Our Mr. Brooks Takes a Letter

This is mind-boggling. Alert readers of this feature may recall that I wrote a piece earlier this week detailing the mild concerns of a few fair-weather conservatives who were pretty public in their embrace of President Obama. One of these individuals was New York Times columnist David Brooks, who was sent into a lovesick swoon by Mr. Obama's ability to namecheck Reinhold Niebuhr.

This was news of a sort because it was perhaps a sign that the bien pensant wing of the conservative universe was starting to understand why we benighted sorts weren't as enthralled. While its influence is on the wane, the New York Times still has some cachet and its columnists are syndicated widely, so Brooks's halting cries of protest were noteworthy.

Fast forward to Friday. It turns out that Our Mr. Brooks had a few gentlemen callers from the Obama administration, who have turned him into a stenographer (H/T: Captain Ed):

On Tuesday, I wrote that the Obama budget is a liberal, big government document that should make moderates nervous. The column generated a large positive response from moderate Obama supporters who are anxious about where the administration is headed. It was not so popular inside the White House. Within a day, I had conversations with four senior members of the administration and in the interest of fairness, I thought I’d share their arguments with you today.

Emphasis mine. Brooks then essentially gives over his normal 800-word space to Team Obama, while offering a few mild cavils at the end. I'd excerpt more, but I just ate lunch and it would probably affect my digestion. You can click on the link if you choose, although I'd have a bottle of Maalox handy.

Let's think about this for a moment. Why on earth would an opinion columnist simply cede his space to a bunch of government operatives? Is there any reason to imagine that the Obamanauts are having a tough time getting their message across because of the hostility of the news media? Perhaps Bob Herbert gave over his column to Karl Rove back in the day, but I must have missed it.

And let's think about the propriety of senior administration officials leaning on an op-ed columnist. There is increasing evidence that the Obama administration is having a hard time getting itself properly staffed and yet the people who are on board are spending their time attempting to manage the news cycle.

Here's a suggestion. Well, actually two suggestions.

To Team Obama: stop leaning on the news media and get back to work.

To David Brooks: you're an opinion columnist at one of the most influential papers in the country. It's your column; to hell with what the government wants you to say. If you can't resist the depredations of senior administration officials, you should either ask Barry Bonds for a referral on a testosterone supplier or just cut out the middleman and replace Robert Gibbs as press secretary. Sheesh.