Many of you may have engaged in an exercise I once utilized regularly and purposefully: reading about the latest controversy and predicting in detail how liberal and conservative writers would treat it. If you understand the dynamics involved, you will almost never be wrong. This is why, for me, one of the greatest rewards in reading is the treasurable moment when I am utterly astonished by what a writer says, when I think: "That's absolutely fascinating! That never occurred to me! How wonderful that she could explain it!" I note that this is one of my greatest rewards in reading fiction as well as non-fiction (the terms of the reaction to fiction are somewhat different, but the phenomenon is the same), and in viewing all art -- and in life itself. The moment when we see a connection that had escaped us, when a light suddenly illuminates an issue we hadn't understood, can be one of inexpressible joy.Arthur Silber, in the midst of condemning the presidential kill list.
Having a little list is one thing. Acting on it is serious drunkenness-with-power.
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