We truly are lucky to have David Brooks back from "book leave" so we can read meaningless nonsense like what he serves up today. It has all of the elements of the standard Brooks column: (1) presenting a problem in "both sides" form; (2) citing an article that sounds erudite; (3) reaching either a useless or offensive "conclusion."
Today, David is perplexed about how ineffectual the federal government is. He strokes his chin, quotes Francis Fukayama and wonders who is responsible. Who could it be? Who could it possibly be?
Yes, Satan is "the system."
As always, Brooks ignores that one party, his party, has lost its mind and is dedicated to accomplishing nothing. One party's leaders say their job is not to make laws, but to repeal them. That party votes its members millions in subsidies while cutting $40 billion in food stamps. That party believes in "stunt governing" like 30 hour "debates" for no reason or phony bills named after a child with cancer that accomplish nothing except creating an opportunity to slander an opponent.
But David Brooks' very lucrative gig as a "reasonable conservative" precludes him from recognizing this publicly, so he essentially pontificates gobbledygook twice a week. Today, the solution to the problems caused by the lunatics David Brooks enabled is to "strengthen the Presidency." And what is evidence of this? The botched Obamacare rollout.
That's right. David Brooks uses an executive branch screw-up to argue for strengthening the executive branch.
And what are the specific suggestions? Nothing structural -- all he does is advise voters on "what to consider" in a President:
How are you going to build a governing 60 percent majority that will enable you to drive the Washington policy process? What is your experience implementing policies through big organizations?
Also --
Do you know Fortran programming?
Have you ever driven an 18 wheeler?
If you were a grasshopper, what kind would you be?