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Who Said This?

By Wlady Pleszczynski on 7.10.09 @ 12:39PM

"To get our overall fiscal house in order, we're going to need to raise taxes on the rich."

1. Paul Krugman
2. Bob Herbert
3. David Brooks

"But it's not right to end on a note of cultural pessimism because there is the fact of President Obama. Whatever policy differences people may have with him, we can all agree that he exemplifies reticence, dispassion and the other traits associated with dignity.… He may revitalize the concept of dignity for a new generation and embody a new set of rules for self-mastery."

1. Thomas Friedman
2. Gail Collins
3. David Brooks

"But these days it’s impossible to think about America and its future role in the world without also thinking about China. This was the subject of a combative discussion this week at the Aspen Ideas Festival."

1. Sally Quinn
2. Sarah Palin
3. David Brooks

(Answers)

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BD57| 7.10.09 @ 1:07PM

someone needs to 'splain where the "NYT house conservative" falls on the "real world" ideological scale.

Mary| 7.10.09 @ 1:31PM

David Brooks on the Serenity of his Love, and why he will accept Obama's marriage proposal:

***He doesn't have FDR's joyful nature or Reagan's happy outlook, but he is analytical. That's why this William Ayers business doesn't stick. He may be liberal, but he is never wild. His family is bourgeois. His instinct is to flee the revolutionary gesture in favor of the six-point plan.

It is easy to sketch out a scenario in which he could be a great president. He would be untroubled by self-destructive demons or indiscipline. With that cool manner, he would see reality unfiltered. He could gather — already has gathered — some of the smartest minds in public policy, and, untroubled by intellectual insecurity, he could give them free rein. Though he is young, it is easy to imagine him at the Cabinet table, leading a subtle discussion of some long-term problem.

Of course, it's also easy to imagine a scenario in which he is not an island of rationality in a sea of tumult, but simply an island.***

Like Moen (my apologies to Moen) Brooks bought it for looks, and because of that, he bought it for life.