Posted on 01/07/2014 7:56:16 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
One Sunday night in early November I watched Bret Baier's Special Report in which he interviewed Charles Krauthammer. In responding to a question about his inclusion in his book, Things That Matter, a 2007 column about baseball player Rick Ankeil's fall and return to the major leagues, Krauthammer responded with a reference to a line from that article: "...the catastrophe that awaits everyone from a single false move, wrong turn, fatal encounter. Every life has such a moment. What distinguishes us is whether -- and how -- we ever come back."
Several hours later, I had a terrible accident. As it was occurring, my awareness that something bad was about to happen brought that line front and center in my consciousness. And Krauthammer's words -- more precisely, his life story -- inspired me to make my injury a defining moment from which I would recover and proceed to focus on the "things that matter."
Krauthammer explained in a 2011 column that "...if we don't get politics right, everything else risks extinction." Simple yet poignant; he could have started and ended the book there. But as I lay in bed reading Things That Matter, something struck me. Out of almost every piece included in the book (88 columns spanning three decades), there was a thought or statement that is just as relevant today as when first written....
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
He has some good insights but lately he has drifted toward the DC regulars and has modified his opinions accordingly.
Seems that too much interaction with those in DC tend to warp your ideas and it does seem to have effected our old friend here...
Bump
He hasn’t completely escaped his liberal roots.
He may be a nice man (and from what I hear, he’s not). But, he is a Trotskyite. People who think there is ANYTHING politically conservative about him are sadly confused.
Fox News did to conservatism what disco did to rock and roll.
I think the man is usually right on. Nobody is perfect, my Mamma wonce told me.
Actually, I think that he escaped them and had some fine moments but finally came back to his roots for money, influence and fame. You simply can’t make money from DC without cowing to those in charge. A shame but true.
Never trust anyone from DC (at least anyone that’s been there for a year or so)!
I finished up his book....Things that Matter....last week.
It’s a collection of his best essay material over the last thirty years. Some one page....some twelve pages. I’d strongly recommend the book for someone who wanted simple insight and logic in most of today’s topics. A good ‘compass’ for seeing the problems at hand.
I’d also suggest only reading one essay at a time and putting the book down to contemplate how each issue is being resolved or seen. It’s a book to make you think and ponder. Worth reading, and would be a fine gift for a college-student relative.
Thank you, and good advice. Just purchased the Kindle version. A good book to keep handy while the wife shops, etc. I cannot think of anyone today I agree with all the time...if you look at “K” in those terms then rate him against the “rest”..he is in my top five always as others come and go.
Krauthammer is brilliant, incisive, articulate, and conservative. He also lives in the DC cocoon. He gets far too much of his information from the NYT, WaPo, and the Beltway. He needs to move to somewhere like Missoula Montana to really understand the USA.
Yes, Charles does write as though he is a Conservative but if you watch him enough he is much more of a contributor - ie., he does his thing to get along with those in power, not anything that might disturb the policies of the left or right (go along to get along). That means that he does his thing for money and profit. A shame but if you look at his past, you will agree. He does have a viewpoint but always refrains from stating it positively as it might hurt his standing.
Actually, I like his general understanding of politics but in the long run, he does tend to do whatever is necessary to continue his popularity rather than stand up to the truth.
I’d imagine that his book would uphold my theory of his current political views (or non political views). These DC folks make their money on spreading conflicting views based on the current emotions of the country. Very few folks working in DC actually have “REAL” views about anything!
I agree with everything you’ve said there! Too bad that it is true.
Great post! so totally true! Taking it a step further-Krauthammer is a coward!
I agree, but he is at least a Conservative coward! It is a life lived by most newspaper folks these days...
the time is now for some of these conservative cowards to step outside their comfortable ivory towers and actually take one for The Cause. Their words dont mean much if they don’t follow thru on them. This is why I don’t bother reading Kraut anymore. He talks the talk....and that’s all....
Nice thought but they will never give up their money position whether liberal or conservative contributor to news shows... Too bad though, someone could make a fortune by going against the current grind... Waiting for that fellow!
Speechwriter Krauthammer helped Walter Mondale try to defeat Ronald Reagan in 1984.
Krauthammer wasn’t a conservative then. He’s never been one since but he has made a good living playing one.
Well, I try not to look at the past but to current events but you do pose a good question. Do you take the past and the present when evaluating the current position.
I think that you do have to take both but in Krauthammer’s defense, I will say that I think that he has become more Conservative over time but of course that is relevant so I won’t press the point.
He has (to me) gone from a Conservative to a more liberal fellow taking the side of policies that make no sense to me (typical of Washington DC folks) so I have to say that no matter what he says at times, he is not longer a real Conservative but has been captured by the leftist opinion that is prevalent in Washington. Such is life...
I am beginning to expect nothing more from those that go into the Washington DC framework...moral going in, immoral going out...or worse, working for those that do both...at the taxpayers expense. Yes, most fit this pattern...what a joke we have with so called elections!
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