The New Republic endorses John Kerry for President

[LiviaOlivia]

October 21, 2004
John Kerry for President
by the Editors


There was a time, in the aftermath of September 11, when this magazine liked what it heard from George W. Bush. He said America was at war--not merely with an organization, but with a totalitarian ideology. And he pledged to defeat Islamist totalitarianism the same way we defeated European totalitarianism, by spreading democracy. For a publication that has long believed in the marriage of liberalism and American power, this was the right analysis. And its correctness mattered more than the limitations of the man from which it came.

Three years later, it has become tragically clear that the two cannot be separated. The president's war on terrorism, which initially offered a striking contrast to his special interest-driven domestic agenda, has come to resemble it. The common thread is ideological certainty untroubled by empirical evidence, intellectual curiosity, or open debate. The ideology that guides this president's war on terrorism is more appealing than the corporate cronyism that guides his domestic policy. But it has been pursued with the same sectarian, thuggish, and ultimately self-defeating spirit. You cannot lead the world without listening to it. You cannot make the Middle East more democratic while making it more anti-American. You cannot make the United States more secure while using security as a partisan weapon. And you cannot demand accountable government abroad while undermining it at home.

And so a president who promised to make America safer by making the Muslim world more free has failed on both counts. This magazine has had its differences with John Kerry during his career and during this campaign. But he would be a far better president than George W. Bush.

<snip>

The result is a country bitterly divided, distrustful of its government, and weaker as a result. The next time an American president tries to use force in the war on terrorism, he will not merely lack the world's trust, he will lack much of the American people's as well. That may be Bush's most damning legacy of all. He has failed the challenge of these momentous times. John Kerry deserves a chance to do better.



http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?i=20041101&s=editorial110104
subscription only

[SaveElmer]

1. Surprisingly Strong

Their endorsements for Democrats are usually really tepid.

[starroute]

2. The New Republic became irrelevant a long time ago

And anyone who believes that making war on an ideology is a good idea is somewhere out in la-la land.

(Hey, I'm thinking of making war on antidisestablishmentarianism. Who's with me? All we have to do is kill all the antidisestablishmentarians. It'll be a cinch.)

[The Zanti Regent]

3. Yeah, Back when Henry Wallace editied it, it was believable

The came Andrew Sullivan and his pals, Glass, Milbank, Michael (burn in hell you pig) Kelly, Peretz and all those other right wing lying assholes.

They don't call it the NEW REPUBLICAN for nothing. Fuck 'em.

I STILL remember when the New Republic was the only magazine to stand up to Mc Carthy. Hell, even THE NATION backed down. But, NOT HENRY WALLACE.

Now, Mr Wallace belches in his grave...

[LiviaOlivia]

5. Jeffrey Rosen reporting on the SCOTUS

is the best in universe. You haven't been keeping up!

[donco6]

4. They'll welcome us with bouquets

the antidisestablishmentarians won't know what hit 'em! Our superior firepower will destroy them forever.

[LiviaOlivia]

6. It's too bad you can't read. eom