The Guadalajara Reporter

A leadership revival? At this moment? It’s clearly needed. Yet that challenge seems beyond the ken of those now in view

“The Leadership Revival,” is a provocative January 13 column by David Brooks, who is one of the New York Times’ columnists reviewing the adventures of American conservatives inside and outside the preserves officially occupied by the Grand Old Party.

Brooks troubles many Republicans because he too often writes from a sense of country rather than party. This troubles the GOP’s present atrocious, embarrassing cluster of haters, racists and their taste for destructive fairy tales. The Tea Party and its allies find Brooks too thoughtful, unnecessarily possessing a deep and wide vision of political responsibilities and conduct.

True, examining the concept of leadership at this moment may seem an unrewarding errand. Yet we should hastily note that Brooks doesn’t call for an attempt to parse how to become a greed-driven clone of the king of General Electric, Jack Welch, who each year would fire the bottom ten percent of his managers, irrespective of absolute performance. Nor do we need to step back to review current imitators of Napoleon Hill’s series of ”how-to-get-rich-quick” handbooks that were so popular in the 1970s and ‘80s, among many “mature” foreigners then residing in Guadalajara and at Lake Chapala.

Brooks happily often wrenches free of the unbecoming grip of far right-wing associates frequently enough to prompt their ire. This is one of those occasions. Thus, the reason Books can be worth a look by folks of less punitive political — and philosophical — proclivities: He frequently gives voice to his often veiled store of humanitarian instincts.

Please login or subscribe to view the complete article.