RICH UNDER FIRE: New York Times columnist Frank Rich, who was promoted earlier this year to a new position on the Arts & Leisure page, has come under heavy criticism from defenders of the Bush administration for his outrage (reading the column requires purchase) over the looting of the National Museum in Baghdad, now believed to be greatly exaggerated. Charles Krauthammer takes aim in his column today:
Frank Rich best captured the spirit of antiwar vindication when he wrote (New York Times, April 27) that "the pillaging of the Baghdad museum has become more of a symbol of Baghdad's fall than the toppling of a less exalted artistic asset, the Saddam statue."The narcissism, the sheer snobbery of this statement, is staggering. The toppling of Saddam Hussein freed 25 million people from 30 years of torture, murder, war, starvation and impoverishment at the hands of a psychopathic family that matched Stalin for cruelty but took far more pleasure in it. For Upper West Side liberalism, this matters less than the destruction of a museum.
Which didn't even happen! What now becomes of Rich's judgment that the destruction of the museum constitutes "the naked revelation of our worst instincts at the very dawn of our grandiose project to bring democratic values to the Middle East"? Does he admit that this judgment was nothing but a naked revelation of the cheapest instincts of the antiwar left -- that, shamed by the jubilation of Iraqis upon their liberation, a liberation the Western left did everything it could to prevent, the left desperately sought to change the subject and taint the victory?
Hardly. The left simply moved on to another change of subject: the "hyping" of the weapons of mass destruction.
Mr. Rich is a long time Lying in Ponds favorite because of his ability to take strong ideological positions without partisanship, Since his columns are not on the Op-Ed page, they are no longer tracked on this page.
| Author/ Affiliation |
Title/ Date |
words | PI | Partisan References |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charles Krauthammer Washington Post |
Hoaxes, Hype and Humiliation 13 June 2003 |
861 | 100 | 2R+: President Bush, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld |
| Daniel Henninger WSJ OpinionJournal |
Where's the 'Intelligence'? 13 June 2003 |
1123 | 100 | 1D-: Carl Levin 5R+: George W. Bush, Bush, Bush, George Bush, Bush |
| George F. Will Washington Post |
Journalism's Gentleman Giant 13 June 2003 |
870 | 100 | 2D+: John Kennedy, Sam Rayburn |
| Paul Krugman New York Times |
'Some Crazy Guy' 13 June 2003 |
887 | 89 | 3D+: Democrats, Democrats, President Clinton 1R+: Republican 23R-: Tom DeLay, Newt Gingrich, Republican, DeLay, DeLay, Gingrich, DeLay, DeLay, DeLay, Republican, DeLay, DeLay, Republicans, DeLay, DeLay, Republicans, DeLay, DeLay, DeLay, DeLay, DeLay, DeLay, DeLay 1D= |
| E. J. Dionne Jr. Washington Post |
In the Red Over Code Orange 13 June 2003 |
941 | 53 | 11D+: Thomas M. Menino, Menino, Menino, Menino, Menino, Democratic, Barney Frank, Democrat, Menino, Menino, Menino 2R+: Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, Republican 1R-: President Bush 4D=, 1R= |
| Jackson Diehl Inactive |
Diplomacy by Assassination 13 June 2003 |
892 | 0 | 2D=, 6R= |
| Mona Charen Creators Syndicate |
Summer reading 13 June 2003 |
767 | 0 | |
| Nicholas D. Kristof Inactive |
White House in Denial 13 June 2003 |
900 | 0 | 16R= |
| Cal Thomas Tribune Media Services |
Good night, David 13 June 2003 |
728 | 0 | 1D= |