08 December 2006
Jeane Kirkpatrick, R. I. P.
Former U. N. ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick passed away yesterday. A. P. obit here. Of all those who came to power with Reagan, I liked her the best. I thought she had a no-nonsense sensibility that was welcome at the time.
It would be welcome today, too. Her certitude about how to view the Soviet Union, about how to correctly identify its little red fingers in much of the violence of the world, was right on. Contrast that with the inability of the Bush (43) administration to identify and lead the containment of non-state threats like militant Islamism. We will pay dearly for the loss of credibility resulting from the allowed confusion of Saddam with al Qaeda. It affects our ability to deal effectively with the threats we face, from other nations and from non-state groups.
I always loved it when she would be on the Sunday morning Brinkley show. She reminded me of friends my mom had over the years: Tough attitude with an acerbic wit voiced from a throat that had probably smoked way too many Chesterfields. Non-filter. I think she was someone you would want on your side in a fight, whether in an Irish pub, a world threatened by thermonuclear devastation, or a world in which suicidal religious whackos think they should take non-believers down with themselves.
It would be welcome today, too. Her certitude about how to view the Soviet Union, about how to correctly identify its little red fingers in much of the violence of the world, was right on. Contrast that with the inability of the Bush (43) administration to identify and lead the containment of non-state threats like militant Islamism. We will pay dearly for the loss of credibility resulting from the allowed confusion of Saddam with al Qaeda. It affects our ability to deal effectively with the threats we face, from other nations and from non-state groups.
I always loved it when she would be on the Sunday morning Brinkley show. She reminded me of friends my mom had over the years: Tough attitude with an acerbic wit voiced from a throat that had probably smoked way too many Chesterfields. Non-filter. I think she was someone you would want on your side in a fight, whether in an Irish pub, a world threatened by thermonuclear devastation, or a world in which suicidal religious whackos think they should take non-believers down with themselves.
