David Brooks had a thoughtful profile
on South Dakota Senator John Thune in Friday's New York
Times. It is a useful introduction to a man who we will
likely be hearing more about and from as the clock slowly ticks
away towards 2012.
But that said, as is the routine with everything Brooks' pen
produces these days, an otherwise coherent piece is disrupted by
the author's gratuitous displays of affection towards President
Barack Obama.
After ticking off all of the qualities that might make Thune
presidential material and the issues that may lead the country
towards a GOP revival (balanced budgets, job creation, small
business growth, the perception of the president as too liberal)
Brooks (perhaps fearing the White House might construe this as
some sort of criticism) quickly reminds readers that Obama is
"the most talented political figure of the age." Really? After a
year in the Oval Office, what tangible evidence is there to
support this theory? Cash for Clunkers?
Oh, and again, lest a profile of a potential Obama foe raise
eyebrows amongst Brooks friends in the administration, he also
predicts that after "health care passes" Obama will "pivot and
pick some fights with his own party over spending" and win back
wayward independents. Interesting logic. After ramming through an
unfunded and largely unwanted trillion dollar entitlement, the
president (a moderate at heart as Brooks keeps reminding us) will
reclaim the fiscal high ground by picking a few (surely to be
superficial) fights with those irresponsible liberals in Congress
and cruise to victory in 2012.
Bizarre...but typical. It has been said in this space many times
before, but it is worth repeating yet again: Brooks's man crush
on Obama has rendered his utterances on this subject incoherent
and, frankly, embarrassing.
