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Deutschmeister's avatar

I was touched by Mr. Kristol's tribute to James Carville and positive acknowledgment of him as both a person and a former political rival. It is the kind of warmth and honesty that all too often is lacking in American politics anymore. It helps that Carville is a thinker and a person who has a gift for speaking truth, and in ways that the average person can relate to. I'm not convinced that anyone from within the MAGA camp ever will attain that lofty perch after the dust someday has settled. It feels like a bridge too far when the movement is so grounded in anger, hatred, resentment, and grievance rather than any actual substantive program to make most people's lives better.

That said, there also is no small irony in the fact that nothing has been the same in the GOP since Carville's time, 30 years ago, when the party traded in a substantial share of its goodwill in order to attack and demonize the Clintons personally, as if a Satanic force that had to be eradicated more than merely political opponents whom they sought to defeat. It is genuinely cringeworthy to remember, much less hear again, the anti-Clinton screeds that Rush Limbaugh and others used as a prop to propel themselves to higher levels, and mostly for purely personal gain -- not unlike some modern-day right wing talk radio hosts, no? The level of anti-Clinton vitriol and resentment, well above and beyond normal political differences of opinion, remains stunning to behold in hindsight, and the lasting nature of how it rewrote the rule book on political engagement came to full fruition with the ultimate Clinton hatred in 2016, when Hillary's presidential campaign became the lightning rod that foisted upon us the person who still occupies so much of our time and attention and concern now.

One wonders what alternative universe we might be living in today if G.H.W. Bush had defeated B. Clinton in 1992. Or for that matter if his veep and target by association, Al Gore, had managed to wind up on the other side of a Supreme Court ruling versus George W. Or even if there had been a President McCain instead of a President Obama. And especially if some guy named Donald thus had remained merely a lower-level scam artist and B-list celebrity.

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Richard Kane's avatar

Mr. Kristol, I disagree with you on many issues but whenever you were interviewed, I would listen to what you'd say. You would always have a valid argument (in the debate sense of the word) for your position. I first heard about The Bulwark from you and Charlie on MSNBC. I thought that this might be the place for me. A place where not everyone agrees but they treat each other with respect. Thank you for The Bulwark and for bringing on the contributors whose work I may not have read elsewhere!

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