Brooks does make one very good point, however, at the end of his column. Global conditions seem to have made it more difficult for any leader to be "popular" today. According to Brooks:
"And so the globosclerosis continues, and people around the world lose faith in their leaders. It’s worth remembering that George W. Bush is actually more popular than many of his peers. His approval ratings hover around 29 percent. Gordon Brown’s are about 17 percent. Japan’s Yasuo Fukuda’s are about 26 percent. Nicolas Sarkozy, Angela Merkel and Silvio Berlusconi have ratings that are a bit higher, but still pathetically low."
Presumably, based on this data, one could argue that Bush's unpopularity has little to do with any decisions he has made.