NYTIMES THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS

When Tierney and Brooks replaced Safire, I made some crack about how that would be bad for the wordmeister's ego. Now it's not so funny: in today's column, Brooks misrepresents a half-century of cultural politics so lamely you'd think you were reading a Murdoch rag:

But by the late 1960's, cultural politics replaced New Deal politics, and liberal Democrats did their best to repel Northern white ethnic voters...

Huh? Reagan brought down "New Deal" politics, and the "cultural politics" was all about an immoral war, the politics surrounding the birth control pill, and a corrupt elite betraying their children. Youth culture then had much to rebel against, given that Nixon and Kissinger were sending them off the die in Nam before they had the right to even VOTE. [CUE: the Who's "Summertime Blues" at Woodstock...]

The liberals had "Question Authority" bumper stickers; the ethnics had been taught in school to respect authority.

What if that authority proves thoroughly corrupt and irredeemable? Does Brooks seriously want to defend a Archie Bunker's bigot politics against the Meathead's? Didn't Nixon resign in SHAME?

I could go on: this misrepresentation of history is as duplicitous as... a) forgetting which Princeton Alumni group you once bragged about joining b) dodging any "culture of life" queries c) posing as a nerd when you're a secret idealogue.

But just one more thing:

In a culture of made-for-TV sentimentalism, Alito refuses to emote.

Right, he just gets his wife to run from the hearing crying. Gotta hand it to Rove, he's damned creative.

PARADIGM SHIFT

I heard Tim Westergreen on LaPorte's Inside the Net, and it sent me directly to Pandora , where I've had a high time fiddling about. Its country stash could be stronger, but I'm pretty happy with my Big Star station, and it's the kind of product that can only improve with use -- and more users.

PAZZ AND JOP ballot:

Neko Case TIGER HAS SPOKEN (Anti-)
Petra Haden THE WHO SELL OUT (Bar-None)
Ivy IN THE CLEAR (Nettwerk)
Beck GUERO (Interscope)
Gorillaz DEMON DAYS (Virgin)
Stephen Malkmus FACE THE TRUTH (Matador)
The New Pornographers TWIN CINEMA (Matador)
Bob Dylan NO DIRECTION HOME SOUNDTRACK (Columbia)
Sleater-Kinney THE WOODS (Sub Pop)
Fiona Apple EXTRAORDINARY MACHINE (Epic)

Wish there was room for:

Art Brut
Sinead O'Connor
Chris Brokaw
oh there's more, stay tuned...