George Will, pimpin' large

Congress has made bureaucrats into legislators

Sutherland's maxim: Adherents to ideology are at their best when they are illustrating what fuckin' morons adherents to other ideologies are when they are at their worst.

Newsflash: The Rich and Powerful in America Lend a Hand to the Rich and Powerful in America

Progress.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Being honest when we just don't know

A refreshingly insightful and genuine article from Bill Kristol, this morning. Definitely want to check this piece out.

Admit We Don't Know

"And it was Lincoln who wrote, in his second annual message to Congress, in December 1862: 'The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew, and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country.'

I’ve worked in government. It’s hard to do much thinking there at all, let alone thinking anew. But Obama and his team will have to think anew, and those on the outside who wish to help will have to think anew too, if we’re to have a chance of rising to this daunting occasion."

It's the strongest bit of wisdom in conservative thought. That people, and those in government especially, are better off admitting when they do not know and what they cannot do, than to pretend to know or be able to do more than they can.

He's right. It is the single biggest weakness for Americans to face, right now. That we think we have more answers than we do.

We are better off acknowledging this fact, all of us, intellectuals and average folks, alike, than we are taking off on damned fool adventures to nowhere.

Being honest about what we don't know is not weakness. It's strength. The strength it takes to be honest about our vulnerabilities.

Acknowledging that we do not know is the first step toward discovering new insights and correcting the problem. As much as is humanly possible. And no more.

Bill Kristol definitely just earned my respect. And it came from his honest humility rather than his vast knowledge.

More of us could learn from that example.