David Brooks has gone to China to see the Olympics and he appears to be getting the grand tour of the nation, courtesy of the world's only remaining Stalinist government. On his tour he has discovered a number of interesting 'facts' about the Chinese character. He has seen a harmonious nation populated by a naturally collectivist people. Unlike puling and whining citizens of this nation, Brooks finds the Chinese to be to be naturally resilient in the face of the tragic earthquake. While we complained about our government after the Katrina fiasco, Brooks' Chinese show complete understanding of the problems facing their leaders and are ever willing to accept the wisdom of these leaders in charting the best course for the nation.

Wonks Anonymous would be impressed but he has seen all of this somewhere before. Specifically in Pravda from the 1930's and 1940's and in back issues of Sputnik magazine. Wonks Anonymous has also been carefully reading the papers over the past few months and he recalls a number of 'interesting' articles.

If Mr. Brooks had searched China+earthquake on the website of his own paper he would have found at least three reports on the real situation in Sichuan for the last month:

• On July 31, 2008 we can read about a school employee who was imprisoned for a year after posting pictures of earthquake damaged schools on the web.
• On July 17, 2008 The Times reported that riot police suppressed demonstrations by parents who wanted a full accounting of the disastrous collapse of schools which had deprived many of their only child.
• On July 24, 2008 The Times reported the only story that even faintly reads to the credit of the China's rulers. Local governments were trying to buy the silence of the grieving parents with hush money.

So a group of people sit down to talk with Mr. Brooks about the aftermath of the earthquake - because they are 'collectivist' and feel more comfortable talking in groups - and it just might be possible that some of them happen to be members of the party. It might happen that these party members might talk to their leaders about what was said in the interview. The party bosses might take it amiss if anyone expressed grief or criticized the government's response to the crisis. By some odd coincidence everyone is cheerful and patriotic.

If the reader does not understand this, or cannot conceive of the meaning of 'reeducation through labor', Wonks Anonymous recommends that they pick up a copy of The Gulag Archipelago, a work which Mr. Brooks does not appear to have ever taken the time to read.

The Russians have a phrase for what Mr. Brooks saw in China. They call them Potemkin Villages.