Friedrich --

There's a CIA bureau chief in David Ignatius' quite decent espionage novel "Agents of Innocence" who I picture as being played by Sterling Hayden in his grizzled old seen-everything latter days. At one point, he's fed up with the patricians back in the home office who give the orders, and delivers this explanation to a young subordinate:

They are stupid in the way only very smart people can be stupid ... They think the world's problems stem mainly from the fact that there aren't enough rules and regulations, and enough well-educated gentlemen to enforce 'em. It's something that happens to people at Yale, I think.

Perhaps they should hand this passage out during freshman orientation at our own Lousy Ivy College. What do you think?

Best,

Michael