I’ve mostly lost interest in David Brooks. He’s bad, but day in day out, he can’t quite match the awfulness of Frank Bruni or David Von Drehle. He’s self-involved, but not as self-involved as Bruni. He’s dumb, but not as dumb as Von Drehle. I just don’t think he matches up well against either of them.
What makes Brooks special when he’s at his best/worst, is his ability to get fixated on a random word. It could be a word he heard at a TED talk, it could be something he saw on a menu at a deli. Or it could be something he made up. Today he decides to describe guys who are just trying to get laid as “prospectors”. I think this is a real gem because it combines glib both sides stupidity with an awkward phrase that no one in history has ever uttered before:
In the political world, for example, partisans of left and right rationalize their support for Bill Clinton or Donald Trump because they could tell themselves in effect, “Oh, he’s just a horny prospector.”
Who do you think is the worst columnist working at a major outlet right now? Tom L think it’s still Bobo, but I think Bruni has far surpassed him, this shining example notwithstanding.