the malice of populism

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/26/opinion/26brooks.html

an interesting op-ed from conservative thinker David Brooks

I particularly liked this bit towards the end:

"The populists have an Us versus Them mentality. If they continue their random attacks on enterprise and capital, they will only increase the pervasive feeling of uncertainty, which is now the single biggest factor in holding back investment, job creation and growth. They will end up discrediting good policies (the Obama bank reforms are quite sensible) because they will persuade the country that the government is in the hands of reckless Huey Longs."

All of this seems fairly pertinent on the eve of the Texas gubernatorial primary. The third candidate on the Republican ticket is a proud member of the Tea Party. Yet Mr. Brooks appears to be right, current polls confirm the historical trend of another populist defeat.