My new Nation column is “Fox News: The World’s Comic Relief”: Our friends abroad give the network the derision and the mockery it deserves.”
One kvetch before we get to the lists and Alter-reviews: I have read a lot of nonsense about Andrew Sullivan this past week. It’s ironic for so many reasons I can’t quite keep track, especially in light of all the nonsense that has been written about The New Republic and, again, makes one’s head explode if one tries to take too many of them seriously simultaneously.
But here are a few:
How was The New Republic so crucial a bastion of American liberalism if under Andrew, it published and promoted Charles Murray’s racist pseudoscience? (Andrew: “one of my proudest moments in journalism.”) And ditto Betsy McCaughey’s lying, dishonest takedown of Clinton’s health care reform? (Andrew: “I was aware of the piece’s flaws but nonetheless was comfortable running it as a provocation.”) And if it were so dedicated to serious, thoughtful journalism, what the hell was Andrew doing publishing Camille Paglia on “Hillary the man-woman and bitch goddess.” And do I even need to mention that he appointed Stephen Glass as the magazine’s first-ever head of fact-checking?
But even funnier are the positions Andrew himself took. Back in the days when he was still part-Marty Peretz, Sullivan literally called me a traitor to my country, telling an outright lie about my allegedly stated views on Afghanistan. I repeatedly offered to give thousands of dollars to charity if Andrew could substantiate his lie but he never even tried. He also attacked me as a purveyor of hateful anti-Semitism owing to my analysis of the media coverage of Israel, comparing one of my columns to the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Now, he has done a complete 180 and is far more critical of Israel than I ever was (or will be) and viciously attacks the people who used to be his comrades, thereby inspiring his one-time friends and colleagues to wonder why Andrew, himself, hates the Jews. So the old Andrew would have called the new Andrew a traitor and an anti-Semite. And the new Andrew apparently thinks the old Andrew is an idiot, who supported stupid imperialist wars and ran interference for evil countries. (Notice I did not even have to bring up the Trigg thing.) If this person is the most influential “intellectual” in America as I have seen two people claim in recent days, then that’s about the worst thing I’ve ever heard anyone say about my country. Andrew is to intellectuals what Sarah Palin is to politicians and Vanilla Ice was to hip-hop. Seriously, I do not begrudge Andrew his role as a pioneer blogger, nor his genius for self-promotion, but what I find most impressive about him is his ability to somehow convince people not to hold him responsible for the consequences of his atrocious judgment. (No doubt hundreds of thousands of dead Iraqis and millions more homeless ones would have wished that our “intellectuals” were held to a higher standard.) But give him credit, by quitting, he has finally done something to elevate the level of intellectual discourse in political life. I wish him a happy retirement. I wish my country a better class of intellectual.
Popular
"swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe →
Lists:
Now that the Super Bowl is over—great game by the way—people will start obsessing about the Oscars. (Did you know that more women watch the former than the latter?) Anyway, here’s my 2014 movie list. Numbers 1 and 2 are the best two movies I’ve seen in many years. There’s a massive falling off after that, especially since 3 and 4 are re-releases from decades past, and you get to get all the way to #9 before you get to Hollywood. (I do expect Birdman to win best picture, by the way, also best actor and best supporting actor.)
Best Movies of Movies That I’ve Seen of 2014:
Boyhood
Ida
A Tale of Summer
A Tale of Winter
Human Capital
Wild Tales
Force Majeure
Snowpiercer
Birdman
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Interstellar
Nightcrawler
Gone Girl
Alter-reviews: Jazz @ Lincoln Center Orchestra at Rose Hall; Bettye LaVette at the Café Carlyle and the Thompson Family at City Winery.
So I caught two shows this past week. Saturday evening I saw the final of Jazz @ Lincoln Orchestra's tribute to “Jazz Titans: Duke, Dizzy, Trane & Mingus.”
I’m not sure that’s a theme. But it sure was a great night of music. The idea was to focus on the global influences that each man brought to his compositions, particularly from Africa and Latin America, and how each used their discoveries to broaden the horizons of their artistry and create new terrain for jazz. Wynton led the band in a variety of tunes that ha, per usual, been re-arranged by members of the orchestra including Ellington's Latin American Suite and Virgin Islands Suite; Mingus' Tijuana Moods; and various pieces from Gillespie's early Afro-Cuban era. By far the highlight was Coltrane's Olé, which featured a joint arrangement by at least six members of the group and some beautiful and haunting solos that made it feel historic and forward-looking at the same time, as Coltrane must have intended.
I was also able to see Bettye LaVette’s new show at the Café Carlyle, which is running through this week. As the press material correctly explained, she “showcased her inimitable style, gut wrenching vocals and songs from throughout her five decade career, as well as the world premiere of selections from her new album, Worthy,” which is on Cherry Red releases and contains songs by Dylan, the Beatles and the Stones amongst others, radically reimagined to the point where you are certain you’re hearing them for the first time. I was also most impressed with her band, which gave her wrenching vocals an atmosphere of warmth and added a degree of welcome tightness to the performance. That band, consists of musical director Alan Hill (keyboards, backing vocals), Darryl Pierce (drums), Brett Lucas (guitar, backing vocals) and James Simonson (bass, backing vocals), and like LaVette, hails from Detroit. (Her first hit came in 1962, "My Man—He's a Lovin' Man.”)
In between, I was lucky enough to catch a show by the Thompson Family—led not by guitar-god, Richard, but by his dreamboat son, Teddy. Teddy’s got some issues, but he’s also got an incredible voice and some really clever songs. I’ll let my friend Jesse Kornbluth tell you all about it on his headbutler site, here. He’s a lot less lazy than I am apparently and even shot video.
The Mail:
Hey Eric,
I hope your year is off to a great start.
I was just verifying the Heritage membership rolls and realized that you aren't a member yet.
I hope you choose to be part of the Heritage team—we have a lot of work ahead of us in the coming year and we need every conservative in America to stand with us.
https://www.joinheritage.com/join/
It’s the fastest, most secure way to activate your Heritage membership.
Thank you Eric! We appreciate your generous support.
Christie Fogarty
Director of Membership
The Heritage Foundation
The Heritage Foundation | 214 Massachusetts Avenue, NE | Washington, D.C. 20002 | (800) 546-2843.
