RUTHFULLY YOURS

Once upon a time, David Brooks was considered the house conservative at the New York Times.  But in his April 21 New York Times column he put  President Donald J. Trump on a list of “strong men” that includes Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan and North Korea’s Kim Jong-un.    Mr. Brooks noted that Erdogan has “dismantle[d] democratic institutions and replace[d] them with majoritarian dictatorship.”   The Times columnist went on to assert:  “While running for office, Donald Trump violated every norm of statesmanship built up over these many centuries….”  Mr. Brooks, however,  does not elaborate, explain or elucidate the nature of the alleged violations.

But when it comes to discussion of President Trump,  Never Trumps like David Brooks feel no  need to place their anti-Trump views   on a foundation of fact.  For Trump-haters, the truth is in the accusation.  And so, comparing   President Trump to Turkey’s Erdogan, Mr. Brooks  does not set forth the democratic institutions dismantled by Mr. Trump, nor does he provide evidence of the  “majoritarian dictatorship”  that was constructed during the first 100 days of the Trump administration.  How could he, there being no such dismantling, no such dictatorship here?

Mr. Brooks recognizes “the collapse of liberal values at home,” citing “fragile thugs who call themselves students [who] shout down and abuse speakers in a weekly basis.”   But are these illiberals to be found under the banner of Trumpism — or under the banner of the totalitarianism of  left?

Mr. Brooks goes on to cite a study suggesting that only 57 percent of “young Americans” (age range not provided) are committed to democracy, compared to “91 percent  in the 1930’s….”    What is the source of this declining commitment to democracy: student Republicans, or students  influenced by  leftist professors?  Mr. Brooks does not say.  For David Brooks, apparently, critical thinking  about political trends does not require precise analysis;  anti-Trump innuendo will do.

I challenge David Brooks  to point to any instance of political repression attributable, today,  to conservatives  on college campuses.   I challenge David Brooks — or any of the Trump-detesting columnists at The New York Times (and aren’t they all?) —  to explain how it is, that if President Trump is the American version of Kim Jong-un, the New York Times is still publishing?

The threat to the American spirit of liberty is not to be found among conservatives, or in the corridors of today’s White House.  The threats to democracy, to free speech, to the free flow of information, are  to be found on the left side of the political divide, from neo-totalitarians  who, like the execrable Howard Dean, would limit free speech to persons who agree with the political biases of leftists —  with   the encouragement of  Never Trumps in the media  like David Brooks, who lack the ability to distinguish a  duly-elected  American president from the  brutal dictator of a totalitarian state.