Also, the older an individual gets, the more he should be judged on his PAST RECORD vs. any promise about the future.
For example, Bishop Williamson. He just turned 76. I think it's pretty safe to say that the majority of his earthly life is behind him. So his past life, writings, positions, etc. should play a HUGE role in our assessment of the man.
As a corollary, anything he says should be taken in light of his life, past and present -- everything BUT the future. Keep in mind that an older a man gets, the more "set in his ways" he becomes. This is another reason why the past should be a larger % of your consideration about a man as he gets older. A tiger can't change his stripes, and you can't teach an old dog new tricks.
For example, let's take a hypothetical priest named Fr. Piper.
Fr. Piper comes up to you and over-simplifies/distorts the truth and tells you, "Bishop Williamson says you can go to the New Mass."
Now that doesn't even make sense, considering he got kicked out of the SSPX for opposing the nascent practical accord with Modernist Rome. Also, after +Williamson converted to Catholicism/Tradition and joined the SSPX in his 30's (?), his whole life was spent contradicting Vatican II, the New Mass, and Conciliar Rome. Even in 2001, as an SSPX member in good standing, he gently threw a wet blanket on the optimism Bp. Fellay was giving in his "The state of SSPX and Rome conferences" which was basically the same conference given countless times over a period of at least 4 years.