Dreams of...

... American greatness.

The course of Humean events

If my old pen pal David Hume is relevant to the news, the least I can do is link to the story.

Hume was a very bright guy, not as well reputed among modern philosophers as he should be because he could write a clear sentence, paragraph, and essay. (Unlike Immanuel Kant, for example, who built Germanic ontological fractals.) Hume is understandable, so those who are accustomed to equating difficult with deep, mistake the measure of him.

Unlike Amity Schlaes groupie John Cochrane, to whom Brad Delong applies fiscal education without giving in to the understandable urge to butt-whip his economic toddler ass, Hume knew that simplicity and clarity are not the same as simple-mindedness and clearinghouses.

Conservatives are looking for and lusting for a simple answer. The best liberals are looking for the simplest and lustiest answer that still matches reality well enough to work.

Pardon me, sometimes I get carried away!

Medium is the message

All you have to remember to understand the media is that entertainment values matter much more than news values.

News values are chiefly important so that the media can say "First Amendment" to avoid all accountability.

(Originally a comment on Brad DeLong's blog.)