Subliminal Wurlitzer Music

Atrios says of Bobo Brooks’ latest column, “to the extent that it is coherent it’s actually profoundly offensive.”

Arthur Silber says “I guess there might be an interesting point in Brooks’ topic somewhere, but he certainly doesn’t manage to find it, or make it.”

I think Brooks is actually doing something quite innovative with his first two columns for the liberal NY Times by subtly playing to the prejudices of his new audience in service of his old one. In both columns he presents himself in full patented “even handed” mode by ostensibly criticizing George W. Bush. But, in reality, he’s implanting certain images and memes in the discourse that help George W. Bush.

In the first column he portrayed the muscular Bush administration as being unwilling to admit it was wrong — but ending up doing the right thing nonetheless. Never complain, never explain. Just get the job done, dammit. Peggy Noonan and the girls sigh deeply and call for another Mojito. He’s no jump roping Clinton. Real Men never apologize; they’re too busy saving the world.

Today, in a twofer, he twists Dean’s straight talking image and real record of accomplishment into one of a phony blue blooded aristocrat who was bred for leadership and merely pretends to be a regular guy. This is designed to sow doubts among his followers about his authenticity.

Then, setting aside his obvious mental deficiencies and life long failures, he uses the same WASP association to elevate the image of the real inbred Little Prince to show that his silver spoon actually well prepared him for leadership.

The first two Brooks columns have very creatively made Bush appear to be a strong, decisive leader, who by birth and experience was destined to lead the world — a man unaffected by the criticism of the chattering classes, focused only on results. He’s done this in a much more subtle way than the bludgeoning you find on Fox or the Wall Street Journal editorial page, but we should not mistake it for anything but the Bush marketing it really is.

And, by the way, his new audience isn’t us. And it isn’t really the readers of the NY Times. It’s the news writers of the SCLM.