At the end of comments about 9/11 commission having hindsight, Greg Easterbrook adds this lovely parody:
As for Richard Ben-Veniste, his Know-It-All-In-Retrospect act at this point is insufferable, as is his open sneering at those who don't share his gift of retroactive clairvoyance. I imagine this would have happened if Ben-Veniste rather than Abraham had argued with God about the fate of Sodom:
BEN-VENISTE: Mr. God, isn't it true that before the creation, you received a memo saying that men would become wicked?
GOD: If I find at Sodom 50 righteous within the city, I will forgive the whole place for their sake.
BEN-VENISTE: According to the DDB, Divine Daily Brief, you were informed in advance about lack of righteousness, and yet still created humanity.
GOD: I will not destroy Sodom if I find 45 righteous there.
BEN-VENISTE: Why haven't all scrolls and vellum you received before the creation been declassified? What are you hiding?
GOD: For the sake of 40 righteous I will not do it.
BEN-VENISTE: Isn't it obvious you should have foreseen debauchery and licentiousness?
GOD: I will not do it if I find 30 righteous there.
BEN-VENISTE: Why wasn't more funding given to anti-sin programs?
GOD: For the sake of 20 righteous, I will not do it.
BEN-VENISTE: Mr. God, you claim to be all-knowing, yet the iniquity at Sodom was not prevented.
GOD: For the sake of 10 who are righteous, I will not destroy Sodom.
BEN-VENISTE: This witness is being evasive, He keeps changing numbers.
The passage is from Genesis 18.
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