All politics takes place on a slippery slope. The most important four words in politics are up to a point.
Interpretation
Politics often involves navigating complex and tricky situations, and our judgments are often conditional.
George Will suggests that in the realm of politics, many decisions and actions are not absolute but rather conditional, highlighting the complexity and nuances that characterize political discourse. The phrase 'up to a point' emphasizes that there are limits and qualifications to any political argument or stance, reminding us that understanding politics requires careful consideration of context and boundaries.
In practice
During a political debate, one might cite this quote to illustrate the complexities of policy decisions.
The problem with intelligent-design theory, is not that it is false but that it is not falsifiable. Not being susceptible to contradicting evidence, it is not a testable hypothesis. Hence it is not a scientific but a creedal tenet - a matter of faith, unsuited to a public school's science curriculum.
The cultivation - even celebration - of victimhood by intellectuals, tort lawyers, politicians and the media is both cause and effect of today's culture of complaint.
Correct thinkers think that 'baseball trivia' is an oxymoron: nothing about baseball is trivial.
Constitutional arguments that seem as dry as dust can have momentous consequences.
The civil forfeiture law - if something so devoid of due process can be dignified as law - is an incentive for perverse behavior: Predatory government agencies get to pocket the proceeds from property they seize from Americans without even charging them with, let alone convicting them of, crimes. Criminals are treated better than this because they lose the fruits of their criminality only after being convicted.
Actually, there is only one first question of government, and it is How should we live? or What kind of people do we want our citizens to be?
Given political history in Chile, it seemed to me that there was a critical task of consolidating a democracy and creating healthy civic-military and political-military relationships.
Our democracy cannot be left in the hands of those who would rather watch or participate in a train wreck than stop it.
Rising political tribalism, shamelessly exaggerating our opponents' claims or behavior, is leaving us vulnerable: No one loves America's internal fighting - and our increasingly siloed news consumption - more than Vladimir Putin.
The politician's promises of yesterday are the taxes of today.
Nixon had the unique ability to make his enemies seem honorable, and we developed a keen sense of fraternity. Some of my best friends have hated Nixon all their lives. My mother hates Nixon, my son hates Nixon, I hate Nixon, and this hatred has brought us together.
Governments are supposed to lie to their citizens.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.