It is the love that dares speak its name over and over and over again. Yes, the New York Times "house" conservative David Brooks has returned to loudly proclaiming his eternal love for Barack Obama. His love letter in the form of a paean disguised as a column might sound very familiar since his declaration that "the Obama administration has been remarkably scandal-free" is almost word for word the same blind love he professed last May.
First let us show the most recent love burst from Brooks followed by his earlier profession of blind love. However, a warning. Cupid's obvious influence on Brooks is so profound that his syrupy words of Obama love might necessitate an emergency paper bag on standby alert for those among you with weak stomachs.
Many of the traits of character and leadership that Obama possesses, and that maybe we have taken too much for granted, have suddenly gone missing or are in short supply.
The first and most important of these is basic integrity. The Obama administration has been remarkably scandal-free.
Does that cooing sound familiar? If so, it is probably because you read almost exactly the same love song from Brooks just last May:
President Obama has run an amazingly scandal-free administration, not only he himself, but the people around him.
That was only the beginning of the love gushing from Brooks. Here is his syrup tap with the valve set on full flow:
He and his staff have generally behaved with basic rectitude.
...He and his wife have not only displayed superior integrity themselves, they have mostly attracted and hired people with high personal standards.
...a sense of basic humanity.
...He’s exuded this basic care and respect for the dignity of others time and time again.
... grace under pressure.
...a resilient sense of optimism.
...Obama radiates an ethos of integrity, humanity, good manners and elegance that I’m beginning to miss...
The only thing that seems to be missing from this Gospel of Obama is the date and time of his heavenly ascension.
Should you think that Brooks sounds just like a love sick sap, guess what? Even David Brooks, in a brief moment of surprising self-awareness also admitted he was an Obama sap:
I’m a sap, a specific kind of sap. I’m an Obama Sap.
...Yes, I’m a sap. I believed Obama when he said he wanted to move beyond the stale ideological debates that have paralyzed this country. I always believe that Obama is on the verge of breaking out of the conventional categories and embracing one of the many bipartisan reform packages that are floating around.
But remember, I’m a sap. The White House has clearly decided that in a town of intransigent Republicans and mean ideologues, it has to be mean and intransigent too. The president was stung by the liberal charge that he was outmaneuvered during the debt-ceiling fight. So the White House has moved away from the Reasonable Man approach or the centrist Clinton approach.
It has gone back, as an appreciative Ezra Klein of The Washington Post conceded, to politics as usual. The president is sounding like the Al Gore for President campaign, but without the earth tones. Tax increases for the rich! Protect entitlements! People versus the powerful! I was hoping the president would give a cynical nation something unconventional, but, as you know, I’m a sap.
I still believe in the governing style Obama talked about in 2008. I may be the last one. I’m a sap.
Yes, David Brooks declared himself to have been a sap in 2011 and five years later he is still a sap.
