...from Wiki:

He is the only person to have been awarded both a Nobel Prize for Literature (1925) and an Oscar (1938), for his contributions to literature and for his work on the film Pygmalion (adaptation of his play of the same name), respectively.[2] Shaw wanted to refuse his Nobel Prize outright because he had no desire for public honours, but accepted it at his wife's behest: she considered it a tribute to Ireland. He did reject the monetary award, requesting it be used to finance translation of Swedish books to English.[3]

I don't know enough about him to know why he was so hard on we Americans.
A bit harsh at best I think.

The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who not got it
GBS

Or to put it another way,
A cynic is a man who, when he smells flowers looks around for a coffin.

I wonder if Bristol Palin has seen My Fair Lady. I thought Wendy Hiller did a great job.

[tvguy]

The day I come to paint your house and miss a baseball game is the day Jesus comes back. Laughing

OK then you are a couple days late. I won't hold that against you.


The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who not got it
GBS

Yep


Or to put it another way,
A cynic is a man who, when he smells flowers looks around for a coffin.

Well I'm busted. I mentioned to my sister that the sweet smell of a bouquet of flowers reminded me of death and she was horrified.
Because as a child The only time I ever smelled that thick mixture of scents was at funerals .
No worries though the smell of a rotting carcass reminds me of happy times

[PonderThis]

No worries though the smell of a rotting carcass reminds me of happy times

I thought about that at the time but a divorce seemed easier.

[tvguy]

No worries though the smell of a rotting carcass reminds me of happy times

I thought about that at the time but a divorce seemed easier.

Seemed? but was it?

[PonderThis]

That's why I used the words "seemed" and "at the time".

[Wonky]

That's why I used the words "seemed" and "at the time".

You guys should move to NY and get married. Looks like a match made in heaven.

May I be the Maid of Honor?

[PonderThis]

I wasn't speaking of anyone on the forum, if that's what you're wondering. I've only been married once, and it ended 27 years ago.

[Wonky]

I wasn't speaking of anyone on the forum, if that's what you're wondering. I've only been married once, and it ended 27 years ago.

"Fool me once same on you. Fool me twice, same on me". Smart guy you are. Still, TVg is pretty damn cute. At least that's what his dog thinks.

[Willie Krash]

Watch out Brooks, don't be too smart..Does he re-enforce how do you lead those who refuse to be led?
From HP

If the Republican Party were a normal party, it would take advantage of this amazing moment. It is being offered the deal of the century: trillions of dollars in spending cuts in exchange for a few hundred million dollars of revenue increases.

A normal Republican Party would seize the opportunity to put a long-term limit on the growth of government. It would seize the opportunity to put the country on a sound fiscal footing. It would seize the opportunity to do these things without putting any real crimp in economic growth.

The party is not being asked to raise marginal tax rates in a way that might pervert incentives. On the contrary, Republicans are merely being asked to close loopholes and eliminate tax expenditures that are themselves distortionary.

This, as I say, is the mother of all no-brainers.

But we can have no confidence that the Republicans will seize this opportunity. That’s because the Republican Party may no longer be a normal party. Over the past few years, it has been infected by a faction that is more of a psychological protest than a practical, governing alternative.

[Wonky]

Watch out Brooks, don't be too smart..Does he re-enforce how do you lead those who refuse to be led?
From HP

If the Republican Party were a normal party, it would take advantage of this amazing moment. It is being offered the deal of the century: trillions of dollars in spending cuts in exchange for a few hundred million dollars of revenue increases.

A normal Republican Party would seize the opportunity to put a long-term limit on the growth of government. It would seize the opportunity to put the country on a sound fiscal footing. It would seize the opportunity to do these things without putting any real crimp in economic growth.

The party is not being asked to raise marginal tax rates in a way that might pervert incentives. On the contrary, Republicans are merely being asked to close loopholes and eliminate tax expenditures that are themselves distortionary.

This, as I say, is the mother of all no-brainers.

But we can have no confidence that the Republicans will seize this opportunity. That’s because the Republican Party may no longer be a normal party. Over the past few years, it has been infected by a faction that is more of a psychological protest than a practical, governing alternative.

Ah, were that it might be that simple.
If the Republican Party is broken, the Democratic Party is badly bent.
It's true, what you say: The Republican Party has been infected by a bad virus.
But don't you feel that our political system has failed to evolve, to become better learning from our past, to find consensus from the value of understanding history?

And, at the core may in fact be the problem of a citizenship numb from the failure to accept even the basic education offered so freely. We are no better than our leaders, and are getting what we deserve.

What you point to is true: Leaders behaving without adult consideration of the consequences of time. We must be heard, but if we are not "our better selves" our voices will produce more of the same.

Yes: The Republican Party is off course.

But it is us, here at home, who better wake up and find the mature sense of self that sponsors leaders who will make wise and adult choices.

POGO again.

[Willie Krash]

Ah, were that it might be that simple.
If the Republican Party is broken, the Democratic Party is badly bent.
It's true, what you say: The Republican Party has been infected by a bad virus.
But don't you feel that our political system has failed to evolve, to become better learning from our past, to find consensus from the value of understanding history?

And, at the core may in fact be the problem of a citizenship numb from the failure to accept even the basic education offered so freely. We are no better than our leaders, and are getting what we deserve.

What you point to is true: Leaders behaving without adult consideration of the consequences of time. We must be heard, but if we are not "our better selves" our voices will produce more of the same.

Yes: The Republican Party is off course.

But it is us, here at home, who better wake up and find the mature sense of self that sponsors leaders who will make wise and adult choices.

POGO again.

Well Brooks said it not me. How does one get the gov't they deserve when the fourth estate (the press) is owned by corporations and if one reads between the lines it appears that the GOP is doing all that can to protect corporations from taxes. Even Bill Kristol has to admit that they sit on trillions and it is unneeded (tax reduction).
Now that all three branches of gov't are responding to corporations and SCOTUS is going activist, what to do? Perhaps it's inherit that it collapses before the people take control back.
Those that do not study history are "entitled" to repeat it?

Btw, it was really about the Brooks article you posted and this one I posted. I see a disconnect between the two.
Sadly, follow the money.

[Willie Krash]

Ah, were that it might be that simple.
If the Republican Party is broken, the Democratic Party is badly bent.
It's true, what you say: The Republican Party has been infected by a bad virus.
But don't you feel that our political system has failed to evolve, to become better learning from our past, to find consensus from the value of understanding history?

And, at the core may in fact be the problem of a citizenship numb from the failure to accept even the basic education offered so freely. We are no better than our leaders, and are getting what we deserve.

What you point to is true: Leaders behaving without adult consideration of the consequences of time. We must be heard, but if we are not "our better selves" our voices will produce more of the same.

Yes: The Republican Party is off course.

But it is us, here at home, who better wake up and find the mature sense of self that sponsors leaders who will make wise and adult choices.

POGO again.

Well Brooks said it not me. How does one get the gov't they deserve when the fourth estate (the press) is owned by corporations and if one reads between the lines it appears that the GOP is doing all that can to protect corporations from taxes. Even Bill Kristol has to admit that they sit on trillions and it is unneeded (tax reduction).
Now that all three branches of gov't are responding to corporations and SCOTUS is going activist, what to do? Perhaps it's inherit that it collapses before the people take control back.
Those that do not study history are "entitled" to repeat it?

Btw, it was really about the Brooks article you posted and this one I posted. I see a disconnect between the two.

BTW It is the GOP strategy to make the Democratic party look bent. They will not let a Dem President have an inch, then call it a failure of leadership.
It started with Carter and has snowballed since. Best yet the voters believe it on the right and as you illustrate somewhat on the left. They best be careful this all could be a deal changer.

[Wonky]

Ah, were that it might be that simple.
If the Republican Party is broken, the Democratic Party is badly bent.
It's true, what you say: The Republican Party has been infected by a bad virus.
But don't you feel that our political system has failed to evolve, to become better learning from our past, to find consensus from the value of understanding history?

And, at the core may in fact be the problem of a citizenship numb from the failure to accept even the basic education offered so freely. We are no better than our leaders, and are getting what we deserve.

What you point to is true: Leaders behaving without adult consideration of the consequences of time. We must be heard, but if we are not "our better selves" our voices will produce more of the same.

Yes: The Republican Party is off course.

But it is us, here at home, who better wake up and find the mature sense of self that sponsors leaders who will make wise and adult choices.

POGO again.

Well Brooks said it not me. How does one get the gov't they deserve when the fourth estate (the press) is owned by corporations and if one reads between the lines it appears that the GOP is doing all that can to protect corporations from taxes. Even Bill Kristol has to admit that they sit on trillions and it is unneeded (tax reduction).
Now that all three branches of gov't are responding to corporations and SCOTUS is going activist, what to do? Perhaps it's inherit that it collapses before the people take control back.
Those that do not study history are "entitled" to repeat it?

Btw, it was really about the Brooks article you posted and this one I posted. I see a disconnect between the two.

BTW It is the GOP strategy to make the Democratic party look bent. They will not let a Dem President have an inch, then call it a failure of leadership.
It started with Carter and has snowballed since. Best yet the voters believe it on the right and as you illustrate somewhat on the left. They best be careful this all could be a deal changer.

I'm coming around Willey,
You just keep pounding away with facts. That's hardly fair.
And even quoting Mr. Brooks back to me.
Yea, the press has been less than pressing. The fact is, the Republican Party has been taken over by the lesser elements of that group. The constant "NO" is going to make most of us poorer, unless we are rich, in which case we will be doing well. All in the name of responsible government.
Who ARE the people who are buying this?