Posted on 08/03/2004 12:09:31 PM PDT by dead
Opening Statement
Dear FRiends:
I once suffered two great frustrations in being a freelance political writer. First, the loneliness: you put an article out there, and you might as well have thrown it down a black hole for all the response you get. Second, the ghettoization: when you do get response, it would be from folks you agree with. Not fun for folks like me who reliish--no, crave and need--political argument.
Then came the Internet, the blogs--and: problem solved.
I have especially enjoyed having my articles in the Village Voice posted on Free Republic by "dead," and arguing about them here. The only frustration is that I never have enough time--and sometimes no time--to respond as the threads are going on. That is why I arranged for an entire afternoon--this afternoon--to argue on Free Republic. Check out my articles and have at me.
A little background: I am a proud leftist who specializes in writing about conservatives. I have always admired conservatives for their political idealism, acumen, stalwartness, and devotion. I have also admired some of their ideas--especially the commitment to distrusting grand social schemes, and the deep sense of the inherent flaws in human nature. (To my mind the best minds in the liberal tradition have encompassed these ideals, while still maintaining that robust social reform is still possible and desirable. My favorite example is the Protestant theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, author of the Serenity Prayer and a great liberal Democrat.)
Lately, however, I've become mad at the right, and have written about it with an anger not been present in my previous writings. It began with the ascension of George Bush, when I detected many conservatives beginning to care more about power than principles. The right began to seem less interesting to me--more whiny, more shallow--and, what's more, in what I saw as an uncritical devotion to President Bush, often in retreat from its best insights about human nature.
I made my strongest such claim in a Village Voice article two weeks ago in which I, after much thought, chose to say conservatism was "verging on becoming an un-American creed" for the widespread way conservatives are ignoring the lessons of James Madison's great insights in Federalist 51 that in America we are supposed to place our ultimate trust in laws, not men.
Finally, in what I see as the errors of the Iraq campaign, I recognize the worst aspects of arrogant left-wing utopianism: the idea that you can remake a whole society and region through sheer force of will. I think Iraq is a tragic disaster (though for the time being the country is probably better off than it was when Saddam was around--but only, I fear, for the time being).
I am also, by the way, a pretty strong critic of my own side, as can be seen in my latest Village Voice piece.
So: I'm yours for the day--until 7:10 pm CST, when I'm off to compete in my weekly trivia contest at the University of Chicago Pub. Until then: Are you ready to rumble?
Respectfully,
Rick Perlstein
That one I know. It used to be a poorly laid out weekly nyc newspaper, which sold for years and years at nyc news stands. It's best selling feature, if memory serves, were the coverage of clubs and entertainment in nyc (who is performing and where), and classified for adult massage and related purient stuff.
The NY Free Press quickly made the $1 a copy Voice obsolete, providing better layout, better writing, club news, and sexy classified for free.
The Voice had to follow in kind, and Ithink now they have difficulty even giving the Voice away.
Ah, but for it to be 1973 again!!!!
There was this little matter of 9/11, but I wouldn't expect a 9/10 liberal to understand.
Here's your first problem. Bush did not ascend. He was ELECTED in a very close election.
Not only that he had half the transition time of other Presidents. He had the Jeffords betrayal, slowing the already slow confirmation process. The FBI director was on the job for 1 week when 9/11 occured.
Your left-wing buddies have spent the better part of Bush's entire term undermining him at every opportunity. Foreign policy and security be damned, they want POWER and are more than willing to sell out the country to get it.
M. Moore sat with J. Carter at the Dem convention. Moore is an enemy of our country. If you don't believe that please note it was just played on national TV in that bastion of leftist love, Cuba. China will show it. Hezbollah will distribute it in the Middle East.
This movie isn't just about Bush, it's about America and the damage won't go away anytime soon.
The recent convention was a "bait and switch" farce. Everyone there were on their best behavior but we've seen over the last 6 months the true feelings of the left in this country. I thank GOD everyday that liberalism is and will remain a minorityview in the U.S.
FReegards
Baredog
Rick, you were great on that 'Beauty and the Beast' TV show with Linda Hamilton!
OMG LOL
Could I please see those documents that verify your claims above?
5 Legislative Days Left Until The AWB Expires
Leftists and Liberals live in a fantasy world. They see themselves as saviors, as The Great Hope of the poor miserable masses. They delude themselves into thinking they can negotiate with evil. They pride themselves on being holier-than-thou, and think they are far more intelligent than the average GOPer. In truth, they are muddle-headed and unrealistic. As a Jew, I am especially appalled by Jewish leftists. These people are a danger to Israel, and to the Jewish faith in general, to say nothing of being dangerous to America.
Mr. Perlstein, the article you posted does not contain a single budetary number. Are these cuts actual cuts, or just reductions in the proposed increase?
Perhaps you can answer this question. Based on John Kerry's anti-war activities in the 70's, and his no vote to remove Saddam Hussein from Kuwait, and his pronouncement to bring the troops home quickly from Iraq, which was was Kerry's more intellectually honest vote: to authorize war OR his no vote on authorization to fund it? And why?
----
"Use It" asks an easy question. First, where did Kerry say he wants to bring home troops quickly from Iraq, in a way that was different from any normal person who OF COURSE wants to bring the troops home quickly from Iraq?
And as for Kerry's vote on funding authorization: If you know--and senators always know; that's what 'vote counting" means--that a bill is about to pass overwhelmingly, voting against it can be the only way you can protest some of its provisions. In Kerry's case it was the refusal of Bush in the $87 billion bill to ask for any sacrifice from Americans who were getting tax cuts.
What was more intellectually dishonest: that vote, or the Bush admnistration's understanding that they're asking for less money than they'll really need for Iraq?
Rick
How about activist judges, who are overturning the will of the people and legislating by judicial fiat?
I have to listen to Tommy Franks now. Will retun later to see how the uh...debate has come along.
I think you are misreading the mood of conservatives, or at least mine, when you say they support President Bush uncritically. In fact, I have a number of qualms about Bush: the overreaching FCC, the unconstitutional CFR bill, the bloated education bill, the runaway spending, etc. If the Democrats had put forth a candidate whom I found to be credible on defense, I might have considered him.
But the overriding factor to me is the fact that we were attacked on our own soil -- 3,000 innocent people murdered on live TV before our eyes -- by a terrorist organization that has declared war on us and threatened far worse. Yet the Democratic Party still seems to think that the worst thing to happen to America in the past four years is that Al Gore's boatload of lawyers were unable to rewrite the election laws after the election in Florida. The shrill, never-ending tantrum they've been throwing since early 2001 has convinced me that they are not a serious party; that their own lack of power has reduced them to a pack of squalling two-year-olds, and that in fact it is they for whom regaining power has taken precedence over every other consideration, including the very survival of the nation and its people.
The Convention just pounded home the themes of immaturity and defense weakness. There were prominent roles for unserious, foaming-mouth rabble-rousers like Michael Moore and Al Sharpton. Kerry took two opposing defense positions in one speech (he'll hunt down the terrorists, but he'll also hurry out of Iraq and wait around to be attacked again before responding). And the coup de grace: the biggest ovation went to a smart-mouthed 12-year-old attacking Dick Cheney for the private use of a word that their own presidential nominee had used in a Rolling Stone interview.
Thanks, but with all my concerns about Bush (and I do think there are a lot of things that need to be reversed), at this point in history, I just can't trust these people with the lives of my family. I think that's why the poll numbers read as they do: it's not just that swing voters were turned off by Kerry, but that Bush supporters who were wavering got a look at the alternative and said, "Nope, I'd rather just grumble through four more years of Bush."
Also, like some of your fellow Village Voice writers (I can give examples), do you too think that Kerry looks and brays like a horse? Regards.
Rick
I just read your VV article. It is obvious that you are somewhat disenchanted with the Democratic party. Therefore, I urge you to vote for Ralph Nader. Thank you.
He's just baiting the Church to deny him bread and wine. It would play well to his baby-killing base.
Do you believe that anyone can be a success from their own work in America? If not, is it only people from certain races, genders, or beliefs that need help?
Do you believe that in order for someone to gain a dollar someone had to lose a dollar?
Do you believe that faith in a higher power denigrates a persons ability to think logically?
Do you believe in instinct?
Do you believe in absolutes as they pertain to :science? :faith? :politics? :philosphy?
Do you believe in the inate goodness of man?
Do you believe in the law of nature (the strong survive at the expense of the weak)?
Thank you.
Are we allowed more than one question? I've never done this before and don't know how long these thereads can get.
I dont think its ever been done before. There are no rules, beyond the standard forum rules.
I dont know how much Perlstein will be able to answer in four hours. Only his high school typing teacher knows for sure.
So when is Kerry going to apologize for calling veterans baby killers?
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