Him lending intellectual gravity to Fox did not cover him w glory
2
I get it, that you're not supposed to speak ill of the dead. And, I get it that there are people who as family or personal friend mourn their loss of him.
I knew him not, I knew only his writings. I will not miss his writings. I remain baffled why reputable newspapers continued to carry his weekly "I hate everything Obama" articles. They were beyond tiresome.
18
To those critics that didn't follow Charles Krauthammer, he was no ideologue. He was not a perfect human, but he was a thoughtful fair minded man.
His political positions were center right and he argued from that perspective. on occasion, he got it wrong. However, I can virtually assure the never Trump corner, he was not a fan of the man, his style or his contributions to the political tribalism of our times.
Rest In Peace You imperfect Agnostic Jew.
2
I've read all the comments from "progressives", and besides being mean-spirited, none have concluded with an assertion that, at the very least, his integrity and civility were something to emulate. Instead, I see name-calling, and vituperation against Mr. Krauthammer, Israel, Presidents Regan and Trump., neoconservatives, etc. Pathetic and self-destructive.
4
I respected Charles’ intellect. How can anyone actually suggest that his best trait was his integrity while working for Fox?
True integrity would have been to denounce Fox for the propaganda and lies it has steadily spewed on ignorant people.
14
Nihil nisi bonum and all that, but I never met the man, but I was a bit baffled by his evolution from a thoughtful and fair-minded analyst to a man of a few rather rigid right-wing ideas that he tended to apply in Procrustean fashion. He was certainly the brightest light in the Fox News galaxy, but to say that is to damn him with faint praise.
10
Anyone who finds true sorrow in Mr. Krauthammer's passing, as any human being should, no matter their political persuasion, should also examine their own conscience. If tomorrow they return to their idolatry of the antithesis of Charles, Trump, then their words of condolences today are null and void. Charles has more intellect and gumption in his pinky than Trump does in his entire bloated carcass. Trump cannot hold a candle to Mr. Krauthammer. And maybe during trying times like these is when one who claims to be conservative know the difference between someone who practiced what he preached, and had a philosophy by which to guide him, and Trump, who from one day to the next, heck, from one hour to the next, has not a clue or thought in his knucklehead.
DD
Manhattan
3
I trust the veracity of his personal attributes as described by Mr. Krauthammer's adulating friends and colleagues, as they observed him in his private life. I only knew him through his op-ed essays and TV appearances as a talking head, ironically. In that regard, I always thought him an intellectual cripple, not a physical one. An unctuous, moralizing neocon more accurately describes his public visage. I am far more saddened by the passing of Koko. While both were clear communicators, Koko had the more publicly generous spirit.
18
When I was a child, I became interested in words people chose to use. My father gave me a huge Webster’s Dictionary for Christmas.
I watched William F. Buckley debate liberals on television. Buckley always won the debates, but the wins didn’t seem completely fair.
I armed myself with my dictionary in my lap, seated on our couch, and watched Buckley debate.
I recognized there was a system Buckley used in his debates: (1) Buckley would make a statement; (2) his liberal opponent would comment; (3) Buckley would respond using some arcane term, and; (4) his opponent was stunned into silence. (5) Voila! Buckley scores yet another win.
My dictionary revealed the arcane term(s) Buckley used in step #3 could just as easily been one of several ubiquitous terms.
His wins were not based upon a superior intellect but a semantic stunt.
Many “conservative intellectuals” use the same stunt. Charles Krauthammer was one of them.
15
As I enjoy a fine cigar and a good scotch, I greatly appreciate this testimonial to Mr. Krauthammer. I didn’t always agree with his opinions, but always respected the source. We have lost a wonderful voice and someone who knew we should always continue to evolve our beliefs and consider each other’s opinions.
3
My sincere condolences for the loss of your good friend. I respected Mr. Krauthammer's ability to formulate clear arguments for his positions.
To the next reader who feels the need to post a borderline hate message on a man who has passed on , please ask yourself how many steps removed we are from actually calling for harm to befall those whom we disagree with which pretty much describes a true totalitarian state . I am not a conservative nor liberal but consistently appreciate both sides of any political argument and formulate my own opinion in the end . Yes , many if not most here will have found his arguments against their beliefs repulsive , but they did force you to think and find ways to counter his positions which is what is needed in a healthy democracy . When will you be satisfied , when there is no opposition to all your views ? For goodness sakes, please be part of the solution that is civilized debate . I certainly did not agree with all your points of view , but Charles ,your life accomplishments despite your condition are truly inspirational and I will mourn your passing .
13
A great column, thanks. I almost never agreed with Krauthammer, but I did respect his writing and his avoidance of being a knee-jerk ideologue (mostly). Regardless, he showed true grace in dealing with his disability and never letting it define his life.
4
First and foremost was Mr. Krauthammer's passionate and uncritical support of Israel. His support for the invasion of Iraq was similar to that of many Jewish intellectuals in his belief that victory over Saddam would be easy (of course it was, but few of the war's supporters considered the aftermath) and that Israel would benefit from a changed Middle East, with a new Iraq a toady of the United States. Of course Israel and Netanyahu supported the invasion. The war was obviously a disaster and our country and the region have suffered incalculable harm because of it. Another example of how the power of the Israeli lobby has influenced our foreign policy with tragic consequences.
11
I read his early columns up until two years into Obama's first term. He seemed to veer off into some abyss whenever he mentioned Obama's foreign policy, which I will grant was hard to decipher in Syria. His elegy upon his brother's death was simply exceptional.
1
Mr. Krauthammer was really just another unremarkable member of his generation - along with people like Trump, Bannon, Bush, etc. - who became successful by being born at the right time. Those of us a few years younger have had to put up with the swagger and bone-headed overconfidence, as well as the self-serving politics, of this train-wreck for far too long. The healing process for our country will take decades.
10
I heard about this when I got home last night. I saw it on Fox News. Yes. Fox news. I scanned the other channels and there was silence. Nothing.
Today I went first to the WSJ and read a wonderful article about the life of this amazing man. His political journey mirrored mine. I began as a stalwart liberal, fixed, ideology. Never really listening closely. Just blindly agreeing with sentiment until I actually listened to those who were positing there opinions. I heard. I evolved.
I read some of the comments on this article. I certainly don't expect everyone to agree with Charles' opinions but I certainly expected to read some respectful, heartfelt comments about the man and not his politics. I saw some, but many more fixed and mean-spirited.
I feel sorry for those who could not be even a little gracious about this wonderful man who passed.
10
“According to the circumstances I am in agreement or disagreement with the action of a given movement or a given party.”
I know nothing of Charles Krauthammer beyond what others have said and I imagine at least of couple of his views would be at odds with my own... but the above quote is the backbone of aligns perfectly with my own personal ideology. Whenever someone is considering being in the same room as a large crowd of chanting people there are 3 important survival rules: (1) take careful note of all exit doors and/or windows; (2) do not voluntarily make any pledges to do anything or swear loyalty to any particular person; and (3) (I cannot stress this enough) stay away from the punchbowl.
5
Krauthammer had such a powerful voice and he used it to benefit powerful people. That is the saddest part of his story, Mr. Wehner.
19
I think a really good exercise for NYT readers would be for them to try to stretch their minds to understand why someone of Mr. Krauthammer's caliber would appear on FoxNews. They keep bumping up against a wall they've erected. It would be a worthwhile exercise for them and a wonderful way to honor Mr. Krauthammer's intelligence and intellectual versatility.
6
"He made me think." That I would never want somebody as arrogant, as mean, as out of touch with human decency for a nextdoor neighbor. I can think of few things I can fathom less than this "intellectual" tag. The only thing he ever made me think was, can these newspapers just not find conservatives who have original thoughts?
10
I hadn't paid attention to Krauthammer. To me he was another talking head, and as I threw out my television many years ago, his face was just vaguely familiar.
I didn't read him in the Post. I subscribed only after our frightening descent into trumpism.
I will take a look now. This is a nicely-done piece.
2
Comments here seem to cut cruelly against this man's legacy. While they may be correct and even fair, let's pause for a moment to acknowledge a physically flawed man that rose despite his handicaps and, at last, give him some benefit of the doubt for the water he hauled for Republican intellectualists too weak to even form a cogent argument.
Charles, you SOUNDED good. You've left us with the ones that don't.
I am not sure I recognize the Krauthammer as so well eulogized in this piece. The Krauthammer I remember was one who railed against Obama in hyperbolic and over-the-top ranting on Fox. True, I never really watched the entirety of his appearances (sorry, I just couldn't stomach it) and my views are based on several sound-bites (which was more than enough to realize that I didn't want to watch him, leave alone read his pieces). But then I read some of what he wrote (as excerpted in this piece) and realized that I was perhaps far too hasty in dismissing someone with so sharp and erudite a pen . . .
9
He started greasing the slippery slope that has brought us the current 45th presidency. He was as tribal as the next "conservative". Their opposition to current rot is that it was too distasteful for them.
He hardly had anything to say about the execution of meanness masquerading as policy, systematic debasement of institutions, and Republicans religious fervor in opposing knowledge.
He was in all probability a good human being and an intellectual, however history will remember him as the cheerleader for Reaganism and begining of slippery slope of a white supremacist government.
13
Despite his eloquence and integrity, despite his resistance to Trump, despite his so-called independence, he still threw in his lot, thrived within, and benefited from the same Republican extremism and Fox News propaganda machine that has brought us to this current deplorable (and I use that word deliberately) place in American history. He didn't make us a better country.
11
Just because he's dead doesn't change what he was and supported. This idea that certain intellectual conservatives are not to blame for the state of the nation now just because they criticize Trump personally is nothing but a distraction to what they stand for. There's not much difference except the presentation.
A great Zionist, yes. American? Sorry, not buying it.
15
Thanks for the insight. Charles Krauthammer apparently was quite an individual.
1
Another liberal mourning this loss. When Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannnity are left to carry the mantle of clear-headed conservatism it's a loss for everyone.
5
My condolences.
Since you not only mourn him but want us to respond to his example what can we do? The idea of you, Charles, Bill Bennett, Charles Murray getting together is very scary to think about. Four aggressive logic chopping reactionary white men breaking bread talking columns at each other. God knows what that is like. We only know the carnage and pain that you helped and continue to help bring about. But obviously deep bonds formed between you. And obviously the pain of Charle's loss is profound. I know what that pain feels like. I wish you the best during this period of mourning.
9
Unfortunately despite all his alleged intellect and quality education he chose denialist group thrink when it came to the climate crisis, the greatest looming threat facing our planet and humanity.
12
Having decided early on that Krauthammer was not worth reading, I never read him. It is doubtful I missed anything.
11
Of course he didn't. He didn't really have beliefs. Just sophistry in the service of a career as a talking head.
6
Charles Krauthammer, may his soul rest in peace , was an intelligent and elegant conservative writer. He did not write with humility or uncertainty. He was, in his public writings, arrogant and extremely ideological. His visceral hatred for Obama showed through all his columns for nigh on eight years, not a good word for one of the most moral and upright human beings to occupy the Presidency.
9
It would have been interesting to hear an explanation of motivation for someone who moved from centrist democrat to thoughtful republican and was able to tolerate the relationship of conservatism to bigotry.
2
You say he was kind, but he wasn't kind to those of us who are HIV positive or LGBT over the decades. He spewed hate at our direction at every opportunity, at a time when we were threatened with government indifference and extreme bias.
And certainly not humane to the Palestinians who he had no 'love' for as he supported increased theft of land in Israel.
As others have said, his intemperatness lead to the Trump regime.
24
I am heartened to see so many respondents not falling for the reflex of lying about a man once he's dead. Charles Krauthammer was a warmonger and a right-wing propagandist of the first order. He promoted fraudulent politics and a philosophy of greed and cruelty his entire life. That he persisted in this in the face of a horrifying accident makes it not inspiring, but macabre.
32
Obviously, this is a tragic death, as all deaths are, but I can't help but wonder how the following is possibly true for someone who worked at fox news.
"His intellect was not the most impressive thing about him; nor was his skill as a writer. His integrity was. He was a person of dignity, equanimity and personal grace."
Perhaps, if he daily called out his employer's lies and the damage they do to our national discourse and our Democracy, I might find a way to agree. Lacking that, its hard to see this man as anything other than just another cog in the fox news evil-spewing machine.
He spent all that effort of will overcoming a terrible disability so he could wind up working for fox news. What a waste.
14
Yes, even though as a bleeding heart liberal I disagreed with many of Mr. Krauthammer's views, it was clear to me that he had the vision of a seeker of truth, and for this, I often learned from what he had to say, if nothing more than to hear what the other side (the ones who think) thinks. I certainly agree that we need more like him, i.e., more men and women who say what they think and not what they are expected to say.
3
Oh, my . . . Hard to square this with Mr Krauthammer's chronic public unpleasantness, his determination to clothe cant in pretend-profundity, his dispiriting and groundless hatred of President Obama, and the folly of his views on the Near East, all of those views. Still, we pray for his soul.
13
A man is known by the company he keeps. Charles Krauthammer fits right in at FOX. Birds of a feather do flock together. Just look at the White House crowd these days.
9
Krauthamer’s passing marks the end of an era during which conservative political thought in American could be identified with careful analysis and evidence. It is now the domain thuggery. Krauthamer would be mortified to think that his views could be twisted to support fascism.
1
Charles stood head and shoulders above every other opinion writer in journalism. He had no intellectual equal. You didn't have to agree with his positions, but you couldn't successfully argue against his points. He had thought it through and most people's opinions, even those of the ones who spout opinions for a living, are based on surface or emotional responses to complex issues.
For those commenting who slam Charles, I'm not saying you had to agree with him. I know you couldn't his arguments and for some that may make you feel weak and insignificant. But have the decency to either not comment or be respectful to someone who has just passed, instead of showing your insecurities.
1
As a lifelong Lib, I rarely if ever agreed with Charles on political issues. But as a human being he was a gentleman and a gentle man.
This was what politics used to be like, kids. Nowadays, people who voted for and continue to blindly support the most incompetent and deranged president in history have no idea what a critical exchange of ideas looks like were it to hit them upside their head. If they did, they'd realize the US has entered a deep dark abyss, perhaps one which the US may not be able to extricate itself from.
DD
Manhattan
5
Yes, today one determines whether one will be open- or closed-minded (ex., listen or refuse to listen) based on a cable channel.
2
I did not always agree with Charles, but, to his credit he used common sense, kept a calm voice and to my knowledge never spewed half-truths and outright lies one now finds with most conservative columnists and commentators.
Charles, you will be missed, but, you won't be missing much in the bubble of Trumplandia.
Someone who is 'profoundly humane' and at the same time a devoted Zionist, must have an enormous blind spot for the way in which Israel was founded. (And has consistently behaved towards the unfortunate people who happened to live in the area needed for the Jewish state.) Fortunately, nowadays more and more people are unwilling to close their eyes to what happened and is still going on.
4
Peter Wehner, you would do honor to your friend to follow his example. Your attacks lack the wit, grace, and insight that Charles brought when he criticized our President!
this neocon predicted the iraq war would be "the 3 week war" Like all neocons, he advocated american military intervention, never served, nor did his child in the military, and eloquently advocated the use of military force while he, and his other neocons sleep soundly in their mansions
but he was quick witted, funny at times, but his strong advocacy of polices resulting in the death of thousands of americans tarnishes his legacy
8
That he would have anything to do with Fox News says everything I need to know.
As a Jew, Krauthammer must have realized the current administration's stance has been softened only by the convert, Ivanka.
5
Charles Krauthammer was indeed a rare human being - a conservative whom I actually wanted to hear.
See: RevolutionOfReason.com
3
minor leaguer
3
With respect to the subject of abortion, it doesn't take a genius to tell the difference between an acorn and an oak tree. It does, however, take a modicum of intelligence to twist the obvious. I'm not aware that Charles Krauthammer was able to make a contribution beyond that.
4
I find it difficult to be moved by this. My metric for a “reasonable” column begins with a simple test: are the first two paragraphs of the column free of ad hominem attack. I tried for quite some time to finish one of his columns, but could not, as he consistently violated my simple test. In this case, “consistently” is a weak word as I do not recall even once encountering a reasonable column of his.
I guess it’s my loss that no clarity of his mind was made visible to me because I could not see past the weakness of a rhetoric that demonized folks who disagreed with him.
2
Excellent!
1
Let's not get carried away. Rabid support for an immoral war in Iraq whose whose tangible cost in hundreds of thousands of lives and trillions of dollars might even be exceeded by the havoc wrought in upending the entire ME; a constant drip-drip of hatred toward Obama which reeked of condescension, even racism.
Clever writing could not mask the distinct odor of bigotry.
12
"I leave this life with no regrets.”
Iraq. Fox News. No regrets.
Please. Like Gandi said, "Think of it."
4
Did not always agree with Charles but loved to read what he wrote. While he was conservative Charles lacked the meanness that inhibits so many of the conservative world in these times. He came from a thoughtful and logical place compared to many dopes who just offer bile and nonsense of the conservative world. I will miss reading him.
1
That Krauthammer would lunch with Murray and Bennett, the early poster children for IQ and race and Mr. Character Education, the compulsive gambler, would be enough to show how thin Krauhammer's intellect was and how vast his hidden conservative ie greedy self interest, values.
4
I saw him on Fox and lost any respect that I had ,for Him
5
Wehner's essay, and most of the comments below, focus on Krauthammer's op-ed columns and other written work. But let's not forget the thousands and thousands of idiotic things he's said as a talking head on Fox News. He sold his intellectual soul.
1
Yes, I know he just died and we’re supposed to be respectful, but this is bunk.
Charles Krauthammer used his considerable intellectual talents for evil purposes. He was the guiding intellectual force between the disastrous and deeply dishonest invasion of Iraq, where thousands of Americans and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis lost their lives. He was a fierce and deeply dishonest advocate for torture, specifically for the torture of Muslims by Israelis and Americans. He was racist to his core, believing that Muslims were an inferior species of human, if they were human at all.
It was only nature that he gravitated to Fox News, where he spewed partisan hatred and dishonesty with the best of them, albeit using longer sentences. Charles Krauthammer and Sean Hannity, joined at the hip.
Most public intellectuals don’t make a difference. Charles Krauthammer did, and in the worst of ways.
8
With all our respect... He worked for FOX. The channel that is the Tokyo Rose for modern American fascism. Anyone that works for that channel is a traitor to Democracy.
7
Let's be frank, Krauthmmer was a neocon hack whose legacy must always include his scurrilous efforts to engage the US in Iraq. That he was successful should make us all loathe him all the more, for the liss of thousands of American soldiers, the maiming of scires of thousands more, and the death of over a half million Iraqis. The end is not in sight. Big ego, vile values.
7
Considering that Mr. Krauthammer was an ardent supporter of apartheid, the line, "His character turned out to be even more impressive than his mind." rings hollow at best. I respect his intellect and concede he was a good writer but his slow descent into conservative shill and blind support of zionism will forever taint his legacy.
7
He said Iraq would last three weeks. Tell that to the wives and mothers who sent off a man and got back a brain damaged child. He’ll get no tears here. Spent his life spewing rubbish, beating the drum for war and never paid any price at all.
8
I'll listen to my mother here.
If you can't say something good about somebody don't say anything at all.
Oh wait, he was better than Trump. He did something right.
RIP CK.
1
I am not conservative per se, and I likely would argue more than a few of the stands Mr. Krauthammer took over the years quite vigorously, but at least in his writings he always took the time to explain his views, back them up, and while I could find fault with his conclusions I also could respect the process (compare that to Trump and Fox News, who seem to want to outdo themselves in claiming things that are so outrageous a halfway bright 6 year old would know they are lies, unlike most Trump supporters).
His time on Fox News was not as brilliant, sadly he got into the liberal baiting and dismissing ideas the network is known for, and I am sorry he did that.
He was of a different tradition, and if it was elitism it was of the mind. Much like HL Mencken (who was a lot more caustic than Charles ever was), he despised what Buckley called the "idiot right", the religious nuts, the racists, the John Birch society types, who yell and rant but can't make an intellectual argument to save their souls, and I suspect Buckley and Mr. Krauthammer both saw the rise of the idiot right as a disaster area, culminating in the election of Trump and his goon administration. Maybe because he actually had to persevere in life, and realize that not everyone is given a golden path, he realized other people had ideas as well, and beliefs. He must have hated that Trump claims brilliance, yet the man cannot make an argument without lying, and cannot claim he did it all himself.
2
RIP.
1
I doubt that you watch Fox News at all. Try my approach—watching all the networks. Believe me it will make you so sick you will want to squelch TV completely or simply watch the weather channel. Let’s be objective. The media is killing the country—not any politician. The media, including the NYT has become biased beyond belief. They have all gone mad! Krauthammer was one of the few objective voices we had.
5
I'm sure Mr K was a verbal genius: but what we do in life is simply more consequential than what we wrote. The Washington Post writes that Mr K was a champion of the 'muscular foreign policy that... lay the groundwork for... the invasion of Iraq'. So, a million muscular verbs were spent advocating for a war that was too cowardly to count the Iraqi's killed as a result (roughly, also a million)? Words come cheap: people, not so much, history eventually informs us the difference.
Mr K writes 4 years ago that climate scientists are 'white-coated propagandists' for whom 'whoring is whoring, and the [Earth Mother] must be appeased', because they act as though their science is settled. But who puts on a seat-belt to drive to the corner grocery because the science on their collision is settled? The seat-belt is there because the consequences of their collision is settled. Likewise, its not the certainty of warming, but the consequence of warming, that alarms responsible thinkers. In his defense, this lover of 'the wonders and joys of physics' claims 'no change... in global temperature in 15 years', apparently unaware that the atmosphere (which hadn't changed in 15 years) is but 1% of the 'global' in 'global warming' (of that globe, 93% is ocean water, which inconveniently had continued warming throughout that 15 year period). Its not 'love of physics' when you throw out the part of physics (in this case, heat capacitance) that you find inconvenient: its something else.
5
And all this time I thought he was just a reactionary blowhard.
3
I will miss making fun of his columns. He was so predictable. You could see he had a check list at hand.
Benghazi. Check.
Email server. Check.
It all had to be repeated over and over again. It made me wonder whether the country really did not have any better columnists.
5
Great vocabulary . . . full of hate.
7
I'll say this about him, he was a cut above his colleague Bob Novak
1
Peter Wehner should know better. He has emerged as a brave and principled voice of opposition to Trumpism but discredits himself with his blitheful association with the racist and mendacious Charles Krauthammer and Charles Murray of the Bell Curve infamy. Krauthammer was a militant ideologue and acolyte of Vladimir Ze'ev Jabotinsky's Likud/ Revisionist Zionist Supremacism- not very different from the White and Evangelical blood and soil Supremacism promoted by Trump and Richard Spencer. As such, he played a central role in promoting American wars of aggression in the Muslim world long before 9/11 and the racially and religiously charged 'clash of civilizations' thesis alongside other Neo-Con Likudniks like Norman Podhoretz, Bernard Lewis, and Martin Peretz. This included a deep vein of bigotry directed against the Hispanic, Asian, African, and Muslim victims of American coups and invasions. There is nothing redeeming in this morally and intellectually rancid legacy.
7
Maybe the most intelligent hypocrite of our time.
5
Canonization already....wow...and yet in life he came across so often not only as the fellow who drank deeply of the nasty Republican Party koolaid- but would be the fellow mixing up the batch.
5
Wow... Just goes to show how liberals can spew the type of hate and vitriol that would make the KKK proud.
Very sad.
2
Many years ago, I recall first seeing Mr. Krauthammer as a participant on a panel discussion and thinking that he seemed to have a lot of hate in his heart, although he was quite erudite in expressing it.
Obviously Mr. Wehner was exposed to a very different side of the man, perhaps because they shared political views, but I could never discern any sense of humanity or humility behind the sneering superior-intellect mode.
I have to wonder if the disabling accident led to his Fox News manner of mean-spirited conservatism?
2
After reading this piece and then the first 40 or so comments, I sadly come to the conclusion that I have long suspected: The divide between reds and blues and the extremes of both sides is far too large to ever be reconciled. The vitriol heaped on Mr. Krauthammer as he is laid to rest speaks volumes about the state of our society. How sad.
I have read where some pundits like to propose that what America is experiencing is akin to the final days of the Roman Empire. I think a more adept analogy is the final days of the Roman Republic.
6
Krauthammer based his views on what he observed and in what he believed was best for the United States .... and ALL Americans. He was not wedded to extremists on either side of the aisle.
We desperately need more people willing to engage in reasonable debate - and compromise. Unfortunately, with the exception of the no-labels movement and the Congressional Problem Solvers caucus, I see few .... and none on network/cable TV or opinion screeds.
4
"I leave this life with no regrets.”
Iraq. Fox News. No regrets???????
Please! Like Gandi said, "Think of it."
6
R.I.P.
2
>> injured his spinal chord.
His spinal CORD, not "chord." Do you people not have a dictionary lying around? Look it up if you don't believe me.
2
Thanks for Iraq CK. Innocents died for no reason.
8
Krauthammer was very intelligent and articulate man, a very skilled writer and thinker. Especially compared to he low-IQ mental midgets, who compensate their lack of intellect by being vicious and ruthless, of Fox News - like Hannity or the Fox and Friends crowd that are Trump’s “brain trust” (more like lack of brain trust, but filled with hatred and bigotry), Krauthammer was brilliant.
So it’s truly disturbing that his highly intelligent man was one of the key cheerleaders for the extraordinarily disastrous Iraq War; he consistently opposed the Oslo Accords and a two-state solution, an opposition driving Israel towards a theocracy/ethnocracy and away from a democracy; he supported Saudi Arabia whose Wahhabism is the ideological foundation of Al Qaeda and ISIS, the principal source of virtually all global jihadi terrorism - Wahhabism is virulently anti-Semitic - to focus instead on Muslim Brotherhood and Iranian threats - both responsible for regional terrorism (though MB outside of link to Hamas has been responsible for very little terrorism; valid reason to oppose MB is political Islam or Islamism) and regional threats and actually mortal enemies of Al Qaeda and ISIS.
His positions on these topics were based on his support for his version of Israel and Zionism - Netanyahu, Likud, even further right-wing Israel, which is opposed by Labor, Zionist Union 40% of Israelis, the majority of Israel’s past security and military leaders, and opposed by 70% of Jewish Americans.
6
This man advocated for an Iraq war that murdered hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians, many of them children. What good did these deaths bring? It destabilized the region and encouraged the rise of Isis.
And all those thousands of Iraqi children, who were murdered as a result of this man's war mongering, will go forever unremembered in the pages of the New York Times.
9
A hack from begining to end. From my youth till now I've been subjected to his snarly, snide, unpleasant demeanor. The character conjured in this piece is nothing like the disrespectful and evil Fox-bot seen on my TV. Who ya' gonna' believe? The hagiographer of this piece or your own eyes and ears?
10
Fox is a hate spewing propaganda machine—and Charles worked for it, facts that nullify any esteem due him. You’re known by the company you keep and the words you speak.
6
He was a bitter man because of his parylisis. He was also a racist and did not believe a Black man should be President.
4
Integrity schmegrity. Show me the integrity in this hatchet job:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/2003/12/05/the-delusiona...
5
Anyone who is so sick as to attack Krauthammer on the day he died simply shows how sick the left is. And...there is not a single writer or reader of the NyTimes who is his intellectual equal.
3
Yes, few are that hypocritical. Intellectual Conservative is an oxymoron in all cases, Krauthammer's included.
6
Malevolent propagandist.
5
What a difference between the Times Picks and the Reader Picks in these comments. Why, apparently, are so many readers of the NYT so filled with hate that they can never recognize any good in anyone who disagrees with their politics?
3
That quote on abortion should be cast in bronze. I will miss Mr. Krauthammer.
3
It's nice to read something about Mr. Krauthammer's personal background and how he treated his colleagues and friends.
My condolences, Mr. Wehner.
A friend used to send me his columns from the Washington Post occasionally, and I'd read them. I never found that he had anything of importance to say. It was always right-wing nonsense and not particularly well thought-out, either, often ignoring countervailing facts. I eventually found them a waste of time to read and asked my friend to stop sending them to me.
The fact that he eventually went to Fox News provides a real insight into his supposed intellect and tells me I made the right decision.
7
He had a beautiful mind: precise, logical, subtle and blessedly free of cant and ended up a fixture on Fox News. Sorry Mr. Werner but like other commenters I have a very hard time wrapping my head around that.
5
Brilliant mind that was wasted by his many toxic opinions on race climate, Garland. To be affiliated with Fox is anathema to kind thinking people. He supported too many damaging actions of his Republican party.
5
I find myself unable to get beyond Krauthammer's anger at the notion that his health insurance premiums might be used to help reduce the cost of health insurance for pregnant women, and yet he has been paraplegic for decades and his far higher than average health care costs are largely born by others. If he is really as smart as people who knew him assert, then it wasn't ignorance that led him to that viewpoint. Someone, anyone, please help me understand. http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/03/the-gops-best-health-care-i...
8
Difficult to understand how a person described in such glowing terms as Wehner describes Krauthammer could be a part of an organization as Fox "News", where truth is so often twisted or abolished.
7
I can't help but think of his support for the Iraq war which he called "The three week war". I weigh the suffering and death of millions in the middle east against his comfortable privileged life and say maybe the best we can hope for is that he will be remembered for being monstrously wrong.
2
Thank You for your personal recollections of Charles. I met him once and was impressed by his approachability, his humility, and the twinkle in his eye. The big question is who is going to step up and become the next Charles Krauthammer? I'm afraid the shoes are too big fill. Please, someone, prove me wrong.
I knew Charles when he was a resident at MGH and, politics aside, his struggle to recover from his paralysis and become a physician was truly inspiring.
My fondest memory of Charles Krauthhammer: his refuting of the fact that Reagan's policies were the cause of communism's demise in Russia. He gave credit to Truman's Marshall Plan of 1950. A rare insight into history.
My worse memory Of Mr. Krauthammer is his blind loyalty to Israel, and complete disregard of Israeli's degradation of the Palestinian people.
In either case: rest in peace, Sir.
5
One should not speak ill of the dead but certain things must be said: Mr. Krauthammer like many other intellectuals, pundits and certain politicians with stature laid the foundations and paved the way to the moral downfall of the Republican Party, failing to recognize the malignancy of the Tea Party until it became too late. He would have been more useful and intellectually honest to remain a conservative (or centrist) Democrat.
But my main beaf with him was his position on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, ignoring its root causes, the incompatibility of Zionism and peaceful coexistence with the Palestinians and the evils of the Occupation. An Ha’aretz article describes him as a friend of Bibi and a foe of Trump. That is not a compliment but an indictment! Krauthammer, like many well or ill-meaning
Politicians, opinion-shapers and talking heads know little about Israelis and Palestinians and in one way or another have contributed to the impasse that bedevils both sides to the conflict. I say, Rest In Peace and good riddance.
5
What do we do in the face of dishonesty in eulogizing a friend? We live in a time of great incivility and struggle to be civil. I do. But with every hagiographic sentence Peter Wehner challenges my resolve. I hear my parents’ voices: don’t speak ill of the dead. Still, on this very day, when Republicans champion taking food away from starving Americans, my resolve fails. Krauthammer admirably overcame great challenges. Nevertheless he was a mean-spirited apostle for the worst fascist proclivities of the American right. Women, black people, gay people, poor people — how troublesome Krauthammer found them. No need to cite specifics; he left a full record. His attacks on Trump rang sadly false considering he supported for much of his life the merciless cruelty of the Republican Party. Unlike his attacks on Trump, which seemed a pathetic attempt to paint a new veneer on his own past, his ugly attacks on Obama were as far beyond the pale as he could get. Without using the word he virtually accused Obama of treason (ironic in view of those in power today). For Wehner to admire his “tolerance” — what can one say? That requires a moral vacuity bordering on blindness. Dancing on another’s grave as his friends and family mourn him is morally dubious at best. But Krauthammer was nothing less than a social evil. If as Wehner says he loved democracy, many of us didn’t feel the love. For some of us the world is a better place without him.
7
Whether or not Krautheimer consistently applied the ethics of Raymond Aron (displaying the constant moral tension between political power and the public good), he clearly made obeisance to its clarifying tenets. Sadly, he too often leaned to the irresponsible usee of power, rather than to the public good. As good man, mind, and method, gone awry. RIP.
1
Charles Krauthammer helped create the awful mess we are in now.
9
Nice try, but the fact that he was a Fox News pundit tells people everything they need to know about "The Example of Charles Krauthammer." He may have been kind to Mr. Wehner, but his commentary was that of a truly nasty man.
7
A fine and moving piece till the last sentence. I can just imagine Krauthammer asking, “Who are ‘the Greeks’? And what are ‘the lines of excellence’?” The man hated imprecision and cant.
Charles was a first line thinker. I always listened to what he had to say. But I never considered him a role model. I never thought of anyone as a role model. But he was always interesting to listen to. I didn't know he broke his neck diving into a pool. I was a spring board diver and never injured myself.
Like many conservative columnists and pundits, he tried to disown the children of his own intellectual heritage: the current Trump administration.
3
I (almost) never agreed with his political views. But, oh, how I admired his intellect and his integrity! Would that we had such erudite and challenging voices of conservatism today.
As an immigrant from Africa, whose ambition is to one day write, I voraciously read every column that Charles Krauthammer wrote for The Washington Post. I was very sad when I heard the news that he'd passed. His legacy, which are the print words that he leaves behind, however, is immortal. They say a lot about the beauty in writing. To show how elegant this man wrote, read, for instance, his praise of Martin Luther King in his article titled, "King in Words and Stone". He was very powerful writer.
2
I didn't always agree with him, but how many other conservatives can you call a man of integrity, erudition, and quiet courage. The country misses him already.
3
@anonymouse
“...how many other conservatives can you call man of integrity, erudition, and quiet courage...”
None. Especially Krauthammer.
I listened to am radio driving to and from work 30 years ago. Unfortunately, for a liberal thinking soul like me, the programs were mostly aimed at a conservative audience and I arrived at work in a rather aggressive mood on most days. I remember Krauthammer mainly because of his name..but, I don't believe I liked him. I never knew he was confined to a wheelchair or that he went to medical school. He was very intelligent, but came across as terribly full of himself. So sorry Mr. Wehner lost his good friend.
3
An amazing intellect and gifted writer. The world will be a little less civilized without Charles Krauthammer in it.
2
Articulate yes, but intellectually dishonest:
Mr Krauthammer was a member of a very tiny exclusive club of the scientifically literate deniers in a sea of millions of willfully and scientifically illiterate climate change deniers, one who was actually capable of following the science. He HAD to know that rising atmospheric CO2 levels causes falling ocean pH. This is chemistry 101. I pick this example because it is open and shut, black and white, no wiggle room, not open to debate, etc. This fact alone (although there countless other examples) is the evidence that Mr Krauthammer was intellectually dishonest.
10
An erudite polymath, if ever there was one, and a life well-lived. Vale.
Mr. Krauthammer may have been a man of integrity on many issues --but not on Israel and the Palestinian problem. There he was too biased and espoused unfair and wrong headed policies such as his support for the catastrophic U.S. invasion of Iraq. I don't know whether he has since acknowledged his mistakes. If he has then he was indeed a man of high integrity...
4
"Political tribalism" is becoming the newest jargon to describe the current problems our nation faces. It is already passe. The real issue is the enormous number of folks who are willing to disregard even the most basic truths to achieve some vision of their agenda. When faced with facts that do not support their views then facts must go. Instead of allowing information based on incontrovertible facts to lead them to a reasonable viewpoint they choose to disregard those facts and reside in a make believe world--one of those places where they will not be confused with the facts. We see this daily. Their views are not hidden or nuanced, but there for all the world to see. Ignorance rules.
1
I join those readers who do not wish to overlook Dr. Krauthammer's arrogance, nasty streak, and certitude, which were hallmarks of his writing and television appearances. I do not want to speak ill of the dead, but I also do not want to ignore the realities of Krauthammer's actual character. Whatever contributions he offered to political debate were often overshadowed by his mean spirited words and dismissiveness of opposing views.
11
Sounds like he was a liked by his friends, but could one person have been more wrong about every major foreign policy decision in the last few decades, from the Balkans and especially Iraq and all his neoconservativism? And then he tried to become relevant again by morphing into a critic of all things Obama. What I don't understand is how people who are wrong, over and over again, are continually resurrected in the media and on television. It's not a meritocracy, it's just a giant propaganda system. Often the people who are most consistently incorrect are promoted ahead of those who could see.
10
Good critique of Hillary.
@Jimmy. Oh yes, Clinton was wrong about a lot of things. Like the cruelty of the American healthcare system, a disgrace when compared to the rest of the West. How ridiculous of her to try to reform it. Oh, and she was totally wrong being afraid of what would happen to the Supreme Court if Trump got elected. It’s a good thing she wasn’t elected because black people, gay people, women, Latinos, and Muslims might actually think they could have equal rights or deserve equal treatment by their government in the face of natural disasters. Oh, and she was totally wrong about “a vast right-wing conspiracy,” since we’ve seen absolutely no evidence of it in the joint enterprise of the Kochs, Murdochs, Mercers, and descendants of Julian Sinclair Smith. Golly, Hillary was wrong about so many things. Unlike Charles Krauthammer, a bigoted, misogynist warmonger who was wrong about virtually everything.
With all due respect to the dying, Krauthammer was nothing but a dour reactionary, indeed completely predictable. He did not write a single thing that struck me as illuminating, original, or even interesting, yet I read him for nearly 40 years as a duty to understand what Republican hacks would say.
9
Sorry sir but what I saw for the past fourty years was intelligence turned to obsequious cleverness and never ending nastiness which is the hallmark of the conservative mess that Mr. K had a large hand in.
9
When my Berkeley liberal friends would deride me for watching Fox News, I used to placate them by saying I only watched if for Charles Krauthammer. Many a times I wondered what he would make of the latest Trump related drama, all the while eagerly awaiting his return. Alas, that is not to be. Hopefully you will be Ever Young, Ever Summer, wherever you are.
1
Krauthammer did the exact opposite of what you claim. He was an early and vociferous anti-Trumper. And he never really came around. These last bad decisions of his life will unfortunately always be his legacy.
1
Are there two people with the same name? The Charles Krauthammer I remember went along with the drift off conservatism into imperial adventurism and callous disregard for objective reality. The Iraq war was prosecutred on a lie, remember.
11
There are seemingly not a plethora of "decent" guys left in today's world. Charles was one of the few. RIP Charles.
1
Well pardon me but i lived in the DC area for 30 plus years, read him and listened to him on the Saturday evening political talk show, McGlothlin and Company and i have a differing view and remembrance of him. Perhaps it was our competing views on the role of the government in our society but my perception was of a man who had overcome a great problem but had absolutely no compassion for the less fortunate among us and he was quick to find fault with any government program that helped them. Thank God for Jack Germond on the show.
8
I was a huge admirer of CK's writing in his centrist days at TNR, etc. in the 80s. Even as he strayed to the right, I followed his work because we was always honest, civil and witty. He'll be greatly missed, especially since precious few conservatives have turned out to avoid the poison of Trumpism, as Charles did.
De Mortuis nil nisi bunkum. Krauthammer (and Wehner for that matter) were/are clever and often mendacious promoters of almost entirely thoroughly bad causes like the Iraq debacle, torture, denial of climate science and suspect economic theories. If he's an example it's an example of the bad ends to which intelligence and elegant penmanship can be devoted and not exactly one which many would choose to emulate.
18
I am perplexed that the Times allows the publication of such a mean-spirited ad hominem attack, especially in response to the death of a fellow human being.
Krauthammer- right-the guy who "identified" the Bush Doctrine but pointedly said there wasn't just "one doctrine" It apparently evolved.
Krauthammer worked hard to give intellectual licence to unilateralism, setting the stage not only for never ending war beginning in Iraq, but for the current POTUS' unilateralism.
9
People have always had opinions, and have always been both right or wrong in their beliefs. What is largely missing today is not people with opinions but people who recognize complexity and nuance, facts and consequences, and know the difference between conviction based on principle and simply following the crowd. Even if I disagreed with Mr. Krauthammer, or thought he was wrong or that he fell short in his persuasiveness, nevertheless he was something we need more of today, someone who will at least consider whether the Emperor has clothes or not.
5
"Charles had no interest in being a member of a political team; his goal was to better understand reality."
And yet Mr. Krauthammer was among the prominent voices who lent credibility to Dick Cheney, George W. Bush and others of their ilk as they created their own warped version of reality to justify the invasion of Iraq, a crime which has taken or damaged thousands of American lives and from which the world still struggles to recover.
It's understandable that Mr. Wehner would not want to delve into that fact.
10
I didn't agree on most things Mr. Krauthammer believed, but I enjoyed his opinions, no matter how wrong I thought him to be. Keep in mind, he called the Trump Republican primary victory as the election of a "rodeo clown". He wasn't wrong.
4
A man of deep conviction would never have continued to work for an organization so obviously false and corrosive to society’s ideals. A moral man would not be silent in the face of the immorality around him. I suspect that he was all the things the author says, but had only as much conviction as his bank statement would allow. That makes him a profound hypocrite, as well.
13
It is impossible for me to think of Charles Krauthammer without recalling his enthusiastic cheerleading for the Iraq War and other regime change endeavors. They were all unmitigated disasters, but like other hawks, Krauthammer never paid a professional price for his eagerness to send other people's sons and daughters to fight in useless military adventures. Rather, along with many of his fellow neoconservatives, he was always welcome on FOX and in the pages of newspapers around the country. Perhaps I missed it, but I never heard Krauthammer express regret for the prominent role he played in shaping public opinion to support stupid, costly and immoral wars. And that is how he will be remembered by the many Americans who comprehend the damage that his mellifluous tongue and fluid writing did to the nation and the world.
16
A great tribute to a great thinker ... and I’m a lefty, lefty. But I appreciated his intellect... always. RIP
4
Sorry about your friend, Mr. Wehner. But I cannot honor a person who repeatedly spread lies deliberately on the airwaves, apparently as long as he was physically able to do so.
18
I always enjoyed listening to Charles, though I rarely agreed with his conclusions. He was a rare voice of intelligence in a country gripped by ever-deepening anti-intellectualism.
2
When Charles Krauthammer wrote the following he did not show the the "uncertainty" and humility you speak of: "What is clear from these latest stories is the Hillary Clinton has not only not changed her ways; in some respects, her worst tendencies have been amplified as she’s getting closer to realizing her greatest political ambition. The rest of us shouldn’t go into this blind, then. As president, Hillary Clinton would act as Hillary Clinton acts pre-presidency, except that she would have far greater power to do far more damage. It’s important that even critics of Donald Trump, of which I am one, recognize this. And it highlights why, for many of us, this is such a bleak and dispiriting political year.
Oh wait, that was you in Commentary Magazine in June 2016. Go to ---- Peter. Just go as soon as possible, please.
11
That is an excellent, and perceptive quotation. I had not heard it before. Thank you for making it available. I will use it often.
1
Thank you for this gracious obituary. He engaged one's intellect and moral perspective. He will be missed.
4
Mr. Krauthammer actually occupied that moral high ground that so many like to claim today. On it he tolerated, examined, felt, grew and listened. That's real moral superiority. The irony is that in not needing to be "right" about things, he so often was.
4
I was never much of a fan of Krauthammer's conservative views, but I'll give him credit for this: I recall a while back a piece describing the views of certain prominent conservatives on the theory of evolution and the belief of creationism, and Krauthammer was the only one who would admit to embracing the theory of evolution and rejecting creationism.
3
I knew nothing about Charles Krauthammer in the 1980s except to me he was that voice of reason that was featured in Time Magazine. Under the term Essay, I came to look forward to his cogent arguments that made sense of the Cold War, the Reagan Doctrine, cultural shifts and of practically anything that was the cover story of the day. He seemed to me to be above the news. I was still in high school but I learned more about writing and the art of the essay from Charles Krauthammer than anyone else. I also never knew he was a doctor untll long after I finished medical school. Looking back to those essays I think his Hippocratic oath was to a defense of reason. And how indelible and masterful it was.
3
Reading the words of Krauthammer's admirers I wonder, who is this they are talking about?
I used to read/watch Krauthammer years ago before it became clear that he was just as off the rails as the rest of the Republican establishment if not more so. True, he had better language skills but they could not cover up the same old deficiencies of thought.
Rest in peace Charles. My condolences to his family. But his absence as a media figure makes the world a better place.
22
Seems to have been a good man and a fine mind.
Rest In Peace sir.
5
Krauthammer's gift at his best was the discipline to first inquire and reason with an open mind prior to advocating a position. This has become something of a lost art in today's political and social conversations.
4
One of life's pleasures is to learn to admire those with whom you disagree. On the strength of their character, on their ability to lead a productive live under adverse circumstances that would put a lesser man in despair. Charles Krauthammer, was one.
Requiescat in pacem, Charles
5
Seems a great man worthy of the outpourings of reverence of those who knew him.
4
We have lost one of the most brilliant souls on our planet, and I, along with many, will miss him. Agree or disagree with him on issues, he stimulated thought and, if we were listening, made us aware that there is no one truth and reminded us that openness to ideas different from our own was a critical component of growth, maturity and civility -- which we clearly need more of in our nation and world today.
6
Hear, hear.
Mr. Krauthammer's is the kind of mind we need observing and speaking, that we may listen, think, and learn.
Thanks to Mr. Wehner for writing.
6
What a life well-lived!
Thank you for sharing your recollections and knowledge of this Pulitzer-prize winning commentator, whose compassion informed his intellectual prowess and left one nearer to understanding how humans could behave before God,
With humility, grace and humor at the wonder of it all, in the pleasure and the pain.
6
I wish I had had a chance to meet this gentleman. He was always thought-provoking. I didn't always agree with him, but I always read his columns, always seeing something I hadn't seen before. His work will be truly missed.
4
I rarely agreed with Charles Krauthammer. But I have nothing but admiration for him.
I had seen him on TV for several years before I saw him describe his life. I was almost moved to tears listening to his description of his fight to complete his medical degree while lying in a hospital bed recovering from his paralyzing injury. That he not only recovered, but thrived, is a testament to his incredible strength, desire, and character. To give credit where it's due, Fox News deserves kudos for giving him so much air time while making his disability almost unnoticeable.
Rest in peace, Charles. You will be missed.
8
Never knew that Mr. Krauthammer overcame such a personal tragedy as a spinal cord injury to live a productive life. It's sad, if not tragic, for America that he could transform his politics to the degree that he could regularly hobnob with the professional racist Charles Murray, that he could have (supposedly) killed George W. Bush's nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court, but enthusiastically and perhaps mindlessly accepted and promulgated the lies and deceit leading up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. He said that that the perceived failures of Great Society programs led him to conclude that society is best served across the board by the Conservative ideal of small government. We've had Conservative government for the most part since Ronald Reagan's election in 1980, accelerated and institutionalized since Newt Gingrich became Speaker of the House in 1995, and fortified by two of the last five presidential elections, where the Conservative winners received less votes than their opponents. If I had ever had the chance, I would have asked Mr. Krauthammer, as civilly as possible: Where, sir, is the empirical evidence that the ascendance of Conservative rule has well served this nation or its people?
33
Mr Wehner's eulogy is heartfelt and Krauthammer's handling of illness and death admirable, but Mr Wehner might have picked a different example to illustrate his friend's powers.
"How can we expect such a question to yield answers that are not tentative and indeterminate? So difficult a moral question should command humility, or at least a little old-fashioned tolerance."
Which is more tolerant? The imposition of my beliefs on your body, or the granting that our beliefs differ, so our actions may differ.
8
What a beautiful remembrance. Thank you for your insights into Charles' contributions
5
It is a sad fact of life that we often only learn about the details of a person’s life upon that person’s death. In the case of the late Mr. Krauthammer, I learned of his life story shortly before is death. I knew I did not like his politics, and the scowl on his face only seemed to make him look mean to me, but on learning of his personal challenges, it is obvious that he had great strength and determination. His politics I disliked, but his personal will and drive were special and admirable.
12
I remember the one time I agreed with a Krauthammer column: when he wrote against building the WWII monument on the mall. I grew up basking in the glory of America's victory over totalitarianism, but I agreed with Krauthammer that the mall would be better left uncluttered by a monument that, at least the day I visited it, left me so unmoved. Wish there was something else positive to say. Sorry to hear of his passing but we need to be honest. Google Krauthammer and climate change, and wonder how a country that showed such courage in WWII now turns tail and runs away from global threats.
13
At first glance, when I read that Krauthammer was regular on Fox News I must admit that I winced. But then I remembered that one of my personal heroes, Christopher Hitchens, was a contributor too. Both offered an intellectual argument, not an ideology, which I admire first and only.
I noticed your deliberate mention of his physical limitations in an incidental way. The fact that you saw them as incidental was magnified by your telling that he 'used' a wheelchair rather than was 'in' one. Because a person's physical abilities are a part of the whole person we know, it was important for you to mention it. Like other challenging things in a person's life, this accident no doubt helped shape his development into the man he would become, but so do tragedies in our own lives. For those who did not know him, saying he was 'in' a wheelchair his entire adult life would be an easy shortcut for a defining judgement - especially when there was a piece he might have written that they were not fond of. It was of course in no part reflected in his discourse, which was, and should always have been, judged by the merit of the argument alone.
Finally, I am sorry for your personal loss, but I am still left encouraged that the hero he represented for you does not diminish. This world is so short of heroes today that our most popular modern day heroes for the young are but comic book caricatures - imaginary avatars who are a substitute for what they believe our real life heroes should be.
5
Mr. Krauthammer should be a wake-up call to all those who have deep, intractable preconceived notions about anyone and everything on the right. For that we should all be grateful.
MR K WAS A GREAT AMERICAN, GREAT THINKER, AND A GREAT
HUMAN BEING, MAY HE REST IN PEACE.
11
So Krauthammer liked baseball, which is great--bigly. I remember when George H. W. Bush was described as having been "born on third base and thought that he hit a triple," which was unfair to a former first-baseman. However, we now have trump, who stands at home plate and thinks that he hit an inside-the-park home run.
7
Dr. Krauthammer had a brilliant mind, a concise and spare way of expressing himself and I have no doubt that in death he is as entitled as I am to the mercy of God. But amid all these lavish praises of him, I have a hard time forgetting the groundless and grandiloquent, triumphalist speech he gave on the morrow of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. I have several nephews who fought and suffered immensely from the wars and conflicts that emerged from that catastrophic military mistake and the enormously destructive strategic consequences that warfare brought to America and the Middle East. Mr. Krauthammer never seemed to come to terms with this to me obvious and evident fact, and I have a hard time squaring that with his ruthless honesty and brilliance on so many other things.
41
I appreciate that his friends loved and respected him, but throughout the 90's and early 2000's he was a bitter (and, yes, eloquent) defender of right wing positions that were often wrong and harmed our country. That is how I will remember him.
79
What a beautiful tribute Mr. Wehner. I'm sure Mr. Krauthammer would agree when I say, you can tell a lot about a person by the friends he keeps. You do him proud sir.
11
Vaya con Dios!
5
I didn't always agree with him but I definitely respected his thoughtfulness and insight on issues. He was a good man.
6
Thank you. I admired his objectivity, and did not really know the depth of his complexity. May we all be a bit more like this disappearing species that is Charles Krauthammer.
7
While I disagree with many of Mr. Krauthammer's positions, I will always admire his moral fortitude from resisting to jump onto the Trump train as most other conservatives had.
5
I wished Charles a good passing when he wrote his farewell column, but noted that I almost always disagreed with his very reactionary politics. I felt that he was far too intelligent a man to buy into the arch-conservative, cater-to-the-wealthy, Israel-lobby nonsense he so often espoused, and often with a venom that didn't square with the views and affect of nearly any psychiatrist I've known. And that's quite a lot. As for any man, we can remember the key lines of John Donne's "No Man is an Island," and acknowledge that we are at the most fundamental level, brethren and kin--but while I extend my sympathy to his family and loved ones who grieve his loss, I confess that I will not miss his political exhortations at all. RIP.
41
I'm 54 and similarly watched the transformation of Charles into a well thinking and compromising conservative thinker (now moderate in some cases or RINO) into a more indignant truth slayer to pad his retirement account. It upset me. I understand folks need to "look out for themselves" and wished Charles chose a different route to do it. I appreciated his views that did not mesh with mine since they were well thought and made me go, "oh, I see that." I wish more 1990s Charles were around in the Republican party, which may be viewed as sane. Not the current ilk. Oy!
22
Alright already, Krauthammer had no evident ability or interest in challenging the Fox news machine. Articulate, yes. A tool of the Koch Brothers, absolutely.
127
He had more important fish to fry. He didn't waste his time with ideologues or their emotional needs, on which he was a subject expert.
Charles Krauthammer was the modern day William Safire. His view of the world will be missed.
6
Safire is missed? Who knew???
1
And just as misguided as Safire. Safire died thinking that any day now we would find all those weapons of mass destruction in Iraq that formed the basis for the Gulf War. Unabashed right-wing apologizers. The fact that both of them may have been intelligent/smart only makes their bitter and divisive positions all the more incredible and ugly. As far as Krauthammer's professed unhappiness with Trump I have two responses: 1. too little too late, after all the years spent in his lab helping create the monster, and 2. why laud him for exhibiting a smidge of what to most of the rest of us is as plain as the nose on our faces - that Trump is criminally narcissistic and totally unfit to be elected dog catcher let alone President.
Charles Krauthammer, the only thing I don't understand about the man is why he didn't cheer the election of Donald Trump as president was what he had been working for for 30 years. His support of the "Reagan doctrine" which is the basis for Trumps "America first" slogan has come full circle the Philippine’s Durterte and other leaders admired by Trump. His support the invasion of Iraq and his attacks on those who chose to look at facts not relying on gut instincts, laid the ground work for Trump’s attacks on “fake news” and are reflected in nearly every White House press briefing of this administration. His “unipolar moment” ignores the idea of hundreds of hundred of 6 inch phirans taking down a 900 pound bull as Trump insults friends and enemies alike. If I had meet Mr. Krauthammer 30 years ago my advice to him would have been “Be careful what you ask for, you may get it.”
Rest in peace
26
I am among those who found Krauthammer’s writing increasingly bitter and his view of adversaries declining in generosity. At the same time I have no trouble believing that he was a good and generous man. It is the human condition to be complicated, both yin and yang, neither purely good nor purely deplorable. Though Mr. Wehner and I share few political perspectives, I hope somebody might eulogize me so elegantly someday, and with such obvious heart. Thanks, Peter. I’m sure Charles would be proud, and touched.
14
Charles Krauthammer, the only thing I don't understand about the man is why he didn't cheer the election of Donald Trump as president it was what he had been working for for 30 years. His support of the "Reagan doctrine" which is the basis for Trumps "America first" slogan has come full circle in the Philippine’s Durterte and other leaders admired by Trump. His support the invasion of Iraq and his attacks on those who chose to look at facts not relying on gut instincts, laid the ground work for Trump’s attacks on “fake news” and are reflected in nearly every White House press briefing of this administration. His “unipolar moment” ignores the idea of hundreds of hundred of 6 inch phirans taking down a 900 pound bull as Trump insults friends and enemies alike. If I had meet Mr. Krauthammer 30 years ago my advice to him would have been “Be careful what you ask for, you may get it.”
Rest in peace
9
I am sorry for the loss of your friend. You write: "Charles had no interest in being a member of a political team; his goal was to better understand reality." If this was true about Mr. Krauthammer why was he a regular on FOX.
31
Steve:
Why don't you spend some time trying to answer your own question? Only then will you truly understand things.
1
I respected Charles Krauthammer's mind and broad knowledge and accomplishment. I find it difficult, however, to understand how brilliant intellectuals as he move rightward in their political views. His prodigious intellect, his willingness to persevere through all the obstacles his paralysis put in his way is admirable, but not every person has those gifts.
The intellectual elite, the one tenth of one percent, should support a more generous social justice (a term whose existence certain Fox commentators frequently deny) in our political life and government. A strict meritocracy lacks heart, and it has found a home in the Republican Party. Even before Trump arose it was a troubling political ethic, and one whose attraction I do not share or understand.
16
RIP Krauthammer
4
I never understood Mr. Krauthammer's animus for Barack Obama. His commentary was often as disparaging towards the first black president as is the current president who is the exact opposite of Mr. Krauthammer.
Erudite, well spoken and comfortable with his elegant phrasings, Mr. Krauthammer knew very well that Republicans refused to work or co-operate with Obama and their sole purpose was to diminish him at every turn make him a one-term president. Obama made mistakes as all presidents do, including Ronald Reagan. Mr. Krauthammer, why couldn't you give Obama his due?
53
Because Mr. Obama did not dance with Israel / Netanyahu. Mr. Krauthhammer was an American Zionist / Israel-Firster, like the rest of the neocons who took the country into the Iraq quagmire.
2
Charles Kratuthammer was a Modern day William Safire. I will miss his view of the world.
3
RIP Charles
Great mind maybe, great character maybe, great provocateur for sure.
Charles was a staunch apologist for fossil fuels and he had declared as myth the settled science of global climate change.
Yet long-term exposure to toxic contamination from fossil fuel pollutants in the environment, probably caused the cancer of the small intestine that took his life prematurely. I wonder if the irony had escaped Krauthammer, who died before he had a chance to own to the harm of his words. By contrast to another sharp edged mind, Lee Atwater who in the end, sought to disown his hard-edged approach to campaign strategy.
16
Mr Wehner writes "Political tribalism is rotting American politics; it needs more people who reject partisan zeal and can speak honestly about their own side’s blind spots and defects." I certainly agree with this sentiment. Unfortunately, the Charles Krauthammer I remember was one of the pundits who was making political tribalism worse, not better. He was a regular on Fox News, and for good reason.
50
Another nail in the coffin of conservative intellectualism. Another rational opponent whose voice, now silenced, will be replaced by shrieking populists spewing pathos.
I rarely agreed with him, but endangered species are to be treasured, and Republicans with integrity and intelligence are critically so.
1
I definitely didn't agree with his opinions, but he had a right to live out his final years and months in dignity. One person tried to take that dignity way. Let's not forget that Trump mocked him being in a wheelchair after Charles rebuked Trump for mocking another disabled reporter. The assaults on the disabled by this current administration are stunning. I remember when this used to be culturally forbidden in this country.
16
Great article. Much respect for Charles. "Political tribalism is rotting American politics; it needs more people who reject partisan zeal and can speak honestly about their own side’s blind spots and defects." Amen!
5
False equivalency. There’s plenty of soul-searching and self-criticism on the left. It’s the republicans who are marching in lockstep.
5
The current commentary on Mr. Krauthammer surprises me. I did not find him to be a centrist, or even willing to cross over. It seemed that his favorite tool was to set up and destroy a straw man. His pieces opened by saying “Given that X and Y, we can assume Z”. I was rarely willing to agree to his proposed stipulations, and eventually stopped reading when I encountered them.
33
Sorry. The redeeming qualities are totally lost on me. A thoroughly unhappy individual who chose to side with the absolute worst of what we try to be. What I remember most about the stuff of his I suffered thorugh is that he never offered alternatives, never offered solutions. Some people, we are just worse off for their having been given a bully pulpit.
72
This is not the man I saw
The present raptures will yield to the record. This was not then, and this is not now, a record of humane discourse. It was the recreation of a nasty spirit.
28
Correction: The real loss was Christopher Hitchens.
Krauthammer was a staggering intellect that, incredibly, became a Fox News stooge.
But RIP, Mr. K.
Rich, poor, good, bad, conservative, liberal, no matter. In one hundred years we'll all be equal.
17
This fine reminiscence of Mr. Krauthammer and especially the last line of it inspired me just now to reread -- perhaps for the twentieth time -- what I believe is one of the finest obituaries ever to appear in the English language. So fine indeed that I sometimes enclose it in condolence letters to friends of mine.
It is by H.L. Mencken and first appeared in the Baltimore Evening Sun on November 21, 1932 as “The End of A Happy Life.”
Its subject is the life of Albert Hildebrandt, a Baltimore musical instrument dealer and amateur violinist.
Traces of the obituary appear on the internet, but I’ve had no luck locating it there in its entirety; and that is the version you really must read to fully appreciate its artistry.
The complete version appears in “A Second Mencken Chrestomathy,” edited by Terry Teachout, Knopf, 1995.
Check it out from your library. You will not be sorry. The obit is wise, tender and sorrowful -- as this one is -- and I venture to predict you will learn things about your own life from it.
2
Thank you, A.Stanton for the information you imparted in your comment. I will certainly find a copy of the book you referenced.
In some cultures people have funerals or wakes while they're still alive and healthy, oftentimes hiring actors to portray family and friends that are imaginary. Individuals who experience this ritual faux-death often report profound changes in outlook, attitude and greater empathy for others.
Maybe it's nothing more than the prospect of hanging that concentrates one's mind but staring into the dark abyss apparently has the power to change people and renew their humanity.
Lee Atwater, the putative political mind behind the notorious Willy Horton ad, died in his prime of a brain tumor. History will remember Atwater's poignant effort to express his utter sorrow and regret for introducing political shock, smear and awe to the Republican campaign handbook.
On his deathbed he realized and renounced his deal with the Republican devil and begged for forgiveness.
All political consultants and pundits should be required to experience their own funerals while still in their prime.
It's regrettable that Mr. Krauthhammer had to face his maker without the opportunity to push his reset button long before his mortality compelled him to.
Mr. Krauthammer may have been a conservative but his core hate denied his status as an intellect or influence.
64
I am glad to hear that Mr. Krauthammer was generous to friends and colleagues and he certainly exhibited fortitude in overcoming his disability. However, his writing and other public pronouncements were wholly without empathy for the struggles of his fellow Americans. That too is part of his legacy.
95
I disagree. He was imploring them to live up to their responsibilities and seek their potential
Considering Mr Krauthammer just passed away, I'd like to refrain from saying anything bad about him.
However, let's hear the praise coming from his adversaries or at least neutral parties. After all, it is only reasonable to sing our praise to our mentors, proteges or compatriots.
America has a lot of intellectuals with a keen mind. It is more important, to me anyway, is how they employ - or deploy - their talent. It is easy to spot those who are patently wrong or commit blatant lies; however, it is harder to detect half truths and even truths with bad intent.
Instead, I'd rather embrace someone who may not have the sharpest of wit but who are full of heart. Sadly, Mr Krauthammer doesn't come cross as an empathic type
34
Ok, I have found perhaps a neutral column on Politico
https://www.politico.com/story/2009/05/obamas-biggest-critic-krauthammer...
And perhaps trashing President Obama in a dishonest way is one of Krauthammer's accomplishments.
For a person with a keen intellect, an indomitable spirit and a powerful following, he has done this country a great disservice. Let's just say I am more dismay than impressed. Him and George Will may deserve Trump but this nation doesn't
6
Thanks for this tribute to Charles Krauthamer. Although I seldom agreed with what he had to say in op-ed pieces, I always thought he mediated much of what makes America great, in contrast to the guy in the White House. I particularly liked that his arguments and interactions with those with whom he exchanged ideas never conveyed malice. Although he is gone, his goodness continues to inspire.
7
I always thought very highly of Charles. He was the one person I could rely on to properly analyse a situation and to place it in historical context. I may not always have agreed with him but he always spoke his mind.
The article, Peter, is a fitting tribute to Charles Krauthammer. He made the world a better place, in his own small way, by his presence in it and the life he lived.
4
I admit that I know little of Mr. Krauthammer, his writings, or his journalism, but after reading Mr. Wehner's heart felt memorial and some of the laudatory comments, I felt some investigation was warranted to see if I had missed one of the intellectual masters of recent history.
Yes there are criticisms among the comments regarding support for the Iraqi war, but there might be a tenable position for a right wing intellectual who felt that control of oil was the only important foreign policy objective to consider.
So I looked to his position on the nomination of Merrick Garland. The nomination of a Supreme Court justice is a particular test of intellectual courage and wisdom, because you are not selecting a position or action, you are deciding about placing trust in an individual to decide for the good of the country based on prior fair-mindedness and intellectual rigor. The choice is perilo us because your candidate may mature to hold positions which differ from those he or she is most comfortable with at the time of nomination. So it is less inherently political than many choices. And a true believer in human values should be able to tolerate a candidate with somewhat divergent views if that candidate is a man of character. But there is Mr. Krauthammer screaming for stoneewalling Mr. Garland and not allowing his nomination to be considered in Congress. This action does not comport with intellectual honesty, it is more Fox News.
203
Thank you for calling our attention to that recent and perhaps overlooked unconscionable act of a self-styled man of conscience.
Eulogies should not be a whitewash.
24
Completely predictable. Krauthammer had a long history of decrying liberal activism on the Supreme Court , despite never having lived at a time when the majority of the justices were not Republican appointees. It frustrated him. (It just never occurred to him that when shielded from the partisan shootout, intelligent humans will lean toward justice, rather than ideology.) After Alito, he realized that only robotically programmed rightists could be relied upon for the "correct" opinions.
4
A beautiful eulogy. Thank you for it.
2
I had such respect for this man. I listened intently to what he said and was grateful for his wisdom. We need it desperately now. God help us.
16
He was a class act all the way and will be missed. RIP
15
Because he never viewed anything without compassion.
Can you render an honest opinion without it?
That will be most missed.
5
I never read a word of his that seemed inspired by compassion. I am truly dumbfounded as to how this view is even possible.
43
I did not know Charles Krauthammer but I greatly admired the clarity and elegance of his writing, but maybe what i most admired was his lack of pomposity. He had a detached and even amusing way of making a point. He was never arrogant or overbearing. I will miss his writing--and miss his grin.
16
Stephen.
This is satire, correct?
1
Krauthammer is one of the people most directly responsible for the War in Iraq.
He actively promoted the war, using the power of his position to persuade the American public into accepting Bush Administration lies about the need to invade a country that presented no threat to us.
He certainly knew that the "weapons of mass destruction" and other excuses were lies, or at least he should have. I'm just an Illinois housewife, and it was obvious to me, as well as to millions around the globe who were not propagandized by writers like Krauthammer.
404
" .. He certainly knew that the "weapons of mass destruction" and other excuses were lies, or at least he should have .."
Wow, NYTimes, readers smarter than Tony Blair. What grand reading! /snort/
anne,
Don't apologize for yourself.
You're not just 'just an Illinois housewife'.
You are presently today's #1 Commenter.
Congrats.
2
Well written Anne. However these days we have to sort out pols. from bad to worse to criminal. The Iraq2 war, pound for pound was the biggest foreign policy blunder in American history ie we should have known it was gonna turn into a disaster just like you did.
However despite this:
Compared to Trump, CK looks like a saint.
Compared to Lincoln CK looks like a criminal.
That is how bad it is in America now.
RIP CK.
1
In my youth I was more conservative, less tolerant. As I age I grow more tolerant. I rarely experienced anything but intolerance and outright hate the few times I could stomach watching Fake news. What was disheartening was listening to the smart guys like Charles spew the same vitriol. The generation of the 40’s and 50’s guys just needs to go away, you gave us this mess. A traitorous liar is our president, and I blame all of Fox News.
260
Sir, I beg your pardon but it seems clear that your tolerance has waned, not grown. This was a Pulitzer Prize winner and one of the greatest reporters of all time. Read his book.
6
A reporter. What? Flack maybe. She Hirsh is a reporter
Sir, I think you do not know yourself. You say you have become more tolerant? sure does not sound like it
I strongly disagreed with most of what Mr, Krauthammer said and wrote, but he is the sort of opponent you want to have: someone who responds (most of the time) to facts and logic. Sometimes he, like other conservatives, seemed to be driven more by animus than by reason. But the pride he took in his intellect prevented him from compromising it too grotesquely, Most other conservative commentators would not know what a decent respect for the opinions of mankind was if it came up and shook them by the jowls (I am thinking of you, Hannity, and you, Rush).
19
"...Charles (Krauthammer) had no interest in being a member of a political team; his goal was to better understand reality..."
This should be everyone's goal in life, and yet so few pursue it. Dr. Krauthammer was a gift to the American people and will be sorely missed.
12
The contrast between Krauthammer and the pitiful crowd who pass as so-called "journalists" these days is so stark one can only wish the fact challenged people who write for the MSM could appreciate what and who he was. "Journalists" these days (scare quotes are necessary) are despised by much of America because they lack any integrity. There is no other person in America working in the media who will ever be what he was. None could hold a candle to him. It is a sad condition, but that is what our rotten culture has produced.
12
Tim,
The guy had a WaPo column and was a fixture at Fox News. You don’t get more MSM than that.
2
I don't understand lauding Charles Krauthammer. He was part of the propaganda machine that has gotten us to where we are now.
330
Perhaps we should judge Krauthammer by the policies he advocated from a 30 year ongoing war for oil in the Middle East that has killed millions. Or the economic policies in the US of tax cuts for the rich, massive military spending and no rules for Wall St scammers which resulted in $20T in deficits and debt and shifting wealth to top 1%, impoverishing 100's of millions of Americans. Then there is Krauthammer's advocacy against equal rights, civil rights and voting rights. Or his push for insurance industry health care that kills millions of American's who can't afford heath care.
312
Right? The pablum about his "contributions" is baffling.
23
I am sorry for the loss that his family and friends are faced with. He may have been a wonderful person in his private life, but his work with Fox News will either make him a hero or a foe to anyone who didn't directly know him. To me he was just another cog in Fox News' propaganda machine.
182
On the contrary, you can be heartened that at least a few reasonable people worked there (even if conservative), and encourage more of it.
My personal view is that we don’t need everyone to think like us, but we need everyone to be civil, honest and reasonable, and anyone with those character traits can be lauded, on the left and the right, and especially if they are working inside the lion’s den, all the more praise and encouragement they deserve.
21
Tough week, Krauthammer AND Koko gone.
9
I’l miss Koko more.
3
"A fixture on Fox News". I wonder how Mr. Werner squares that fact with the virtues which he attributes to Mr. Krauthammer: temporal moderation, devotion to democratic pluralism, suspicion of ideology. I cannot imagine these attributes as compatible with working for or with Fox News, no matter what mental evasion on Mr. Werner's part.
148
Mr. Krauthammer was a breath of fresh air on **** News - a loss to the entire country or at least those who think about issues - I always appreciated his thoughtful commentary ( even though I regularly read the Times)
4
This is a lovely tribute in honor of Charles Krauthammer. Thank you for this. I will leave the tributes to others as I wanted to comment on one quote from your piece, Mr. Wehner. It is, "Political tribalism is rotting American politics; it needs more people who reject partisan zeal and can speak honestly about their own side’s blind spots and defects. " I fear that as long as massive amounts of money continue to corrupt our electoral system, our representatives at least cannot speak honestly at their own blind spots.
28
This gracious, humble, inspiring critical thinker will be sorely missed by those of us Republican Party Survivors who value elevated discourse and principled arguments. RIP and thank you.
13
He may have been a skilled writer, but he used those talents to support a political party whose real goals are to enrich the economic overlords of the Republican party at the expense of the middle class and the poor. He most certainly had very good health benefits, yet he supported a political party that would rip away health care from millions of average Americans. It's natural to want to extend a kind word when someone dies, but better to save those sympathies to those countless Americans who will die in obscurity because of the callous politics that Krauthammer embraced.
239
Does not sound like you really ever read him.
He may have been a skilled writer, but he used those talents to support a political party whose real goals are to enrich the economic overlords of the Republican party at the expense of the middle class and the poor.
---
As opposed to the Maddow crowd, who use their skills to support a political party whose real goals are to enrich themselves and their Democrat gangs of layabouts at the expense of the middle class.
Why do we wait for the passing of someone before celebrating their contribution to intelligent discourse? At a time of such divisive politics wouldn’t it help publicize, consider Krauthammer’s opinions while he’s alive? Full disclosure: in my ignorance I dismissed Krauthammer when seeing him on FOX. The lack of reasoned, intelligent opinion coming from the right makes it hard for me to comprehend where these people are coming from. Even if I disagree with the conclusions I’d like to understand what is the logic behind so many conservative positions.
11
I wonder the opposite. Why do we honor people in death who in life squandered precious intellectual gifts? This "profoundly humane" man regarded the wretched of the earth with loathing and scorn, and rarely passed on the chance to lend intellectual cover to canards like the so-called Obamacare death panels. Exactly what is there to be honored?
55
I often disagreed with Charles Krauthammer's conservative views but I always eagerly read everything he wrote, because he forced you to think, and he made you understand that magical prose occurs at the intersection of clear thinking, an instinctive feel for the most telling of words in any context, and a sense of humor that persuades and enlightens while making you smile. Few could write like him - from politics to sports to space travel - and even fewer are likely to replace him. Thank you, Charles, for your contributions to the arts and the letters, and to good writing along the lines of E.B. White.
13
I have not always, heck ok rarely, agreed with Charles, but I have always admired his wit, his writing, his honesty and his approach to all he wrote about. He was one of those rare people who, if I was asked who I would like to have to over for the ultimate dinner, he would be one of the first on the list.
The highest compliment that I can give to a journalist is that they made me think, and sometimes question. Charles did that. I am a liberal, but also someone who can, when he's lucky, see more of the whole picture. We lose when we label ourselves, and refuse to admit that, sometimes, the other "side" has a valid point. And idea. Charles always made me see that. I guess I can say that I loved to disagree with him.
Rest in Peace Charles. But keep one eye on your beloved Nationals.
43
I am terribly sad about Dr. Krauthammer’s passing. Thank you for writing this, it was very nice to read.
8
I want to sincerely honor Mr Krauthammer, a man whose political views I consistently found abhorrent.
The farewell letter he wrote in the last few weeks could only have come from a man of great courage and decency. And it because of that stunningly honest and gutsy letter that he will always have my respect and admiration.
These kinds of extraordinary human qualities should always trump political views, even ones that one finds completely wrong-headed.
65
If the views were abhorrent, the demagogic style very heavy with insults was not any better. Perhaps he was decent in personal life, but I know him only for his writings, and there I have seen nothing to cherish.
135
His article on Christopher Columbus, published in his book "Things That Matter", is one of the most morally reprehensible positions I've ever read. He basically exonerates the acts that Columbus perpetrated on the indigenous peoples he encountered because Columbus' trek across the Atlantic led to the United States and the great democracy it is today. It's a classic "the ends justify the means" position, and with this approach you can honor just about anyone, regardless of his actions, as long as you like the end result. Pathetic.
34
If you listened to him speak, I think his delivery may have made a difference it how you would understand him. definitely was not bitter man. strongly opinioned yes, bitter no.
I'm pretty sure that "the Greeks" didn't have any "definition" of happiness. What JFK appears to have garbled is a prescription for a virtuous life -- and I think Krauthammer would have agreed. His life testified to this. To refer to this kind of behavior as "happiness" is to downgrade -- extremely -- virtue and those who strive to be virtuous.
8
JFK was paraphrasing Aristotle, from Nicomachean Ethics: "The Good of man is the exercise of his soul's faculties in conformity with excellence or virtue ...."
1
Some people, as they age and grow older, they begin to see the goodness in human nature, which in turn helps them to grow kinder towards all people.
Dr. Krauthammer was not one of them.
As he aged, his resentment for those with whom he disagreed grew more intense.
He always wanted to win in arguments, and ultimately failed to see that when two people argue, they are both wrong.
196
You obviously knew nothing of Charles. He was not argumentative for the sake of just that. He was warm, kind, and though one may not agree with him, his thoughts begged to be part of the debate.
If you couldn’t find anything nice to say, why the effort?
Rest In Peace Charles, your intellect and sharp pen will be greatly missed.
To the writer - Thank you for this wonderful tribute.
1
And you, Thomas, might benefit from this one..."You can be right, or you can be kind."
1
Thomas: You have sure, firm touch on the wrong note.
A wonderful piece that really captured the essence of Charles. We were good friends in Boston (where thankfully he was a Red Sox fan.)We would open the windows of Vanderbilt Hall to hear the roar fromFenway Park on a hot summer day. It was on such a day, incredibly hot on the tennis court, that he was injured
While he briefly lost his spirit after that it was amazing to see it return seemingly stronger than ever
Despite his political changes he was at heart always socially if not economically liberal or at least realistic
8
Thanks, Mr. Weiner, and to the New York Times for honoring Mr. Krauthammer. The more I got to know Krauthammer's work, the less I found that I disagreed with him. He was that kind of thinker. I still can't agree with him on some things, such as Iraq, but he always used the highest standard for argument: being well-read, and sticking to the facts without resorting to insults, even with those who insulted him. That was why I almost never watched Fox unless I knew he'd be on Special Report that day. Though he was a conservative, he made the best argument against Donald Trump of anybody I read or listened to in 2016. How do you replace a guy like that?
12
Few people, it seems, genuinely deserve the accolades they are given after their passing. But Charles Krauthammer is one who does.
Thank you, Peter Wehner, for a rich and moving tribute to a gentleman and a scholar.
22
I recall the decedent to have been highly intelligent and inspirational, at least biographically. However, he was also needlessly argumentative, partisan, and at times, flat out untruthful. His self-serving contributions to the current tumultuous and hyper divided political discourse where party trumps country should not be forgotten.
274
Thanks, NYTimes, for giving the Trump Derangement Syndrome crowd, free reign. /sigh/
C.K. -- double-Harvard, well-mannered, well-argued. R.I.P.
I am a registered Independent and I have voted for Democrats and Republicans and will continue to do so. My criticism of Mr. Krauthammer is well measured and I have offered similar admonishments of more left-leaning, though similarly unreasonable pundits.
Your reflexive and overly broad attack on my remark seems to reveal the type of bias I so detest.
My deepest condolences to Krauthammer's family and friends.
He was a person who tried to really engage others about his perspectives. You could agree or not with him - I often did not - but still respect him and appreciate how he set forth his conclusions.
In an age when people talk at, more than talk to, each other, Charles' approach will also be sorely missed.
14
Though most who read The New York Times - and alas, most who write for it - won't understand this, the loss of Charles Krauthammer is a tremendous loss for the American people. There are all too few like him in the world today. Rest in peace, Charles.
39
I completely agree. He was civilized and brave. So sorry he is gone.
7
I guess I am one of those who does not understand why the loss of Charles Krauthammer is a tremendous loss for the American people.
I can understand why he is a tremendous loss to learned elitists who savor acrobatic twists of the intellect and language. I can understand why he is a tremendous loss to staunch global climate deniers doubting settled science, and the fossil fuel interest, who lost a staunch defender.
But frankly I can not understand how one can see Krauthammer premature death, a loss to the American people. Unless one believes that fossil fuels is the basis of American prosperity, power, and virtue, which it is not.
America was the land of the brave and ingenious for over a century before fossil fuels soiled the land, water and the air of our great country. America will remain a beacon of hope to the world, both economic and moral, long after we get rid of the toxic pollution that Charles unwisely defended, and ironically in the end may have contributed to the illness that took his life, and for which we are all sad.
94
If only we all had someone to enjoy life’s twists and turns alongside - as a deep and trusted friend. If only we all had someone speak so lovingly of our authenticity after we have we gone. A lucky, lucky man indeed.
15
We used to get The Philadelphia Inquirer. Now and then, they ran a column by Mr. Krauthammer. Let me be frank.
He was a little more conservative than I was. Many conservative writers are. I think that might include YOU, Mr. Wehner.
But your tribute to Mr. Krautmanner--my goodness! So much about this man I didn't know. That he'd suffered that debilitating accident That he'd been to medical school. That he was friends with YOU, Mr. Wehner.
And that he died a week ago.
The picture you paint us, Mr. Wehner--what a man! May I speak frankly?
We have no lack of "conservatives" nowadays. They're a dime a dozen. LOUD conservatives. STRIDENT conservatives. HEARTLESS conservatives.
Mr. Krauthammer--like yourself, Mr. Wehner--was a conservative with INTEGRITY.
My God! what has happened to INTEGRITY in this country? I say nothing of our President. I say nothing of today's GOP. You know it all better than I do, Mr. Wehner. You can EXPRESS it better than I can.
Pick up, sir--where Mr. Krauthammer left off.
Give us the conservative angle on things--go ahead, sir!
And do it with the fairness--the balance--the INTEGRITY you miss in your sometime mentor. . . . .
. . .and which you exemplify in your own writings.
Irrigate the barren salt flats of today's conservatism.
Lord knows, they need it!
We ALL need it!
Thanks for your piece.
118
"Pick up sir...."? Peter Wehner doesn't need to pick up after Charles--he has been consistently a sane, decent, moral voice of reason before and ever since Trumpism came to bear. And it is sort of shocking to me that you didn't know anything about Charles Krauthammer--being an MD etc. Something called the internet could get you caught up pretty fast. It might be more informative than the Phila. Inquirer.
Thank you for your well spoken comments. You go right to the heart of the matter... integrity; not anger, hatred or blatant bias.
I offer my condolences on your loss, Mr. Wehner. But I was subjected to the public persona of Mr. Krauthammer and it wasn't pretty. He knew his audience and was willing to throw out the red meat with the best of them. He appealed to the worst aspects of our humanity. He was educated and refined but he narrowed his vision because it proved profitable.
I find it appalling to speak ill of the dead, but I am tired of pettiness and meaness being justified under ideological purity.
346
I agree!
Then you will be expected to eschew the rhetoric of anti-Semites/anti-Zionists like Tamika Mallory, Keith Ellison (both acolytes of Louis Farrakhan), and denounce the fascist-like BDS movement which demonizes Israel, and only Israel, every day.
And racial hustlers who are "on the air" every day, like Al Sharpton, should also enjoy your enmity.
But your comment failed to mention all this. Seems your comments re appealing to the "worst aspects of our humanity" apply in your view only to conservatives.
1
Agree with him or not, the man had guts.
55
Please don’t confuse foolishness and evil for courage. Donald Trump is president because men like Mr. Krauthammer provided cover for evil fools and while he may not have liked the unintended consequences of his conduct, he at least is now released from those consequences while we and generations to come are not.
10
Guts.....like running your mouth takes guts. That’s silly.
1
A perfect example of of the brainless reasoning that gave us Trump.
4
Good of you to speak well of your friend on the occasion of his death. Unfortunately, your description of the man is at considerable variance with the qualities of temperament and mind I and others observed over the years. In print and especially on TV, he seemed to epitomize the arrogance and, at times, downright unpleasantness of an ideologue. His eventual migration to Fox News, a vast terrain of ignorance and lack of journalistic integrity, seemed inevitable. The ability to spew a constant stew of anger and lies that characterizes this network seemed an appropriate locale for his manner.
412
I agree. To listen to people speak with great reverence about Mr. Krauthammer always confuses me. The man I read recently and listen to on Fox news occasionally had none of the characteristics that were described in this article. One shouldn't speak ill of the dead, it will happen to all of us. But it wouldn't hurt to at least stick to reality.
9
Yes, unfortunately all I will remember about Charles Krauthammer is the constant vitriol he expressed for President Barack Obama, a man who epitomizes grace and deserves respect for being an intelligent, decent human being. There was never a kind word for him from Krauthammer.
9
I, too, found his so called 'cutting wit' to be sarcasm. I rarely ever saw the search for facts that this author writes about but typically an arrogant assumption that his point of view about events was 'the correct one.' If he was warm, caring, and funny, it must have been in private and with people whose world view approximated his own. Little surprise that he moved from psychiatry into conservative punditry. I suspect that the empathy for others which is crucial in psychiatry was lacking in his soul.
I applaud him for his opposition to Trump and his objections to Buchanan years ago. Otherwise, I found that he offered little else of value.
2
Mr. Krauthammer showed how Liberals and Conservatives can disagree and still respect each other. No one expects only one way of thinking the world. Certainly "truth" lies somewhere in-between. We live dismal times indeed with Donald Trump. RIP!
61
So sorry to hear about his passing. Although a very liberal Democrat, I enjoyed listening to his views and always thought of him as an honest, sincere, intelligent voice in all the noise....
60
Liberal here. I will miss him. We need more like him that make us think. Whether we agree or not. Democracy has lost an asset in these scary times. A good time for all his commentaries to be republished.
135
Liberal hero? Are we talking about the same person?
I am particularly fond of the ones where he during the lead up to the invasion of Iraq insults those who questioned whether or not there were weapons of mass destruction. Like he was channeling the current administration.
Bravo, Mr. Krauthammer, for a life well lived. Most of us couldn’t live one day in your shoes. You lived a lifetime with grace, dignity and courage. Millions never knew you were wheelchair-bound. You inspired us with your intellect that was boundless. May your memory be a blessing to all who’s lives you touched.
33
@HK - In no way was Dr. Krauthammer "wheelchair-bound". The unfortunate swimming accident which broke his neck did NOT allow it to stop him from reaching his goals. In order to do so, like many others who use wheelchairs, canes, crutches, eyeglasses, dentures, etc., it allowed him the opportunity to participate in [the] life [he wanted].
Without the intellect and insight he provided on the political landscape over the last ~40 years and imprint he made as a speech writer, columnist and political pundit, who knows which direction that butterfly would have chosen to take.
Drivel. Krauthammer was arrogant and cruel.
4
The timing of his death is what is so unfortunate because the world has entered an unexpected period of transformative change, a revolution that is demonstrating its power in bringing about changes to circumstances that no longer will serve us any purpose where we are headed. Now more than ever we need writers with the talents of a Charles Krauthammer, who wrote independently, and with honesty, to guide us through the uncertainty, and turbulence, of our emergence into the light of a new day.
51
There is no disrespect in being frank in his memory because he presumed to frankness in his life. Like other heirs to the Buckley mantle, he was erudite in his disingenuousness. He was pseudoelitist and clever, not wise. He helped to blueprint the wreckage of the movement he said he supported. What we see around us now was aided by Mr. Krauthammer.
172
No man or woman can ever be perfect. One of my favorite perceptions of Charles was that he didn't pretend to be better than anyone. To say he was disingenuous is to not understand how he maintained discussions in the realm of reality instead of the mere petty. Saying he "blueprinted the wreckage" is to show lack of understanding of the value of his more centrist viewpoints. You in fact, could be considered one the things we worked hard not to appear to be like, which is why my admiration of him never dimmed over the years. A voice of reason in a den of knives and cuts.
3
Disingenuous?? How far off the mark can you be?
2