What Is Wisdom? [Hanson on Brooks and Palin]

NRO The Corner ^ | 10/8/08 | Victor Davis Hanson

[Mamzelle]

There’s nowhere on your chart for experience. That’s what brings wisdom, along with the rest.

[Tax-chick]

Barack Obama is on record as saying that he doesn’t think doing political favors for money is “corruption.”

[TAdams8591]

"Yet those who once supported the decision to go to Iraq (many like Biden or Fukuyama dating back to the Clinton days), were among our most educated and brightest. But like a chorus of a Greek tragedy, almost all of them not merely abandoned their once zealous support, but (again, like Biden) at periodic intervals prepped their ongoing commentary on (always changing) perceptions about pulse of the battlefield."

They are remarkably inconsistent. I have noticed the above in many places in our society, perhaps because it is generally the polar opposite, of my own approach to people, situations and life.

[HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity]

"This is sad — since everything from the faux-seal with its vero possumus pretensions, the Greek temple backdrops, the efforts to speak at the Brandenburg Gate, the mantra "we are the change we've been waiting for," the messianic idea that the seas and planet will likewise heel to His wisdom, and the inane 'hope and change' banalities do not suggest real wisdom at all, but a dazzling veneer that overlays a great deal of megalomania."

But...but...he went to Harvard...and reads The Nation. He probably even has a complete set of Encyclopedia Britannica and knows how to pronounce ennui.

[TAdams8591]

"That Obama should be able to talk at length about a theologian who was a socialist and pacifist does not surprise me in the least. Brooks, instead of getting all tingly, should perhaps ask himself what it might mean to this nation if we elect a man who shares the socialist and pacifist beliefs of a Reinhold Neihbuhr.

But Brooks, like the effete Eastern establishment tooshie that he is, is so very impressed by the fact that Obama can talk about ideas, that he can not spare a thought as to what holding those ideas might actually mean for the future of this country."

Both of the above points are exactly right. The discussion should have been a turn off and flag raiser for Brooks regarding Obama. Instead it increased his admiration. Brooks is apparently non-selective about ideas; almost any old idea will do. The question I would pose to Brooks is, since being an intellectual and the power of thinking are so important to him, how is that intellectual?

[TAdams8591]

"You have to use power while it corrupts you?"

It's a strange concept/comment. My reaction to it was similar to yours. Furthermore, while power can be corrupting, it doesn't have to be.

[Billthedrill]

Brooks is a glib dunce. The quotation to which he was referring wasn't worth 20 minutes of dissertation or more than about five of thought. It is:

Goodness, armed with power, is corrupted; and pure love without power is destroyed.

One notes that although the reference is to the moral ambiguity of action it can also be used as an apologia for any bad action with good intention, which describes the liberal defense against the consequences of its own actions.

Niebuhr came to realize a few other things watching the Nazis murder 6 million people with their "noble" intentions, one of which is:

There are historic situations in which refusal to defend the inheritance of a civilization, however imperfect, against tyranny and aggression may result in consequences even worse than war.

I'd be happy to hear Brooks's comments on that one with regard to the imperfect but very successful defense of civilization in Iraq. I'm not holding my breath.

[AZLiberty]

Heard Victor Davis Hanson on Hugh Hewitt.....talk about WISDOM!! He;s SMART AND WISE! SEXY combo!

The link to the podcast and transcript of the Hugh Hewitt interview are on this FreeRepublic thread: Victor Davis Hanson on Obama, McCain and the Election of 2008.

[maica]

Excellent points!

Dems Never have to take responsibility for any failure, because their motives and intentions were “good.”

They do recognize that Republicans have to take responsibility for any real or imputed transgressions for two reasons:

1) Conservatives have moral values, so dems are free to point out failings

2) Conservatives are inherently mean, selfish, arrogant, condescending, etc, and so their motives can Never be good.