In Defense of Optics

Here's a Twitter conversation this afternoon between Jamison Foser and me: Foser: Dumbest words in politics: “Optics,” “Gaffe,” “Hypocrisy.” (That latter one is a real thing, but misused to the point of meaninglessness.) Drum: But “optics” is just short for “how this will look to others.” Nothing really wrong with that. Foser: “Optics” = “I cannot articulate a substantive problem with this, so I’ll just suggest others won’t like it.” It’s a house of cards. Drum:...