Glenn Reynolds: David Brooks Gave Birth to Trumpism

He expands on thoughts he had on Friday, I think it was, turning a blog post into a column for USA Today.

He writes that the Tea Party famously cleaned up after itself, and was orderly and law-abiding. Yet they were nevertheless demeaned and dismissed by the political class.

Yet the tea party movement was smeared as racist, denounced as fascist, harassed with impunity by the IRS and generally treated with contempt by the political establishment -- and by pundits like Brooks, who declared "I'm not a fan of this movement." After handing the GOP big legislative victories in 2010 and 2014, it was largely betrayed by the Republicans in Congress, who broke their promises to shrink government and block Obama’s initiatives.

So now we have Trump instead, who tells people to punch counterprotesters instead of picking up their trash.

When politeness and orderliness are met with contempt and betrayal, do not be surprised if the response is something less polite, and less orderly. Brooks closes his Trump column with Psalm 73, but a more appropriate verse is Hosea 8:7 "For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind." Trump's ascendance is a symptom of a colossal failure among America's political leaders, of which Brooks' mean-spirited insularity is only a tiny part. God help us all.

The rise of any political movement is more importantly the story of the fall of another; the rise of any class is more importantly the failure of another.

America's political class as failed so thoroughly and comprehensively as to endanger the system of government itself.

What price will they pay for this failure? If history is any guide, none at all; they'll all give each other journalism awards and social promotions.

But lately history has not been a very good guide. They ought to be frightened, but they probably lack the sense.

posted by Ace at 01:15 PM

| Access Comments