TCTI: Too Crazy Too Ignore
 Dave Ross
thomas jefferson
Dave Ross takes a lesson from the words of Thomas Jefferson. (AP Photo/file)

And now a word from Thomas Jefferson

BY Dave Ross  on February 14, 2013 @ 11:05 am (Updated: 9:51 am - 2/15/13 )

I've been reading Jon Meacham's book "Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power."

It's the portrait of a man who declared all men are created equal, but kept slaves, and was in part urged to revolution because the British threatened to free those slaves. He comes across as more inconsistent and conflicted than the image we get in school.

But one thing everyone seemed to agree on was that he understood politics, and how to get things done. And in 1797, when he was Vice President, and the new nation was facing crisis after crisis - he wrote a letter to his grandson, laying out what he'd learned about political debate.

The language is a little stilted, 215 years later, but here's what he says. His most important rule for social interaction was "never entering into dispute or argument with another. I never yet saw an instance of one of two disputants convincing the other by argument."

He goes on. "I have seen many, on their getting warm, becoming rude, and shooting one another. " And then he says this - and when he uses the word conviction, he means it in the sense of convincing someone - he says, "Conviction is the effect of our own dispassionate reasoning, either in solitude, or weighing within ourselves dispassionately what we hear from others, standing uncommitted in argument ourselves."

In other words, you can never change anyone's mind by arguing with them in front of others. People only change their minds upon quiet reflection, weighing what they've heard, and then coming to their own conclusions. And then he ends by quoting Benjamin Franklin who used to tell him, "Never contradict anybody."

Dave Ross, KIRO Radio Talk Show Host
Dave Ross is co-host of The Ross & Burbank Show on KIRO Radio (weekdays 9-Noon) and never too far from the spotlight.
More Dave Ross

MyNorthwest.com - Purpose of Comments statement
Bonneville Media encourages site users to express their opinions by posting comments. Our goal is to maintain a civil dialogue in which readers feel comfortable. At times, the comments can descend to personal attacks. Please do not engage in such behavior. We encourage your thoughtful comments which: have a positive and constructive tone, are on topic, are respectful toward others and their opinions. Bonneville reserves the right to remove comments which do not conform to these criteria.

Comments (25)


  • Add A Comment

  • sportsguru wrote...
    Dave Ross
    February 15, 2013 9:04 am

    You are on fire today. Somebody call the fire department and have them put out this fire named Dave Ross. I love it, unfortunately, most people don't get a chance to reflect, once something is said, every channel starts analyzing and giving there own interpretation of what that means and the followers depending on what side of the aisle they belong too follow suit to whatever there favorite propagandist is just mimimicks there sentiment.

    I am one of the only few who can listen to both sides and then make up my own opinion.

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Pair o'dimes wrote...
    Quick! Call his sponsors!
    February 15, 2013 9:04 am
    Dave Ross seems to get more comments than anyone else on this site, and most of them are critical. I am often surprised by what provokes comments, and I must admit I read and re-read both his comments and the criticisms so I can better understand what the issues are. And after all, isn't that the point?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • logical open mind wrote...
    I've changed my positions on nuke, power, death penalty, gay marriage, legal pot and trickle down economics-(far better to hgave a competive business climate so people get jobs)
    February 15, 2013 1:16 pm
    But Im not a knee jerk, non thinking lib!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Paul Kersey wrote...
    Try telling that to Barry
    February 15, 2013 9:15 am
    "I need you to go out and talk to your friends and talk to your neighbors. I want you to talk to them whether they are independent or whether they are Republican. I want you to argue with them and get in their face. If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun."- Baraka Obama
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • ron prevost wrote...
    So, Dave. IF disputants will never convince another by argument ...................
    February 15, 2013 9:23 am
    then why the bloody heck do we have theses forums? Might just as well close you down, and Dori, and Medved, ........ ans swing Luke back to his TBTL that no one ever listened to in the first place. ...After all, according to TJ, it's all a waste of breath.

    But great an author he may have been, Jefferson appears to have dismissed the art of political compromise. This is not the first time I've heard that TJ did not like compromises. A belief all too readily embraced today by the president and most of congress. .... And yet, where would this country be without compromises in the past? As Tip O'Neill and Ronald Reagan aptly demonstrated 30 years ago, leadership and greatness come from actions. And (dare I say it) - compromise.

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • cdbtx wrote...
    Now try reading about Ben Franklin
    February 15, 2013 9:27 am
    and the Constitutional Convention... People actually placing country before personal greed and power..
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • calapete wrote...
    gosh, and I was this close to convincing everyone that I was right.
    February 15, 2013 9:39 am
    ha ha.

    Thanks Dave for the dose of reality.

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • ohyea53 wrote...
    Here is something else he understood... The constitution
    February 15, 2013 10:08 am
    "The beauty of the second amendment is that it will not be needed until they try to take it." -Thomas Jefferson
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • sometimesrock wrote...
    ugh
    February 15, 2013 12:53 pm
    No one is taking away your guns, no matter how much you want them to try.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • circuitfr wrote...
    umm...hey dip wad
    February 15, 2013 4:45 pm
    Try telling that to the residents of D.C., Chicago, California and New York. Idiot.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • RonJ wrote...
    Your living
    February 18, 2013 5:56 am
    under a rock.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Regularjoe44 wrote...
    Gasp!
    February 15, 2013 7:59 pm
    Upon quiet reflection and weighing what I have read, I find myself nearing agreement with a Dave Ross story. I must be coming down with something.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • fartforce1 wrote...
    ...and that my friends, is why I keep coming back to this hole.
    February 16, 2013 6:57 pm
    I love reading and listening to Dave Ross!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • rational wrote...
    Dave, interesting post
    February 16, 2013 9:26 pm
    Nice change up. I agree to an extent that Jefferson was correct, although not 100%. I've changed my mind no things and I've (on rare occassion) had people say they were conviced of something I've debated with them. But it's more accurate than it is inaccurate.

    We seem to have a problem more recently because people rarely seem to actually quietly ponder issues. Perhaps it's that our society is so tied to a 24hr news cycle, perhaps it's because the education system is failing us and not preparing folks to actually think for themselves, perhaps we're living too hectic a pace of life leaving insufficient time to mull ideas over. Perhaps it's because the "news" has become so determined to shape society instead of inform it. In actuality I think it's all these elements and more.

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }