Juan Williams, Nicholas Kristof, and David French. I might be persuaded to read some other columnist, if the headline manages not to be needlessly inflammatory, but I always read these 3 guys. You'll notice that only one is "conservative," whatever that means. David French reminds me of who I used to be. When I wasn't trolling people, on my very best day, I could sound like French.
And no, I don't routinely read Ross Douthat. He just annoys me, on every conceivable level. Not that he never says anything good. Far from it. But behind the smart words is a schemer, trying to make peace with the indefensible. Yes, I mean Trump. And he brings his Catholicism into every bit as much disrepute as any progressive, when you realize that he doesn't ride or die with the Church, but rather, some "conservative Catholic" something. This is why I can't read George Weigel; it's the same thing. It seems like the ghosts of Novak and Buckley are haunting us. If forced to choose between Republican and Catholic, these guys chose Republican. And there's a whole new generation ready to take their place.
I shouldn't have to be the one saying this; I doubt anyone was more of a party man than me, from 2001-16. It's time to blow up the GOP, and start over. Fine; if you want to blow up the Democrats, too, be my guest. But I can see voting Democratic in self-defense a whole lot clearer right now. That's where I am right now.
When I read Kristof, I sense the righteous fury of a liberal internationalism sold down the river for 30 pieces of silver. I don't like the UN per se; the corrupt autocrats, the flagrant hypocrisy, the anti-Americanism. But if you press me, I believe in multilateralism and its institutions. Yet it seems like the Right only engages here in order to score domestic political points.
The only time Juan Williams is wrong is when he's babbling about "reproductive choice." Otherwise, I think I get a good read on the average Black member of the Democratic coalition. Frankly, the only time the Right cares about Black anything is to use them to convince their own voters that they're not racist. And before you say, "There's the Left, resorting to 'Racist!' again!," I recognize a distinct difference between Left, and uber-Progressive, "might-as-well-hate-yourself-Whitey" Left. You can prop up Kanye all you like; you still aren't convincing Black America to vote Republican, and you deserve that.
I believe right now that I'm more interesting to read than 85 percent of the opinion writers in America, and it's a darn shame.
Comments