Video here. Krauthammer was good at connecting with the liberal Jon Stewart, in part because — as he says in the interview — he was once a liberal himself and in part because he had some ready and charming parries in the form of — this quote is from memory — "That's an excellent argument. Unfortunately, it's wrong...."
He was pushing his new book, "Things That Matter: Three Decades of Passions, Pastimes and Politics," which comes out on October 30th.
October 25, 2013
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Interesting how he emphasizes "mainstream" conservatism.
I always like Krauthammer - he's pretty quick on his feet in interviews. It's too bad he's tough to watch. His face looks like one of those Spitting Image puppets from the UK.
richlb - you may not know this but Krauthammer is a quadreplegic (sp?) with very little mobility below his chest. That makes him even more awesome though.
"So the early writings showed hope?"
"And then came change."
Liberals are always trying to find the most extreme example of a conservative in order to put it forward as "the very definition of conservative," in the hopes that mainstream Americans will fall for it and thereby be more likely to associate themselves with the liberal cause.
Of course, conservatives are always trying to find the most extreme examples of liberals in order to discredit the liberal agenda- in fact, the Reagan Movement did this job so well that contemporary liberals now label themselves as "progressive" in order to avoid the liberal brand.
For those of us who don't see politics as a spectator sport and refuse to fall in line just blindly cheering for "my" team over "their" team, it would be downright amusing, if it weren't, well, sad.
--Bobby
I had no idea about his quadriplegia. I guess that's a positive thing that it never even occurred to me. My apologies if my line about being quick on his feet was taken the wrong way...
I was reading Krauthammer and WFB (that is William F. Buckley) back when I was in college. Yes at that time Krauthhammer was a young man while WFB slouched in his chair.
There is an old saying, "If you are young and conservative you have no heart. And if you are old and liberal you have no since!"
Personally I like the Indian saying, "To old to soon, to wise to late."
Krauthammer should get the Nobel Peace Prize for spreading good solid philosophy and common sense.
richlb,
Krauthammer was a young man with a very promising carrier when he had a diving accident in a swimming pool and broke his neck.
He used his mind and became a Psychiatrist of renown. My hats off to him as he as overcame 1000 times more than I have in life with 1000 times less than I have to do it.
So if Paul Ryan had given symbolic kudos to liberals of the 1930s (which were more closely aligned with conservatives of today than liberals) the Democrats wouldn't have run ads showing him pushing granny off a cliff?
I don't think so.
Learned intellectual meets pseudo intellectual entertainer.
Has Krauthammer ever been on Bill Maher's show?(Remember when Hitchens flipped off Maher's audience because of their rudeness?)
Krauthammer is a quick wit, great intellect, and excellent spokesperson for conservative ideals. The conversation is always at an elevated level.
Which reminds me:
Why are the best spokespersons for progressive causes comedians?
Krauthammer draws an interesting distinction between Ted Cruz conservatism and Paul Ryan conservatism. Ryan doesn't want to expand the social welfare state but wants to update the social welfare programs of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid based on demographics and financial constraints.
Does Ted Cruz want to eliminate Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid? I know he's against Obamacare, as is Ryan, but I didn't think his views were those of Ron Paul, who did want to eliminate those programs over time.
You don't get to be the Chief Resident at Mass General ifyou are a dummy. wiki follows:
Krauthammer was born on March 13, 1950, in New York City[2][3] and raised in Montreal, Quebec, where he attended McGill University and obtained an honors degree in political science and economics in 1970. The following year, he was a Commonwealth Scholar in politics at Balliol College, Oxford, before returning to the United States and entering Harvard Medical School. During Krauthammer's first year of medical school, he was paralyzed in a diving accident[3][4] and was hospitalized for 14 months. However, he continued his medical studies and graduated with his class, earning his MD in 1975. From 1975 to 1978, Krauthammer was a resident and then a chief resident in psychiatry at the Massachusetts General Hospital. In 1984, he became board certified in psychiatry by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.[5] During his time as chief resident, he identified a form of mania based on a concomitant disorder, which was laid down as “Secondary Mania.”[6] He also co-authored the path-finding study on the epidemiology of mania.[7]
Krauthammer has been married to Robyn, an artist, since 1974. They have one child, Daniel.[8]
Libs and Obama loves to say, "Republicans and conservatives" want to get rid of government and leave the disabled, elderly and children to fend for themselves. Stupid people believe it.
Krauthammer is correct. I don't "hate" cops and teachers, but I think retiring at 40 at half pay is nuts as is having a job for life.
Social Security? How about we do like the australians and have 20% go into a personal retirement account that the government can't raid when it needs money.
My problem with Obamacare? It has done nothing to solve the cost of medical care.
I hate seeing money wasted in NYC where there is a traffic cop on every corner "waving" traffic that is already following the lights (and they often create huge jams).
Wow. I guess I am crazy and Anti-government. I could go on, but it's time to chill.
I was one year ahead of Krauthammer at Harvard Medical School and remember the day he dove into the pool at Children's Hospital (if I remember correctly) and broke his neck.
That he not only continued in medical school BUT graduated on time with his class is amazing. When he continued his training at Massachusetts General Hospital in Psychiatry, he would cross the street alone from his apartment building to the hospital in his electric wheelchair--snow and sleet be damned.
Krauthammer never mentions his accident or his disability. His life is remarkable.
If I'm ever tempted to give Bill O'Reilly the benefit of the doubt, I remind myself of the night when Bill thanked Charles for coming on his show: "You're a stand-up guy, Charles."
The wit on display was great, and the civil nature of the exchange was also a nice change. But the substance was mostly an exchange of cliches. Krauty's main theme was the accumulating debt and endless Obama deficits. Fine as far as it goes, but hardly the most significant basis on which to criticize O-care. Economics is not his strongest suit and his wonderful ability to frame complex ideas in simple terms fails when he gets into economic analysis. Stewart was worse -- his comments about conservatives in general and Repubs in particular were mostly a silly caricature. He has no clue, and seems to believe that Repubs really are itching to push Granny, along with anyone down on their luck over the nearest cliff. That's probably because everything he thinks he knows about them is drawn from the NYTimes, MSNBC or Mother jones.
Stewart was worse -- his comments about conservatives in general and Repubs in particular were mostly a silly caricature.
To which I'd add, his constant interruptions of Krauthammer to snuff out oncoming points were despicable. Also his recollections of Krauthammer's earlier statements morphed them out of consideration by distorting them. Stewart's quick, and of course he's playing to his 'progressive' audience, but his cynical 'debate' tactics lower him to the position of snake-oil salesman instead of honest adversary.
It could have been the very best public debate yet on the conservative-liberal differences today. Despite Stewart's dodginess, it still was very good. Charles Krauthammer bore up very well in the Devils den, and I hope he sells a lot of books.
Krauty's main theme was the accumulating debt and endless Obama deficits. Fine as far as it goes, but hardly the most significant basis on which to criticize O-care.
But the debate was not strictly entitled 'Obamacare, Good or Evil'. And despite the yawning indifference of progressives - American and European both - to endless deficits and growing debt, that subject was rightly illuminated by Krauthammer as the major threat to the country.
Detroit is not an isolated, unlucky case. It's just had more decades of one-party Democrat rule than most locations, and ran out of sugar daddies to lend any more money. Unlike Greece, which still has backing by an EU which also considers endless borrowing a perpetual gravy train whose bill never comes due.
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