# David Brooks is afraid of what Republicans are turning into... and that's saying something **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 18, 2021, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-brooks-is-afraid-of-what-republicans-are-turning-into-and-thats-saying-something/954580 "2021-11-18T21:02:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2021, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-brooks-is-afraid-of-what-republicans-are-turning-into-and-thats-saying-something/954580/41 "2021-11-19T20:18:44Z")
Hmm, apparently Brooks is not the only white collar conservative at odds with reality. [https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/19/us/unite-the-right-trial-charlottesville-rally/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/19/us/unite-the-right-trial-charlottesville-rally/index.html) > The White power movement has long been divided by class, a phenomenon its members call “boots vs suits.” By 2015, it was also divided along generational lines, which White nationalists referred to as “White Nationalism 1.0” versus “White Nationalism 2.0.” Those kids today. ---
**Author:** ![Fallen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@Fallen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fallen)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2021, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-brooks-is-afraid-of-what-republicans-are-turning-into-and-thats-saying-something/954580/42 "2021-11-20T00:24:19Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Why are people turning into such irrational creatures, and why is the Republican party sucking up to them? It may be this remark is specifically limited to irrational conservatives, but just in case this is incorrect, I trust it’s acknowledged as true that irrationality knows no particular political or other ideology. The Democratic entities suck up just as hard to their Irrationals.🤷‍♀️ ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2021, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-brooks-is-afraid-of-what-republicans-are-turning-into-and-thats-saying-something/954580/43 "2021-11-20T00:28:04Z")
What Republicans have become is a shitshow all its own. There is no Democratic similarity. Wyoming Republicans just divorced themselves from one of the most conservative voting Representatives there is. That’s some grade A suck up. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2021, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-brooks-is-afraid-of-what-republicans-are-turning-into-and-thats-saying-something/954580/44 "2021-11-20T00:35:02Z")
> [@Fallen](#): > > The Democratic entities suck up just as hard to their Irrationals Sorry, no. There is no equivalence. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2021, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-brooks-is-afraid-of-what-republicans-are-turning-into-and-thats-saying-something/954580/45 "2021-11-20T00:40:08Z")
> [@Fallen](#): > > It may be this remark is specifically limited to irrational conservatives, but just in case this is incorrect, I trust it’s acknowledged as true that irrationality knows no particular political or other ideology. The Democratic entities suck up just as hard to their Irrationals.🤷‍♀️ Irrationality is far from exclusive to the conservatives, but I must disagree with the statement that Democrats are embracing their irrational potential followers anywhere near as strongly as the Republicans are. The Republicans have make their current irrationalities a litmus test for their candidates. “Drink the Q-ade or you’re a RINO whom we will drive from our ranks” is their current operative principle. ---
**Author:** ![Fallen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@Fallen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fallen)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2021, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-brooks-is-afraid-of-what-republicans-are-turning-into-and-thats-saying-something/954580/46 "2021-11-20T01:04:14Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Sorry, no. There is no equivalence. The content may not be the same but, yes, they do suck up and pander just as hard. Folks tend to prefer to delude themselves that their extreme irrationals (or what I’ve come to refer to as the (often) belligerent super-ignorant asshat clan aka Basics) are better humans, but the evidence indicates otherwise. Society wouldn’t be nearly so sick were the problem limited to a decent portion of the ~30% nutter-nitwit contingent whipped into a frenzy over various key topics and set against each other. My in box is filled on a daily basis with histrionic and counterfactual material from mainstream left orgs trying to manipulate my emotions and of course attempting to vacuum up my dough. (Wish I could pinpoint which one obtained my cell phone, which in the last year has seen an influx of calls and texts never ever experienced in the past.) Those who possess the ability to be dispassionate and objective can see differences in creepy extreme content but each party does suck up just as hard. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2021, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-brooks-is-afraid-of-what-republicans-are-turning-into-and-thats-saying-something/954580/47 "2021-11-20T01:05:15Z")
> [@Fallen](#): > > The content may not be the same but, yes, they do suck up and pander just as hard. Yeah, that’s just absolutely not true. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2021, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-brooks-is-afraid-of-what-republicans-are-turning-into-and-thats-saying-something/954580/48 "2021-11-20T01:10:31Z")
> [@Fallen](#): > > The content may not be the same but, yes, they do suck up and pander just as hard. Where do you get this “both side do it equally!” crap? Is it a natural law? Did it come from a Supreme Court ruling? Perhaps it is a magic spell that forces one side to be just as bad as the other? BTW, when you try to make this unsubstantiated claim, does that mean that you have given up on trying to show that your side did nothing wrong and that it is okey dokey to do wrong as long as someone, somewhere might have done something wrong too? ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2021, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-brooks-is-afraid-of-what-republicans-are-turning-into-and-thats-saying-something/954580/49 "2021-11-20T01:33:17Z")
> [@Fallen](#): > > …counterfactual material from mainstream left orgs… Counterfactual? I doubt it. OK, like who? ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2021, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-brooks-is-afraid-of-what-republicans-are-turning-into-and-thats-saying-something/954580/50 "2021-11-20T01:37:01Z")
> [@Fallen](#): > > The content may not be the same but, yes, they do suck up and pander just as hard. I’ve got a few friends on my FB feed–gaming acquaintances–who pretty regularly post guillotine memes with comments about how cheap they are to build and implications about which plutocrats should visit them. Don’t fuckin tell me that the DNC treats them the same way that the RNC treats QAnon. That’s some catshit-level silliness. Those FB friends aren’t posting the left’s answer to Stormfront. They’re posting the left’s equivalent of Donald Trump and Paul Gosar. If you think Democrats treat their loonies the same way Republicans treat theirs, you’re deeply, deeply mistaken. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2021, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-brooks-is-afraid-of-what-republicans-are-turning-into-and-thats-saying-something/954580/51 "2021-11-20T01:49:26Z")
The left-wing loonies are a political fringe at best. The right-wing loonies are the leaders of the Republican Party and literally everyone with any influence in it. It’s frightening that anyone can deny the distinction. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2021, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-brooks-is-afraid-of-what-republicans-are-turning-into-and-thats-saying-something/954580/52 "2021-11-20T07:10:55Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Where do you get this “both side do it equally!” crap? Is it a natural law? Did it come from a Supreme Court ruling? Perhaps it is a magic spell that forces one side to be just as bad as the other? Newton’s Third Law of (American) Politics. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2021, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-brooks-is-afraid-of-what-republicans-are-turning-into-and-thats-saying-something/954580/53 "2021-11-20T07:29:32Z")
Meanwhile, over in Virginia, the far right wingers are turning against Gov.-Elect Glenn Youngkin before he even takes office, for being insufficiently pure. They are calling him a RINO now. > **[Right-Wingers Turn on Glenn Youngkin Over His LGBTQ Staffer and Vaccine Rules](https://www.thedailybeast.com/right-wingers-turn-on-glenn-youngkin-over-his-lgbtq-staffer-and-vaccine-rules)** > > Once regarded as a “brilliant” Republican candidate, Glenn Youngkin is already being called a fake conservative by many right-wing media figures. Apparently, he might allow local governments to set their own masking rules, and he hired a LGBTQ staffer who (sit tight for this) _lists his pronouns on his profile_. > [@](#): > > A severe case of buyer’s remorse appears to have set in among some conservatives over electing Glenn Youngkin as the next Republican governor of Virginia. > > Over the past week, outrage has bubbled over among right-wingers and TrumpWorld allies alike, who are under the impression Youngkin has insufficient MAGA loyalty, citing his hiring of an LGBTQ staffer and his refusal to block COVID-related local mandates. > > [. . .] > > Elsewhere, right-wingers turned on Youngkin for the offense of having a staffer who identifies as part of the LGBTQ community. > > Joshua Marin-Mora, a recent Georgetown University graduate turned Youngkin press assistant, faced a flurry of right-wing hate this week over “he/him” pronouns displayed in his Twitter bio. > > “So, Youngkin chose a guy with pronouns in his bio to do his comms who also served on the Georgetown Latinx Leadership Forum and supports virtually everything Youngkin’s voters voted against,” blared Pedro L. Gonzalez, . . . ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2021, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-brooks-is-afraid-of-what-republicans-are-turning-into-and-thats-saying-something/954580/54 "2021-11-20T07:40:41Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > The left-wing loonies are a political fringe at best. The right-wing loonies are the leaders of the Republican Party and literally everyone with any influence in it. When I was active in the Libertarian party I used to quip that no matter what your political beliefs are, there were loonies along side you that you wish were on the other side. The QOP has embraced theirs. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2021, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-brooks-is-afraid-of-what-republicans-are-turning-into-and-thats-saying-something/954580/55 "2021-11-20T07:59:36Z")
OK here’s a quick challenge. Put up or shut up. What Democrat at the governor level or higher has done something remotely equivalent to activating the national guard to keep an eye on military exercises in Texas for fear that Obama was going to invade from underground tunnels in Walmart and declare martial law? > **[Texas Governor Deploys State Guard To Stave Off Obama Takeover](https://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2015/05/02/403865824/texas-governor-deploys-state-guard-to-stave-off-obama-takeover)** > > Texas' GOP governor is sending the Texas State Guard to monitor a military training exercise after right-wing militia alleged it's just a cover for the president's plan to put Texas under martial law. What Democrat at the level of Congressman or higher has claimed anything remotely similar to the idea the space lasers paid for by a rich family caused the forest fires in California? > **[Did Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene Blame A ‘Space Laser’ For Wildfires? Here’s...](https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucelee/2021/01/30/did-rep-marjorie-taylor-greene-blame-a-space-laser-for-wildfires-heres-the-response/?sh=5c1ce7eee44a)** > > You may have noticed that “Jewish Space Laser” was trending on Twitter. I’d ask what Democrat at a presidential level or higher has claimed that Venezualan hackers changed millions of ballots so that what should have been a massive upset of extreme improbable instead matched relatively well to what multiple independent polls said would happen. But since the sample size of Democratic presidents is rather small and I’m feeling generous, I’ll give you Trump for free. ---
**Author:** ![Fallen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@Fallen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fallen)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2021, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-brooks-is-afraid-of-what-republicans-are-turning-into-and-thats-saying-something/954580/56 "2021-11-20T13:20:20Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > Counterfactual? I doubt it. OK, like who? The fact that your answer is “I doubt it” suggests an inability to be dispassionate and objective. Yesterday’s lead suck-up was [Moveon.org](http://Moveon.org) wanting to take advantage of faux or actual Rittenhouse acquittal outrage. (This might work were I a vulnerable easily suggestible or persuadable; luckily, I understand and accept the evidence and the law are not what I’d like them to be.) ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2021, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-brooks-is-afraid-of-what-republicans-are-turning-into-and-thats-saying-something/954580/57 "2021-11-20T13:28:15Z")
Oh _that_ kind of counterfactual. Forgive me. With the Trump years I’d grown to understand that counterfactual was more like: “Masks don’t protect against a viral spread.” Or “Voter fraud led to a rigged election.” Or “My inauguration crowd was bigger than the crowd at President Obama’s inauguration.” ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2021, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-brooks-is-afraid-of-what-republicans-are-turning-into-and-thats-saying-something/954580/58 "2021-11-20T13:31:17Z")
So, which Democratic leaders are sucking up to Moveon? Joe Biden, for example, says we have to respect the jury process and the rule of law. ETA: On the subject of this thread, Brooks has spent the last 20 years or so calling everyone who was warning about his party “shrill” or “alarmist”, so he can go suck an egg. He’s completely useless. Maybe not quite as useless as Tom Friedman, but useless nonetheless. ---
**Author:** ![Fallen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@Fallen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fallen)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2021, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-brooks-is-afraid-of-what-republicans-are-turning-into-and-thats-saying-something/954580/59 "2021-11-20T13:36:42Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > Wyoming Republicans just divorced themselves I’d describe is as 31 out of 60 members of a central committee of the state GOPpers vs. “Wyoming Republicans” but some outlets took same approach. I don’t see how this speaks against the proposition that Republicans and related entities and people pander/suck up to their irrationals just as hard as the Democratic. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2021, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-brooks-is-afraid-of-what-republicans-are-turning-into-and-thats-saying-something/954580/60 "2021-11-20T13:39:17Z")
What Republicans do with their irrationals, like Greene and Boebert, is elect them. You can’t get much more sucking-up than that. Cite for any elected Democrat as irrational as Greene or Boebert? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-brooks-is-afraid-of-what-republicans-are-turning-into-and-thats-saying-something/954580.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-brooks-is-afraid-of-what-republicans-are-turning-into-and-thats-saying-something/954580.md?page=4)