In today's Times, Gary Hart (yes, that Gary Hart) points out yet another contradiction in the twisty, multi-tiered, trap-door laden tower of babel that is David Brooks' logic. In a letter headlined 'McGovern's Idea,' Hart writes:

My, how times change. David Brooks ("Mr. President, Let's Share the Wealth," column, Feb. 8) suggests giving every child born in America $1,000 to start out in life. It's a great idea, but hardly a new one.

George McGovern proposed essentially the same thing in 1972 and was hooted off the stage. Let's at least give him some of the credit.

We're reminded of that scene in Kurt Andersen's Turn of the Century, when a young television writer asks his older producer, "What did you mean before when you said [Al] Gore's not a McGovernite? Is that like McWorld or McJob? Because he is like Mr. McGovernment. You know?"

Yeah, we know. But Brooks as McGovernite? He did help popularize the term 'McMansion,' so we wouldn't put it McPast 'im.
McGovern's Idea [NYT]
Gary Hart [official site]
George McGovern Library
Turn of the Century [Kurt Andersen]
Follow Up: Cracking the Brooks Code

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