Brooks Goes to Far

from: http://community.nytimes.com/article/comments/2008/09/26/opinion/26brooks.html

September 26th, 2008 3:27 am
Mr. Brooks,

"If McCain is elected"[?] - Surely you jest!

Your punditry suffers when old habits (and allegiances) die hard. Your saying McCain lacks the depth of "a sophisticated conceptual thinker" but is, nevertheless, "a good judge of character" rings false. The candidate's recent actions actually lead one to believe he no longer has any concept of what constitutes 'good character'. Neither in a Veep, nor in himself.

Blaming the campaign silly season for not allowing us to see that McCain is "above all ... a serious man prone to serious things" will not wash. For this is precisely the season, more than any other, when a candidate's true character must shine through. There are no 'do-overs'. And on this account, John Sidney McCain has failed miserably. To pretend otherwise, or aver we are not now seeing the 'real McCain' is beneath you.

Mr. Brooks, if it is true that "old soldiers never die - they just fade away"; better sir for all concerned with preserving their dignity, to abandon old allegiances, and allow this particular old soldier, this GOP candidate, to mercifully fade away.

— BeerBellyBuddah, Wpg., Canada