Yesterday, John Derbyshire made a refreshingly candid admission in an article at National Review Online. He really doesn't know what he's talking about (and neither does anyone else):
I was glad to see Michael Ledeen, in The Corner recently, let loose with the following flash of candor, in re our president's latest pick for a Supreme Court justice:
I used to be proud to call myself an intellectual, but I have learned that most of the time intellectuals are wrong. Hell, most everyone is wrong most of the time. So I am not impressed by George Will's call for some sophisticated deep thinker for the S[upreme] C[ourt], and I do have some sympathy for the idea of a normal human being sitting alongside the deep thinkers.
Leaving aside the whole Supreme Court issue, Michael is voicing a thought I myself have rather frequently nowadays: The thought that I don't know jack, that my opinions are no better than anyone else's, and that the same thing is true of all the rest of those of us who flatter ourselves with the title of "opinion journalist." "Everyone is wrong most of the time." Yup, and that includes us bloviators.
Let's face it, this whole opinion-journalism business is just a racket. Nobody knows squat about what's happening, much less about what's going to happen, and most of us some of the time, along with some of us most of the time, even have to struggle to come up with a wretched opinion.
Opinion journalists, bloggers, talk radio hosts, and loud mouth know-it-alls (yes, I know that's a bit redundant) would be well advised to read the entire piece and take Derbyshire's words to heart. At least that's my opinion (for what it's worth).
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