The principle of Ockham’s Razor arose from 14th century philosopher, William of Ockham’s concept that the simplest or most obvious explanation of several competing ones is the one that should be preferred until proven wrong. If this sounds like too much mental gymnastics, think of it this way. If you come home from work to an empty house and the lamp in the living room is laying in pieces on the floor while your dog sleeps on the couch only a few feet away, you will immediately begin to form theories on how the lamp got smashed. There could have been an earthquake while you were at work. Maybe the house has been burgled and the thieves broke the lamp while rummaging through your belongings. Perhaps aliens, solar flares, or global warming are responsible. Or did Fido have a paw in the outcome? The assumptions derived from Ockham’s Razor would lead us to conclude that your dog is the most probably culprit because that provides the least complicated explanation.
I would like to apply the same logic to Obama’s dreadful fumbling of the presidential debate last week. Theories abound on how the great orator could have stumbled and stammered and failed to make his point so often during the 90 minute debacle. It was altitude sickness (the debate was in Denver). It was his anniversary and he had other things on his mind.
As William of Ockham would, I prefer the simpler explanation. Obama is capitulating. He’s bright enough to recognize that the policies he’s set in motion over his term as President have not fixed anything and never will. The rhetoric is getting old and tired, but he’s married himself to it. How can you spend $800 billion on stimulus with the resulting unemployment rate still hovering around 8% and not be more than a little down in the mouth. How can you promise to cut the deficit in half, but instead add $5 trillion in new debt and not be disillusioned by your own policies? How can you wake up every morning knowing that 4 million of your fellow Americans have been out of work for more than a year without being resigned to the fact that it isn't working?
If Mr. President continues to debate the way he did last Wednesday with 60 million viewers watching, he’ll need more than Obamacare to cover the “ass-whoppin” he’s going to get in November.
...until proven wrong.
