Hurray! Good show, Atrios!
pie | 09.13.03 - 2:42 pm | #

Why does combinatorial mathematics hate America so much?
mondo dentro | 09.13.03 - 3:10 pm | #

My two cents on Brooks' latest
David Ehrenstein | Homepage | 09.13.03 - 3:33 pm | #

I barfed all over Natasha's poor comment threads when she posted about Brooks three days ago and I really don't have the energy for it today.

I enjoyed that work very much, David.

It's Saturday and the Notre Dame is about to come on. I'm going to try and forget all this insanity for three hours. It might work.

I hope so. Jesus Christ that was atrociously bad journalism from one sick motherfucker, it's so bad it so deserves the vulgarity, please excuse me.
paradox | Homepage | 09.13.03 - 3:51 pm | #

Merci!
David Ehrenstein | Homepage | 09.13.03 - 4:08 pm | #

This is the new NY Times op Ed columnist, working o get his column "Up and running" by leaving the News Hour. Did anyone see Brooksie's fatuous drivel today? comparing the Wasp backgrounds of two guys trained for leadership, g. Bush and H. Dean. Check out the line about Bush's grandmother serving as a bridesmaid to Dean's grandmother. But of course, no mention of the Bush fortune made of Nazi slave labor. I sent Brooksie a response to his swill, said I'd give him a chance but if this AEI tripe is what we can come to expect, I'll start to write daily demanding the Times drop his neocon ass from the page.
daver9 | 09.13.03 - 4:48 pm | #

It shouldn't surprise anyont that Brooks can't figure out anything so moderately complicated, Republicans can't add and subtract (look at twenty years of Republican budgets).

Murray is a racist who has spent his life promoting racism for the purpose of proping up the rich. Rally the klan both those in sheets or those with PhD after their names, scare the suburban middle class, set poor whites against poor blacks and get poor whites to resent middle class blacks. The rich and powerful win again! It's an old, old effort. If Brooks is shilling for Murray then eveyone is on notice that he is a participant in his ignoble cause.
EPT | 09.13.03 - 5:40 pm | #

I'm enjoying the idea that a college education is a measure of intelligence.
Slothrop | 09.13.03 - 5:52 pm | #

Here's what's funny to me. The initial statistical analysis is way off. As the comments in the referenced post point out, the dissent is also wrong (he used exactly six, as opposed to six or more out of twelve to get his statistics.)

Since we see statistics on the news all the time, I gotta ask: whose checking this stuff out?
kim | Homepage | 09.13.03 - 9:15 pm | #

Sorry, I had read Brooks's comments as an attempt at humor. Surely he was not serious in his column.
raj | 09.14.03 - 12:25 pm | #

"As the comments in the referenced post point out, the dissent is also wrong (he used exactly six, as opposed to six or more out of twelve to get his statistics.)"

All that would mean is that his statistical analysis is a lower bound on the percentage. If there was any increase (7, 8, 9, etc.), Delong's percentage would also increase.
raj | 09.14.03 - 12:32 pm | #

Brooks' OpEd piece in the times may have been the single worst editorial I have read in the times this year--simply awful.

What happened to Frank Rich? Did he get promoted or demoted?
john d'oh | 09.14.03 - 6:43 pm | #

If all of you commentators want to read a really good article taking "The Bell Curve" apart, go here: http://www.fair.org/extra/9501/bell.html
And 'merci encore' fabulous David E. for your brilliant dissection of David Brooks' crappy piece.

Helga Fremlin
Melbourne
Australia
Helga Fremlin | 09.14.03 - 7:58 pm | #