Sound Politics: Five Years Ago

April 07, 2008

Five Years Ago

The late, great Michael Kelly passed from this Earth. Peter Wehner offers a tribute at NRO with which many a loyal fan of Kelly's work can identify.

His collected writings in Things Worth Fighting For remains one of my most treasured books. In an era when punditry is ever-present, Kelly's commentary prowess with the written word continues to stand alone.

Posted by Eric Earling at April 07, 2008 07:50 PM | Email This

Comments

1. I remember Pete Wehner from my UW days. He was a friend that I met in McMahon Hall. Haven't seen him for years. But I remember that back when I asked him what he wanted to do after graduation, he knew right away that he wanted to work in Washington DC. I was impressed. Glad he's out there making a positive difference.

Posted by: Michele on April 7, 2008 08:37 PM

2. Hi all,

I intend no disrespect when I say this--and I agree with the post insofar as I think Michael Kelly was a very talented polemicist--but he seems like one of those people whose death almost completely refutes his life, or at least a big part of his life.

He spent that last year, week after week, pounding away at his keyboard with all the reasons why we had to start a war.

War is hell, we should never be the ones to start them. The war he helped start took him as an early victim, and in so doing removed the shine from all his arguments.

Thanks all, New Left Conservative #1

Posted by: New Left Conservative #1 on April 7, 2008 10:54 PM

3. A month or two back there was a post on a poorly written column by Joel C. I said that in the 15 years that I've been reading the Times & PI, the only columnists who stood out were Michelle Malkin and Alexander Cockburn. I had forgotten about Michael Kelly, who used to run in the Times. He was one of the greats.

Posted by: russell garrard on April 8, 2008 09:04 AM

4. Hi all,

I have to say, I am totally shocked that only one poster had anything to say about Michael Kelly.

Eric's blog should be seen as courageous-- and conscientiously respectful of his own ideological forebearers. Other than Eric's blog, it seems that Michael Kelly is not destined to be remembered--his death doesn't work allegorically for most war supporters and the anti-war folks (like me) would only want to retell his story to use it against his argument.

Even when he died, the story was perfunctory and buried in the paper and had absolutely no bounce.

Had he been killed by a resistance fighter's bullet, it would be a totally different--how humdrum and confusing to get run over by a US Hummer.

Even Pat Tillman will live on in comparative fame thanks to his story's shocking irony.

These wars--like all the others--sure have given all of us who are attentive strong arguments against the evilness of war and good reason to oppose starting them for fun, like George did this one.

Thanks all, New Left Conservative #1

Posted by: New Left Conservative #1 on April 8, 2008 09:58 PM