Andrew Sullivan

A while back I took Andrew Sullivan off my blogroll. I did it because I stopped reading him - he had become boring. A two trick pony.

The first meta-theme Sullivan carps on is all things that have to do with gay marriage. Now I have no problem with gay marriage. I think that two people willing to commit to each other for life is a great thing. Realistically I also know that the first thing gay marriage will lead to is gay divorce. Either way it doesn't effect my love for my wife or my marriage. Ke sera sera.

It's just that I don't go out of my way to read about gay marriage. So I stopped going out of my way to click on AndrewSullivan.com.

The second meta-theme Sullivan has let creep into his writings is a "Bush is bad" (because he proposed a defense of marriage ammendment) and "Kerry is better than he looks" theme. Sullivan has in fact become the anti-Christopher Hitchens.

Hitchens saw the world on 9/12 with new eyes and came to believed that fighting terrorism was the A number 1 priority for Western Civilization. One of the first to welcome this change in attitude from Christopher Hitchens was Andrew Sullivan. Now that Sullivan has been blinded by the issue of gay marriage - he has closed his eyes to the threat of terrorism and has joined the chorus of "quagmire" in Iraq.

It's not just that Sullivan has become myopic as far as subject matter - it is also a case of him becoming more shrill and less objective. When Sullivan was supporting Bush - he didn't hesitate to point out areas where he differed with the President or areas where he thought the President was wrong in policy or deed. Now he may as well rename his blog "John Kerry - You Go Girl!" for all the cheerleading he does. Take today for example:

Here's John Kerry's newest attempt to get a handle on the Iraq debate. It's a big improvement. Money quote:

The administration told us we'd be greeted as liberators. They were wrong. They told us not to worry about looting or the sorry state of Iraq's Infrastructure. They were wrong. They told us we had enough troops to provide security and stability, defeat the insurgents, guard the borders and secure the arms depots. They were wrong. They told us we could rely on exiles like Ahmed Chalabi to build political legitimacy. They were wrong. They told us we would quickly restore an Iraqi civil service to run the country and a police force and army to secure it. They were wrong. In Iraq, this administration has consistently over-promised and under-performed. This policy has been plagued by a lack of planning, an absence of candor, arrogance and outright incompetence. And the President has held no one accountable, including himself. In fact, the only officials who lost their jobs over Iraq were the ones who told the truth.

Ouch. I agree with everything but the first statement. We were greeted as liberators. Then we blew it.

First off - who is this "they"? Because those quotes certainly did not come from the President. Sullivan allows himself to be taken in with ad hominem attacks like this because he wants to believe. The President has always said that we have a hard row to hoe in bringing Democracy to Iraq. Show me quotes that prove otherwise.

I also had a problem with his "then we blew it." It's not just that Sullivan should avoid talking about blowing anything that bothers me. It's the royal "we". Every guy I know that has come back from Iraq or Afghanistan all say that we are doing a good job and that we should stay the course - meanwhile Andrew "Summers Off" Sullivan tells us that we are blowing it?

It is as if Sullivan needs Iraq to be a quagmire to pay Bush back for the defense of marriage act. That's sick thinking and people who think that way don't stay on my blogroll.