WISDOM – QUOTE OF THE DAY – AT 12:52 P.M. ET:   At times like these we look to the wise, not simply to those with letters after their name.  "Wisdom" is not a word you hear much.  It's like "honor," a word out of the past.  But without wisdom, and honor, knowledge is useless and potentially corrupt.

One of the wisest recent members of Congress is Tom Coburn, who served as Republican senator from Oklahoma.  He assesses the current events in Washington, and gives us this warning.  From RealClearPolitics: 

In America you can’t be pro-victim and pro-justice and confused about the rule of law and the presumption of innocence. In our system, the accused is innocent until proven guilty. The alternative to the rule of law is either the rule of rulers or mob rule.

In the rule of rulers, each new dictator or regime gets to write new rules favorable to that regime. In mob rule, truth gives way to frenzy. Justice isn’t determined by facts but by whatever side of the mob can scream the loudest or intimidate most effectively. The Senate exists to protect all Americans, especially political minorities, from tyrannical rulers and mobs.

The pursuit of justice requires humility, honesty and intellectual integrity. The late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan often said that senators are entitled to their own opinions, but not their own facts.

Too many senators have lost touch with the Moynihan rule. For instance, Cory Booker praised Dr. Christine Blasey Ford for coming “to tell your truth.” Booker is missing a key point. In the American system there is not her truth or his truth. There is only the truth. In a nation governed by the rule of laws – rather than the whims of rulers or mobs – facts, evidence and objective reality are paramount. No one is above the law. Both sides submit to what facts, objective reality and truth declare.

The Senate is scheduled to vote on Kavanaugh’s nomination in a few days. The week’s delay for an FBI investigation into allegations against Kavanaugh may or may not shed any light on the truth. But the delay will certainly give senators time reflect on the first principles that are at stake for our country.

COMMENT:  Be sure to read the rest of Senator Coburn's piece, reviewing the other "first principles" that are at stake in the Kavanaugh episode. 

I wish I could recommend a journalist with Tom Coburn's wisdom, but Charles Krauthammer has passed.

October 2, 2018