In Memoriam Irving Kristol
One of the truly great thinkers of the right, Irving Kristol, died in Washington at the age of 89. Known as the “godfather” of neo-conservatism, his ideas influenced many on the right, including yours truly.
Had more people understood his ideas, neo-conservatism would be in better repute.
Our sympathy goes out to his widow, the distinguished historian Gertrude Himmelfarb, his son Wiliam Kristol, his daughter Elizabeth.
AFTERTHOUGHT: He, like my great Aunt Ruth Friedman died on Erev Roshanah, the last day of the Jewish year. May we take the memory of his good deeds and great ideas with us into the new year.
John Podhoretz offers a wonderful tribute to this great man at Commentary Contentions.
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Hear, hear.
Comment by ILoveCapitalism — September 18, 2009 @ 7:32 pm - September 18, 2009
His was a life fully lived. condolences go out to his widow, children and grandchildren.
We were blessed to have him on the national scene.
WSJ has wonderful quotes through the years made by this extraordinary man.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204518504574421191607438668.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
ברוך דיין האמת. Blessed is the final judge.
Comment by Leah — September 18, 2009 @ 7:34 pm - September 18, 2009
[...] lots of commentary at Memeorandum. See Jules Crittenden, GayPatriot, Power Line, The Other McCain, and Outside The Beltway. See especially John Podoretz’s [...]
Pingback by Irving Kristol, 1920-2009: Godfather of Neoconservatism | Right Wing News — September 19, 2009 @ 12:40 pm - September 19, 2009
Of course, Kristol also hated gay people almost as much as you do!
Comment by SomeNYGuy — September 20, 2009 @ 9:14 pm - September 20, 2009
“I don’t think the advocacy of homosexuality really falls under the First Amendment any more than the advocacy or publication of pornography does.”
-Guess who? No, really, guess!
Comment by SJohn — September 21, 2009 @ 2:36 am - September 21, 2009
his ideas influenced many on the right,
Indeed.
And just look at where those ideas got us: bogged down in two wars, deeply in debt and on the brink of planetary environmental collapse.
To paraphrase another great conservative (George W Bush) Heck of a job Irv!
Comment by TB — September 21, 2009 @ 2:54 am - September 21, 2009
TB, do you even know what those ideas were?
But, you don’t because if you did, you’d know that George W. Bush was anything but a conservative.
Did he hate gay people, SomeNYGuy, or did he just say some strange things about them. Go back and read his stuff and don’t pull his quotes out of context. Granted I don’t much like a lot of what he said about homosexuality, but that doesn’t mean he hated us.
So, SJohn, yes, I’m aware of that comment and have been. Had I had more time to craft my post (that is, if Rosh Hashanah had not intervened), I would have dealt with his strange statements on homosexuality.
But, just because I disagree with some of what he said doesn’t mean I can’t fit the better part of his philosophy appealing and influential. But, I guess you readers of mean-spirited left-wing blogs don’t have the sense to understand such simple notions of finding 80% of what someone says brilliant, even though the remaining 20% may not be as appealing.
But, at least your ignorance (and intolerance) is amusing.
Perhaps, had he been born in a different age, he might have held different attitudes toward gay people. But, then again, he might not have been a neo-conservative as he would never have joined the left.
And to you, who presume you know so much, the former neo-conservatives are former liberals who forsook the left as it was becoming increasingly anti-American. Pay attention, you’re going to see a lot more people making similar journeys in the next few years.
Indeed, that process has already begun.
Comment by B. Daniel Blatt — September 21, 2009 @ 3:06 am - September 21, 2009
At the very least, Irving Kristol heavily disliked and disrespected you personally because of your sexual orientation. He very probably also thought you personally to be inferior to him for that reason. But he advocated killing brown people and cutting taxes, so you’ll suck his (rhetorical) dick anyway.
Comment by Nimrod Gently — September 21, 2009 @ 4:38 am - September 21, 2009
Gee, Hitler said some downright peculiar things about Jews, didn’t he? Odd things. Unusual things.
Comment by SomeNYGuy — September 21, 2009 @ 10:01 am - September 21, 2009
Gosh, SomeNYguy and Nimroda, you really do have a narrow view of the world and a bigotted view of conservatives. Besides the handful of quotes you’ve read on left-wing blogs, have you read the writings of Irving Kristol?
Hating gays wasn’t central to his philosophy as hating Jews was central to Hitler’s.
And let me as you guys (again), have you ever read his writings outside of the quotes you find on left-wing blogs
Comment by B. Daniel Blatt — September 21, 2009 @ 11:09 am - September 21, 2009
Freudian slip, GayKapoWest?
Comment by SomeNYGuy — September 21, 2009 @ 12:34 pm - September 21, 2009
Oops, copy/paste fail. This was the sentence I meant to blockquote above.
Comment by SomeNYGuy — September 21, 2009 @ 12:36 pm - September 21, 2009
“But, you don’t because if you did, you’d know that George W. Bush was anything but a conservative.”
Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight …
Comment by TB — September 21, 2009 @ 8:54 pm - September 21, 2009
Blogged on this over three years ago. Byron York blogged on this just six days ago. And if you read the conservative blogs, well, you’d see many of my fellows in the rightosphere have been saying the same sorts of things.
Comment by B. Daniel Blatt — September 21, 2009 @ 9:07 pm - September 21, 2009
Oh, and SomeNYGuy, sorry about my typo. I just don’t pay attention to narrow-minded critics like you so just dash out my comments. And please note that Mr. Kristol is Jewish. And let me ask again if any of you have actually read Kristol’s writings outside of the quotes you find on left-wing blogs.
Comment by B. Daniel Blatt — September 21, 2009 @ 9:12 pm - September 21, 2009
Well, yeah, in particular that 20% should definitely make you question why it you agree with the other 80% of what he says.
If your neighbor, for example, has interesting ideas on the redistribution of wealth that you find appealing, but he also likes to smash his wife in the face with a torque wrench from time to time, are you still going to sing his praises when he finally kicks off?
People can have some decent ideas (although I don’t agree with any of Kristol’s, or his affirmative-action boy’s), and still be scummy people whom you are tainted by associating with.
Comment by SJohn — September 22, 2009 @ 3:36 am - September 22, 2009
SJohn, your analogy is just plain silly and has no relationship whatsoever to the issue at hand.
And you still haven’t answered my question whether you’ve actually read Kristol’s writings outside of the isolated quotes you find on left-wing blogs.
Comment by B. Daniel Blatt — September 22, 2009 @ 3:41 am - September 22, 2009
I have a narrow view of the world, and the homophobe didn’t?
This is the worst case of Stockholm Syndrome I have ever heard of. HE THOUGHT YOU WERE INFERIOR, UNCLEAN AND A DISEASE-CARRIER.
Comment by Nimrod Gently — September 22, 2009 @ 5:15 am - September 22, 2009
Please, Nimrod, do tell me how this is Stockholm Syndrome. Do I buy his strange notions of homosexuality? Have you read them in context? Where’s your evidence that he disliked me personally or saw me as his inferior because of his sexuality?
And let me ask you the same thing I have asked all my critics on this thread, which not one of you has addressed (or even considered), whether you’ve actually read Kristol’s writings outside of the isolated quotes you find on left-wing blogs.
You guys just pick a handful of sentences plucked by a left-wing blogger and define a man’s whole being by that. And that’s why i call you narrow-minded. By contrast, I judge him by an entire body of work, the better part of which, perhaps say 99% doesn’t even deal with homosexuality, particularly the stuff which earned him renown and respect on the right (and even from my Marxist political science professor who helped introduce me to the man’s ideas).
Comment by B. Daniel Blatt — September 22, 2009 @ 5:48 am - September 22, 2009
As another famous Jew would have told you, “You’re sick. Get help.”
Comment by tc — November 1, 2009 @ 2:21 am - November 1, 2009
I can’t speak for anyone else, but yes, I’ve read Kristol’s writings, in full. They were universally as ill-conceived and ignorant as were his writings on homosexuality. Your “defense” of Kristol’s writings smacks of the same defense that so many budding Communists used decades ago — that *real* Communism had never been tried and, therefore, we couldn’t say for sure whether Communism worked or not.
Kristol’s brand of neo-conservatism has, in fact, been tried (as Kristol himself acknowledged), and has been judged a near-total failure. May those ideas die a well-deserved death.
Comment by PaulB — November 1, 2009 @ 12:09 pm - November 1, 2009
For the record, you do understand that this statement of yours is completely false, right?
And that talking about “the left” being “anti-American” is pretty silly, not to mention ignorant.
Comment by PaulB — November 1, 2009 @ 12:17 pm - November 1, 2009
OK, PaulB, if you’ve read Kristol’s writings in full, you should at leat be able to paraphrase his arguments instead of just calling them ignorant and ill-conceived.
And I’m sure his ideas have been judged a failure, mostly by left-wingers like yourself who show no familiarity whatsoever with said ideas.
So, please show me what the statement of mine that you quoted in #22 is completely false.
Until you do so, I will remain skeptical of your claim to having read Kristol’s writings.
Comment by B. Daniel Blatt — November 1, 2009 @ 12:58 pm - November 1, 2009