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The Weekly Standard, R.I.P.
Today, Philip Anschutz shut down The Weekly Standard. I, for one, wish that he had refrained from doing so. I do not mean to say that I agree with the stance Bill Kristol has taken with regard to Trump. I have known Bill for decades, and I have a great deal of respect for him. But I think him in error. Trump’s flaws are obvious, but the available alternatives are worse — and the man has not only done a number of good things. He has also forced a rethinking of post-Cold war policies with regard to the economy and our posture in the larger world that have pretty obviously failed.
But whether or not I think Bill right or in error on this point does not matter much. He founded and for quite a number of years edited a magazine that was nearly always thoughtful and a pleasure to read. Steve Hayes, who took it over when Trump became President, has done a terrific job, and there is nothing out there that will replace it.
If you doubt my testimony, dig up the 17 December issue (which reached my mailbox today), and read the cover story on Cory Booker. It is both entertaining and enlightening. Read the reviews as well. They have been more often than not been fascinating. The death of a little intellectual magazine of quality is a great misfortune. There are very few places left to which one can turn.
Published in General
I hope we will see “The New Weekly Standard.”
I know! I was shocked when I realized this.
I like NR. I liked The Weekly Standard. I read and subscribe(d) to them both.
The truth is that I would never stop reading some magazines because I don’t always agree with their politics if it’s high quality anymore than I’d stop reading a historian like Victor Davis Hanson simply because I have remained unconvinced by his arguments in favor of the president.
I mean… while some people here seem to want Bill Kristol stoned or something because they don’t like what he’s said about the president or populism, I liked getting another perspective in TWS. (Plus I love Steve Hayes.)
I guess it’s like this.
I don’t find Hanson’s views on Donald Trump all that compelling, but I just bought one of his books because I recognize he’s a smart guy, and he helps me understand some topics.
There is, however, only so much bandwidth.
I think that’s the thing with TWS, as was pointed out in the podcast. I rarely read it cover to cover. I couldn’t keep up with the issues. I chose to read the articles by writers I really respect. (Contrary to what seems to be popular belief, TWS also praised Trump when he advanced policies they liked.)
I wish the staff well and hope they go to other publications where they can capitalize on their own bylines.
P.S. All of my degrees are from state schools.
One thing I’ve never quite understood amid the bashing of TWS and NR is the implicit notion that each pub is monolithic. Am I not supposed to like Steve Hayes or Philip Terzian because Bill Kristol bashes Trump? Both pubs have fine writers who are quite divorced from the Trump wars and both have writers who contribute to the conservative cause. I’ll miss TWS . . . but about those issues unfulfilled on my subscription . . .
Exactly.
I suggest the creation of a corporation for “The New Weekly Standard, Inc.” with a capitalization of $10 million, on the model of the stock in the Green Bay Packers. I would be thrilled to buy $1,000.00 worth of stock, and to put the stock certificate on my wall!
(I would also be thrilled to buy stock in “Ricochet.com, Inc.”. Put me down for $1,000.00!)
The “Reagan Republicans” are working overtime to transfer the nation’s wealth to the left (often in the guise of corporate welfare) so good luck with that.
I sure don’t want to see governmental corporate welfare; I am suggesting that likeminded people contribute to a worthy cause!
I, too, went to an expensive private school, a neat trick for a guy whose father was an enlisted man in the Air Force. Never made it to Martha’s Vineyard, though.
Elitest!!!!
:)
And all it got me was a job estimating concrete.
I think this is less about economic class than it is about cultural prejudices that happen to be prevalent within the circles Kristol was immersed in, and which Kristol himself chooses to subscribe to.
I’m with you Stad. Bedtime reading on a laptop doesn’t cut the mustard with me. I want hard copy.
Maybe I still have 5-10 years before I become a dinosaur.
Personally, I find the “woe is me” attitude of the pro-Trumpers who constantly harp on the fact that the elites hate and denigrate them to be as off-putting as the unthinking opposition of the never-Trumpers.
Just goes to show there is no accounting for taste. ;-)
Some of us find this offensive (see link below). It shouldn’t be a mystery to anyone why this is the case. It’s a strange form of democracy where the losers of an election persecute the winners
http://www.informationliberation.com/?id=59000
Per your link, I think holding show trials for Trump supporters is offensive and a little crazy too. I’m not sure what it has to do with the disparaging of “Republican elites for hating us” that I was referring to. Exactly how are Republican elites persecuting Trump supporters? I think the problem you are referring to is because the left has never accepted that Trump won the election and has little to do with Republican elites.
I just want to say that some of us Trump Skeptics find the conflation of all Trump doubters offensive. We are not the same. I abhor the fact that there are many people on the Left who really do want to persecute the entire Trump family. That is as wrong as can be. I just want to be sure that Donald Trump didn’t commit any crimes. And if he didn’t, that is more than fine with me.
What does trouble me is how this man acts. I Love my country very much, and I want a President who will put the needs of our country first. I don’t believe “The Donald” does that. I know his supporters don’t agree with me. But it is long past time that they see that people like me are saying the things we say because of that Love.
Lets remember as Tucker Carlson pointed out. Bill Kristol was very much a supporter of Trump, till then candidate Trump said that the war in Iraq was a stupid mistake. An unforgiveable offense in the eyes of the Neo-cons and especially Bill who was one of that wars architects.
As to Trumpism itself, here Rodney Dangerfield explains the rise of Trumpism in the Republican Party.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phagxOal7_A
I don’t know about Kristol’s alleged support for Trump before his remark about the Iraq war. But it was much more than what you say here. At one of the debates, Trump parroted Code Pink, and other Lefties, by saying that bush lied us in into the war. And he yelled it! That, for me, is unforgivable. You can say the war was a mistake. I don’t agree; but there is room for disagreement. But I can’t forgive someone who said that Bush lied.
About the video: I do have contempt for Trump because of his tastes. That’s silly, and it has been a canard for some on the right for years. I have contempt for him because of the way he treats people, and makes our country look like a Banana Republic, with his antics.
I think the stock is called a “Reagan” membership. Hehe . . .
George W Bush may not have ‘lied’ about the war. But the invasion of Iraq was one of the biggest foreign policy disasters of the last 50 years, and was gross incompetence by him, his administration, and those that blindly supported him. The basis of the invasion, Colin Powell at the UN showing off diagrams of ‘bio weapon vans’ that were drawn up by CIA graphic artists, all based on information from a German Source that no one in the CIA interviewed till after the start of the War.
https://www.latimes.com/world/middleeast/la-na-curveball20nov20-story.html
Trump doesnt make your country look like a Banana republic. Attempting to trade the Presidency between two family for 20 years does. Electing Trump President was the most anti-Banana republic thing your country has done in decades.
Had not thought of it this way, but that makes sense.
I do not want to lock up Trump.
I object to the Left chanting “Lock Him Up!”
I also objected to Trump crowds chanting “Lock Her Up!” at Hillary.
Both are embamatic of Banana Republics.
I resemble that remark!
This is just plain ridiculous. And it is over the top rhetoric like this which makes it harder to have a decent political conversation any more. First of all, I don’t why you put the word “lie” in quotes. Lying is a big deal, and the fact that an ape like your hero accused a wonderful man like George Bush of it in contemptible.
Secondly, you are not much better. Saying the CIA drew pictures. You are accusing the biggest people in our government of fabrication.
Third of all, the Iraq war was a gambit that was worth taking. It was Obama who ruined it.
I’d say more about what I think of people like you, but it would so against Ricochet’s Code of Conduct.
Enjoy Treadeau up in Canada. You two deserve each other.
I would like to know what you meant by this comment. I have not been paying much attention to Kasparov lately. Has he been saying loony things?
I was extremely uncomfortable with Bush’s plan to invade Iraq, but must confess that I was one of those who was fooled by Colin Powell’s presentation. I figured Powell (never one of my favorite people) said it was necessary, maybe I should give Bush (whom I didn’t vote for) the benefit of the doubt. Big mistake. And then I learned later that Powell (still not one of my favorite people) thought he had been ill-used by Bush in making that presentation.
Imagine what I would do if Ricochet created a new membership category called the “Super Reagan” level where the cost was $1,200 a year or $100.00 a month.
I really love my Ricochet family of choice, and we are commanded to tithe to that which sustains and feeds us. Just sayin’.
Yes he has. I’m a chess player and have been following Kasparov for a long time. He a buddy of Kristol. The headline for the linked article is exaggerated, but Kasparov’s tweets are extreme.
https://thenationalsentinel.com/2018/09/05/deranged-anti-trumpers-now-pushing-for-show-trials-to-criminalize-imprison-all-trump-supporters-across-america/