I hope so

Submitted by David (United States), Jan 2, 2023 at 05:37

I certainly hope you are correct, but take a gander at what is featured on the Bulwark. As I noted, attacks on almost every element of the pro-Israel American community. What can justify his gratuitous, exceptionally embittered attack on the Evangelical Church, for example? Hardly a day goes by that his publication is not dominated by one or another screed against an allied community. You correctly wondered, huh, why did the administration not care, for example, about the Iranian drone program until recently. Well, Bill Kristol exemplifies their attitudes. He unabashedly repeated their mantras, "longer and stronger," as to the idea about how to handle the Ayatollahs, seemingly blithely unconcerned with the implications of allowing nuclear proliferation on behalf of the Islamic Republic, albeit on a staggered timeframe. Only now, that the Iranians have supplied arms to his favorite current target, which is the Russian regime, is he seemingly interested again in stopping the Iranian nuclear weapons program, perhaps by force. A project that once admirably consumed no small amount of attention from him. And yes, the occasion of an uprising by courageous young Iranians, and the brutal crackdown on them, has reminded him of the barbarity of that government. Which I hesitate to say, he seemed amenable to supply with a major diplomatic boost a year ago.

I hasten to add, and this is a criticism more of the administration than Bill Kristol, that when the Israeli government bombed an Iranian drone factory a year ago, it was met with condemnation by Biden and company. Only now, that the drones are targeted not only at the Jewish state, is it interesting to them. But of course, the double edged sword is that if the Israeli government participates in a project that the White House is reportedly interested in, which is a joint strike on the Iranian drone capacities, the Kremlin in this situation could simply decide to give the Iranians a couple of nuclear bombs and ICBMs as a gift. They seem to have more than they know what to do with at the moment.

I certainly hope you are correct, and to me the former Professor of Political Science at your alma mater, is inscrutable. He has accumulated no small amount of influence in the Democratic party, or to borrow one of the favorite phrases of George W. Bush, a fair amount of "political capital." But it seems hard for me to avoid the conclusion, from noting his current writings, that he is in the throes of some sort of newfound antipathy to Israel. Another odd example. A childish attack on Ben Shapiro, as being the exemplar of "conservative intellectuals." Hmm, just two days after Shapiro was castigated by the increasingly leftist press, for lambasting that piece of Jordanian propaganda, that grossly and egregiously distorts Israel's War of Independence. I wonder, no relation to the hostility? I presume that mostly, William Kristol is angered by the fact that the Republican party nominated Trump, which is something that he cannot forgive, and has therefore extended his anger to any and all even associated with the party, including critics such as Shapiro. It seems to me that there is more going on, and perhaps Trump was just the catalyst for a personal moment of profound embitterment and disillusionment for reasons of which I have no knowledge.

But such things are contagious, and I wish he'd use his considerable newfound power, to positive purposes. I am not sure that a pronouncement from a year ago that he has no political home, is still valid. Two years ago, he said the GOP was "worth saving," and that some extreme pro-abortion laws by the Democratic party proved the point. Now he seems to lavish praise on almost every action by the White House, neglecting quite a few former and even current, avowed priorities of his own. I hope you have more insight into him than I do.

But I cannot forget what seemed like a coordinated attack by him and associated colleagues on Israel, during Operation Guardian of the Walls in May 2021. Forgive me, but their behavior was an unmitigated disgrace. I'm not speaking of him directly, but David Frum and Jennifer Rubin. To the extent he had any influence over it, it is a cause of concern for me.

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