I'll admit that Marty Peretz's seeming affection for Barack Obama has given me some pause. But Spencer Ackerman points out that Leon Wieseltier is slamming Obama as insufficiently bloodthirsty. That's not quite as big as when Kenneth Pollack and Mike O'Hanlon came out in favor of Clinton, but I'd say it certainly counts as a stroke in Obama's favor.
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The Wieseltier Factor
12 Feb 2008 02:42 pm
Comments (14)
Wieseltier faults Obama for optimism.
So it goes.
But Spencer Ackerman points out that Leon Wieseltier is slamming Obama as insufficiently bloodthirsty.
You can laugh now. But, as a very young pundit, Matt really has no idea how boring 8 years of peace and prosperity can be.
A lot of dubious peoples' apparent affection for Obama is really just cover for Clinton Derangement Syndrome, acute type. Sullivan, Brooks, etc. Lump Marty in this category too.
It tells us a lot about them, but nothing about Obama. It's just one more data point toward the proposition that these people are driven by Clinton-hatred, even at this late date. In some cases (Sully most prominently) it comes close to being their defining characteristic.
Gee,
That is a defining characteristic shared by 47 percent of the American electorate--which is why the Democrats are fools if they nominate Hillary over Obama.
The sooner Wieselthier and Peretz switch their loyalty to the party of Trent Lott the better for all concerned.
The most repercussive fact of our time is surely the transformation of China. The "metrics" are all staggering. Quantities, quantities, quantities....Not even the gold medal in tyranny that Beijing will win in its Olympics will make a difference.
Gag. What a stupid, pompous, fatuous article. Who said this guy could write again?
Love the "making the right enemies" subplot on this blog. You will inevitably end up in the same grand coalition with some distasteful people, but it's pretty interesting as a general concept.
Personally, I'd put Krugman on the list too - he shows about the same level of political savvy as my cat.
Matt, Spencer, and Ezra make a good point about the mindset that led us to war. But it was this little evidence-free two-step that really pisses me off:
"False hopes?" Obama told a crowd in New Hampshire. "There's no such thing." How dare he? There is almost no more commonplace trait of human existence (and of African American existence) than false hopes. I want universal health care, but I do not want to be relieved of the little that I have understood, and learned to accept, about the recalcitrance of the world.
What aspirations of human existence does Wieseltier wish to declare false? He doesn't say.
Why are the existences of African Americans singled out as susceptible to false hopes? He doesn't specify.
This isn't to say that things we wish for aren't sometimes out of reach (equality, a black president, universal healthcare) or maybe even eternally beyond our grasp (peace, an end to poverty, total employment). But Obama's point is that hoping and striving for such things is a positive virtue--good for the country and the world. That's why hopes are never false.
How dare he? How dare you, Leon.
I share some of Leon's concerns, if not his hysteria. I'm still supporting Obama, because I think once he wins the nomination he'll revert to his basic common sense and pursue an essentially John McCain-compatible strategy in Iraq.
Anybody who thinks we're going to get eight years of "peace and prosperity" with either Clinton or Obama (let alone McCain) is on crack.
Leon W. could singlehandedly bring back pogroms. His bilious resentment is a great gift for Obama and a great sign he'd make a splendid President.
Leon W. could singlehandedly bring back pogroms. His bilious resentment is a great gift for Obama and a great sign he'd make a splendid President.
Leon W. could singlehandedly bring back pogroms. His bilious resentment is a great gift for Obama and a great sign he'd make a splendid President.
Comments closed February 26, 2008.
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Heads in the Sand
Let's not forget how Wieseltier described Hillary Clinton to Maureen Dowd: a "hellish housewife." Someone pull the plug, please!
Posted by BryklynLibrul | February 12, 2008 2:48 PM