I’m SORRY that Sarah Palin is not a rich and famous elite celebrity who is friends with powerful people in control of Hollywood and the Media, like Oprah, who try to control what we know and how we think.

I had a very similar reaction after reading Brooks’ column. It’s a pity, really, because most of the stuff he writes is actually pretty good. This time, though, it’s like he has stepped over the “intellectual honesty” line.

He has a reputation to preserve — he is a respected conservative columnist. Is this his way of re-enforcing his conservative credentials? Is this what the conservative ideology has become — forcing otherwise smart people to choose between intellectual honesty and blind support for someone who seems to espouse some vague “conservative ideas”?

I really hope that’s not the case. The conservative movement has some good ideas — ideas that have been corrupted by the current administration, John McCain, and the Palin debacle. David Brooks is a throwback to that “golden age”… I just hope he doesn’t throw it all away by seriously buying into this kind of bullshit.