Blinded on the right

David Brooks writes about what followed Ronald Reagan into the White house.

Conservative institutions and interest groups proliferated in Washington. The definition of who was a true conservative narrowed. It became necessary to pass certain purity tests — on immigration, abortion, taxes and Terri Schiavo.

An oppositional mentality set in: if the liberals worried about global warming, it was necessary to regard it as a hoax. If The New York Times editorial page worried about waterboarding, then the code of conservative correctness required one to think it O.K.

Apostates and deviationists were expelled or found wanting, and the boundaries of acceptable thought narrowed. Moderate Republicans were expelled for squishiness. Millions of coastal suburbanites left the party in disgust.

Conservatism became, in other words, the philosophy of flat-earthing, torturing, and excommunicating for the sake of building what has ultimately proven to be a minority political movement. What's not to love?

Also, David Brooks is still a conservative.