David Brooks has a crush

Taking the 5th spot in today's list of most e-mailed stories (as of...now) comes this generous piece from New York Times columnist David Brooks about the lagging but not forlorn fortunes of presidential candidate John McCain.

Old school is cool again: Eight years ago, it was fashionable for us media types to wax rapturously about McCain. That vogue has passed, but I’m afraid my views are unchanged.

Torture builds character: Prison in Vietnam gave him self-respect and a cause greater than himself, but it didn’t diminish his dynamism.

The smooth rebel: The years and the Senate have smoothed some of his rebelliousness, but he still fights a daily battle against the soul-destroying forms of modern politics.

Cursed by honesty: There have been occasions when McCain compromised his principles for political gain, but he was so bad at it that it always backfired.