Everybody Hated Last Night's Debate, Except David Brooks

Hey look on the bright side, America: even if you (like certain writers for the Washington Post and Philadelphia Daily News ) found yourself writhing in agony at the combination of sheer boredom and horror that were last night's debate on ABC News, you at least have probably not fallen victim to a worse fate: catching a nerve disorder from pork brain mist. Two dozen processing plant workers have developed weird symptoms after running compressed air through swine skulls, which, come to think of it, sounds like some sort of metaphor for last night's shenanigans. But David Brooks would disagree, because he is a Professional Contrarian!

"The journalist's job," he explains, "is to make politicians uncomfortable." He says that both Obama and Clinton "emasculated" their domestic programs, and suggests, regarding Iraq, that "a mature politician would've been honest and said: I fully intend to withdraw." Ha ha, dirty joke.

 No Whining About the Media [New York Times]