I have come to the conclusion that the ability to do general research – really elementary data-mining stuff, that is – is ridiculously rare among political types. At least, I keep running into people who can’t do any, at any level whatsoever.
I suggest that the VRWC remedy this forthwith. Next time any of you are hiring, pass over the damn poly sci majors for a change and go find yourself somebody with a library science background. They’re typically the sort to be good at general research, they’ve had training in database and information management theory – and you can get them pretty darn cheaply, too. Library science pays about what you’d expect in a profession whose members typically half-consider themselves to have a vocation, instead*.
Seriously, there’s both a need, and an opportunity, there.
Moe Lane
*An attitude that I had myself, until I abruptly left grad school in the Nineties… only to discover that almost having an MLS was worth an extra 10K when it came to starting salaries.
Good advice which might profitably be extended — during the “Bush AWOL” controversy I recall many bleats from the MSM about “legions of fact-checkers and researchers”; my response to that was always “So, you’re getting screwed. Find out what those people are doing all day.”
They might also consider employing a few English majors while they’re at it. Producing press releases, speeches, &ct. whose level of literacy would shame an Andaman Islander does not inspire confidence.
As a bonus, having such employment open up would materially reduce the tendency of Library Science and English students to conform to Teh Narrative. As it stands, nobody in those fields who doesn’t support the leftoid program (or exhibit a convincing simulation of such support) has much hope of finding a job. Short-term, that means the pool of available applicants for, e.g., supporting Rick Perry is smaller than it seems on the surface, but the policy could have good effects in the medium to long term.
Regards,
Ric
There are quite a few conservative librarians out there. Chris Johnson of the Midwest Conservative Journal is perhaps the best known, but Breda of the Breda Fallacy and Zana of Pygmy Puffs and Heffalumps also spring to mind.