THE TYGRRRR EXPRESS

 

I had the pleasure of meeting John Podhoretz a few days ago in San Francisco. He was part of a panel of Jewish political conservatives discussing issues in the news. The event was put on by Jonathan Schanzer of the Jewish Policy Center, and Mr. Podhoretz contributed to it being a phenomenal event.

 

Mr. Podhoretz is the son of the revered Norman Podhoretz, the father of the Neocon movement. He did a fabulous job raising his son, politically speaking.

 

John Podhoretz is the author of the book, “Bush Country: How Dubya became a great President while driving liberals insane.” After that, he penned a book about Hillary Clinton entitled, “Can she be stopped?”. Both of these books are easy and enjoyable reads, mainly because Mr. Podhoretz mixes serious political analysis with lighthearted humor.

 

Mr. Podhoretz spent several years as a columnist for the New York Post. While he normally writes about politics, his open letter to his daughter nine days after her birth is a column for the ages. Mr. Podhoretz is now the Editorial Director at Commentary Magazine, taking over for his father. In January of 2009, he will be the Editor. For serious analysis of foreign policy issues, Commentary is the platinum standard.

 

 

 

It was a pleasure meeting him, and bringing his analysis and humor to the Tygrrrr Express. With that, below is the interview.

 

1) How does a nice Jewish person from a good family end up, horror of horrors, politically conservative?

 

Just lucky, I guess.

 

2) A large segment of our society seems to have an irrational fear of anyone deemed “religious.” Do you feel this is true, and how do you balance your deep commitment to your faith with the noble goal of educating some Americans who may unfairly consider all religion to be equated with zealotry and intolerance?

 

I’m not sure I take it as a goal of mine to educate Americans who equate religion with zealotry and intolerance. That view is held most especially by people who fancy themselves better educated and more intellectually minded than those who profess faith, and the one thing you can say about people who fancy themselves intellectual is that they are far more closed-minded than people who don’t fancy themselves much at all.

 

3) What can ordinary citizens do, besides donating money and buying your books, to help win the War on Terror? What obligations do we have, and how can we help?

 

I think the key here is simply to do two things: First, to speak up in conversation about how important this is so that the conversation is never dominated without response by those who argue we are doing too much, or acting unnecessarily. Second, to vote.

 

4) It is one thing to ask people to have faith in God. It is much tougher to ask people to have faith in Government. What does our government do right, and what does it need to do better so people can start believing in their government again?

 

Oddly enough, our government does very big things right. It builds big ships and fighter planes and weaponry right. It manages to send out tens of millions of Social Security checks without fail. You never hear of anyone who doesn’t get his IRS refund. What it does badly is micromanaging anything, and it should do less of that.

 

5) Without giving an endorsement unless you choose to do so, what are the strengths and weaknesses of the five main republican candidates?

 

The strength of Giuliani is that he has proven himself the most effective governing official in modern American history; the weakness, that he has a sloppy personal life. Romney’s strength is that he is a brilliant and well-spoken man; the weakness, that his candidacy is a marketing plan and not intrinsic to him. McCain’s strength is that he is means what he says and says what he means, and was right on the key issue of the decade; his weakness is that he has a perverse hunger to insult people who should be his core supporters. Fred Thompson’s strength is that he is funny and thoughtful; his weakness is that he doesn’t actually want to be president. Mike Huckabee’s strength is his wit; his weakness is that he is an identity-politics candidate.

 

6) With regards to foreign policy, what have we done right, and what have we gotten wrong, in the last 8 years, and what steps need to be taken to improve the situations that require improvement?

(This question is best answered by going to www.commentarymagazine.com

and reading every single word of every single article)

 

 

7) What were the main challenges you faced in your life? What were your greatest successes, and what do you need more time to accomplish?

 

The main challenge I face in my life is my weight. My greatest success is my marriage. I need more time to lose weight.

 

8.) Our country is incredibly polarized. Outside of another 9/11, is it even possible to unite Americans? What can be done to help reduce the acrimony among Americans today?

 

I, for one, have no interest in uniting with Michael Moore. I have no idea how to reduce the acrimony. People enjoy it more than they admit.

 

9) The American dollar seems to be in free fall. Should government get involved, and is this even a problem at all? If so, what needs to be done?

 

The best thing the government can do for the dollar is to avoid protectionist measures.

 

10) Who are your three favorite American political leaders of all time?

 

George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Ronald Reagan.

 

11) Who are your three favorite world political leaders of all time?

 

Moses, Cincinnatus, Abraham Lincoln.

 

12) What would be the main qualities and criteria you would look for with regards to potential Supreme Court justices? Could they disagree with you on major issues, and still be qualified? How do you feel they should rule on the two second amendment cases in front of them?

 

A Supreme Court justice should be willing to rule based on what law and precedent and the Constitution say, even if that ruling will make him unpopular. I can only speak to the D.C. case, and clearly, I think, the court should rule that the Second Amendment trumps the wildly overreaching law that forbids all D.C. residents from possessing a handgun.

 

13) Many Jews see Judaism as being in lockstep with liberalism, even though the highest for of Tzedakah involves helping someone achieve self-reliance, a very conservative philosophy. How do you explain the synthesis between Judaism and political conservatism to others?

I don’t think Judaism and political conservatism are especially congruent, actually, just as I don’t believe Judaism and liberalism are congruent. Judaism is a religion. Liberalism and conservatism are the terms we use to describe differing political and philosophical approaches to the world. Both are right and both are wrong to some degree.

14) Former Attorney General John Ashcroft once said that if the law conflicted with his religious beliefs, he would resign. Alabama Justice Roy Moore refused to obey a law requiring that he remove the Ten Commandments from his courtroom, based on his beliefs. Has American law ever conflicted with your religious beliefs, and how did you or would you handle this conflict?

Respect for the law is the fundament of representative government. I think there are times when people feel they must disobey the law because they are called to do so. That choice cannot be free of cost.

15) Do you support the Bush Doctrine of pre-emptive action? Do you feel that it may be necessary to take pre-emptive action against Iran? How does it differ from the Podhoretz Doctrine?

 

Yes, I support the Bush Doctrine, and it may well be necessary to take preemptive action against Iran, but only if we know what to hit. Right now, I don’t have faith that we know what to hit.

 

16) What Americans call 9/11, Israel refers to as every day life. Israel is then asked to show restraint. What is your view on Israel taking pre-emptive action, including a strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities if necessary? What about with regards to the disputed territories such as Gaza? What about against Damascus, who funds Hezbollah?

 

My view is that Israel has the right to defend itself against existential threat like any other nation, and that Israel, like the United States, would have good reason to degrade the Iranian nuclear program — if it knows how. After Lebanon, I see no reason to have faith that Ehud Olmert knows how to find the men’s room.

 

17) Is Iranian President Armageddonijad a terrorist? If so, should he be banned from any functions not directly related to the U.N.? Can and should the U.S. Government prohibit such people from visiting American universities, and should poison ivy league universities face sanctions or pressure for hosting such people?

 

He is the head of government of a sovereign state. The U.S. government should not act in that manner. On the other hand, any institution that hosts him should be judged harshly.

 

18) Attempts to partially privatize social security and fix the ticking time bomb of medicare have been met with hysteria about throwing old people on the street and leaving them to die. The issue was demagogued by the demagoguic party in 1995. Do you favor any privatization of social security? If not, why not? If so, how can it be framed in terms that do not frighten seniors?

 

Not only do I favor the partial privatization of Social Security, it has already happened. There isn’t a sane person in America without a 401 K plan. Fundamentally, Americans understand that Social Security will not suffice. Therefore, Social Security payments are just a transfer tax from the younger to the older, and when the system can no longer afford the transfer, it will end in some manner. But only when a crisis is reached.

 

19) How can the USA win the War on Terror when we cannot even win the public relations war? How do we balance freedom of speech and freedom of the press with the problem of media institutions such as the Jayson Blair Times revealing troop movements and getting our own soldiers killed? Should such actions result in criminal investigations and possible criminal sanctions? How can we win the public relations war?

 

We can win the war on terror even so. It’s like we’re chaining a lead ball to our feet when we have to run a race — it’s stupid and counterproductive and maybe even dangerous. But in the end, we’ll win that race.

 

20) Without delving into your personal life, what would you want Americans to know about John Podhoretz the person? 100 years from now, what would you want people to remember about you, and what would you hope the history books say about you?

 

I would like the world to remember that I was thin, because that would mean I lost weight and kept it off. Also, that I grew to be very, very old, and yet still played tennis. It would be nice if people, upon thinking of my name, said, “You know, he wrote pretty well.”

 

I would like to thank Mr. Podhoretz for his humor, his time, and his insights. Anybody who questions the power of Jewish republicans to positively influence the public debate must delve further into the world of John Podhoretz. Given how much enjoyment I have taken from his columns, the only thing I can do in return is offer him a joyful sentiment of my own.

 

In keeping with Ronald Reagan’s optimism, to answer the question of his last book, I emphatically state that yes, she can be stopped, and yes, she will be stopped. It will not be easy, but I will do my part from a small corner of the blogosphere, and he will effectively do his part from his justifiably platinum platform.

 

I wish John Podhoretz and his family much happiness always, and I hope he knows that he and I both have something in common with “The Dub.” We both drive liberals insane, and will continue to do so, from the right…by being right.

 

 

eric

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 19th, 2007 at 10:40 am and is filed under POLITICS. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.