"Moderate and sane, but also cutting and sharp, particularly when it came to her vivisection of Vivek Ramaswamy’s neo-isolationist, Putin-kowtowing foreign policy."

Such violent imagery from Bret Stephens, describing Nikki Haley, in "Vivek Ramaswamy Is Suddenly Part of Our Political Life," the regular "conversation" at the NYT between Stephens and Gail Collins. I assume the conversation is in writing, because no one could speak spontaneously like that.

The "vivisection" play on the name Vivek must have seemed too delightful to pass up. And yet I would feel compelled to edit out metaphorical violence aimed at a particular individual. Does Nikki Haley even want to be portrayed as a woman who cuts up men?

Collins says: "Wow, is he irritating. Not many people I can think of who I’d rather have over for dinner less than Donald Trump, but this guy’s one of them."

Why so mean? And why no fear of seeming racist for excluding a person of color? (Of course, I know why. The rules change when the target of hostility is perceived as right wing.)

Stephens responds: "I mentioned last week that he came to my house two summers ago for a pleasant lunch. That was before he got into politics."

Oh, wow, and you're trashing him now. And yet I can see by the flow of this conversation that Stephens and Collins think they're being sparkling conversationalists. We Times readers are expected to love that chance to feel we are seated alongside these wits.  

Collins says: "He’s very young and rich and I assume he’s figuring on making a name for himself with the right while Trump finishes out his career, in order to turn himself into the neo-Don of the late 2020s."

Not to mention the early 2020s. It's a safe prediction that he will do what he has already done.

Then Stephens says something that is completely unfair, as if he is willing to "say anything": "Remember the John Cusack romantic comedy from the 1980s, 'Say Anything?' It could become the slogan for a cohort of ambitious young conservatives whose views are endlessly malleable because their only goal is to advance their personal brand. Ramaswamy, for instance, would probably prefer not to be reminded that in his book he called the Jan. 6 riots 'a disgrace' and a 'stain on our history' that made him 'ashamed of our nation.'"

Stephens took care to say "the Jan. 6 riots." Did Ramaswamy subsequently change his position and come out in favor of the riots? It's like accusing supporters of Black Lives Matter of endorsing the looting and burning that accompanied the peaceful protests. 

Please, political commentators, check your assumptions with an analogy that flips left and right.  

ADDED: What exactly happened in the purported "vivisection"? I went back to the transcript. Ramaswamy had just made a statement about climate change:

Let us be honest as Republicans, I’m the only person on the stage who isn’t bought and paid for, so I can say this, the climate change agenda is a hoax. The climate change agenda is a hoax.... And the reality is the anti-carbon agenda is the wet blanket on our economy. And so the reality is more people are dying of bad climate change policies than they are of actual climate change.

At that point the moderator, Bret Baier, brought in Nikki Haley: "Governor Haley, would you like to respond? Are you bought and paid for?"

She said, which Stephens considered moderate, sane, cutting, and sharp:

Brett, what I would like to say is the fact that I think this is exactly why Margaret Thatcher said, if you want something said, “Ask a man. If you want something done, ask a woman.”

That's a prepared joke that doesn't relate to anything. It's also incoherent because all she is doing is saying something. 

First of all, we do care about clean air, clean water, we want to see that taken care of. But there’s a right way to do it. And the right way to do it is first of all, yes, is climate change real? Yes it is. But if you want to go and really change the environment, then we need to start telling China and India that they have to lower their emissions. That’s where our problem is. And these green subsidies that Biden has put in, all he’s done is help China because he doesn’t understand all these electric vehicles that he’s done, half of the batteries for electric vehicles are made in China. And so that’s not helping the environment. You’re putting money in China’s pocket and Biden did that. So first of all, I think we need to acknowledge the truth, which is these subsidies are not working. We also need to take on the international world and say, okay, India and China, you’ve got to stop polluting. And that’s when we’ll start to deal with climate.

I don't think that's even a response to Ramaswamy's attack on the whole group. Haley's strategy was to ignore the question, leave other Republicans alone, and attack Biden.

Later in the debate Ramaswamy and Haley do engage over the Ukraine war. It goes like this:

Vivek Ramaswamy: "The reality is that today, Ukraine is not a priority for the United States of America. I think that the same people who took us into the Iraq War, the same people who took us into the Vietnam War, cannot start another no win war. I do not want to get to the point where we’re sending our military resources abroad when we could be better using them here at home to protect our own borders, protect the homeland. That will be my top priority for the policy, to protect this homeland."

Martha Maccallum: "... Governor Haley, you did not raise your hand, meaning that you would support more funding for the Ukraine War. You have said of Governor DeSantis that you didn’t appreciate it when he initially called it a territorial dispute. Why?"

Nikki Haley: "First of all, the American president needs to have moral clarity. They need to know the difference between right and wrong. They need to know the difference between good and evil. When you look at the situation with Russia and Ukraine, here you have a pro-American country that was invaded by a thug. When you want to talk about what has been given to Ukraine, less than 3.5% of our defense budget has been given to Ukraine. If you look at the percentages per GDP, 11 of the European countries have given more than the US. But what’s really important is go back to when China and Russia held hands, shook hands before the Olympics and named themselves unlimited partners. A win for Russia is a win for China. We have to know that. Ukraine is the first line of defense for us. The problem that Vivek doesn’t understand is he wants to hand Ukraine to Russia, he wants to let China eat Taiwan, he wants to go and stop funding Israel. You don’t do that to friends. What you do instead is you have the backs of your friends. Ukraine, it’s a front line of defense. Putin has said once Russia takes Ukraine, Poland and the Baltics are next. That’s a world war. We’re trying to prevent war. Look at what Putin did today. He killed Prigozhin. When I was at the UN, the Russian ambassador suddenly died. This guy is a murderer and you are choosing a murderer over a pro-American country.

Bret Baier: "...  Mr. Ramaswamy, you have 30 seconds...."

Vivek Ramaswamy: "I wish you well in your future career on the boards of Lockheed and Raytheon."

Nikki Haley: "I’m not on the board of Lockheed and Raytheon, and you have put down everyone on this stage."

Vivek Ramaswamy: "But you’ve pushing this lie all week. Nikki...."

Nikki Haley: "But you know what? You want to go and defund Israel, you want to give Taiwan to China...."

Vivek Ramaswamy: "Let me address that. I’m glad you brought that up."

Nikki Haley: "You want to go and give Ukraine to Russia."

Vivek Ramaswamy: "I’m going to address each of those right now. This is the false lies of a professional politician. There you have it."

Nikki Haley: "He will America less safe. Under your watch, you will make America less safe. You have no foreign politic experience and it shows. It shows."

Vivek Ramaswamy: "You know what? The foreign policy experience that you have shows in the pointless wars we’ve gotten into. I have to address that. Our relationship with Israel will never be stronger than by the end of my first term. But it’s not client relationship. It’s a friendship. You know what friends do? Friends help each other stand on their own two feet. I will lead Abraham Accords 2.0. I will partner with Israel to make sure Iran never is nuclear armed. But you know what I love about Israel? I’ve been there probably in the last 10 years more than most people on this stage. You know what I love about them? I love their border policies. I love their tough on crime policies. I love that they have a national identity and an iron dome to protect their homeland. So yes, I want to learn from the friends that we’re supporting and what puzzles me-"

Nikki Haley: "No, you want to cut them out of NATO."

Vivek Ramaswamy: "No, I want to learn from those and apply those to protect our homeland, Nikki. That is the answer."

Nikki Haley: "Let me tell you, it’s not that Israel needs America. America needs Israel. They are the front line defense to Iran...."

Ron DeSantis: "Can we move on?"

Bret Baier: "Governor DeSantis, you were mentioned in the territorial dispute, not only-"

Nikki Haley: "No, it’s not a territorial dispute either."