David Brooks

On Friday’s PBS NewsHour, New York Times columnists David Brooks and Mark Shields used their weekly appearance to trash the attendees of the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) as representing the extreme far right of the Republican Party. 

Katie Couric is among the elites applauding Tuesday’s David Brooks column coming to the defense of Brian Williams, “The Act of Rigorous Forgiving.” Once again, Brooks is playing ideological switcheroo. Maureen Dowd is the Williams scold, while Brooks is the scold of the Williams critics. Brooks looks most ridiculous when he suggests the unfolding exercise in accountability for self-aggrandizing…

On Friday’s PBS NewsHour, New York Times columnist David Brooks and PBS commentator Mark Shields teamed up to praise President Obama’s controversial remarks about Christianity at the National Prayer Breakfast as well as to shame the GOP over two potential presidential candidates' recent vaccine gaffes. Speaking to co-host Judy Woodruff, Brooks slammed Senator Rand Paul and Governor Chris Christie…

On Thursday, President Obama spoke at the National Prayer Breakfast and drew some sharp criticism for his decision to draw a moral equivalency between ISIS and Christians, arguing that the acts of terrorism carried out by ISIS were akin to the Christian Crusades, slavery, and Jim Crow. On Sunday's  Meet the Press, New York Times columnist David Brooks eagerly defended Obama, asserting he was “…

The State of the Union coverage on PBS last night had a slightly bizarre analysis as the speech ended. PBS NewsHour anchor Gwen Ifill jumped in over the applause and said Obama “talked about this being a breakthrough year for America and he seems to be taking on a victory lap.” Later, David Brooks said it was a "very liberal speech" and professed amazement that Obama pretended he hadn't been…

New York Times columnist David Brooks shows up every Friday on NPR and PBS to sound very moderate in the microphones, which usually means taking an immoderate swipe at conservatives. On both All Things Considered and the NewsHour on Friday, he slammed House conservatives by associating them with Fox News and their fans. On PBS, Brooks compared to the House vote to block funding for Obama’s…

On Friday’s PBS NewsHour, the Shields and Brooks week-in-review segment began with mutual sensitivity about the Ferguson situation – the word or concept of riots never quite emerged. But what was really surprising was liberal Mark Shields unloading on the Obama White House over the dumping of Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, which anchor Judy Woodruff tried to soft-pedal as Hagel “steps down.”

Pseudo-conservative New York Times columnist David Brooks -- appointed by both NPR and PBS to agree with liberals from the "Republican" side of the political divide on Friday-night "week in review" panels -- is back to bashing Ted Cruz, even though after the election, he admitted Republicans weren't too extreme to win all over the place. Brooks was bashing Obama with the worst cudgel he could…

A common theme among liberal journalists is to blame a “do-nothing Congress” when liberal policies fail to become law. Such was the case during a panel discussion on Sunday’s Meet the Press when moderator David Gregory and his entire panel lamented the lack of legislative action on Capitol Hill, mainly in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.  Gregory summed up the panel’s…

For most of this week, the front page of The New York Times has been trying to dig out Team Obama on the Bowe Bergdahl scandal. So it might be unsurprising that pseudo-conservative Times columnist David Brooks is echoing his "objective" colleagues in a Friday column simply titled "President Obama Was Right." This isn't just a blatantly baked spin blossom for the Times. It might naturally spur…

PBS NewsHour analyst Mark Shields started with an admission on Benghazi on Friday night: “Has the White House been transparent? Absolutely not.” But he lamented that the House special committee hearings “will be a disaster. It won’t be good for the country.” It’s only being done for the Tea Party and Fox News. Apparently, hearings are only productive and wonderful when run by liberal…

Common-ground alert: Salon's Alex Pareene doesn't think much of the New York Times's opinion columnists as a group, and neither, presumably, do NewsBusters readers. As for the reasons why, well, let's just say most of Pareene's almost certainly aren't the same as yours.  Pareene blasts Maureen Dowd for "sloppiness, not to mention rote repetition of themes and jokes and incredibly lazy…

While HHS secretary Kathleen Sebelius was getting a polite shove out the door, PBS NewsHour analyst Mark Shields offered a note of disclosure: “Well, first of all, let me just admit up front, Kathleen Sebelius has been a personal friend. For 46 years, I have known her.” He even oddly said she “stepped up manfully, to use a bad adverb” in taking the blame for Obamacare. But Shields and his…

Barack Obama has taken a few soft-soap interviews on the PBS NewsHour, so anchor Judy Woodruff didn't want to say he was sell Obamacare in less than dignified forums -- like prank interviews with the schlub from "The Hangover" movies. Pseudoconservative analyst David Brooks and liberal Mark Shields typically agreed that Obama has oodles of dignity and cannot be mocked. Brooks said only if…