Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Pot to Kettle! Come in, Kettle!

David Brooks glimpses the matrix darkly through Elena Kagan:
She seems to be smart, impressive and honest — and in her willingness to suppress so much of her mind for the sake of her career, kind of disturbing.

7 comments:

Dennis Dale said...

Oh my. Looks like another unwanted stink-bomb from Dale. I'm imagining a classified ad, like one of those from Animal Control for pet adoptions:

BLOGGER, FREE TO GOOD HOME
[insert photo here; woeful eyes pleading with us]
Housebroken, vaccinations up-to-date, older but still lively indoor/outdoor blogger. Some minor behavioral issues. Doesn't get along well with other bloggers.

Wido Incognitus said...

David Brooks isn't a bomb-thrower, but he's not just a careerist.

Dennis Dale said...

If David Brooks was a bomb-thrower, he would no doubt throw like a girl.
The point is: public life demands the suppression of thought for reasons other than truth.

Every society demands some of this. But what happens when the reality suppressed is so great, and the convention with which it is suppressed so false? Does David Brooks really think Elena Kagan is that different? She's just like her boss--capable and vapid. Title for next post: Boring Enough for Barry

David Brooks is no more a hypocrite than any of his fellows, but can he really be so oblivious? Why can't one of these guys just once consider the implications of careerism?

Dennis Dale said...

David Brooks was further distressed to learn where lamb chops come from.

Dennis Dale said...

Note that Kagan is "honest" but somehow more "will[ing] to suppress" her thoughts than the average careerist, which is profoundly dishonest. Context, I reckon...

The girl can't help it,
she was born to please...

Moshe Rudner said...

Isn't it something how repetative and predictable all these middlebrow mainstreamers are? I understand why they get acclaim, because they seem to the masses like sensitive yet brash intellectuals with thoughtworthy ideas. But MY LORD are they dull! I know thirty bloggers and five times as many blog commenters who are more interesting, intellectually rigorous and fresh than the lot of them.

Is widely dispensed intelligent commentary condemned to go the way of Arrested Development thanks to the natural biological limits of its fan base??

{phone typed}

Anonymous said...

If David Brooks was a bomb-thrower, he would no doubt throw like a girl.

I'm going to store that away and long for the day I can casually throw it into a conversation.

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