There was a nice profile of Ross Douthat in The New Yorker last month. Nice in the sense that the author, Isaac Chotiner, does well the job of such profiles, which is to efficiently and elegantly give a sense of who someone is and why they’re important. But nice, too, if I’m honest with myself, because Chotiner conveyed a sense of Douthat that harmonized with my own, which is that Douthat is an unusually appealing figure on the scene. He is an exceptional op-ed writer, a generally civilizing influence on the discourse, and by all accounts a decent and thoughtful person (I’ve met him once socially, and he seemed like a mensch). If there’s got to be a person with politics that differ dramatically from yours, he’s the guy you want it to be. When he’s god-emperor not only won’t he send you to the firing squad, he’ll bring you to court to serve as his close and honored advisor, charged with disagreeing with him candidly when you see him going astray, so that his exercise of total power will be leavened by humility.
Read Full Article »
