I Was Wrong About Bush

OpinionJournal.com ^ | 09/25/2001 | Gerald Posner

[Fury]

What a difference 10 months make. Last November I broke the unwritten rule that requires journalists to be neutral political observers when I got embroiled in the controversy over the presidential election and publicly supported Al Gore.

It was not just with friends that I passionately argued the election had been stolen and that Mr. Gore would be the better president. I was one of the signatories to the pompously titled "Emergency Committee of Concerned Citizens 2000," which took full-page ads in the New York Times demanding a revote in Palm Beach County, Fla. I wrote op-eds for Salon.com and the New York Daily News. On television talk shows from MSNBC to Fox News's popular "The O'Reilly Factor," I made the case for Mr. Gore. In thousands of e-mails, I urged voters to deluge Clay Roberts, director of Florida's Division of Elections, with appeals for a recount.

[Hugh Akston]

He seems to be an individual of class and integrity.

I disagree. An individual of class and integrity would not have tossed aside the professionalism of his vocation, as Posner admits to doing here:

Last November I broke the unwritten rule that requires journalists to be neutral political observers

An individual of class and integrity would not assert things he does not know to be true as fact, as Posner admits to doing here:

It was not just with friends that I passionately argued the election had been stolen and that Mr. Gore would be the better president. I was one of the signatories to the pompously titled "Emergency Committee of Concerned Citizens 2000," which took full-page ads in the New York Times demanding a revote in Palm Beach County, Fla. I wrote op-eds for Salon.com and the New York Daily News. On television talk shows from MSNBC to Fox News's popular "The O'Reilly Factor," I made the case for Mr. Gore. In thousands of e-mails, I urged voters to deluge Clay Roberts, director of Florida's Division of Elections, with appeals for a recount.

Of course, I did not know whether the election had gone for Mr. Gore or George W. Bush. As a partisan, I did not care.

And a person of integrity and class would have apologized for this long before; it was clear after all of the media-based recounts that Bush had won Florida, and it was clear after his handling of the tax cut and his handling of the stem cell issue that Mr. Bush was more than up to the job. But Mr. Posner waited until now, when there was not even the slightest bit of doubt to hide behind any longer.

I will take Mr. Posner at his word. He said that he is a partisan, and I believe him. He is saying this now to salvage his own partisan agenda. He has to get his audience to trust him again, so that the next time he needs to put partisanship ahead of professionalism he still has their attention.

[Fresh Wind]

To paraphrase MLK:

I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their clothes but by the content of their character.

Nuff said.

[Hugh Akston]

Too little, too late, Gerald. Your lot was cast and your public took note. You can't change your bet after the horses leave the gates.

Worth repeating, again.

[Fury]

Thank Mr. Posner!

[Republic]

Thank you for posting this...Mr Posner is a grown-up, about the best compliment I can offer a liberal. His observations above are easily understood and heartfelt, and therefore easy to believe. Sounds as if Mr. Posner has taken a giant leap into the real world. Good for him! I respect him for his honesty and insight.

[Fury]

I bet the WSJ gets quite a few comments on this Commentary...

[Hugh Akston]

But, most good conservatives don't want the law to be overturned.

This one does. Term limits were never a good idea.

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

Conservatism isn't just the "anti-liberal" point of view, Mr. Posner. It's about common sense and normal people deciding the best way to live peacefully together in our free country.

What we Americans style "conservatism" IS liberalism, as the latter term is understood anywhere abroad (see for example the late printings of The Road to Serfdom by F.A. von Hayek, where the preface or foreword makes that explicit).

IMHO American liberalism is best understood as anticonservatism--provably the perspective of journalism due to commercial competive pressures.

Why Broadcast Journalism is Unnecessary and Illegitimate.

[Republic]

Just thought you girls might enjoy seeing a liberal, who has come to his senses regarding whether or not President Bush is the right man for the job, eat a little crow and make a giant leap into reality. :^) Every once in awhile we need some good news around here!

[StarFan]

Admitted he was wrong about Bush and what a great job he's done. "...my President."

When Whorealdo admits he was wrong about his 'other President" (the one he wanted to hug and kiss) only then will I pay heed. I hate to be a Doubting Thomas but with this slime, his ratings dictate his position.

Nutmeg, I cannot describe the pleasure I've experienced telling people I TOLD YOU SO! (hehehe, shame on me.)

[Hugh Akston]

Bush didn't move an inch and just looked over his shoulder at that over made-up, ashen heap of Gore...Bush just nodded at him and kept on going.

It wasn't just the nod- it was the kind of nod and the look he gave a woman in the audience right after. The nod was a "what in the heck are you doing?" kind of nod, and when he turned back to the audience, he gave a friendly smirk to a woman near the front, as if to say "can you believe that guy?"

[TKEman]

Can you imagine Gore or Clinton as President right now? Or, God forbid, Pat Buchanan or Harry Browne? I voted for Bush. Quickly came to regret it. Now I see it was the only rational choice I could make.

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

a herding tendency

. . . is an excellent way of understanding journalism.

If one blind man feels the elephant's trunk and announces that it is a snake, it takes courage for the second blind man feeling the elephant's leg to announce that it is a tree. But if he does, and other reports come in, someone catches on and speculates the existence of the elephant.

In real life the second report gets trimmed to not contradict the first . . . and we're still stalking a snake when somebody gets trampled to death.

[b4its2late]

Last November I broke the unwritten rule that requires journalists to be neutral political observers when I got embroiled in the controversy over the presidential election and publicly supported Al Gore.

Unwritten and unfollowed (though there is no such word). But glad to see he admits his mistakes.

[bmwcyle]

He was wrong in the JFK book also. He is an educated idiot.

[section9]

And that "Night of the Stars" thing that was on all the networks the other day! GAG. I can still hear Julia Roberts saying something to the effect of "Republican coming between repulsive and repugnant" or some such insulting remark. The minute we start suffering casualties, the unity will most likely fall apart.

Bear in mind that Americans are probably inured to casualties now. We've taken more casualties in one day than we took at Guadalcanal, Peleilieu, or Salerno. The people will stay with Bush. The Left will probably stay with GW because Islamic Fascism is a threat to their little world of moral relativism and a "woman's right to reproductive choice".

Not that I'm in favor of Islamic Fascism, mind you, although I'll take the Taleban over the Hollywood Women's Political Caucus anytime. Rather, you all should know that the liberal's support for Bush is based on a rational calculation of liberal self-interest mixed with a horrifying realization that there is actual evil in the world, and that you can't call out Erin Brockovich to remedy it.

By the way, all those in favor of forcing Barbara Streisand, Julia Roberts, J Lo, Jennifer Aniston, Bette Midler and all the other Hollywood Demosluts to marry prominent Talebani and thus be forced to wear the burkha for the rest of their lives please raise your hands....

Be Seeing You,

Chris

[aculeus]

Bump!

Nightmare scenarios:

President Hillary Clinton

President Ralph Nader

President Al Gore

[mitch5501]

Good post...thanks.

Mr Posner has done well.

"Most people who lock themselves into a public position want to keep defending their original stance, even when in their heart they know subsequent events have proven them incorrect."

That's quite a statement....I wonder how far he would be prepared to take it.

God bless

[The Duke]

I'm not sure I can get too enthusiastic about "welcoming onboard" someone who has subscribed to the notion that because Al Gore "almost won" he should have been given the election.

Maybe if he took a remedial math class(?)

[BurkeanCyclist]

I read Mr.Posner's book about JFK and found it quite illuminating.

I never read his JFK book, but he co-wrote a very good book on Josef Mengele. Unlike many lefties, he seems able to keep politics out of his non-political work.