In his column on John McCain’s pick of Sarah Palin, David Brooks buries the lede, stating that “[t]here simply aren’t enough Republican experts left to staff an administration” for John McCain:

If McCain is elected, he will face conditions tailor-made to foster disorder. He will be leading a divided and philosophically exhausted party. There simply aren’t enough Republican experts left to staff an administration, so he will have to throw together a hodgepodge with independents and Democrats.

Brooks is acknowledging an uncomfortable fact — ideological think tank “experts” are not a substitute for geniune experts from the reality-based community. Sadly, the right’s reliance on think tank agitprop and repeated attacks on science have decimated the ranks of qualified potential GOP appointees. It’s bad for the country when one party is too closely aligned with scientific expertise.