In the spirit of his recent piece

I would ask David Brooks who "authoritarian warmongers" would tend to vote for.

Or the "ignorant and uneducable". What would their voting tendency be like?

How about "religious fundamentalists who want to impose their religious beliefs on others via government force"? Who's their guy?

And corporate welfarists?

How about those who support an untouchable, unaccountable banking system with bailouts for the richest?

I doubt he would find such questions worthy of the type of examination he has given to those who vote with a more independent mindset.

the "recent piece" in question.

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Perhaps the most important aspect of the Ron Paul phenomenon is that it has forced everyone on all sides to see the flaws in the collectivist thinking they've been captive to for the majority of their lives. Most have never been forced to reconcile the hypocrisy and illogic in their positions before. In the past, the belief that "my team agrees on this" has sufficed to convince them of their righteousness, but that is no longer the case. The Ron Paul movement is essentially holding a mirror to their faces, both as individuals and as groups, forcing them to confront all the fruits of their collective dissonance. This, understandably, causes anxiety.

The game has changed, and they are unsure how to play it, so they attack those attempting to modernize the game and force it to be played by a consistent set of principled rules. I imagine the dynamic is nearly identical to that facing slave owners at the time of liberation. Part of me particularly enjoys the knowledge that many would be appalled to see such an example being used to demonstrate this particular point (of course, their reaction would likely hold in regards to "any point they disagree with"), and I recognize that such a feeling of satisfaction is probably a manifestation of a personal weakness that I should work on. And I will! But not today. On this day, the comparison stands, and we have Ron Paul and his supporters to thank for nudging us back in the right direction.