By Alan Keyes
Since Wednesday night's presidential debate — for obvious reasons — a
thought much like that expressed by Ralph Waldo Emerson has been going
through my mind: "What you have done speaks so loudly that I cannot hear
what you say."
Of course, the truth is that making a sound judgment about what someone says, even when we can hear it clearly, requires that we consider what they have done and what they say in light of a standard that may or may not be reflected in either. These days, especially in our politics, we are constantly being invited to forget that aspect of judgment. It's like buying a car in a town with only one dealership and no access to anything like a CARFAX report. We're given no option but to listen to the different sales patters and choose accordingly.
Of course, the truth is that making a sound judgment about what someone says, even when we can hear it clearly, requires that we consider what they have done and what they say in light of a standard that may or may not be reflected in either. These days, especially in our politics, we are constantly being invited to forget that aspect of judgment. It's like buying a car in a town with only one dealership and no access to anything like a CARFAX report. We're given no option but to listen to the different sales patters and choose accordingly.
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