Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

In short, I come down firmly on all sides of the issue.

I like you, you’re my kind of trouble.

The most dangerous place for a black man in America is in a white man’s imagination.

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires

It may be funny to you motherfucker, but it’s not funny to me.

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

No Justins, No Peace

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

When do the post office & the dmv weigh in on the wuhan virus?

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.

Let us savor the impending downfall of lawless scoundrels who richly deserve the trouble barreling their way.

The GOP couldn’t organize an orgy in a whorehouse with a fist full of 50s.

Roe isn’t about choice, it’s about freedom.

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

Battle won, war still ongoing.

“I never thought they’d lock HIM up,” sobbed a distraught member of the Lock Her Up Party.

You are here: Home / Politics / Politicans / David Brooks Giving A Seminar At The Aspen Institute / Hurry up, meteor

Hurry up, meteor

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Allegheny College will honor New York Times columnist David Brooks and nationally syndicated columnist Mark Shields as the recipients of the inaugural Prize for Civility in Public Life. Brooks and Shields were selected because of their steadfast civility in their public commentary, perhaps best exemplified by their civil jousting with one another during their weekly debates on “PBS NewsHour.”

Reader Interactions

85Comments

  3. 3.

    Judas Escargot, Your Postmodern Neighbor

    We don’t need a large asteroid. No need to melt the earth’s crust.

    Just two well-aimed, pebble-sized nickel-iron meteorites would do the job…

  5. 5.

    Sargent Pepper's Spray

    As much as Brooks is a total fraud whose conclusions are always the same it is true that he is about the only Rightwinger on TV who doesn’t spend 90% of his time in raging monkey heat screaming at the top of his lungs about Librul’ treason or whatever the poutrage of ze day is.

  6. 6.

    BGinCHI

    “No word yet on the rumor that Shields is planning to ask Brooks’s father for his hand in marriage.”

    Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

  7. 7.

    scav

    Inaugural Prize for Civility in Public Life? Originally I thought this could be the start of the Ignobles, only without the honor, but maybe something along the Dawins would be closer. Who would want to follow such a dashing first duo? Allegheny College must be desperate to get into the news.

  10. 10.

    c u n d gulag

    Civility?

    I thought it was a prize for the most INSIPID columnist!
    (I didn’t know that Shields was still being syndicated).

    But that would be a long, long list, wouldn’t it?
    And how do you decide which is the worst?
    The judges would keep falling asleep every time you ask them to read a column.

  11. 11.

    Bruce S

    David Brooks civility includes such memorable moments as not telling his readers that Charles Murray’s book was subtitled “The State of White America” so as not to offend their tender sensibilities.

  14. 14.

    Amir Khalid

    This is an award for politeness in journalism. Not for breaking an important story; not for facing danger, or professional or personal risk, to do so; not for especially enlightening analysis or commentary*; not for any important advocacy; not for comforting the afflicted or afflicting the comfortable. But for minding one’s fucking Ps and Qs, for not ruffling the feathers of the good and great — or in this case, for not ruffling the feathers of a fellow media person.

    This is not an award fit for a journalist. This is a lollipop that you give a toddler for being a darling little angel at the play session. I spit on this “award”: Ptui. Ptui. Ptui.

    (*As if Bobo would ever deserve an award for that.)

  15. 15.

    Spaghetti Lee

    Jesus fuck, they used the word ‘civil’ 3 times in two sentences. Brooks probably thinks Merkin Muffley is the greatest movie hero ever. “Gentlemen, you can’t fight in here!”

  16. 16.

    Woody

    Yet another shining example of newly mature (hey, I’ve been in my forties for awhile, pal) Atrios’ VSP construct.
    An agreeable tone of voice plus stale euphemisms make slashing SS, Medicaid and Medicare in a semi-recession just peachy!
    Pass the hemlock.

  17. 17.

    Jay C

    Well, to be fair, the award IS for “Civility In Public Life” – and there’s not much argument, really that Brooks and Shields are quite civil, as pundits go.

    Almost always wrong, biased, hugely blinkered and self-important, and only-marginally-honest: but civil.

    Oy!

  20. 20.

    Villago Delenda Est

    You know, while they were looking for a place to insert the shiv, the courtiers at Versailles were very polite and civil.

  22. 22.

    butler

    It’s very easy to be civil when you ignore anything that challenges your worldview and get to make up rhetorical strawmen to gently rebuke into submission twice a week.

  23. 23.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Bobo’s made a career of “civil jousting.” On PBS, he “jousts civilly” with Mark Shields. On NPR, he “jousts civilly” with E. J. Dionne. At the NYT, he “jousts civilly” with Gail Collins. He might as well have “David Brooks, Civil Jouster” printed on his business cards. He’s probably hoping that he’ll get the Allegheny award year after year, each time for “civilly jousting” with a different foe antagonist opponent adversary-type person.

  26. 26.

    amk

    An award for fucking politeness ? In fucking news business ? Journalism 101 = Fucking adversarial.

    What next, an award for cuteness or who has the sexiest bum ?

  27. 27.

    ThatLeftTurnInABQ

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    You know, while they were looking for a place to insert the shiv, the courtiers at Versailles were very polite and civil.

    IIRC, during the 1760s and 1770s, there was a cult of tender sensibility in elite French circles. The salon was full of sentimental paintings of women holding small puppies and little girls weeping over dead birds, etc. It was all the rage, you know, right before rage became all the rage, as it were.

  29. 29.

    cathyx

    It’s just like kindergarten again and the teacher is rewarding all the kids who never made a sound with a gold star on their behavior chart.

  31. 31.

    comrade scott's agenda of rage

    Who did David Brooks sleep with to get this “award”?

    Clearly the people on the selection committee at this college have their respective heads up a lot of respective asses.

    But we knew this.

  33. 33.

    kindness

    I listen to the jousting most Friday’s driving home from work. Typically Brooks proclaims valor and honor for conservatives and their values and EJ typically refuses to refute Brooks during his rebuttal segments. Only NPR would call the segment a ‘balanced’ portrayal. Many weeks the only honorable rebuttal to Brooks would be that EJ kicked Brooks ass on air. Won’t happen. EJ wants that open invite to Sally Quinn’s parties.

    The MSM…cluelessness in motion.

  34. 34.

    geg6

    Well, if this is the Allegheny College in Meadville, PA, it doesn’t surprise me. It’s a small liberal arts college for, mostly, wealthy and upper middle class kids (probably about 2000 students). I think tuition and fees run about $35K a year (without housing or food, which probably adds another $8-9K) and they are huge tuition discounters in the region. I would guess, just based on the fact that we sometimes compete with them, that the average student gets a tuition discount of about $13K, regardless of financial need. I would also guess that they probably have about 15-20% of students who receive Pell Grants. So, even with a tuition discount of $13K and a Pell Grant of $5K, their tuition is still about $8K more than ours.

    Perfect place for assholes like Brooks and Shields. It’s probably totebagger heaven.

  37. 37.

    amk

    @kindness: I don’t understand the left’s hero worship of e fucking j dionne. Moyers is the last living icon of the american journalism. Rest is all two bit hacks.

  40. 40.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Baud:

    The Old Men of CNN Calendar: Swimsuit Edition

    Way to make a person throw up in their mouth. Thanks a lot, Baud.

  41. 41.

    Nylund

    @Sargent Pepper’s Spray:

    As much as Brooks is a total fraud whose conclusions are always the same it is true that he is about the only Rightwinger on TV who doesn’t spend 90% of his time in raging monkey heat screaming at the top of his lungs about Librul’ treason or whatever the poutrage of ze day is.

    That’s precisely why I hate him. He comes to the same conclusions, but in a “civil” way that makes my PBS tote-bag parents think that the GOP isn’t as bad as others say.

  42. 42.

    sharl

    Given Brooks’ role as a secular Apologist for the high crimes and misdemeanors of empowered right-wing interests, I think he is worth the attention he gets here. And of course his air of civility is part of the shtick.

    He is a very smart and clever propagandist, and he tends to not repeat his mistakes.* The average citizen does not read (nor care about) his work, but he provides rhetorical ammo for folks with power, and that matters in a media environment where lazy stenography (and outright ethical compromise) seem to be the rule.

    *Folks with long memories might remember his “hunting humans” column from his earliest days at NYT (not long after he moved from his gig at The Weekly Standard) – discussion here. When he engages in nut-picking these days, he doesn’t reach out and pluck a useful morsel of wackiness from some obscure blog; he is a lot more careful and subtle about it.

  43. 43.

    WaterGirl

    I agree with Amir Khalid. This is the “green card” that my niece gives her nursery school kids when they are good for an entire half-day class. If you get a green card, you get stickers. :-)

    If you have to have an award for Civility in Public Life, why not require it be given to someone who is a great journalist, who has actually made a contribution AND is civil in public life. Bill Moyers, maybe.

    Edit: perhaps we should all be sending stickers to the idiots who put out this award. Bonus! Stickers are much less expensive to mail than bags of salted dicks.

  45. 45.

    schrodinger's cat

    I am reading David Copperfield, right now. Isn’t it sad that these days you get an award for being Uriah Heep. David Brooks is the most insidious right wing hack. Fuck civility.

  49. 49.

    scav

    OT palate cleanser for the musically inclined. The Guard will be streaming the new Bruce Springsteen album “over the next fortnight” (vocabulary! in print?) Easy Money today. Don’t know if this merits an inaugural BJ Green Watteau Sticker of Civility though.

  50. 50.

    MattR

    Hmm, previous comment with quoted text wont post.

    My favorite part is that the prize criteria states that it is to be given to poiticians, but I guess they couldn’t find a Republican who qualified and felt it would be biased to only give it to a Democrat.

  51. 51.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Sir Humphrey: Minister, with the greatest possible respect …
    Jim: Oh, you’re going to insult me again?

  52. 52.

    Scott

    inaugural Prize for Civility in Public Life

    More like only Prize for Civility in Public Life. I really doubt there will be another award next year. This is Bobo’s publicist earning his keep.

  53. 53.

    JGabriel

    Allegheny College will honor New York Times columnist David Brooks and nationally syndicated columnist Mark Shields as the recipients of the inaugural Prize for Civility in Public Life.

    And Freedonia College just announced the winners of their inaugural Prize for Publicity in Civic Life. Oddly enough, it was also David Brooks and Mark Shields.

    .

  54. 54.

    PeakVT

    Via some other sites, I think this hasn’t gotten enough attention:

    In fact, the task force asked Bain Capital, the private equity company that Mr. Romney helped found, if it was interested in investing in General Motors’ European operations, according to one person with direct knowledge of the discussions.
    __
    Bain declined, this person said, speaking anonymously to discuss private negotiations.

  56. 56.

    Mike S

    @GeneJockey: Allegheny has fallen even farther in the 36 years since I graduated. I have one of their fund raising appeals lying on my Kitchcen table right now. I think I will send th Alumni office on the subject of “The folly of civility without honesty” but no money for the foreseeable future!

    eta. Although it was the filming location for the film “I’ve been down so long it looks like up to me” back in the 60’s

  58. 58.

    Violet

    @Jay C:

    Brooks and Shields

    I read that as “Brooke Shields.” This award would be a lot more interesting if she were the recipient.

  59. 59.

    cmorenc

    Who else meets the criteria for “civility in public life?” Dr. Hannibal Lechter, who always behaved in an exceedingly polite, civilized manner, even when interacting with victims he was about to eviscerate and cannibalize.

  62. 62.

    scav

    @JGabriel: SUNY Finger Lakes just established a Regius Chair of Anodyne Blather and another of Insipid Twaddle, they’re hoping for more permanent benefits of the inspiring presence.

  63. 63.

    smintheus

    I once interviewed for a job at Allegheny College; quite the freak show. Among other bizarre events, one of the faculty button-holed me and announced aggressively that she’d joined the search committee to ensure that the other faculty did not hire a male for the job. I had the idea that was illegal, but she was very proud of being confrontational over this. Last I’d heard, they’d already brought more than a dozen candidates to campus to interview for the job because the search committee couldn’t agree unanimously on any of us. So now Allegheny is promoting civility?

  64. 64.

    MattR

    @cmorenc: Let’s see if posting the full criteria works if I don’t try and link to it

    Allegheny College Prize for Civility in Public Life seeks to honor politicians who showed authentic courageous civility in an important moment and/or those who have demonstrated steadfast civility throughout their career. Prize recipients should also be passionate, partisan advocates of their principles and values. While not precluding historic instances of civility or figures who have graced the political arena in the past, preference will be given to candidates who currently hold elective office. All nominations will be examined by a diverse and prominent committee which will make recommendations to Allegheny College President Mullen. Then, President Mullen and Allegheny College will determine the two winners.

  66. 66.

    Bruce S

    Truth is, Rachel Maddow is about as civil to her right-wing guests as it is possible to be without offering up oatmeal cookies and a glass of milk. That’s leavened by snarky attempts humor, but – contra Brooks self-described “comic sociology” – some of her stuff actually is sort of funny.

  67. 67.

    MonkeyBoy

    When I try to submit a particular thing I wrote here, BJ is blowing up and giving the error message:

    Warning: Bad Behavior spam capture in /home/jcole010/domains/golive.balloon-juice.com/public_html/wp-content/plugins/bad-behavior/bad-behavior-wordpress.php on line 150

    Anybody know what’s up? Ill try submitting the comment paragraph by paragraph.

  68. 68.

    Marcellus Shale, Public Dick

    lets be fair about an award of this type being given by a small liberal arts college in meadeville pa.

    given that this is the first annual award, i am pretty sure they evaluated potential recipients on a criteria based on 1) as big a name as they could get that would 2)actually show up.

    of course if you consider that the allegheny alligators chose their mascot based solely on alliterative qualities alone, and subsequently shortened through the generations, so as to be essentially meaningless in current usage, why not honor the always willing to travel, david brooks?

  71. 71.

    MonkeyBoy

    Allegheny College is a sort of small 2nd tier liberal arts school located in the boondocks of Pennsylvania that is only known to people who live near by or know someone who went there.

    Someone there has been trying to put themselves on the map by establishing “The Center for Political Participation”.

    FYWP appears not to like the link containing sites . allegheny . edu / cpp / about-the-center/
    …

  72. 72.

    eemom

    Sometimes I think David Brooks is proof of divine intervention. God created him just to out-troll DougJ.

  73. 73.

    MonkeyBoy

    Last year they released a report “Nastiness, Name-calling & Negativity – The Allegheny College Survey of Civility and Compromise in American Politics”.

    In a brief skimming through their website this study was inspired by the nastiness of the health care town halls. Given that their campus is mostly white with a sizable conservative contingent the study might have been a partial effort to get their own students to turn down the hate speech. I haven’t read enough to look at any specific examples they give or if their presentation is “Fair and Balanced” concluding that both sides are equally to blame.

    I don’t know if they are trying to tone down the wingnuts or that just somebody has come up with a somewhat working mission statement to fund their “research center”.

    FYWP does not like a link containing sites . allegheny . edu / civility /

  76. 76.

    jibeaux

    @Violet: Hell, she deserves it just for not biting Tom Cruise’s head off when he decided to have vocal public opinions about how she should treat her postpartum depression.

  77. 77.

    Jim Pharo

    I guess it’s more polite than calling the award “Prize for Utter Foolishness In a PUblic Intellectual.” But I’d prefer this more honest formulation…

  78. 78.

    PurpleGirl

    @cathyx: There is usually a fund-raising goal behind “honors” like this. They are hoping that friends of Brooks and Shields will open their wallets to the school to show Brooks and Shields how much they are liked.

  80. 80.

    JWL

    Funny, those two getting an award for the same weekly performance that drove me from watching the show (it was them or Gwenn Eiffel, I forget). But I’d been a long time viewer, having first tuned in during coverage of the Watergate scandal. But the show grew dull, conventional, where both questions and answers could be anticipated. Same people, too, over & over again.

  84. 84.

    Gregory

    Brooks is routinely dishonest. And though most Very Serious People have forgotten it, dishonesty is inherently uncivil.

  85. 85.

    Joey Giraud

    Ah, Stinky and Puddin-head ( guess which is who. ) I have them to thank for being freed from National Public tyranny.

    Remember the 70’s? When Public Broadcasting was … public?

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