And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.

I don't like this article. Mostly because I disagree with it. Partially because my disagreement with it is landing me alongside Cannoli and Goldwater.

I don't think our politics needs moderates. I think our politics needs pragmatism, civility, and understanding. Ultimately, though, I don't think what Brooks is describing here is moderation. I think he's describing pragmatism, civility, and understanding. I'm a (democratic) socialist. That's not a moderate position in the United States. It's a pretty far left position (admittedly, as far as "far left" goes, it's pretty moderate). That doesn't mean I don't work together with conservatives who are against the death penalty for religious reasons. I don't merely tolerate them; I actively desire to work with them. I'm a public defender who is close, but not quite there, to being an incarceration abolitionist. That doesn't mean I don't have friends who are prosecutors.

There is no value per se in "centrism," any more than there is value in being on the fringe. What is valuable is pragmatism and bipartisanship--which I will freely grant is generally more prevalent among centrists. Also--what is centrism? Is it being always in the middle? Is it being on the extreme left in some things and on the extreme right in others? Is it merely ideological independence?

The idea that we should always avoid fighting "with relentless fervor and moral clarity" is repulsive to me. There are lines in the sand which should never be crossed. Brooks has a point that the left is frequently going far overboard in its response to Trump, but he is throwing the baby out with the bathwater here.

Lastly, I find the claim that the truth varies according to our values to be absurd, although I recognize that it is a view espoused by many intelligent and educated people, you and Brooks included. Our perception varies according to our values. That which we perceive is immutable.

...I would make such a better conservative than I do a leftist.