Liberals have an odd habit: they like to designate one conservative pundit or politician as the “Voice of Reason” from the other side. To be considered a Voice of Reason, the person must be intellectual (as opposed to strident) and occasionally express a “crossover” view: one that demonstrates how, after carefully considering an issue, he finds he agrees with us.
Many years ago, the official Voice of Reason was George Will, often infuriating and typically bombastic but every so often saying something that (coincidentally I’m sure) reaffirmed a liberal position. But that was then. Our current Voice of Reason, having quietly assumed this role over the last several years, is David Brooks.
David Brooks writes for the New York Times. David Brooks appears regularly on NPR. David Brooks was born in Canada. What more could a liberal want in a Voice of Reason?
Well, he’s really done it this time. In his most recent column, “The Politics of Solipsism”, Brooks offers the following:
The political culture encourages politicians and activists to imagine that the country’s problems would be solved if other people’s interests and values magically disappeared.
Almost seductively reasonable. I think David is a double-agent.
I never heard George Will make a liberal statement, but I did hear him make ridiculous judgmental ones like, “Welfare should be as hard to get as a building permit”. George Will knows nothing about applying for welfare. I wanted to throw something very hard at the television.