DAVID BROOKS IS VERY CONFUSED

That title is just another way of saying that F.A. Hayek was correct about American conservatives: they have no principles.  In an interview with Howard Kurtz, Brooks tries to claim that he is a REAL conservative:

As for those who challenge his credentials, Brooks offers this: “If you define conservative by support for the Republican candidate or the belief that tax cuts are the correct answer to all problems, I guess I don’t fit that agenda. But I do think I’m part of a longstanding conservative tradition that has to do with Edmund Burke…and Alexander Hamilton.”

I'm pretty sure that Burke would not approve of the conservatives' atomistic view of society but more to the point, Alexander Hamilton "was the foremost champion of a strong central government for the new United States." (Source: "Alexander Hamilton." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online Academic Edition. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2012. Web. 30 Sep. 2012.)