There are a couple of reasons for this lack of proportion, none of which is particularly new, but which bear noting. One is a supply-and-demand problem. Cable television and the Internet create an endless demand for commentary and analysis, but there is a necessarily limited supply of interesting things to say or write. Another is related: because there is so much out there, the instant-analysis genre favors self-assurance and sometimes hyperbole. I know of what I speak: in the magazine and on television and radio, I have occasionally offered quick, ill-formed opinions that I regret. Having the courage to say you do not know the answer to a question is perhaps the beginning of wisdom.

Criticism is a crucial thing (the lifeblood of democracy, the fuel of freedom—choose your noble phrase), but the problem is that there are many more carpers than critics. The fact that anybody can say anything does not mean that anything anybody says is worth hearing. Is this an elitist view? Probably, but I am not arguing for even the remotest limitation on what people can say. The beauty of democracy and the wonder of the digital public square is that more people can express themselves more freely to more eyes and ears than at any other time in history. Such liberation is to be celebrated and honored and defended. With power, though, comes responsibility, for all of us. We can learn, I think, from Maddow—sigh when you think you should sigh, but then have the courage to be constructive.