David Brooks is right that character matters, but wrong if he thinks it’s the only thing that matters. Besides being disposed to act rightly, one must act rightly. John McCain acted wrongly on at least two momentous occasions. First, he spearheaded the movement to limit people’s ability to support candidates of their choosing. Second, he led the charge to reward illegal aliens for their lawless conduct. These are not peccadillos. They are egregious wrongs that strike at the heart of our way of life. That McCain would support such measures shows that his much-ballyhooed character is defective. After all, we don’t perceive character; we infer it from conduct.