In response to this New York Times column by David Brooks, I have this letter in today’s edition of the Times:
David Brooks vividly explains that today’s politicians, who are
often sensible in private, camouflage themselves in public: they
routinely endorse policies they really don’t believe in (“Private
Virtue, Public Vice,” column, Feb. 8).
Then he strangely concludes: “In private, we have a decent leadership class. In public, it’s rotten.”
People
who are wise and steadfast only in private — only when they suffer no
risks for sticking to their principles — are neither decent nor
leaders. They are opportunists, poseurs and rogues.
Donald J. Boudreaux
Fairfax, Va., Feb. 8, 2007
