David Brooks is a "moderate" conservative because he hides his racist
authoritarianism behind "common sense" appeals to order and tradition.
In today's editorial, he tells
us that the Dems lost guys like Alito when "cultural politics replaced
New Deal politics, and liberal Democrats did their best to repel
Northern white ethnic voters."
On the surface, we all know what that
means, and Brooks dutifully spells it out by quoting Democratic
strategist Fred Dutton writing in 1971: "Dutton argued that white
workers had 'tended, in fact, to become a major redoubt of traditional
Americanism [whatever that is] and of the antinegro, antiyouth vote.'"
Very simply, white folks who work for a living tend to be racist,
sexist, and authoritarian. Like the Vice President, they want a
"strong, robust executive authority." Economically, they think of
themselves as DIY-ers who despise those just below themselves on the
class ladder.
None of this is ground-breaking news--it is essentially
the thesis of Thomas Frank's book What's the Matter With Kansas? Brooks is a moderate conservative, however, because he explains the truculent, anti-democratic tendencies of this minority
constituency as "common sense." As I'm sure Brooks knows, however, the
ancient father of democracy, Pericles, forced the citizens to participate
in their government, dragging them to the ekklesia by force if
necessary. And what does that mean for America, Mr. Brooks? We liberals
must educate the racist, authoritarian tendencies out of America to
make America a true democracy.