The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

The Trouble With Experts

Posted on | October 6, 2010 | 13 Comments

People who covet the reputation of experts, who write books telling other people how to live their lives, will never admit they were wrong. And this is especially true of political experts, whose misguided prognostications never seem to diminish their reputed expertise.

Fortunately, David Weigel has called to task some of the people who proclaimed that Rush Was Wrong.

Among those called out are a couple of Harvard graduates. As Rush would say, “the smartest guys in the room.”

UPDATE: On a day of profound depression — dead broke on my birthday, and thus unable to travel to either Delaware or the Virginia Tea Party Convention — comes this final insult: In responding to Weigel, the Harvard-educated prodigy Douthat responds:

Hence my recent arguments for a kind of libertarian populism . . .

If you Google the phrase “libertarian populism,” of course, the first result will be my article from the American Spectator of September 2008 with the interesting title “Libertarian Populism.”

But the New York Times only hires Harvard boys, I suppose . . .

Comments

13 Responses to “The Trouble With Experts”

  1. Epopo
    October 6th, 2010 @ 9:53 pm

    Happy B-Day Stacy!

    Can’t hit the tip jar today, but will add a birthday gift next paycheck!

  2. Kojocaro540
    October 7th, 2010 @ 6:31 pm

    Wow wiegel stood up for rush?