Lest somebody get the idea that righty commentators have a crush on Hillary Clinton lately, David Brooks points out why he’s not impressed with her appearance on ABC News’ “This Week” with former Clinton aide George Stephanopolous:

She peddled her sham gas-tax holiday and repeated her attempt to blame Indiana’s job losses on outsourcing and Nafta. Stephanopoulos asked her to name a single economist who thinks a tax-holiday plan would work, and the daughter of Wellesley and Yale took the chance to shove the geeks into their lockers: “I’m not going to put my lot in with economists.” When Stephanopoulos pointed out that Paul Krugman, a Times columnist, has raised doubts about the plan, Clinton lumped Krugman in with the Bush administration and said she wasn’t going to listen to the people responsible for the last seven years. This wasn’t just shameless spin, it was shamelessness with a purpose. Clinton signaled that she wasn’t going to concede even an inch to the vast elitist conspiracy. She wasn’t going to feel guilty about ignoring the evidence. She was going to stomp on it, flay it and leave it a twisted mass of jelly quivering on the ground. She was going to perform the primordial duty of an alpha dog leader — helping one’s own.

Tell us what you really think, David.

Indeed, Hillary did effectively call Krugman one of the “elites.”

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Nearly every editorial board and economist in the country has come out against [your gas-tax holiday proposal]. Even a supporter of yours, Paul Krugman of the New York Times calls it “pointless and disappointing.” Can you name one economist, credible economist who supports the suspension?
CLINTON: Well, you know George, I think we’ve been for the last seven years seeing a tremendous amount of government power and elite opinion basically behind policies that haven’t worked well for the middle class and hard-working Americans. From the moment I started this campaign I’ve said that I am absolutely determined that we’re going to reverse the trends that have been going on in our government and in our political system because what I have seen is that the rich have gotten richer, a vast majority—I think something like 90% of the wealth gains over the last seven years, have gone to the top 10% of wage earners in America.