Give Her Credit (Seriously) for Consistency
Claire Berlinski ·
Jul 26, 2010 at 5:22am
You may recall that Naomi Wolf--of Beauty Myth fame, former masculinity advisor to Al Gore--wrote a book during the Bush years warning that America was on the Fourth Reich expressway.
Whatever the latest outrageous Obama caper, someone on the Right can always be counted on to say--usually correctly--"If Bush had done that, the Left would have gone nuts!"
Well, Naomi's going nuts. You've got to at least give her credit for that.
- Comment (8)
- · Quote
- · UnfollowFollow (1)
Comments :
May '10
Re: Give Her Credit (Seriously) for Consistency
I don't know Claire. She takes her point to the offensive extreme (Ann Coulter anyone?) but she's hardly foaming at the mouth.
It's a really useful and interesting debate between the threat represented by radical Islam and the powers we have granted to the executive branch (whomever is running it) to subjugate our civil liberties in order to keep us safe. Professor Yoo has seen the threat memos and I haven't but I continue to be struck by the flexible logic that allows us to mistrust our government to run a national health care system but has no problem trusting it to sort us into categories of good guys and bad guys.
I don't agree with where she takes her case, but I for one am glad to have her howling in the wilderness. Besides, you have to give her some credit for the "Smith girl" line. She can tell a joke on herself which makes her more reasonable than 90% of the other pundits out there.
Jul '10
Re: Give Her Credit (Seriously) for Consistency
After reading that piece I am prepared to give her the credit Claire suggests she deserves. As Trace says, I can't say I necessarily agree with all of her points, but as she says:
" There is always the risk in advocating for democracy that the first people to wake up might not be your team, but that is a risk worth taking. I would rather have citizens I don’t agree with organized and active than an oligarchy of people that I agree with."
I have expressed this sentiment many times before. I would much rather live in a worker's paradise so long as I could actually discuss things with aware, (self)educated and active peers than be a member of a society that blithely bobs along to any old whim of our Enlightened Leaders, even if they were essentially aligned with my own views.
Jun '10
Re: Give Her Credit (Seriously) for Consistency
Al Gore had a masculinity adviser? Who knew?
Re: Give Her Credit (Seriously) for Consistency
Forgive the cynicism, but isn't this simply a ploy by Wolf to sell more books? Why should we believe that she has any genuine sympathy with the Tea Party movement?
May '10
Re: Give Her Credit (Seriously) for Consistency
She's mildly nuts, but I very much credit her for not being mildly nuts under only one administration.
This kind of consistency in a lefty is rare, but fragile because most tend to be very sensitive to cocktail party slights. It should be applauded to the extent possible without incurring her revulsion and the usual about-face that most lefties made in January, 2009.
May '10
Re: Give Her Credit (Seriously) for Consistency
Cas, google "Al Gore Naomi Wolf earth tones" to get the full story. Calling Wolf a "masculinity advisor" is a slightly confusing shorthand.
May '10
Re: Give Her Credit (Seriously) for Consistency
Fredösphere
Cas, google "Al Gore Naomi Wolf earth tones" to get the full story. Calling Wolf a "masculinity advisor" is a slightly confusing shorthand. · Jul 26 at 10:36am
I expect that Cas was not doubting the story but was commenting on Ms. Wolf's effectiveness in the role.
May '10
Re: Give Her Credit (Seriously) for Consistency
The great hope for the Republic is for the people to recognize the rot inside their own houses. The Tea Party has the ability to be the great rebuilder of the GOP. Where will the Dems find their salvation?