Today in Fappery: David Brooks on 'Burkean Minimalist' John Roberts

Centrist yuppies can barely handle themselves now, after seeing the Great Man himself, Chief Justice John Roberts, save Obamacare from judicial overreach in a statesmanlike move to protect his Court's honor. It is stunning how much credit a Republican can get for not doing something 100% insane, just once, over the course of a lifetime. And blessed be the gods, Roberts ruling happened to coincide with aDavid Brooks appearance at the Aspen Ideas Festival-- the single most faux-intellectual experience for yuppie weenies that exists in our time. How did Brooks manage to blow John Roberts all the way from Aspen, Colorado? He didn't invoke Edmund Burke somehow, did he? Oh, God. 

The Atlantic Wire's John Hudson, who knows a good comedy opportunity when he sees one, caught up with Brooks yesterday at the fancy TED-talk-like wankerfest, where this year's Big Ideas include a call for ending universal suffrage. Hudson, his trolling sense perfectly honed, asked Brooks, "How does the Supreme Court's decision to uphold Obamacare alter the legacy of Chief Justice John Roberts?"

It says he's a Burkean minimalist who didn't want to create an institutional crisis by asserting aggressive court power. Also, he took the opportunity to reshape the commerce clause so it was all about self-restraint and restraining others.

That's right -- in the very next sentence after calling John Roberts a "Burkean minimalist" who didn't want to assert aggressive court power, Brooks writes, "Also,he took the opportunity to reshape the commerce clause."

That's all.

[ The Atlantic Wire ]