The Sit and Spin Zone

Leave it to David Brooks to try and rehabilitate Paul Ryan's image following the righteous beatdown last week. As Matt Taibbi pointed out, not only did VP Biden call the little troll on his shoddy math but even the moderator demanded, "Do you have a way to make this tax cut work, yes or no?"

And Ryan, like any rat-fucker, tried to talk his way around it. He delivered this whole spiel on how they were going to work out the specifics in a bipartisan manner after the election. A Republican talking bipartisanship in this day and age! Only fools and shameless party flaks could take such claims seriously!

"You called?"

And David Brooks. While we probably shouldn't expect much from a man who conflates interior decorating trends with grand cultural change, to look at Ryan's transparent prevaricating and then write in the paper of record - "[Ryan] did an excellent job of demonstrating policy professionalism." - that should be grounds for reducing Brooks to a public laughingstock.

But that would involve recognizing that sometimes issues are more than just he-said-she-said sideshows. Sometimes one side is being truthful and the other is cranking out bullshit so lazy a toddler wouldn't be fooled. But too many American journalists - Brooks in particular - make a living off of promoting this false dichotomy. That Ryan was called out on his non-answer regarding his non-plan is the anomaly in our system. If that doesn't fill you with shame, you are what's wrong with democracy.