The Know Nothing Party
A recent news article reveals the shocking fact that Congresscritters, for the most part, can't tell a Sunni from a Shiite...despite the fact that understanding anything about the Mideast requires that you can.
This news item is pretty much "Dog Bites Man" or "Jack Thompson Loses" -- it's not news. As anyone who knows anything about anything knows, Congress knows nothing.
By this I mean -- pick a subject in which you have some decent knowledge. The Internet. Video Games. Biology. Automobile maintenance. The care and feeding of the rare southwestern striped rhinoceros.
Then look for Congressional comments on that subject, often made while debating, proposing, or blindly enacting laws on the topic.
Then, laugh if you are a bitter cynic, or cry if you are not. Hint: I laugh.
Now, it is not fair to expect Congresscritters to be renaissance men or women. Indeed, it's often not fair to expect them to be able to walk and breathe at the same time. We're talking about people who majored in 'Student Government' in High School and thought their participation in Model UN mattered.
However, it is not too much to ask that they bone up on any subject about which they are currently legislating. If you don't understand something well enough to write, say, a 1000 word essay on the topic, you don't have the capacity to make laws about it. Some would note that this would be impossible, given the sheer number of laws Congress passes each year. In that case, perhaps, we need a lot fewer laws, passed with a lot more wisdom.
