Legal Commentary

Words of Wisdom for the New Congress

By Randy Barnett

Glenn Reynolds? Washington Examiner column offers some Modest proposals to help the new Congress survive and America to thrive including this part:

Finally, and most importantly, don?t forget that these are serious times. In the 1990s, America was able to fool itself into believing that we had reached the end of history, that the tough decisions were mostly behind us, and that progress and prosperity were mostly inevitable.

We know better now. The country is on the verge of bankruptcy, the federal government is at a low point in terms of popular legitimacy, and not just Congress, but the entire political class, is on probation.

?Don?t blow it? is fairly unspecific advice, but it?s important here. Don?t be distracted by the many, many things that seem important in Washington but that don?t really matter.

This last advice is probably the most important. We live in perilous times, and they demand a self-discipline and seriousness of purpose that has been missing from those who have governed us in recent years.

Rise to the occasion on the big things, and the little ones will take care of themselves. Drop the ball on the big things, and it won?t matter how tactically clever your political position is.

So, yeah, don?t blow it.

Full post as published by The Volokh Conspiracy on January 02, 2011 (boomark / email).