E.J. Dionne goes intellectually ballistic this morning with a thundering fusillade of cautionary quotes aimed right at our freshest Congressional crop of oxymoronic revolutionary-conservatives.
"I never govern myself, no rational man ever did govern himself, by abstractions and universals," wrote Edmund Burke.
Said James Madison, "another conservative hero," "If men were angels, no government would be necessary."
And Michael Oakeshott, "great conservative philosopher" that he was, advised that "It is the mark of all intelligent discourse that it is about something in particular."
So, urges Dionne: "Let's encourage the new professors who would govern us to deal with particulars and not just their ideological dreams."
Rather cute, isn't it?