Michael and Scooter

In today's NY Times, Michael Kinsley makes a bad prediction:

I expect that I would dislike Mr. Libby if I ever met him.

I know Michael Kinsley a little: We have had dinner together a few times. And I also know Scooter Libby. For the two years I was at the CEA, I saw him every morning at the 7:30 am senior staff meeting at the White House. For no particular reason, Scooter's seat at that meeting was about eight feet from mine. He was also a regular participant at the weekly lunch in which the relevant White House senior staff--including, for example, Steve Friedman, John Snow, Josh Bolten, and me--got together to discuss to economic issues.

Kinsley and Libby share two, significant characteristics: They are both very smart, and they both care deeply about public policy. I am willing to bet that if they ever sat down over a cup of coffee, they would like each other quite a lot.

Of course, they would disagree about things, maybe about most things. But that is okay. No gentleman would dislike a person simply because he held different political views.