David Brooks: Palin's A 'Joke,' A 'Potential Talk Show Host' (VIDEO)

New York Times's columnist David Brooks -- never a huge fan of Sarah Palin -- laced into the former vice presidential candidate on Sunday, calling her a "joke" and a "potential talk show host."

Speaking the day before Palin's new book, "Going Rogue," is slated to be officially released, Brooks scoffed at the notion that the ex-governor was somehow ready to be the face of the GOP.

"She's a joke," he told ABC's "This Week." "I mean, I just can't take her seriously. We have got serious problems in the country. Barack Obama is trying to handle war. We just had a guy elected Virginia governor who is probably the model for future of the Republican Party, Bob McDonnell: Pretty serious guy, pragmatic, calm, kind of boring. The idea that this potential talk show host is considered seriously for the Republican nomination, believe me, it will never happen. Republican primary voters are just not going to elect a talk show host."

Brooks has never been a big Palin believer. Back in October of 2008, he said that Palin "represents a fatal cancer to the Republican Party" and insisted that she was "absolutely not" ready to be president.

On Sunday, Brooks did get a bit of pushback to his Palin skepticism. Speaking right after him on the "This Week" panel, PBS' Gwen Ifill urged her compatriots not to "underestimate the degree to which women will be drawn to her story."

"And that is who she is speaking to," she added. "These are people who are ignored, who nobody counts into their thinking."

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Comments

[SiberianRat]

Gwen Ifill urged her compatriots not to "underestimate the degree to which women will be drawn to her story."

Not intelligent women who actually care about the country.

[ajax2]

Gwen should have said 'ignorant women' drawn to her, but didn't have the courage.

[KIVPossum]

She couldn't make it as a talk show host. They have to be quick witted and able to think on the move. She does not have those traits.

[truthinreporting]

David Brooks is correct: Sarah Palin is a joke. It is beyond me why the mass media is covering her endlessly now, except that I know our news these days is merely sensational and not really news. And, I do not know why Oprah featured her, giving her legitimacy, after Palin's nearly riot-inciting words about Obama during the end of the McCain campaign. The type of hate speeches she gave should not be rewarded by a stint on Oprah. Although, I see there were immediate analyses of her lies on the show, as proved by her prior statements. It's all on tape.

Honestly, can't we be better than this? This woman is not going to run for any office. She is just out to make mega dollars. And it is to the detriment of our collective psyche that she is given any air time at all.

[ajax2]

Palin is a leader of the GOP, a darling of the conservative right. She could take Mr. Brooks down in any Republican arena.

[snoopjohnny]

Gwen is an experienced newsperson and champion of women's rights. She's not suggesting Palin's smarter than we think. Instead, her warning is more an astute observation of popular trends. 8 years of Bush left many feeling left out (especially women).....that's (at least partly) why Hillary garnered such momentum in the campaign. In the big world outside of HuffPo, many will cheer "Going Rogue" as mud in the eye of cranky old white guys like McCain or the jaded political system at large, including David Brooks. They're not interested in details like documented proof Obama was born in Hawaii or the reality that Palin spins 180 degrees on issues and facts when it suits her. They only read or listen to what fits their view; when Palin waves the long awaited flag of a gutsy woman politician, they see a hero. Like Ronald Reagan in cute little pumps.

[jgaines7]

C'mon, Gwen!

[Aranxa]

Yes, she is a joke. That is why she's getting so much attention. No one pays attention to stalwart people of sense and intelligence.

[DanGreen]

Are you able to provide us with one example of Mrs. Palin's sense and intelligence?

[ksflower]

That's Aranxa's point. They're paying attention to her because she's a joke. People DON'T pay attention to people with sense and intelligence. There are no examples that she possesses either.

[Guitanguran]

You know...

None of this really matters.

Our current debt is over 12 trillion $s. It's expected to reach $14 trillion next year.

It's doubled since 2002.

The unfunded mandates we've promised to our parents, ourselves, our children and our grandchildren is over $105 trillion.

The total profit for the Fortune 500 was $785 billion in 2007. You would have to take all the profit from them for the next 15 years to pay off the current debt. To pay all of those unfunded mandates, we'd have to take all the profit from them for the next 134 years.

That doesn't include interest.

For this reason, our dollar is in danger of total collapse.

It doesn't matter what your political opinion is, this cannot continue.

If you don't tell your government to stop, there won't be any healthcare available to heal, no schools to educate, no armed forces to protect, and nothing left to argue about.

Tell them to stop until we can figure this out. Tell them now.

[luxou812]

To the Chinese, we are too big to fail. The dollar will not collapse if they have anything to say about it ...and they do. Otherwise you may be right about a collapse.

[Guitanguran]

not if they can find a replacement for our currency.

[jjkmack]

The deficit would disappear overnight by reversing the bazillionaire tax breaks Bush gave.

The debt would disappear overnight by reversing the Reagan tax breaks to the same bazillaires.

[Guitanguran]

As I mentioned, if you took every penny of profit from the Fortune 500 for the next 15 years, not counting accrued interest, you could finally catch up on our current debt.

There's not enough 'bazillionaires' on the planet, much less the United States, to cover what's been spent.

More brainpower, less typing.

[DanGreen]

Near the end of George H.W. Bush's presidency, the deficit was the highest it had ever been. Respected economists were saying it was so high that it was impossible for it ever to be eliminated -- that the economy could never produce the tax revenue necessary to do so. We were doomed! Along comes the Clinton administration, with an economic stimulus plan that was almost as hard to get through as Obama's health care plan has been. We had economoc turnaround in about two years, and at the end of Clinton's administration, candidates Al Gore and George Bush were arguing over how the surplus should be spent. (Remember Gore's "lock box?) Do any of you Chicken Littles every read history? My guess is that by the end of the Obama administration, we'll be having the same arguments -- what do we do with all this surplus.

[Guitanguran]

There's a material difference between 'balancing the budget' for one calendar year and erasing a 12 trillion $ debt.

From 94' on, who was controlling Congress? I'm afraid Mr. Clinton had to hurry to make to the front of the balanced budget parade, a pragmatic move.

Oh we can still argue back and forth about who did what, but in the meantime, the deficit has increased what, another billion $s?

[Pema]

she can't hold the stiffy vote for long, she is fast going from cougar to cow.

[WritusMaximus]

Careful there! Bush The Dunce Jr. got elected, TWICE, so brains are not a prerequisite!

[Ipanemagirl]

now that is the real SCARY part, writusmaximus!!! They are able to elect totally incompetent people and then we all suffer the consequences.

[openhand]

“I’m trying to remember if I’ve met her before. I’m sure I must have.” His eyes twinkled, then he asked, “What is she, the governor of Guam?”
Dubya

[WritusMaximus]

Birds of a feather nest together.

[panamarine]

Try as hard as they want, the Palin deffenders will not convince themselves that PALIN=Quitter, A joke, Over her head, talks in circles, not a deep thinker, gets her thinking scripted for her, keeps a grudge, smiles only when in public, can't stand main stream media, prefers to do her speeches behind closed doors to avoid criticsm, plays the us against "them" card, thinks that "Real Americans" are the tea bagger types, didn't really put pencil to paper in writting her "book", abandoned Alaskans for the lower 48=Where the money is, and really doesn't like McCain. But YET, 20% would like to have her as their President. 80% are just amused and entertained by her.

[Ipanemagirl]

So should we worry about what the ignorant women who idolize her think? Should we even consider them? I say no.
It takes knowledge to be a president, and she has none. She does not even try to acquire some ....thinks all she has to be is anti abortion, and "love Jesus", and all will be well in fairyland! How naive!
I think people should stop feeling intimidated to discribe what they really think of her.
Otherwise we will have to content ourselves with having a googly scarey faced insecure guy like Hoffman
elected to "guide us and elighten us on our filthy ways...."
America needs to become more progressive and stop listening to those teabaggers who are scared of change. They want to stay in the medieval ages....maybe they would like to live in Afghanistan?, we should suggest it to them next time!

[MominAmerica]

[WritusMaximus]

Nah, Bush "The Dunce In Chief" Jr. got elected, TWICE!

[Aranxa]

For some reason the bumper sticker "Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups." is seeming rather prescient.

[VictorMorris]

Might be that Brooks is the joke. Palin has a lot of supporters, probably a lot more than does Brooks. Too much 'put down' on personal issues. I share more values with her than I do with Brooks, but I don't feel it necessary for my ego to put Brooks down just because I disagree with him.

[krinklyfig]

What values would those be?

[openhand]

I'd be suprised about your list of values with Palin, but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. What is clear is that Palin is a cheerleader who appeals strongly to 25% of the population on the far right. Personally I don't beleive that is where she wants to be, but that is where she has the audience and so she is milking it. If you ask her on the side, I'm sure she is happier with the Alaskan Independence Party. Either way you cannot win without the center, so her fringe 25% cast her as irrelevant. Further, her absolute ignorance of the issues and policy means she is, without a Rovian charachter, running on empty.

[WritusMaximus]

Palin aint no Jane Six Pack, she aint no commoner, but she sure pitches a lot of "small town" rhetoric, hence her planned visits to selected towns and cities to burnish her image among the blind. Some folks wanna believe the fiction. Easy to prove as was proven during the 2008 campaign, she flaunts it but depends on the blindness of many to appear as Sarah of the people.

[EbonBear]

Palin doesn't have a lot of supporters. The facts are clear. She was an active disadvantage to the McCain campaign. She appeals to those on the ultraright fringe and scares the he// out of everyone else.

[seelieme]

Again: what values?

[Alexia Parks - Huffpost Blogger]

Palin as talk show host? Perhaps for a local Alaskan TV station where she could stir up heated controversies to help her fans wait out those long, cold winter nights.

[snoopjohnny]

I agree. Many seem to think she's a talk show waiting to happen. And sure, she LIKES to talk. But talk show hosts talk to and ABOUT other people...like guests. They also frequently use complete sentences and they're curious.....Palin talks mostly about two things: 1. Sarah Palin and 2. People who do terrible things to Sarah Palin.