http://twitter.com/#!/HowardKurtz/status/252545231684251648

In his latest blast at GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney, New York Times columnist David Brooks calls the Romney campaign “the most insincere campaign I think I’ve ever seen.”

Asked by Daily Beast columnist Howard Kurtz about criticism he has been getting from grass-roots conservatives, Brooks says:

“If it’s from like a loon, I don’t mind it. I get a kick out of it. If it’s from Michelle Malkin attacking, I don’t mind it.”

But if it’s “people who are thoughtful,” including some former colleagues at the Weekly Standard, “then it bothers you.”

Malkin, the CEO and owner of Twitchy, recently wrote a column calling Brooks the “Eddie Haskell” of the media:

New York Times columnist David Brooks is the Eddie Haskell of the Fourth Estate. Like the two-faced sycophant in “Leave It to Beaver,” Brooks indulges in excessive politeness while currying favor with political authority. He prides himself on an oily semblance of maturity and rational discourse.

But the phony “conservative” back-stabber, who has spent the last four years slavering over Barack Obama like a One Direction groupie and trashing the tea party like an MSNBC junkie, isn’t fooling anyone.

Howard Kurtz’s tweet (see above) implies that Brooks draws a distinction between conservative “loons” and Malkin. In the video, it seems that Brooks in fact sees no such distinction. In his eyes, Malkin is just as loony as all the other “Tea Party teens.”   That point was underscored by several liberals on Twitter:

Aren't those the same? RT @HowardKurtz: David Brooks says he brushes off conservative criticism if it's from a "loon" or Michelle Malkin.

— Touré (@Toure) September 30, 2012

How are both different? RT @HowardKurtz: David Brooks says he brushes off conservative criticism if it's from a "loon" or Michelle Malkin.

— Nerdy Wonka (@NerdyWonka) September 30, 2012

@Toure @HowardKurtz David brooks is reasonable Michelle MalkinAllen westMichelle bachman..those re ur extreme nut case rightwing loonies..

— Tunde (@toyedeji) September 30, 2012

Some “loony” conservatives, however, aren’t buying what Brooks is selling:

@michellemalkin @HowardKurtz M Malkin – other than being the genuine Patriot – has more Brains & Courage in her nail clippings than Brooks.

— Jay Severin III (@Jay_Severin) September 30, 2012

@HowardKurtz For Brooks a "loon" is anyone to the right of David Gergen. He liked Lugar's smile, mad about Obama's razor trouser crease.

— Jerry Jay Carroll (@Jjc1Jerry) September 30, 2012

Interestingly, Brooks acknowledges that he has been on the receiving end of an “avalanche of love” from “really partisan liberals.”

For once, we believe him.

Read more: http://twitchy.com/2012/09/30/david-brooks-doesnt-like-conservative-loons-such-as-michelle-malkin/