More on David Brooks and Neoconservatives.

Uggabugga > The Era of Distortion

Uggabugga's got a great chart to examine before you read the Brooks article, and then links to the Howler and Josh Marshall. Go read those and then come back.

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Okay, my turn. Back on Dec. 30, Josh Marshall linked to this great summary of tensions between Republican "realists" vs. the neoconservatives. Brook's article can then be seen as a way of taking down the neoconservatives a notch while also obscuring the Bush administration's previous reliance on neoconservative policy. The neoconservatives are now seen as a vunerability, and by minimizing their influence while associating criticism with anti-Semitism and conspiracy thinking, Brooks is setting up a two-front rhetorical defense.

He also uses a Dean quote as an example of a "dark accusation" concocted by an insular clique. This is a insidious way of associating Dean with anti-Semitism, which is riduculous.

His final line? "Welcome to election year 2004." This article stands as a clear sign of how much the dominant conservative media is willing to lie and distort the records. The ideological battle for America has begun.