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You are here: Home / Politics / Media / Brooks and Dowd debate Michelle’s biceps

Brooks and Dowd debate Michelle’s biceps

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I wish I could tell you I was kidding about this one:

David Brooks and I were sharing a cab to the British Embassy the other day to meet with Gordon Brown.

[….]

Let’s face it: The only bracing symbol of American strength right now is the image of Michelle Obama’s sculpted biceps. Her husband urges bold action, but it is Michelle who looks as though she could easily wind up and punch out Rush Limbaugh, Bernie Madoff and all the corporate creeps who ripped off America.

In the taxi, when I asked David Brooks about her amazing arms, he indicated it was time for her to cover up. “She’s made her point,” he said. “Now she should put away Thunder and Lightning.”

When will our national nightmare of a sleeveless First Lady end?

Reader Interactions

95Comments

  2. 2.

    TenguPhule

    “She’s made her point,” he said. “Now she should put away Thunder and Lightning.”

    A bat applied to Brooks kneecaps would make the world a better place.

  3. 3.

    mandarama, Eager Minion

    You know, I feel like David Brooks and Maureen Dowd both made their points long ago. Now can we put away Bobo and MoDo?

  4. 4.

    bootlegger

    So I gotta figure the Taliban are going crazy right now creamin’ their robes over our Nubian princess. It’s a good day in America my friends.

  5. 5.

    Jrod

    I’m very glad to see that Bobo and MoDo have nothing better to snipe at the Obamas with than the fact that Michelle is in shape. Maybe it will finally sink in with the NYT’s readers that neither has anything worthwhile to say. I doubt it, but there is hope.

  6. 6.

    Comrade Kevin

    It’s nice to see MoDo and Brooks sharpening the points at the tops of their heads.

  7. 7.

    Martin

    When will our national nightmare of a sleeveless First Lady end?

    I’m guessing when she becomes white. Or 2016.

    You think any of these asshats would be going on about Palin’s lack of sleeves? Other than the initial starburst column, that is…

  8. 8.

    Darkrose

    Oh, Maureen. You’re cattier than the furball curled up at my feet–and all you’re managing to do is make youself look more like an idiot than usual. Mean Girl: Ur Doin It Wrong.

  9. 9.

    Anoniminous

    We’re facing a collapse of the global financial system taking down the global economy and these fartheads are obsessing over "the bracing symbol" of the First Lady’s biceps.

    Encouraging to know our eminent Public Intellectuals© have a keen grasp of the essential.

  10. 10.

    Mnemosyne

    If people hadn’t figured out by now that Maureen Dowd never mentally graduated from high school, they’re going to know it now.

    Please, MoDo, cover up your neuroses. Displaying them for everyone to see like that is kind of embarrassing.

  12. 12.

    Comrade Kevin

    If people hadn’t figured out by now that Maureen Dowd never mentally graduated from high school, they’re going to know it now.

    And to think she actually won a Pulitzer Prize for commentary. Scary.

  14. 14.

    Comrade Stuck

    I guess when all else fails wingnuts go back to the playback for standby smears. Attack the liberals masculinity and try to feminize them. Quite precious coming from the balding fidgety Brooks. They are so desperate, even their alleged RW intelligentsia is slinging low ball pooh. No wonder Cole is burnt on blogging about shit like this.

    And now a New Meme alert. Obama says we are not winning in Afghanistan, so he hates the troops and America and the Butt Boil Limbaugh. Only problem is, the troop hating Generals have been saying the same thing for awhile now. It’s like Monty Python on the brown acid.

  15. 15.

    Joshua Norton

    If people hadn’t figured out by now that Maureen Dowd never mentally graduated from high school, they’re going to know it now.

    I know. And to add to it, the poor thing is so white she thinks mayonnaise is a spice. The Times is going to have to hire MoDo her own Negro Whisperer if she plans to make it through this administration. And maybe get the poor thing a Buddy Pass to 24 Hour Nautilus so she can tone up her own biceps a little.

  16. 16.

    Comrade Darkness

    I’m sorry, sculpted arms on a woman is the sexiest thing going. Maybe I’m the homesteader type and expect women to carry the load, but petite and helpless to the point of worrying the first strong breeze will break a limb doesn’t cut it.

    More arms!

  17. 17.

    Joshua Norton

    "Now she should put away Thunder and Lightning."

    (M)Ann Coulter needs that advice more than Michelle does. Those little black sleeveless cocktail frocks she wears at 8am on the Today Show say "walk of shame" more than "serious journalist".

  18. 18.

    Comrade Stuck

    So it was Modo who said it and not Brooks. Can anyone really see a difference these days?

  20. 20.

    Comrade Kevin

    @Comrade Stuck:

    So it was Modo who said it and not Brooks. Can anyone really see a difference these days?

    Does Brooks treat everything like it was an E! True Hollywood Story?

  21. 21.

    JoyceH

    Just wait. Summer is coming, and when summer comes a lot of women go sleeveless (many of whom shouldn’t, IMO) – but THIS year, the narrative will be American Women Adopt Michelle’s Style.

  22. 22.

    JenJen

    Weird that Dowd’s piece accompanies an emerging meme by right-wing board commenters, seen, for example, at The Daily Beast (aka Tina Brown’s attempt to be the Right’s Huffington Post): "Oh, look at Michelle’s arms, just flaunting them in your face. As if to say to you, ‘look, I have all day long to work out!’"

    Oh, wait, actually, that’s not weird at all. Dowd’s back, y’all!

  23. 23.

    Comrade Stuck

    @Comrade Kevin:

    Does Brooks treat everything like it was an E! True Hollywood Story?

    Probably not. But finding silly and too clever by half ways to criticize dems and Obama, yes.

  24. 24.

    JoyceH

    BTW, we should point out in MoDo’s defense that she is actually in favor of Michelle wearing the styles she prefers. It’s David Brooks, the creep, who said, ‘she’s made her point’. Huh?! Like there’s some deep ulterior motive behind it all? Some complex symbolism, perhaps?

    Please. It’s a comfortable style that looks flattering on her. As Freud didn’t say but should have, sometimes a dress is just a dress.

  26. 26.

    Cerberus

    It’s the Hillary Clinton attack given to any Democratic woman. She is a competent accomplished woman in an egalitarian relationship with the most important man in the world. She is not viewed by her husband as less than and actually believes she is more than attractive window-dressing.

    This is threatening to our Beltway Masterminds who really haven’t been comfortable with the idea that there may be competent women out there like Rachel Maddow who could easily do their job better and that not everyone is a sexist a-hole who finds strong women threatening.

    As such, they like to nip those ideas in the bud by attacking any woman who isn’t demure as a lesbian, secretly a man, overly masculine, etc… The fact that she’s a black woman and thus carries all that "energy" makes their syndrome worse. It’s also more likely to backfire. They were able to get away with a lot with Hillary that I don’t see them as likely to get away with on Michelle and their eagerness to use their favorite attack strategies is leaving them looking unserious and really stupid (even more than usual).

    Couldn’t happen to better people.

  27. 27.

    AnneLaurie

    A bat applied to Brooks kneecaps would make the world a better place.

    He’d still be able to talk — and type. If we’re serious about improving America’s discourse, taking that ballbat to Bobo’s jaw would be a good start. On the other hand, a demonstration involving a stone wall, the bat, and both of David Brooks’ hands might provide the best "learning experience" for the rest of the Media Village Idiots. Nobody expects Dowd to be anything more than an overaged high school Queen Bee, and Broder is so old that abusing him might start a sympathy backlash. But I get the impression that even BoBo’s closest colleagues (he has no friends) don’t like him very much, so he’ll make a good Test Subject #1. If taking BoBo off the nose-picking squad doesn’t work, I suggest Richie "Caligula’s Horse" Cohen as Test Subject #2.

  28. 28.

    Comrade Stuck

    sometimes a dress is just a dress.

    It wasn’t a shot by Modo on Michelle. It was a coy shot at Obama, some sly nut cutting. Modo is famous for that.

  34. 34.

    Comrade Stuck

    @JenJen:

    I approved of it when it was directed at the hyperpseudo (my new word) machismo of Bush, Cheney and the other neocon cowards deserved it. This just comes off as silly and crass. And Brooks is just an idiot.

  36. 36.

    Quicksand

    Well, all I can say is that you can’t spell "bold action" without "bacon." And "old ti."

  37. 37.

    p mac

    To be fair to Modo, it’s Brooks who’s doing most of the carping. Presumably his biceps are smaller than Michele Obama’s. In the end, Modo comes out in favor of nekkid biceps.

    Nevertheless, it doesn’t shine a very good light on NYT opinion columnists. In case you needed any evidence.

  38. 38.

    p mac

    To be fair to Modo, it’s Brooks who’s doing most of the carping. Presumably his biceps are smaller than Michele Obama’s. In the end, Modo comes out in favor of muscle dresses.

    Nevertheless, it doesn’t shine a very good light on NYT opinion columnists. In case you needed any evidence.

  40. 40.

    joeyess

    Dowd has moved from sniffing panties to sniffing armpits?

    I guess that progress of some sort.

  41. 41.

    joeyess

    Dowd has moved from sniffing panties to sniffing armpits?

    I guess that’s progress of some sort.

  43. 43.

    JoyceH

    it’s Brooks who’s doing most of the carping.

    There are actually two things to like about this editorial. The first paragraph can only be a dig at Tom Friedman who is always seeming to find nuggets of salt-o-the-earth wisdom from cabbies that ohwhatacoincidence just so happen to fit right in to his subject du jour.

    And then there’s the exposure of David Brooks as being every bit as catty as the most gossipy old maid in a 30s-vintage Agatha Christie mystery.

  46. 46.

    kommrade reproductive vigor

    Jesus BASE Jumping Christ, the woman has nicely shaped arms. These cretins act like she stands around flexing 18" biceps for unknown but no doubt sinister political reasons. But if she covers her alarming arms, someone is bound to notice she’s got nice legs. In fact, her entire body is nicely shaped. Egads! She’d better wear this to keep Brooksie from getting the vapors.

    @Mako: Foot. It’s what’s for dinner.

  47. 47.

    Mako

    @JoyceH:
    After actually wasting 2 minutes to find and read this article, I completely agree with this commentators assessment. It is a total crack on Friedman and Brooks.

    Things are changing and thats good.

    I’m off to check out JoyceH’s dog related google adsense links.

  52. 52.

    Conservatively Liberal

    @Mako:

    If you are unlucky, you won’t need mushrooms. ;)

    Michelle scares Brooks because she is a big girl. Big girls scare little men, end of story. There is something about tall women and insecure men that is just funny, it seems that some men are intimidated by a tall woman. My wife is a tall lady and until we met she had the hardest time dating because guys were scared of her height. When she found out I like tall, beautiful women, she grabbed me and refused to let go.

    Now it is 24 years later and I still grab right back. :)

    Guys, don’t fear the tall girls. Sometimes it’s nice to have a mate that can stand and be eye-to-eye with you, especially when they have beautiful eyes. One good point for the guys is that if you haven’t trimmed your nose hair in a bit, she won’t be as likely to notice it because she isn’t looking up your nose when she looks at you. ;)

    I could name a few other advantages but this is a family blog. :D

    Brooks is a wuss.

  54. 54.

    bootlegger

    @Person of Choler: Who would lead Cholera? The Reps? Limbaugh? I’m going to piss myself laughing so hard. Where did I put the Depends?

    Also, the clock on this site doesn’t seem to know about Daylight Savings Time, aka Time Warp Sleep Deprivation.

  55. 55.

    Person of Choler

    Comrade Stuck, Yeah, if a Murdoch owned paper says it, it must be false.

    Alternatively, perhaps our savior is already in over his halo.

  57. 57.

    Mako

    @Conservatively Liberal:
    I’m all about mushrooms.
    Doesn’t really help with the recipe or where to get the foot.

    re: the rest, yes. Please scroll up to comment 39.
    And rest assured that was just my attempt at sarcasm. I’d do your wife in a heartbeat.

  58. 58.

    bootlegger

    Obama has a halo? When did this happen? Do we all get one or is it only for Taliban like Cholera to give ’em out?

  59. 59.

    kay

    Ugh. I think this reflects very poorly on David Brooks. Brooks and Obama know each other. They speak on the telephone. Brooks has what he portrays as high-level access to the White House. Brooks promotes his own importance with that personal access.
    The minute he’s out of microphone range he trashes the guy’s wife? On her appearance?
    Stay classy, conservatives. Who raises these people? Vipers?

  60. 60.

    mama whiskers aka cleaning baseboards

    I don’t really understand wtf either of them are talking about. She has nice arms and shows them off as one of her best features in a tasteful fashion. It’s not like she has her tits out like Cindy McCain. Jeebuss.

  62. 62.

    mama whiskers aka cleaning baseboards

    Damn, Brooks sounds like a catty bitch in this article. Cattier than Dowd. Is he projecting? Would he also like a pair of lovely lady arms, perhaps, instead of living inside his pasty white man skin?

  63. 63.

    rob

    S

    o I gotta figure the Taliban are going crazy right now creamin’ their robes over our Nubian princess. It’s a good day in America my friends.

    @bootlegger
    A good day indeed. Remember that Osama BinLaden had a major crush on Whitney Houston. Maybe Michelle’s arms will end terrorism.

  64. 64.

    cleaning baseboards

    What’s ridiculous is that Michelle does not have what is considered a traditionally perfect figure, something everyone seems to ignore. She accentuates her best parts, naturally, as all of us who have figure flaws do. She does it tastefully and you can also see that she works at it, probably works out. And she looks great as a result and really, her job is not to kow-tow to the fashion mavens all the time like stupid Sarah Palin. Also, she’s not hanging her boobs out like Cindy McCain, something the press also ignored when McCain was running. Her tits were very much *out there* if you took the time to look.

    Repeat after me, dildos: Accentuate best features, look attractive. Even MoDo knows this but decided to basically let Brooks write his own suspiciously catty article for her. If Brooks is going to project, he should learn a little bit about Fashion Do’s and Don’ts b/c that is one of the *first* rules of fashion – also, newsflash, fashion has *changed* since the days of Barbara Bush.

  65. 65.

    Mako

    Listen, before we get all sexist here, arguing about Michelle’s dreamy arms and sweet sweet Lady McBeth booty vs David’s milky translucent skin and enormous masculine forehead, lets seriously consider the true issue. Apparently the Brits were offended.
    Don’t forget that we owe them for all that cool british invasion music.

  66. 66.

    cleaning baseboards

    Also, indeed, Michelle Obama is a *person*, a human being, as it were. She should be judged as such, not as a sexual being. Not by the press anyway. I may be a prude but show some respect. Now if she had some flabby looking arms I might say something. But Eleanor Roosevelt had flabby arms and was a homely woman who was a beautiful human being inside so I’d better just shut up.

  67. 67.

    cleaning baseboards

    Also, to sexualize every woman of import is to basically chip away at her credibility and stature as a human being. Americans are terrified of sex but can’t stop obsessing about it so they make it into something bad thereby sexualization of the person achieves the intended result.

  69. 69.

    kay

    @mama whiskers aka cleaning baseboards:

    It’s something Limbaugh would say. Intended to be cutting and amusing, but instead just mean-spirited and small.
    It’s probably important to know that David Brooks = Rush Limbaugh w/a bigger vocabulary, underneath all the bogus intellectual blathering.

  72. 72.

    cleaning baseboards

    Well, I just can’t get off this subject, apparently. Another thing about this article. Dowd wants to appear to praise Michelle for *appearing* to be a strong woman. She cites no character examples of strength, of which there are many, however. Focusing on Michelle’s physicality alone, Dowd reduces her to a comic book figure, a fake super-hero, decidedly *not human* fighting off the bad guys. I don’t know if she intended this as a compliment, but it is

    A SLAP IN THE FACE!

    Ok, got that out of my system, sorry. Anyway, with one hand she giveth, with the other she taketh away.

  73. 73.

    valdivia

    As a couple of you stated above–this is the ’emasculate the democrat’ move. Last night SNL had the exact same idea with a skit in which Obama ‘finally’ gets angry but it turned out to be a dream Rahm was having because if the guy is not yelling and acting all bush-macho like then we know he must be a sissy right?

  74. 74.

    cleaning baseboards

    On the tallness issue, you just don’t know *short* until you are 5’5" and date men shorter than you. I have a tall friend who has some hang-ups about dating shorter men but at our age, that is really reducing the field of eligible men. My ex was about my height which made him short in the world of men. That part about him bothered him much more than it bothered me which was nil. Also, short men take up less room in bed and on the couch. But they have issues, man do they have issues, god love ’em!

  75. 75.

    ronathan richardson

    I don’t think I’ve ever wanted someone to DIAF more for non-political opinions than that.

  79. 79.

    gbear

    @Mnemosyne:

    Show of hands, though—who wouldn’t like to see Michelle Obama in an update of the Rosie the Riveter poster?

    If she did it wearing the bandana, LOTS of head would explode.

  80. 80.

    JL

    Ben Stein just explained to CBS viewers that the economy would recover if Obama showed some confidence.
    Unfortunately, some viewers never heard of credit derivatives so they probably buy his crap. How’s his friend doing suriving on 24,000 a month?

  81. 81.

    Mako

    @dslak:
    Ugly business trying to erase a drunken insane rant. Doesn’t seem to be an option on the "correcto" thingie. Best one can do is delete and leave a "meh".

    If its any consolation, I really didn’t do your mom.

    hmmm, i should probably delete that last bit…
    1 minute… dammit…
    .

  82. 82.

    Conservatively Liberal

    I’d do your wife in a heartbeat.

    Then roll over, go to sleep and leave her wanting? Not me, I take sweet my time.

    tsk tsk, kids and their hair trigger pop guns. ;)

  84. 84.

    Chris Johnson

    Oh, man, I’m sorry- I just started laughing. It simply did not occur to me that even the mainstream media would make the First Lady into an ACTION HERO. How’s her package compare to Bush’s famous flightsuit?

    We deserve everything, everything we get, and we’re getting everything we deserve. Oh MAN. I’m sure we weren’t always this laughable…

    I’m gonna get back to work, being just another american who is real poor but works hard and is going to get what he deserves too- i.e. I’m bloody well going to make it through this insane period of upheaval and nonsense if I have to work 20 hours a day. But thanks for the much needed laugh…

  87. 87.

    Mako

    @Mako:
    Damn this thing just doesn’t let you delete.
    Meh, what the hell, he knows it’s just a dumbass joke …and has no idea where i live.

  89. 89.

    Church Lady

    "When will our national nightmare of a sleeveless First Lady end?"

    Oh, I figure this conversation will run for around the same amount of time observations on Hillary’s pantsuits did. Shorter version: a long, long time.

  93. 93.

    Ryan Cunningham

    They’re just terrified of a strong, sexy, intelligent black woman in a position of power. They want to force her back to being the obsequious, sexless mother figure they expect the first lady to be.

    Fuck that. Go Michelle!

  94. 94.

    Original Lee

    I’m not sure David Brooks could have said anything more cattily offensive about the First Lady if he had worked on it for a month. Given his age, I think Brooks was making a snide reference to the 1977 movie about rival moonshine gangs starring David Carridine and Kate Jackson. Nothing else makes a lot of sense unless you think he was trying to link the First Lady with Vulcan, who in some reference sources was always black from the smoke from his forge, besides being ugly and lame and married to Venus.

    Either way, what a douche.

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