June 24, 2006
HEY, WE'RE JUST AS MARGINAL AS YOU ARE!:
A MESSAGE FROM TNR'S LIEBERMAN-LOVING NEOCON OWNER (Martin Peretz, 6/24/06, The Plank: TNR)
It feels a bit demeaning to defend oneself against Kos. But I am one of the neo-con owners, and I am titular editor-in-chief. So here goes: The New Republic is very much against the Bush tax programs, against Bush Social Security "reform," against cutting the inheritance tax, for radical health care changes, passionate about Gore-type environmentalism, for a woman's entitlement to an abortion, for gay marriage, for an increase in the minimum wage, for pursuing aggressively alternatives to our present reliance on oil and our present tax preferences for gas-guzzling automobiles. We were against the confirmation of Justice Alito. And, institutionally, TNR was against several policies that I favor, including allowing the government more rather than less leeway in ferreting out terrorists and allies of terrorists.
On the one hand, New Republic is asking its readers to recognize that these guys are not just nuts, but fascist nuts. On the other, they want to make it clear that they're in complete agreement on policy. It's just a procedural quarrel. Posted by Orrin Judd at June 24, 2006 9:12 PM
Exactly.
I still can't understand how Marty P followed Algore into Shrumland in 2000. TNR was the mouthpiece of the centrist dems, and then, what, just b/c Marty taught Gore at Harvard he decides to support his far-left ramblings? Just so he can say that he taught a future pres.? Pathetic.
Posted by: Jim in Chicago at June 24, 2006 9:38 PMThey are just trying to get dibs on who supported Gore first in the run to 2008.
TNR is probably smart enough to know that if Gore formally embraces Kos and the rest of the shrieking left, his chances of winning go way down (not that he would get more than 45% of the vote anyway). OTOH, Kos and the gang probably think that they can push Big Al over 50%, no problem.
Posted by: jim hamlen at June 24, 2006 10:19 PMThe New Republic is in the same tough position it's been in the last few years. If they want to be Leftwing media/Democratic Party hacks that's fine. If they want to be seriously engaged in the issues of the day that's fine too. But, you can't try and be both at the same time and be relevant.
Posted by: andrew at June 24, 2006 10:23 PMCorrect. As the core of the Democrat falls off the left edge of the world, the saner parts of the not-Bush coalition have to make a decision.
Are things such as baby-murder and sodomy more important than defending the world against the axis of evil?
That the Rebublicans have manipulated the debate to ensure that those are the choices is immaterial. Which is is going to be?
Posted by: Lou Gots at June 24, 2006 11:49 PMThe moonbat contention is that there is no axis of evil only worldwide revulsion against Bush’s running dog of imperialism policies aka BDS.
As soon as they get back in power, peace will once again reign with Kofi in charge of our foreign policy and the far left in charge of our domestic policies.
In short order we’ll be in the third world column and all will be right, er, I mean left, with the world.
Wait! It gets better.
Kos' right-hand man and business partner is an astrologer!
Posted by: Mike Morley at June 25, 2006 8:33 AMMike: That is incredible. The "reality-based community" really is a pack of barking moonbats.
Posted by: David Cohen at June 25, 2006 8:58 AMWorked for Nancy Reagan.
Posted by: oj at June 25, 2006 9:23 AMAnn Althouse, this morning:
Kos's writing style -- which has obviously served him well as a blogger up to this point -- sounds angry and crazed to the outsider. It's easy to get him to react with "belligerence and paranoia," and the more successful he is, the more Democrats are motivated to marginalize and disqualify him. Those he's accused of "digging around in my past" have denied that they're doing it, but, really, why wouldn't they be doing it? And why wouldn't part of their strategy be to make him think that they are so they can lure him into displaying more of that "belligerence and paranoia"?
So I assume there is a conspiracy and a strategy to investigate Kos. And it's so easy to do because it can succeed even if it fails to turn anything up, because it will provoke him, and when he reacts, they'll all say he's paranoid, belligerent. Escort that man back outside the gate.
Posted by: Mike Morley at June 25, 2006 12:31 PMMmmmmm..... fascist nuts.
(Sorry, someone had to say it...)
Posted by: Homer Simpson at June 25, 2006 12:38 PMDoesn't it seem that the last decade or so, from Ross Perot to Pat Buchanan to Jesse Ventura to even Pat Robertson and Howard Dean, every one of these "cult" candidates or group leaders has had some success only to suddenly implode spectacularly. This Koz guy seems to be just skipping the success step in the process.