I've never thought E. J. Dionne a particularly interesting or wise man, but with his newest column he has given us a clear understanding of him as a political commenter.
"Small Government" Talk is Just Rhetoric
Alas for all of us and for American conservatism in particular, the new Republican majority that took control of the House on Wednesday is embarked on an experiment in government by abstractions. Many in its ranks pride themselves on being practical business people, but they behave as professors in thrall to a few thrilling ideas.
Rhetoric. Practical. Professors. Experiment. Notwithstanding that our whole form of government is an experiment I can only guess that to Dionne there are good experiments and bad experiments and of course such declarations of success and failure should be his call. Also, I can only guess that to Dionne practical is relative, but it is an educated guess.
That leaves us with Dionne's words professor and rhetoric which are worlds and words that Dionne revels in as a practical experiment to understand the bankrupt, both financially and ethically, world the rest of us mere conservatives reside in.
Dionne could have saved us time by simply stating that he believes Republicans have already failed in all their endeavours and should immediately knuckle under to Obama, Dionne's ideological dream.