IN 1963, JFK AND BARRY GOLDWATER were friends and also the probable presidential nominees for the following year. As part of the campaign, they discussed touring the country with a series of Lincoln-Douglas type debates. These days, I doubt the two nominees would ride in the same elevator.
Part of the fun of doing these columns is the response from readers. Even those who disagree with me are always very civil. Eric, strongly disagreed with my anti-Iraq war viewpoint. Each of us tried to persuade the other to our point-of-view until, finally, we agreed to disagree. We found common ground with, of all things, Andre Agassi. We both admired him as a tennis champion and as a human being.
“Civil” isn’t exactly how I would characterize four e-mails I received from Jack. The opening sentence was that my column “was laughable,” and I don’t think he meant it in the complimentary sense. Incensed, he demanded a retraction, saying “Scooter” Libby was not convicted of leaking Valerie Plame’s name. Yes, but he apparently forgot Patrick Fitzgerald’s comment that Libby so clouded the investigation with his deceit it was impossible to prosecute the underlying charge. Minor detail.
To be accurate, Libby was found guilty of four felonies, including lying to the FBI and obstruction of justice. That sounds pretty serious to me. Of course, it’s moot because, with Bush’s commutation, Libby wound up serving no jail time, or exactly 23 days less than Paris Hilton. Jack wasn’t as upset when I took Ann Coulter to task for referring to John Edwards with a homosexual slur. Coulter later said she meant the term as kids use it on the schoolyard. (That makes it OK?) Isaiah Washington got fired from “Grey’s Anatomy” for the same slur, but for Coulter, it only meant greater book sales. So much for the state of civility.
My criticism of Rush Limbaugh, however, touched a nerve. So much so that Jack wrote an e-mail to Rush so he could defend himself. (I just hope my column didn’t cause Rush to have an OxyContin relapse.) Actually, I got a chuckle out of my “fan’s” letters until I received an even more mean-spirited e-mail from his friend, “Dietrologia.” (How do these people have so much free time?) Dietroligia said he had Googled me, and based on that, he was convinced no one actually read my column. (Other than those two?) There’s one more detail of his e-mail that I had to clean up slightly. Apparently, thinking it witty, he said my columns were only good for toilet tissue.
Charming. I welcome a difference of opinion, just not low-brow insults. I wrote back recommending the two take up a new hobby. Perhaps a course in manners?
My point in criticizing Coulter, O’Reilly, Hannity and Limbaugh, wasn’t their politics. It’s their tactics: Name-calling and bullying. Before Bush, conservatives used to stand for fiscal responsibility and non-interventionism. Victor Gold, former press secretary to Barry Goldwater, talks about this in his book, “Invasion of the Party Snatchers, How the Neo-Cons Destroyed the GOP.” A lifelong Republican, he describes the destructive role played by Limbaugh and company. He finds it painful. He’s not the only one.
On Sept. 12, 2001, the country was behind George Bush. So was the world. In Tehran one million Iranians gathered to show their support. All that goodwill was squandered by invading Iraq. I fear it will go down as the worst strategic move in our history; worse than Vietnam because it shows we didn’t learn a thing.
Speaking of not learning, recently Karl Rove was asked why we didn’t chase a certain al Qaeda into Pakistan. He answered, “You don’t invade a sovereign country without their request.” The room broke out in nervous laughter because of the obvious parallel to Iraq. Given the lives and money we’ve needlessly sacrificed, I found Rove’s comment more tragic than amusing.
The three greatest periods of political division in America have been during the Civil War, Vietnam and now. How are we ever going to heal? (And how do we get the troops home alive and intact?) We’re in the fifth year of this endless war, but today Bush stubbornly said,“We’re at the starting point.”
Suddenly, it felt more hopeless than ever. But one thing seems certain — I doubt any healing will be aided by mean-spirited e-mails.
JACK NEWORTH Hate mail can be filed in the recycle bin.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 13, 2007. Read the original PDF.