Time & Perspective Quote by Max Baucus

Baucus’s line has the brisk, defensive rhythm of a politician trying to slam a door without sounding like he’s afraid of what’s outside. “Now is not the time” is Washington’s favorite all-purpose brake pedal: it implies the speaker is reasonable and temporary, not protectionist or panicked, even as it does the very work of protectionism. The phrasing also launders responsibility. He isn’t saying “never,” and he isn’t litigating science; he’s declaring a moment. If you control the clock, you can control the policy.

The context is the early-2000s fight over Canadian beef after mad cow disease (BSE) was detected in Canada and the U.S. halted imports. The policy debate wasn’t only about food safety; it was about trust in regulators, the optics of risk, and the economic fears of ranchers who didn’t want cheaper or newly suspect supply competing with domestic cattle. Baucus, a Montana senator, is speaking from a state where “beef” isn’t a grocery item so much as a constituency. His job is to translate an anxious industry into a public-interest argument.

The subtext is triangulation. By framing the border as something you “open” to “receive” beef, he casts trade as an act of permission rather than a negotiated relationship. It nudges listeners toward a simple story: protect Americans first, ask questions later. It’s also a quiet signal to Canada: scientific clearance may not be enough; political clearance is the real checkpoint.