Right. Wesley Clark thinks that the prophets of a new Amerian empire (1) have a collective screw loose and (2) have too much influence in the Bush II administraiton. David Brooks thinks — or, at least, writes — that, therefore, Clark is a kook and an anti-Semite:
Do you ever get the sense the whole world is becoming unhinged from reality?
[snip]
Theories about the tightly knit neocon cabal came in waves.
[snip]
To hear these people describe it, PNAC is sort of a Yiddish Trilateral Commission, the nexus of the sprawling neocon tentacles.
We’d sit around [The Weekly Standard] guffawing at the ludicrous stories that kept sprouting, but belief in shadowy neocon influence has now hardened into common knowledge. Wesley Clark, among others, cannot go a week without bringing it up.
In truth, the people labeled neocons (con is short for “conservative” and neo is short for “Jewish”)…
[Actually, Brooks is wrong: The “con” in “neocon” is actually short for “con artist,” while “neo” seems to be a Latin prefix meaning “nasty.”]
Kevin Drum does an excellent take-down of Brooks, focusing on the absurdity of Brooks’s denying the existence of neo-conservatism as a political faction. Phil Carter offers a careful exegisis of the “opponents of neoconservatism are anti-Semites” meme. He controls his temper better than I could, but his disgust is as evident as it is justified.
Josh Marshall has more, with reflections on the ethics, pragmatics, and rhetoric of dealing with such contemptible lies.
Coffee Time
A bit late to the David Brooks party, Josh Chafetz of OxBlog seems to be suffering from a clear case of jetlag. Daniel, Kevin Drum, Mark Kleiman, Matt Yglesias and Josh Marshall have more on this….
Coffee Time
A bit late to the David Brooks party, Josh Chafetz of OxBlog seems to be suffering from a clear case…