David Brooks in White Water: An Appreciation

Had he been raised in Montana, David Brooks might have been a white water rafting guide. This will probably come as a surprise to a nice Jewish boy reared and educated mostly, if not entirely, east of the Mississippi. It is a career path that he probably never contemplated.

Nevertheless, he has the temperament. A guide needs to find the true and safe channel through a series of rapids, in conditions constantly changing and in the midst of the roar and chaos of a rushing current. He has knowledge of the river, a cool head and the crucial ability to see ahead while simultaneously maintaining the rafting equivalent of an even keel.



These abilities differ not much from the skills that Brooks brings to his role as one of the few reasoned and moderate conservative commentators amidst the clamor of the ranting talking heads on the right and left of American politics.

Brooks also fascinates by his ongoing struggle to understand and to explicate to his perplexed and frightened Northeastern readership the zeitgeist that moves the evangelicals, socially conservative blue collars, southwestern suburbanites and other elements of that political coalition lumped together under the conservative label. And he seasons all of his commentary with a generous portion of humility and self-deprecating humor.

Good rafting guides are much appreciated in the white water where, more than likely than not, all will sink or swim together.