This morning I posted a column in The Hill newspaper on the passing of Charles Krauthammer, one of the truly great columnists of his generation. For those of us who had the privilege of knowing Charles as well as his millions of followers, this is a devastating loss that will leave a deep and lasting void.
I will miss teasing Charles in the green room at Fox over the rivaling fortunes of my Cubs versus his Nats. While we disagreed on some policy issues, we agreed on many others. Law was always a central interest for Charles and he embraced a textualist approach to most constitutional issues. His principles would at times put him at odds with Republicans and he was highly critical of Trump, who he believed was guilty of collusion with the Russians.
Charles was a unique voice in a business filled with artificiality and formula commentary. Charles had an unrelenting and uncompromising intellect. He lived a true life that ended far, far too early.
Rest in peace, Charles.
This man was a hero to me. He triumphed over adversity like few others. He accepted and embraced his life with zest. He found happiness in his disabilities and joy with those around him. He touched with many others with his sweetness. Charles Krauthammer was a big hero to me. I adored him and will miss him greatly as will millions of others.
Charles was a liberal who turned conservative as he aged. The path Churchill noted as the righteous one. The balancing on heart and brain.
His party affiliation changed. His interests and emphases did change over time. His viewpoints didn’t change much.
Zionist Nazi Krauthammer cheered the American invasion, War of Aggression in Iraq.
“Virulent neocon, Zionist and russophobe Charles Krauthammer sends farewell letter as he loses battle with cancer”
https://www.sott.net/article/387686-Virulent-neocon-Zionist-and-russophobe-Charles-Krauthammer-sends-farewell-letter-as-he-loses-battle-with-cancer
The reporter Dan Froomkin for several years ran a blog at WA POST which was the most frequent consulted part of the paper for some time. Then he was fired which was when he spoke out against the war and other topics.
Today he tweeted about a column about Krauthammer he published on May 1, 2009 in which he pointed out that the arguments for torture – ticking time bomb, and extreme danger, which were used to justify torture did not hold up. The column ends with Krauthammer noting that what I am saying is OK because the position is supported by Nancy Pelosi and others ..
here is the quotation from the article at
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/white-house-watch/torture/krauthammers-asterisks.html
And in his final defense, Krauthammer argues that the lack of objections at the time from Nancy Pelosi and other members of Congress who were briefed on interrogation policies is proof that “at the time the information was important enough, the danger great enough and our blindness about the enemy’s plans severe enough to justify an exception to the moral injunction against torture.”
Precisely what members of Congress were told and how they responded should absolutely be a part of any thorough official investigation into the abuses of the Bush years. The enablers must be exposed as surely as the complicit. And members of Congress who knew what was happening and remained silent must be held to public account for their moral cowardice.
But their failure to speak out does not change the fundamental moral equation.
If the United States is to live up to its core values, if it is to once again be a beacon of human rights to the world and a champion of human dignity, then when it comes to torture — to impermissible evil, as Krauthammer himself puts it — there can be no asterisks.
Thanks, Don midwest.
Today he tweeted about a column about Krauthammer he published on May 1, 2009 in which he pointed out that the arguments for torture – ticking time bomb, and extreme danger, which were used to justify torture did not hold up.
No, Don, you ‘point out’ discrete pieces of information. Normative arguments and making sense of hypotheticals cannot be disposed of in that fashion. By the way, this is a memorial thread and you’re a fanatic.
And you’re an insufferable bore, Nii. (Don midwest was here long before you and is anything but “a fanatic.”)
Nii said, “By the way, this is a memorial thread…”
If you really cared, you would have let Don’s comment pass.
A brilliant mind lost. His life story should be taught to all.
Never a fan of his opinions but was of his presentation of them. Hail and Farewell.
Darren: I’m begging you to block those who stink up the thread. Except me.
You might also give Diane a time-out for appropriating my handle (as if the other three handles she uses weren’t sufficient for her).
Actually, Nutchacha, it serves a purpose to leave it up and not delete it, at least not right away.
Tells you something about how much class the guy has…I’m actually glad that this site briefly displayed a similar comment earlier this month before deleting it.
Warmonger has lost all meaning this century. It is a calumny to conflate advocacy of A war with war lust. Whereas Krauthammer, Hitchens, and others offered reasoned arguments for that war, to dismiss advocay at all is extreme and shallow at best.
KRAUTHAMMER was a Warmonger, Advocate for Mass Murder, War Crimes !
He was certainly an eloquent if not always logical defender of American power. It’s not unusual for those on the right to use patriotism as a predicate that they never examine with much rigour. I’m not surprised that he was so appalled by Trump’s framing of the patriotism test which is nowt short of a fascism that is sweeping many western democracies, and must not go unchallenged. Seriously bad times for the ” other” right now, and it won’t end well unless the moderate Republicans and the rest of us across the world resist this vile scourge and speak out against it while offering not bon mots but alternatives to the fleecing of America that is going on by Trump and his cronies right now. The Trump- Putin- Orban nexus is a threat which will not be dismissed without a struggle.
It’s not unusual for those on the right to use patriotism as a predicate that they never examine with much rigour.
When you display an ounce of ‘rigour’ in your posts, you can criticize an intellect like Krauthammer’s without looking like an adolescent.
A great mind who knew how to get his point across in a most eloquent manner. I will miss him.
Unsolicited suggestion for Darren: a pair of people on the palaeo / alt-right / neo-nazi spectrum have decided to stink up the thread. You might just turn on the air purifiers and clean their foul odours out
I’ll miss his long-form essays, which were his masterpieces. His most recent book was on the bestseller list for 40 weeks, even though Dr. Krauthammer was never one to toss out red meat.
I do hope his son (who has ample intellect) takes stock and gets out of the commentary business. When his father got into that business in 1981, the number of decent spots therein was numbered in three digits. It’s now down to one or two digits, if that. No way to spend your work life anymore.
Didn’t KRAUTHAMMER argue to initiate the War of Aggression against Iraq?
That would make him a Supreme War Criminal guilty in the Murders, Maiming of a Million+ Men, Women & Children.
During the Nuremberg trials, the chief American prosecutor, Robert H. Jackson, stated: “To initiate a War of Aggression, therefore, is not only an international crime; it is the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole.”
KRAUTHAMMER was a Supreme War Criminal !
“Krauthammer Argued The Iraq War Would Spread Democracy Throughout Middle East. Krauthammer argued in his February 1, 2002, Washington Post column that an invasion of Iraq would lead to the spread of democracy throughout the Middle East:”
Where Are The Media’s Iraq War Boosters 10 Years Later?
https://www.mediamatters.org/research/2013/03/19/where-are-the-medias-iraq-war-boosters-10-years/193117#krauthammer
Perhaps you’ve forgotten that President Obama’s ill-advised pull-out from Iraq created a vacuum easily filled with the likes of non-democratic entities such as ISIS. It was the US Army which salvaged Iraq from ISIS in conjunction with Iraqi and Kurdish forces. Hopefully, we won’t once more pull out prematurely and create a new void for other extremist groups.
The average IQ in America has just dropped because of his passing.He brought so much to the conversation .
NIce….
He reminded me quite a bit of William F. Buckley, who was the writer which engaged my mind to pursue a degree in political science. Although I didn’t agree with all of Krauthammer’s ideas, they were always supported by fact and reason, he would have made a great lawyer. He made the world a better place. I’ve posted a touching tribute from the Times by Peter Wehner who worked in the previous three Republican administrations; I’m don’t know if all can get through the paywall…
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/21/opinion/charles-krauthammer-example-conservative.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-left-region®ion=opinion-c-col-left-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-left-region
Charles Krauthammer, R.I.P. I have missed his commentary and will continue to miss him.
Yes, me too, Paul.
He wrote that he lived his life as he intended, his paralysis notwithstanding. Few individuals believe this of their own lives.
I watch very little television. When Mr. Krauthammer was featured I found his insight to be thought-provoking and a moment of redemption for a medium of increasing irritation to behold.
For some time I’ve wondered if the state of being restrained or locked-in by immobility or other limiting disability fosters in the person a greater introspection and the want in some to provide a greater intellect that might be settled for by the able bodied. A pertinent test might be found in the life of Stephen Hawking, who suffered complete physical disability where essentially his body was reduced to a mere vessel to facilitate his mind. Would Mr. Krauthammer and especially Professor Hawking have achieved such an intellect, wisdom, or the will and want to explore such pursuits had their bodies been so encumbered?
Whatever it might be in the case of Mr. Krauthammer I do not know, but I do know that he certainly established himself in the minds of many to be a keen intellect and one very engaged in life.
I believe that is the test of the soul. It is how one makes the most out of the misfortunes/challenges in their lives that matter. That is what Dr. Krauthammer did. He never fell back on his disability. As a Christian, I believe that is a result of the Spirit of God working within us. I don’t know what your particular belief is, Darren Smith, and I think (I don’t know for sure), that Dr. Krauthammer was an agnostic. But I still believe that our souls will be judged by what we have done with what we were given.
Thank you for your thoughtful post.
Thank you for the reply Diane,
There are only two things we will take with us to the grave: our soul and our integrity. Those who live a largely virtuous life and make the most of life’s gift can achieve reverence and integrity whatever their religious beliefs may or may not be, and in the end if they face a judgment then how can one be judged harshly if they have made a marked effort to be a decent person.
Link to the column, please!
Link to column, please!
why lament the death of someone who urged for the dying of various folks across the globe? Let us too celebrate a passing, though his…
Po,
Tasteless…utterly tasteless.
Moses, not at all…we must start calling it as it is…reality is faked enough… if one sees no qualms in calling for the massacring of folks, we should not mind celebrating his passing… the world is a better place today than it was yesterday…
If john mccain passes before me, I’ll celebrate… same for hillary, obama, lindsay graham and any warmonger out there… I did not shed a tear for ghaddaffi or sadam hussein, i won’t for these folks…
it is time we ponder why we care more about a dead man than his dead victims…
Who were his ‘dead victims’? Whether or not you agree with him, Charles was not a policymaker. He sent no one to their deaths.
Diane,…
There is a history with somebody who posts as “Po”, and likely other names.
He has not surfaced in some time, at least under that particular pseudoname.
From what we were able to piece together from past claims, he is Arab and Mexican.
Apparently a U.S. citizen, although getting a straight answer out of him is a joke.
One of the last times that I exchanged a comment with him, he asked me 10-15 questions.
Just for the heck of it I answered them by got no agknowledgement of my response.
I think it was Olly? and I who asked him one or two questions, repeatedly, and he never answered.
Just thought I’d mention this to you know what to realistically expect in the way of an answer, if you get from him.
Any reply will likely be a spiel about the evilness of the U.S., it’s wanton history of slaughter around the globe, etc.— not clear why he lives or lived in the U.S., unless he’s drawn to this incredibly evil country.
Krauthammer was likely Jewish, Po Muslim.
And if Krauthammer agreed with support of Israel, that by itself would probably explain his posts.
There are some other details I could go on with, but I wasted enough time with that fool in previous years.
Thanks, Tom. I am usually alert to posters who rant about “zionists” as trolls or anti-Semitic types. However, I appreciate the “heads up” based on your experience with “po”.
Diane, …
I need to correct one thing that I wrote….Po claimed at different times that he was Mexican and African…he did not specify Arab.
He mentioned an African country that he raved about as something of a model of a tolerant nation…can’t remember the name of the country right now.
Senegal?, I think.
Some of the other “veterans” on this site may remember more details.
Thanks for the clarification, Tom. Offhand, can’t think of “model of a tolerant nation” in present-day Africa, but who knows? Maybe it is out there. Only the intolerant ones make the news, it seems.