shees... Your assessment of what pdq meant, Little Hawk, won't wash. He most certainly, imo, was listing them under 'best and brightest'. Parse the sentence and you will see it.

"I am saying that the best and the brightest do not go into politics anymore because they will face relentless harassment and character assasination like Newt Gingroch, Sarah Palin, Tom DeLay, Tom Ridge, Don Rumsfeld and John Ashcroft did." pdq

I am saying that the best and the brightest like Newt Gingrich, Sarah Palin, Tom DeLay, Tom Ridge, Don Rumsfeld and John Ashcroft do not go into politics anymore.