Stuck in the cleft of his times, his industry and his past decisions about goals and priorities.

Kind of an entertaining run-down of a recent Brooks column.  From David Brooks gets half a clue, and then blows it all by The New Neo.  The column is being widely mocked both for its baselessness as well as the complete absence of self-awareness.

Brooks’ column is entitled, “What If We’re the Bad Guys Here?” To refresh your memory, Brooks is the resident guy on the right at the Times, but as tradition dictates he’s really a very strange kind of mushy-middle straddler. He also was famous as the guy who fell in love with the perfect crease in Obama’s pants and, as far as I know, has never fallen out of that love.

You may say “why read Brooks?”, and it’s a good question. My answer is that people like Brooks fascinate me. Intelligent but not wise, he often half gets it and half doesn’t, and seems to be attracted to the surface of things rather than their depth. In that, I think he’s not so very unusual, and as such it’s of interest to look at what he’s saying and the way he thinks.

His column contains a rather good description of how today’s “elites” – among whom he places himself, so there’s some insight there – have isolated themselves from many other Americans and incurred their wrath. 

Good commentary as well.  From John+F.+MacMichael

Brooks analysis reminds me of something from de Tocqueville’s “L’Ancien Régime and the French Revolution”. Tocqueville examined the roots of the hatred for the aristocracy. He argues that the Old Regime was not extraordinarily oppressive by the standards of Europe in that period. However he points out the French aristocracy had for generations been abandoning their traditional duties and obligations while clinging with barnacle like tenacity to their privileges. The contradiction of denying any obligation to the lower classes and at the same time asserting a vast array of privileges over them bred a bitter resentment. I am no fan of the French Revolution but I can understand why there were mobs cheering to see the nobles sent to the guillotine.

Poor old Brooks.  All the capacity to be something, but instead stuck in the cleft of his times, his industry and his past decisions about goals and priorities.