Smart Women

I admit I have a bit of a thing for smart women. I did not come to this realization about myself suddenly but rather over time have come to acknowledge that I tend to perk up and listen when I hear a smart woman analyze a particular topic - more so than when I hear a man do so. I have never analyzed it very much and the reason is not the point of this post. I'm sure many politically correct types could find something to be offended by in the implications of my appreciation of some women's reasoning but that's not the point of this post either. Others might say that we should look at all ideas as unbiased as possible; it's not the messenger that matters, rather the message. I'd like to think that I do that and unfortunately that hope about myself leads me to the possibility that perhaps I only think I pay more attention when I hear a smart woman talking because she is unique in an otherwise sea of male voices and the (comparatively) smaller pond of bland feminine ones - and so I just remember her after the fact. A mystery it is.

Regardless, Instapunk has linked a video of Melanie Phillips recently that I thought was interesting. It caught my eye because he calls her the "smartest woman in the world." High praise indeed. It is an interesting speech, but not because of anything specific that she talks about but instead because of the manner in which she reasons. I think I am safe in saying that she occupies a fairly narrow slice of the so-called political spectrum. I point this out not to dismiss her views or otherwise partition her but rather in the hopes that you will listen to what she says without dismissing her out of hand simply because you disagree with her on some issue or another. As she might say: The point is not to align yourself with or against this or that interest but rather to have the debate. So, it is the process, perhaps, that is paramount, not the messenger or even the message. Instapunk encourages you to stick with it through 16 mins but I thought much of it was interesting. For instance, the bit beginning at the 12:30 mark about virtue and "progressivism"  mirrors points that Sowell has also made quite often. Her points about certain discussions being "beyond the pale" also remind me of Sowell's recounting of his time working on minimum wage laws in Puerto Rico. (Full version of Sowell on Charlie Rose here) Her prepared remarks go through about the 30 min mark and then she takes questions.

For extra credit compare and contrast the Janice Rogers Brown video linked above to Powerline's inspection of Obama's views on "American exceptionalism."