I extend condolences, admittedly less than completely heartfelt, to our less than esteemed fellow citizen William Kristol, who was dumped by the New York Times recently and published his last column today.
Kristol was informed of the move sometime around January 13, when he was invited to a dinner with Barack Obama that included other conservative columnists and took place at George Will’s house. “It must have been a bittersweet moment,” said the Times insider. Indeed, Kristol crowed about the Obama dinner: he and his comrades had gotten lamb chops in elegant surroundings, while a group of ostensibly liberal writers who met with Obama the following morning got coffee in Styrofoam cups. Except, as it turns out, that was a typical Kristol miscue — according to columnist Andrew Sullivan, who was present, the morning gathering hadn’t been served as much as a glass of water.
So, the Times is getting with the times, swaying with the political winds? As if. Moving away from that idiotic neo-con garbage? Not a bit of it.
The source makes clear that the decision not to renew Kristol’s contract is not related to his neoconservative ideology — Kristol’s proximity to key Washington players ranging from Bush and Cheney to John McCain (whom he supported in 2000) was considered a distinct plus. His leading advocacy of the Iraq War also added to his appeal. Kristol was viewed as a mover and shaker whose ideas had ready impact on the political firmament in Washington.The problems that emerged were more fundamental. Kristol’s writing wasn’t compelling or even very careful. He either lacked a talent for solid opinion journalism or wasn’t putting his heart into it. A give-away came in the form of four corrections the newspaper was forced to run over factual mistakes in the columns, creating an impression that they were rushed out without due diligence or attention to factual claims. A senior writer at Time magazine recounted to me a similar experience with Kristol following his stint in 2006-07. “His conservative ideas were cutting edge and influential,” I was told. “But his sloppy writing and failure to fact check what he wrote made us queasy.”
If I were let go for sloppy writing and bad fact-checking by an organization that chose to settle with rather than fire Judy Miller, it would likely quiet me somewhat. But I’m willing to bet that Kristol crows about it, and probably even sees at a least a temporary uptick in requests for speeches. His part of the political plane has grown accustomed, perhaps even addicted, to feeling persecuted. Makes sense; when you’re always wrong, you’re gonna get a lot of grief if any sensible sorts are around.
But the most telling point to my mind is that the senior writer from Time failed to connect incorrect facts and sloppy use thereof with the end product, namely the “cutting edge” conservative ideas. Could there be a relationship? Nah.
…the conservative commentator, who edits the Weekly Standard and appears on Fox News, won’t lack for media exposure. He will write a monthly column and occasional pieces for The Washington Post, as he did before joining the Times.Post Editorial Page Editor Fred Hiatt called Kristol “very smart and very plugged in,” saying Kristol would be an influential voice in the coming debate over redefining the Republican Party. “It seems to me there were a lot of Times readers who felt the Times shouldn’t hire someone who supported the Iraq war,” said Hiatt, adding that he wants “a diverse range of opinions” on his page.
I started to rephrase as “a diverse range of pro war-machine opinions”, but I suppose that would be redundant for Mr. Hiatt.
I do hope the Republicans are successful in creating a new ideological framework for themselves and that they will adopt policies that are good for the country and not continue with the current policies designed to enrich a few at the expense of the many. I'd like to offer some advice, not a complete list, but a few ideas that are crucial for the Republican party to succeed in building a party designed to govern wisely and not foolishly.
1. Be willing to adopt the antiwar position espoused by Albert Jay Nock, the forgotten man of the right.
2. Be willing to adopt the environmental policies necessary to ensure the survival of the planet and not govern for the short term benefit of industrial and corporate interests: Teddy Roosevelt might be a good model in this regard, with policies updated to deal with the environmental catastrophe that awaits us if the nation does not radically change its approach.
3. Bring back trust busting, which of some of the early Twentieth Century Republicans enagaged in, modifed to deal with modern day corporations and corporate raiders who come in and steal the pensions and benefits earned by workers and send jobs abroad at the expense of the country as whole. Abandon the "Free Market is Brilliant" model. Demand
3. Develop a new found respect for the foundational base of any society, those at the bottom of the societal pyramid, who are the working members of a society and who as a group hold the whole of society up. Repudiate trickle down voodoo economics.
4. Demand that everyone respect the environment
5. Eliminate the "privatization" of government, which is just code for allowing individuals to steal assets that belong to the people.
6. Eliminate the authoritarian model that John Dean and Barry Goldwater believed had taken over the party. Bring back a respect for individual rights and individual liberties.
7. Ridding themselves of and disavowing evil tacticians like Karl Rove and the many prevarications associated with Karl and thousands of other Republicans like him who promoted racism, voter intimidation and other illegal conduct such as the persecution and prosecution of individuals, even when those persons were not guilty of anything other than being a part of the current reality based community. (which I view as the "Stalin/Rove Model" of governance).
8 Condemn most of the policies of Ronald Reagan to George Bush 43, with emphasis on those of the Bush 43 Administration.
9. Demand the recognition that limited socialism is necessary in any society unless we are willing to let children and the elderly die of starvation a well as because of inadequate or nonexistent medical care.
10. Demand a return to the fairness doctrine
11. Eliminate the fixation on the Federalist papers (for a multitude of reasons which are too lengthy to list here).
I could go on and on, but I'd add a host of other policies which they are going to have to change if they are going to be able govern wisely and effectively. It's obvious the policies which Reagan began and have been followed by the Republcans ever since have left us disastrous consequences. George Bush accelerated the fall.
David Brooks has written some reasonably responsible articles and has been promoting a radical change in policies for their party. However, I don't expect much from a party which wants to "rehabilitate", which means make lies about what Bush 43's administration was and what they did.
I doubt that there will do much change in the short term, but if they truly make a go of wise governance, then the Democratic party will find itself in the same position, although in many ways the Democrats have their own problems that need to be radically changed.
I don't think Kristol can offer the party any ideas that will be helpful. He writes as a total ideologue and True Believer who cannot see beyond the ideological framework imposed upon all True Believers. That trap inevitably leads a person to a view of the world that is contorted and distorted and therefore such a person can seldom offer suggestions on how persons in positions of power can govern wisely and effectively. I'm not convinced that the Republicans have any persons with enough clout to remake the party into one of good governance instead one designed for the enrichment of a few at the expense of the many.
I hope I'm wrong.
Posted by: Buck on January 27, 2009 1:06 PM