That's very kind Tom, although far from better than your original article! Your post reminded me of a book, The Price of Loyalty, that I read about Paul O'Neill (1935 - 2020).

You likely remember that O'Neill was Commerce Secretary under Bush II. Ron Suskind, the book author, in writing of O'Neill described a man of the political right who believed strongly in his ideology. He also believed in testing that ideology by gathering facts to determine whether reality proved to be consistent with expectations. When the facts proved otherwise, O'Neill believed that an ideological model had to be adjusted rather than persisting in the propagation of a flawed world view.

Unsurprisingly, O'Neill proved to be a poor fit for the Bush II administration and was encouraged to resign. Sadly malign, rigid, adherents to immutable ideologies populate much of our political sphere these days. I miss the Paul O'Neill's of the world and hope for better days.