Monday, October 16, 2006

Andrew Sullivan: Follow-Up

A while back, I posted a bit of snark about Andrew Sullivan and his changed views of the Bush Administration. Now I'm feeling the tiniest bit guilty, because I just read an interview [S$] with him on Salon.

Sullivan, as I have said elsewhere, is someone whom I respect. I read his blog regularly, as part of my ongoing efforts to find people who doesn't share my views, but who don't sound like they're just repeating Karl Rove's talking points. He makes a far more coherent case for the conservative point of view than do most pundits these days. His explanation of his change in mindset about George W. Bush, the war in Iraq, and the Republican Party, is well worth reading.

I still disagree with Sullivan about some things, to be sure. For example, his view of conservatism in the ideal, as Salon quotes from his new book, is: "… a political philosophy designed to check power, to ensure individual liberty, to protect individuals from lawless government authority, …"

This strikes me as hopelessly utopian, an attitude he critizes in other people and in other contexts later in the interview. I mean, dude, who isn't against the gummint minding your business? Just because liberals like me think we have a societal responsibility to help the less fortunate, and just because we haven't yet come up with a better way to do so than through policies which are summarily dismissed as "tax and spend," doesn't mean we like the president behaving as a dictator or his buddies telling us who we can boink and what we can ingest.

I'll also point out that every administration -- nay, virtually every single politician -- in my lifetime professing a conservative stance has been in favor of pork, ridiculous military spending, and more pork. The only place spending is ever cut is from poor people and the environment. Tax cuts, which inevitably grossly favor the already rich, are invariably paid for by a crippling amount of borrowing. And forget about these "conservatives" letting you live your life the way you want to live it, of course.

Nonetheless, my respect for Andrew Sullivan was only increased by reading this interview. You should, too. (You've followed the my "[S$]" explanatory link before, right? If not, do so.)


As further evidence of what a good guy Sullivan is, check out his appearance on The Colbert Report. He has posted a YouTube excerpt.

I can't resist the urge to salute him for playing a straight man so well.

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