Peretz: Not "Knee-Jerk" Enough for the Left
I heartily second David’s assessment of Martin Peretz’s memorable essay. Unfortunately, liberals are already at pains to distance themselves from the New Republic editor-in-chief’s inspiring independence. Here, for instance is Jonathan Chait’s recent take on Peretz:
I'd point out that Marty [Peretz] is not exactly a knee-jerk liberal, and even Marty would concede that he's not so all-knowing that the mere fact that he takes a position establishes its truth beyond all doubt.
In other words, the fact that Peretz is disinclined to endorse the Left’s obdurate opposition to the Bush administration’s foreign policy not only makes his liberalism suspect—he’s not “knee-jerk,” you see—but also casts doubt on his conclusions. Chait, of course, is the senior editor of the New Republic. And the Left tells us there’s a "conservative crackup " in the offing…
2 Comments:
I have a notion that at various times in all our political lives, we are confronted with the fact that we may just have been wrong in all our most basic assumptions about an issue or person or idea... and that it speaks volumes about our character whether we are able to suck it up and admit that it may be true.
Peretz is very, very hawkish and he backed the Iraq War (and badmouthed Kerry for months during the campaign.) This doesn't make his reasoning suspect by default, but the reasoning behind the Iraq War and its results are very murky.
He's not some antiwar critic realizing he was wrong. He is defending a position that he (and the President) are taking flak for.
I would have much preferred that if we were going to try to create a domino effect for democracy that we chose a nation that was actually a state-sponsor of global terrorism or a serious potential proliferator. And I see the current change a result of the deaths of Yassir Arafit, Rafiq Hairiri, and the upcoming death of Mubarak. I'm willing to admit that the Iraq-toppling-magic may be the real answer, but I don't think it's clear.
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