Suskind

"O'Neill was a believer in the middle ground. Not in compromise, so much. Or horse trading. He was never much on any of that. It was the fresh, unaffiliated idea that enlivened him. Across four decades of search and study in and near government, he was sure he'd spotted a staid, stoic truth beneath the heat lightning of political rhetoric: that on matters of policy there are answers-- right answers-- that eventually assert their primacy over political posturing. These right answers fall indiscriminately, here and there, along the left/right political axis, or create a new territory not yet charted. An idea's first conceptual mold tends to form through plodding rigor, from a clear-eyed examination of available evidence and an open-minded-- and sometimes humbling-- assessment of opposing views. Fierce, frank dialogue commences; choices and consequences take shape. And, if everyone is honest about what they all know-- and about what they've learned in this roiling process-- an answer, a best remedy, emerges. Illusion will have its moment, but there is, in fact, a discernible underlying reality. It make take awhile, but in the end that reality becomes visible and undeniable. In the end, it's all about process, O'Neill believed. Trust process and the ends will take care of themselves."


February 14, 2004