Ready to rumble? Village Voice Author, Rick Perlstein, Here to Debate the Freeper Horde

08/03/2004 | Rick Perlstein

[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

[Arrowhead1952]

Bush has also been criticized for deserting the Guard before his enlistment was complete, but the evidence shows he was honorably discharged eight months early because his position was being phased out...

UNLIKE kerry's enlistment was cut short by three (questionable) Purple Hearts so he could come back and protest the war.

[Chieftain]

I stand with the Tonkmeister!

[beachn4fun]

Well, IMHO, requesting NOT to go to Vietnam was the lesser of the two evils. i.e., Kerry admitting to his crimes in Vn, trying to make up stuff about what our military did WITHOUT the full story (e.g., burning villages.....ok.....were they empty villages? were people still in the villages when burned? etc.), then coming back with medals that he threw away while PROTESTING.

[E.G.C.]

BTTT!!!!!!

[Taliesan]

Then we just disagree.

[AmericanMade1776]

I just wish I had all afternoon, to "tickle him to death".

[AmericanMade1776]

Yeah...probably....Perlstein, is waiting for Freepers to tell him to "shove it!"

[armymarinemom]

Tonk thanks for the ping. Veterans and Military families need to speak up where Kerry is concerned. Veterans for Peace, VVAW, and MFSO work under the false assumption that the military will automatically support kerry. They have obviously missed what has been an issue for years Most military families and Veterans groups have kept a close eye on the voting records and actions of kerry for years. Neither group will give support nor will they be quite.

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

"Then we just disagree."

Yes, you think we should debate Hanoi Kerry supporters.

I KNOW they are not worth the time.

[AmericanMade1776]

Mr. Perlstein,

When do you think your candidate, John Kerry , will address his record in the senate? John Kerry, we know served four months in Viet Nam, and recieved some band aid wounds, that merited him some purple hearts and early dismissal from his "TOUR OF DUTY".

At the Convention, John Kerry said he "was reporting for duty". Will John Kerry, find some other kind of superficial wounds to keep him from completing his "tour of duty " if elected for President. Because it seems, that John Kerry did not "report to duty" in the senate, 80 percent of the time.

I am sure most Democrats have even noticed how many times John Kerry did not even "report to duty" in his own campaign, as he was biking, skiing, wind surfing, and just generally loafing around, because he was sure not present in the Senate.

Defend your lackluster candidate! Get your Candidate to talk about his senate record. Get your Candidate to tell us how he feels about the issues, if you can.

[exhaustedmomma]

Thanks for the ping, Tonkin.

I don't think Perlstein is interested in truth. I read the first 200 posts on this thread yesterday. At that point he had replied to 8 or 9. His first post was to "announce" his arrival and inquire who would be "first" to debate. Shortly thereafter, Perlstein condescendingly scolded freepers; admonishing us to read closer what he was writing. Never-mind his "announcement" post overlooked the "first" freeper question. If I thought this guy was serious in debate, I'd be here in a heartbeat.

William Randolph Hearst, sent the illustrator Frederic Remington and writer Richard Harding Davis to Cuba to report on the Spanish-American War. Remington allegedly wired home, saying that all seemed peaceful and that he wished to return. Hearst is reputed to have replied, in a telegram, "You supply the pictures, and I'll supply the war." YELLOW JOURNALISM

Propaganda a specific type of message presentation, aimed at serving an agenda. Even if the message conveys true information, it may be partisan and fail to paint a complete picture. The primary use of the term is in political contexts.

Journalistic integrity and telling the truth, is IMO, now defined by the "culture" of journalism.

[Alamo-Girl]

I think Perlstein has left the building so to speak. His announcement and email address is posted at 833.

I was not available most of the time this thread was active, but would be very interested in keeping up with his promised post-Republican Convention return appearance.

[Eva]

Bush loaded up live frogs with firecrackers in order to watch them explode.

Strange, I never heard that before. I have to question your source. I bet that you never heard that John Kerry once attacked a Vietnamese farm and personally slaughtered all the farm animals, and shot a thirteen year old boy, either. But I guess that's partisan rationalization for you.

[CyberCowboy777]

Like so many others, you won't get a reply!

Great job though.

[GOP_1900AD]

Ping.

[GOP_1900AD]

Sadly, Rousseu's mad scribblings still have currency amongst Western liberal intellectuals. Liberals love to talk about root causes. Whose scribblings were the ultimate root cause of utopian, procrustean ideology?

[subterfuge]

Boy, this thread sure turned out to be a waste of bandwidth. Question posed to Perlstein and you get answers like:

"the last few decades we've seen a structural shift as tectonic in its way as the sectional crisis that preceded the Civil War"

Quotes from the guy's columns? That's not debate. Oh well.

[AmericanMade1776]

ARE ALL LIBERALS, LACKING IN SUBSTANCE?

Mr. Perlstein, When do you think your candidate, John Kerry , will address his record in the senate? John Kerry, we know served four months in Viet Nam, and recieved some band aid wounds, that merited him some purple hearts and early dismissal from his "TOUR OF DUTY". At the Convention, John Kerry said he "was reporting for duty". Will John Kerry, find some other kind of superficial wounds to keep him from completing his "tour of duty " if elected for President. Because it seems, that John Kerry did not "report to duty" in the senate, 80 percent of the time. I am sure most Democrats have even noticed how many times John Kerry did not even "report to duty" in his own campaign, as he was biking, skiing, wind surfing, and just generally loafing around, because he was sure not present in the Senate. Defend your lackluster candidate! Get your Candidate to talk about his senate record. Get your Candidate to tell us how he feels about the issues, if you can.

I realize you are busy trying to answer many, many post, but when you do get around to reading mine, I just want to add, you must really be intellectually bored with your man John Kerry, to come spend your time with "the goons" of the right.

[Eva]

I know that you have left the forum, but I'm hoping that you will at least read some of the left over replies.

I guess ignorance is truly bliss when it comes to leftists view of the world, or maybe it is just willful blindness. You claim that the sewage problem in Iraq was due to sanctions. I guess that you never heard of the oil for food scandal and the fact that the sanctions were totally ignored by our erstwhile allies at the UN.
Apparently Saddam thought the money was better spent building palaces than infra-structure.

[GVnana]

Bush has been criticized for pursuing a safe and plush position as a fighter pilot, but the evidence indicates the F-102 was a demanding aircraft whose pilots regularly risked their lives.

This stuff appalls me every time I see it. Does the military train village idiots to be fighter pilots?

I don't think so. Bush graduated from Yale. Yeah. Maybe he was a legacy. But Gore completed two years and never graduated. Bush got a Harvard MBA and you don't get that without making the grade -- ask any member of the Kennedy family that didn't get into Harvard!