For critics of the Republican Party, today's GOP is plagued by intellectual stagnation, a lack of interest in creativity and problem-solving, and epistemic closure that deliberately repels independent thought and ideological diversity. For David Brooks, critics have it all wrong -- there's actually "a vibrant and increasingly influential center-right conversation" underway.
To bolster the point, the New York Times columnist trumpeted a "heralded paper on intellectual property rights" from "rising star Derek Khanna," a Republican Study Committee staffer. Brooks added, "Since Nov. 6, the G.O.P. has experienced an epidemic of open-mindedness. The party may evolve quickly. If so, it'll be powerfully influenced by people with names like ... Derek Khanna."
Alas, the "epidemic" didn't last. Industry lobbyists demanded that the Republican Study Committee withdraw Khanna's report, and GOP policymakers obliged. As of last week, Khanna, the "rising star" cheered by Brooks, suddenly finds himself out of work.
The incoming chairman of the RSC, Steve Scalise (R-LA) was approached by several Republican members of Congress who were upset about a memo Khanna wrote advocating reform of copyright law. They asked that Khanna not be retained, and Scalise agreed to their request.
The release and subsequent retraction of Khanna's memo has made waves in tech policy circles. The document argues that the copyright regime has become too favorable to the interests of copyright holders and does not adequately serve the public interest. It advocates several key reforms, including reducing copyright terms and limiting the draconian "statutory damages" that can reach as high as $150,000 per infringing work.
The memo was widely hailed by tech policy scholars and public interests advocates. However, it raised the ire of content industry lobbyists, who applied pressure on the RSC to retract the memo. The organization did so within 24 hours of its release.
To be sure, an "epidemic of open-mindedness" on the right would be a welcome development, but it remains nowhere in sight.
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Of course Mr. Khanna is expelled. He became a representative of the party of free stuff.
shooter242
June 11, 2012 at 6:54 am
I’d like to encourage more trollery on left wing sites. Specifically pushback on common memes such as identified by Jonah Goldberg as unchallenged cliches. It can actually work, and it can actually change the course of debate.
For instance, I always challenge “the rich take too much of the pie” meme. There is no pie, no one decides who gets what, and the “pie” is a measure of contributions to a total. Ergo the rich don’t take they contribute. It’s been gratifyingly effective.
Try it you’ll like it. Don’t curse and keep the personal insults to a bare minimum, don’t allow moving goal posts or distractions. Ignore trollish responders, and be four times more civil. They hate that.
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New day. Same old ca-ca from the trolling class.
Which part of that are you having difficulty with? That someone has an opposing opinion or that they be nice about it?
It's the predictability and the pointlessness.
If we wanted Faux news talking points...... etc, etc,
His heart soars when Steve Doocy speaks
Burro, All your side has to say is Gimmeee! Both predictable and pointless.
Yet I never met a rich man who didn't have his handout nor a republican either. About the only whines you hear from them stems from them not getting a bigger handout then everyone else. shooter knows very well that is his problem, more people means less for him but being the typical republican he tries to spin it like he isn't a part of the problem by whining about others.
Shooter242
"Burro, All your side has to say is Gimmeee! Both predictable and pointless."
And that is all you have to say, over and over, at a place where nobody cares. This is a lefty blog. Do you get that? It's like a book club or a car club or the Moose Lodge or whatever. Like minded folks with common interests and goals hang out here.
What would be the point of me going to Red State or World Nut Daily or Brightfart.com and lobbing a water balloon and sticking out my tongue and tossing out lefty observations and perspectives? How many minds would change? What quality would the discourse be? You know what that's called... a waste of time.
Your time is important to everyone here Shooter. We really want you to do something with your life. Be productive. At this point it's like someone from Jehovah's Witness or the Krishna's or the Mormons is ringing the doorbell all the time. They've been to this address before, and they know nobody is buying what they're selling. But they are on a mission. And if they could just take a few minutes of time and show you their pamphlets and maybe share in a mutual prayer together, then a light of awareness and understanding might begin to shine through. Cause if they're ringing the doorbell just to be obnoxious and hassling folks... well, they wouldn't do that now would they.
On the other hand, maybe there's no interest whatsoever in what the ideologue is selling because his ideas don't make sense to the listener/reader and no matter how many times the ideologue rings the bell and no matter how politely and diligently the ideologue repeats his proselytizing script, there isn't going to be any change in the listener's/reader's response. Just as if I were to go to any of the aforementioned groups and make my case for the opposite.
There's something impressively obtuse about returning to a place of rejection over and over again, especially when the visits are going to continue to result in same response, over and over.
If you're offering salvation Shooter, you're wasting your time. If you're hoping to convert the wicked and make them see the light via the morsels of your wisdom and insight, you're still wasting your time. All that waste of time leads to a sense of pointlessness on the receiving end, even if a sense of purpose and ideological zealotry might lead to an overwhelming urge to keep yakking on the delivering end.
Have a ball my friend, knock yourself out, it's a free country and all that, but know well that life is short, and you ain't accomplishing nuthin' hanging around here.
He did NOT become a proponent of free stuff; he threatened the monied interests of the GOP by putting forth a sane realignment of copyright law. Shooter, you can't make something so just because you say it is. You should have bought this clue by now.
Burro, you are absolutely correct. People such as yourself are bigoted and incapable of being open minded. perhaps you've missed the cites I provide occasionally or the rare occasion when an interesting back and forth happens.
But for you that doesn't matter, and it's just as well. Now, perhaps you didn't know about it, but if you click on my avatar it will take you to Newsvine, and on the right is several links one of which says ignore this author. I promise you it works very well.
And how do we banish you back to your trollish pit? Do we have to get you to write your name backward? Perhaps garlic and a cross?
Some of us might be slightly closed-minded, but you are literally stuck in the same arguments ad nauseam, ignoring all inconvenient facts to keep to your beloved lies and half-truths.
Hey, Bobo,
It can't be an "epidemic of open-mindedness" if there's only one casualty, and that one casualty is one of the few people in your party with more than two brain-cells to rub together.
Proving once again - 'Don't feck wid dat Disney mouse!'
Open-mindedness? Ha! All the scientific evidence on the psychology of the conservative mind recognizes "openness" and "resistance to change" as the absolute foundation of conservatism. (What a surprise, huh?)
You can forget open-mindedness in the Republican party. It's not possible to achieve. We should aim quite a bit lower: simple recognition and acceptance of observable fact. Who thinks that is even possible? I don't, and I don't because acceptance of the observable facts causes friction with the idea that unfettered markets are good for civilization.
Ignore the 1st poster hemorrhoid above.
Well the GOP's loss hopefully will be the DEM's Gain.
Democratic House Majority in 2014.
What was that about the Party of free markets?
Conservatives "open mindedness"? That's the mother of oxymoron's if I ever heard one. By defination they're doomed to perpetuate their failures as they repeatedly continue to go to that well of hypocrisy for their political rightious replenishment.
This reminds me of Chairman Mao and the Hundred Flowers movement in the 50s when the Chairman declared that may views (flowers) should be allowed to flourish. This lasted until the People began to criticize him, at which time the dissenters were rounded up. Thus goes the Republican Party.
Sure, they're openminded...that's what you call it when someone blows the top of your skull off. It works perfectly well in North Korea. Perhaps Kim Jong Un is a repub?
http://www.newevangelicalpartnership.org/
Here at last a badly needed breath of fresh air for a suffocating right wing. Makes a whole lot of sense. We might want to promote them.
Rev. Richard Cizik: “Family planning is a green technology”
http://www.newevangelicalpartnership.org/
Love to see you have a conversation with him Rachel.
Am I just seeing things or in recent months (not just since the election) have Mr. Brooks' editorial pieces been becoming more and more discussions of what he wishes were happening in the Republican Party, rather than comments on the actual state of the party? He is not becoming a Clint Eastwood addressing an empty chair in which he is putting an imaginary President Obama, but there are elements tending in that direction in his vision of the Republicans.
That's a shame, probably the only one that could have helped them,yet another rejection from the GOP.I want to be rejected , I want to be elected, I want to be from the wild party.My favorite...Mommy where's Daddy, he's been gone for sooo long.