David Brooks likes to throw in the occasional criticism of the Republican Party so that he does not lose his honorary title – Every Liberal’s Favourite Conservative. But every time he criticizes the Pubbies, he likes to throw in a little dig at the Dems in the last paragraph.

In tomorrow’s piece, in which he says that

Sarah Palin has many virtues. If you wanted someone to destroy a corrupt establishment, she’d be your woman. But the constructive act of governance is another matter.

you can hardly spot the dig at all. I had to read it twice to find it.

As always, in a Brooks piece, there are broad sections of wisdom that resonate deeply

Like

The idea that “the people” will take on and destroy “the establishment” is a utopian fantasy that corrupted the left before it corrupted the right.

and

Democracy is not average people selecting average leaders. It is average people with the wisdom to select the best prepared.

And a section that makes my blood boil

I would have more sympathy for this view if I hadn’t just lived through the last eight years. For if the Bush administration was anything, it was the anti-establishment attitude put into executive practice.

And the problem with this attitude is that, especially in his first term, it made Bush inept at governance. It turns out that governance, the creation and execution of policy, is hard. It requires acquired skills.

Why did it take him eight years to say that Bush was inept at governance?