For a conservative columnist David Brooks warmth towards Obama during last years Presidential election made him something of a figure of fun, certainly for the American right. I enjoy his regular articles on social psychology etc. but his political columns can be all over the place.

A couple of thoughts off the back of today's paean to UK Conservatism:

"The Conservatives have treated British voters as adults for a year now, with a string of serious economic positions. The Conservatives supported the Labour government bank bailout, even though it was against their political interest to do so."

I'd fight to the death to contest that idea that any UK politicians treat voters like adults - would that more of them did. But even as someone reasonably sympathetic to the Tories the idea that we've had a year of 'serious economic positions' is laughable. Indeed most of the coverage of Manchester last week revolved around the idea that at last there was some flesh on the bones of Tory policy - make that about 10 days then.

"In the U.S., the economic crisis has caused many to question capitalism. But Britain has discredited the center-left agenda with its unrelenting public spending, its public development agencies and disappointing public-private investment partnerships"

The line of thinking that sees last year's economic collapse as proof that 'capitalism has failed' is so lame it doesn't merit contesting * but the idea that it discredits centre-left politics is more bizarre still. Given the scale of public debt there's certainly criticisms to be made about public spending patterns in the 'good years' but the notion that the crisis discredits investment in health and education is nonsense.

* A friend of mine came across the most succint & humourous rebuttal to the idea that capitalism is in 'crisis'; a Nigerian comic at the Edinburgh Fringe remarked:

"Crisis? Crisis!? When the army is having to drop fish suppers from the back
of a Hercules along Princes Street then you'll have a crisis"