I was happy although not entirely surprised David Brooks was picked to write for the New York Times’ op/ed page. A lot of liberals I know loved his book, even though they somehow failed to recognize themselves in his portrait of Bobos. And he’s written for the Times frequently and appears on PBS enough for them to be comfortable that he won’t drool.

But is there something Brooks needs to share? Dan Drezner makes this interesting observation:

QUOTE OF THE DAY: From David Brooks’ essay on the tendency to self-segregate in the latest Atlantic Monthly (not yet online):
What we are looking at here is human nature. People want to be around others who are roughly like themselves. That’s called community. It probably would be psychologically difficult for most Brown professors to share an office with someone who was pro-life, a member of the National Rifle Association, or an evangelical Christian. It’s likely that hiring committees would subtly — even unconsciously — screen out any such people they encountered. Republicans and evangelical Christians have sensed that they are not welcome at places like Brown, so they don’t even consider working there. In fact, any registered Republican who contemplates a career in academia these days is both a hero and a fool. (emphasis added)

Dan wonders if Brooks will feel the need to telecommute to his new job. I’m not worried about that. I am worried that if Brooks becomes too interesting (read: infuriating to lefties) he won’t be able to stick around very long. For a while the writer John Tierney, who wrote for the New York Times metro section, was far and away that paper’s best columnist and among a handful of the best newspaper writers in the country (and most Times readers outside New York had no idea who he was). He skewered the false pieties of Manhattan liberals and did it without being shrill or nasty (he’s best known for a Times magazine piece he wrote called “Recycling… Is Garbage“). He’s also a terrific researcher and reporter and a beautiful writer. Then a couple of years ago Tierney was sent (exiled?) to the Washington bureau to do more reporting. And with the exception of a few pieces, he’s lacked the punch that made him such a joy. Has he been put on a shorter leash?