Preserving a vision

In Shelby Steele's new book, "White Guilt," he mentions an encounter with a white liberal who fiercely defended the welfare state programs and policies of the 1960s.

"Damn it, we saved this country!" he all but shouted. "This country was about to blow up. There were riots everywhere. You can stand there now in hindsight and criticize, but we had to keep the country together, my friend."

Before we turn to facts, we need to understand the vision. This is a vision of the world more precious than gold. To those who believe it, this vision is a treasure beyond price because it is also a wonderful vision of themselves -- and they are not likely to give it up for anything so mundane as grubby facts.

Thomas Sowell

Before there was Saturday Night Live, Second City Television, or even Monty Python and National Lampoon, there was a group of theatrical satirists named "The Firesign Theater." They used to put their material out on vinyl. One of the last albums they did was titled, "Everything You Know is Wrong." For liberals, that could be the subtitle of this article by the brilliant Dr. Sowell.