Brooks threw in the towel today

David Brooks, an op-ed writer for the New York Times, always has constructive an insightful things to say about government and policy in Washington. Some categorize him as a moderate. I think he calls himself that. I’m not certain as to the requirements for the title but Brooks has a way of explaining and analyzing issues from multiple perspectives. He admires William F. Buckley, Jr. and adheres to the philosophy of Edmund Burke whom he often quotes.

For the last seven months, Brooks has written interesting and fairly optimistic pieces about the President and the new administration. He likes politicians a great deal. Despite his conservative perspective, he has admiringly talked about Barak Obama.

But today, his column entitled “Liberal Suicide March”, tells of a tragedy in the making. He compares the current slide of the Democrats to the loss of credibility earned by the Republicans last year. With high hopes and idealistic agendas, the administration has in his opinion begun a process of self-destruction due to narcissistic tendencies and a lack of pragmatism. Brooks likes pragmatism because he sees an urgency of need for it these days given the recession. Sometimes people can get away with not being pragmatic, but now is not the time.

So after months of reading his thoughtful columns, given my trust in his opinion and his admiration for politics and politicians, David Brooks today ceased being hopeful about President Obama. Brooks will now be a thoughtful critic and I look forward to his columns, post-towel throwing.