A Fine Obituary for the Weekly Standard, from Reason's Katherine Mangu-Ward

Check it out here; I liked it a lot, especially its tone -- too rarely seen these days -- of sympathetic adversariness.

Comments

[Beldar]

Thanks for this link. I agree that it's a well-written and -conceived memoriam. My favorite line:

And when its writers argued in earnest, as they did most of the time, they did so with the benefit of historical literacy, occasional insider information, and ruthless copy editing and fact checking.

[Jimmy the Dane]

The Weekly Standard was run by republicans with the mentality of the party from the 60's and 70's. They were weak and played along with quasi-liberal politics so they were recognized by those in polite society within the beltway. But around 2008 the liberals decided no one right of Stalin would be permitted into that social circle anymore and began every effort to expel them including members of their own party. In 2019 that Stalin-esque purge is now complete and an indirect casualty of it were establishment republicans that put invitations to DC events of the day over real policy and politics.

The left has taken a huge lurch to extremism and the right will slowly, but surely, react. There will be no place for civil debate or discourse in the coming America. All we will see are exercises of raw power. Principle be damned and when someone wants to write an obituary on that I don't think it will find any audience who cares.

[CJColucci]

I haven't heard anyone use the verb "grok" since the early '70s.

[Jett's Pop]

Eating ham and drinking whiskey at a shiva, Podhoretz? Hmmm. I think you better stick to the wake analogy.

[Bob from Ohio]

The Standard going so bat sh*t insane over Trump gave its owner the clear opening to kill it.

No worries though, they re-formed at The Bulwark where they can waste some other billionaire's money.

[Alan Vanneman]

I disagree strongly with Ms. Mangu-Ward's description of the Standard. It was devoted entirely into hectoring the American people into pursuing a foreign policy run for the benefit of Israel, or rather the Standard's skewed and incorrect view of what would best serve the interests of Israel. The Standard was endlessly unscrupulous and dishonest in its endless attacks on both Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. It can be said of Bill Kristol, Charles Krauthammer, et al. that they set out to destroy the Democratic Party and instead destroyed the Republicans, because they made common cause with the Rush Limbaughs and Matt Drudges of the world. By agreeing that no lie was too great to tell as long as it weakened the Democrats, they prepared the way for Donald Trump. And so they have their reward.

[David Nieporent]

I disagree strongly with Ms. Mangu-Ward's description of the Standard. It was devoted entirely into hectoring the American people into pursuing a foreign policy run for the benefit of Israel, or rather the Standard's skewed and incorrect view of what would best serve the interests of Israel.

Come for the antisemitism; stay for the condescending antisemitism.

[David Nieporent]

I do like how "Jimmy the Dane" thinks the Weekly Standard was "weak and played along with quasi-liberal politics," and Alan Vanneman thinks the Weejly Standard was "endlessly unscrupulous and dishonest in its endless attacks on both Bill Clinton and Barack Obama."