J. Bottum critiques the "poets" who rebuffed the First Lady. This reminds me of Jacques Barzun's point in The Culture We Deserve that artists have always been considered workmen rather than great intellects or leaders until relatively recently. It appears now that anybody with an English degree can call himself a poet and become an instant pundit (apologies to Glenn Reynolds). Poesy is especially convenient because it doesn't have to pass muster as being logical or historical or even consistent. Thus we get the argument that standing against warmongers makes us the real warmongers, that liberating oppressed peoples makes us imperialists, or that all true wisdom comes from France.


What the art of poetry has to do with clear thinking is unclear. I always thought that poetry required a long time to be recognized, as it is seen to speak truth to greater numbers of people. But today one can publish on the internet and claim authority as a poet, thus debasing the whole currency of poetry.