Now that the polls are closed in Massachusetts, let’s talk about David Brooks.

This is a great couple of sentences:

Americans are an unusual people, with less deference to central authority and an unparalleled faith in themselves. They seem to want a government that is helpful but not imperious, strong but subordinate.

That’s from David Brooks’ column in the New York Times today. I love that passage. We’ll argue forever about whether “helpful” means raising taxes to fund more government cheese programs or not, and how government can truly be “subordinate” when some Americans want the government to take other Americans’ money away from them, but still. It’s interesting; it’s thought-provoking; it’s got a strong undercurrent of good old fashioned Founding Fathers conservative wisdom.

So I read the rest of Brooks’ column. It left me…disillusioned.

Excerpts:

In many ways, Barack Obama has lived up to his promise. He has created a thoughtful…

The police acted stupidly.

…pragmatic administration…

Biggest deficits in history.

…marked by a culture of honest and vigorous debate.

Health care negotiations broadcast on C-Span.

When Obama makes a decision, you can be sure that he has heard and accounted for every opposing argument.

Choosing a dog for his family.

If he senses an important viewpoint is not represented at a meeting, he will stop the proceedings and demand that it gets included.

How does Brooks know that?

If the evidence leads him in directions he finds uncomfortable, he will still follow the evidence.

Like when a leading member of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says ocean temperatures have more to do with global warming and cooling than human beings.

He is beholden to no ideological camp…

[choke]

…and there is no group in his political base that he has not angered at some point in his first year.

Okay, that last one I don’t have a good answer for. Still: those couple of paragraphs make you wonder just how closely Mr. Brooks is paying attention.

Via Memeorandum.

UPDATE - Linked at Maggie’s Notebook. Hi Maggie!