Author: Andrew Sullivan

Depressing Christmas Songs, Ctd

A reader writes:

Perhaps because I'm a church musician, I find it interesting that many of these "depressing Christmas songs" have nothing to do with Christmas whatsoever.  They're straight up pop songs stuffed onto a Christmas album because the lyricist managed to find a way to put the word Christmas in there somewhere.  Believe me, there are plenty related to the season that top these if you really think about it.  Peter Warlock's "Bethlehem Down" comes to mind. The message?  All is sweet for now, but you know soon enough the babe is going to be crucified.  If you don't fully buy the notion of the resurrection, what could be more maudlin?

Lyrics after the jump:

When he is King we will give him the Kings’ gifts,
Myrrh for its sweetness, and gold for a crown,
Beautiful robes,” said the young girl to Joseph,
Fair with her first-born on Bethlehem Down.

Bethlehem Down is full of the starlight —
Winds for the spices, and stars for the gold,
Mary for sleep, and for lullaby music
Songs of a shepherd by Bethlehem fold.

When he is King they will clothe him in grave-sheets,
Myrrh for embalming, and wood for a crown,
He that lies now in the white arms of Mary,
Sleeping so lightly on Bethlehem Down.

Here he has peace and a short while for dreaming,
Close-huddled oxen to keep him from cold,
Mary for love, and for lullaby music
Songs of a shepherd by Bethlehem fold.

From The In-Tray II

Another of my constant correspondents. The energy this must take. He has penned hundreds this year and many before. A flavor of the usual themes (mainly about my AIDS dementia):

I understand that David Bradley has put you on suicide watch as a result of this poll. Even your arch nemesis, Dick Cheney, is approaching Obama approval levels. I wonder when the calls for impeachment will begin since you and Gleenwald will be just about the only supporters left.

And again:

The above single sentence excerpt from your post, reads as if written by a drugged and/or drunken fool. As far as one can determine, the folks at The National Review are not, as is your particular case, fucking idiots and dementia-driven fools. Stronger views to follow.

And again:

Your initial post and your response to this reader represent a new low in your dementia-infested mind.

And again:

I do visit your site with a fair degree of regularity when I’m not otherwise busy with my other life. I must say, however, that the continued decline in your mental state makes continuation of that highly problematic. I have offered in the past, and I continue to offer, the names and recommendations of several highly acclaimed medical professionals who could perhaps be of assistance to you in this phase of your life. In fact, perhaps the leading such authority in the world is among my neighbors in Gstaad.

By the way, I notice that you have totally ducked the basic thrust of my e-mail, which had to do with the fact that you have largely relied on whack jobs and perverts for much of your defamatory comments on Governor Palin.

Oh tidings of comfort and joy!

Gore And The Iraq War

Many readers spluttered at my belief that Al Gore would have gone to war against Saddam if he'd been inaugurated in 2000 instead of Bush. As someone who has known Gore for years, and edited TNR with which he was closely associated, and worked for Marty Peretz, one of his closest friends and mentors, I base my assessment on what I know of the guy, and his record. Jeff Weintraub basically agrees, although he argues that the way Gore would have gone to war would have been markedly different than Bush's, a sentiment which I tend to agree with as well. Here's a passage of a speech Gore gave in 2002:

Even if we give first priority to the destruction of terrorist networks, and even if we succeed, there are still governments that could bring us great harm. And there is a clear case that one of these governments in particular represents a virulent threat in a class by

itself: Iraq.

As far as I am concerned, a final reckoning with that government should be on the table.

To my way of thinking, the real question is not the principle of the thing, but of making sure that this time we will finish the matter on our terms. But finishing it on our terms means more than a change of regime in Iraq. It means thinking through the consequences of action there on our other vital interests, including the survival in office of Pakistan's leader; avoiding a huge escalation of violence in the Middle East; provision for the security and interests of Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the Gulf States; having a workable plan for preventing the disintegration of Iraq into chaos; and sustaining critically important support within the present coalition.

In 1991, I crossed party lines and supported the use of force against Saddam Hussein, but he was allowed to survive his defeat as the result of a calculation we all had reason to deeply regret for the ensuing decade. And we still do. So this time, if we resort to force, we must absolutely get it right. It must be an action set up carefully and on the basis of the most realistic concepts. Failure cannot be an option, which means that we must be prepared to go the limit. And wishful thinking based on best-case scenarios or excessively literal transfers of recent experience to different conditions would be a recipe for disaster.

One wonders, of course, if a war under genuine international auspices, without resorting to institutionalized torture and abuse of prisoners, with serious post-war planning, and more integrated nation-building could have made the invasion and occupation a success. I have to say I doubt it now, and doubt also if it would have made sense given other priorities. 

But I also wonder what the impact of a successful Iraq regime change under a Democrat might have been on American politics. But that's history for you. It's done now. And we'll never truly know.

Reds Under Obama’s Bed

Ron Radosh, whose blog is fast becoming a petri dish of aging neocon obsessions, fearlessly exposes that Barack Obama over a decade ago had interaction with and support from a group called the New Party, whose left-liberal views amounted to "full employment, a shorter work week and a guaranteed minimum income for all adults; a universal ’social wage’ to include such basic benefits as health care, child care, vacation time and lifelong access to education and training; a systematic phase-in of comparable worth and like programs to ensure gender equity.”

How they must love Obama now! But, of course, Radosh's main concern is Israel, and he joins the throng of Likudniks who want to get the scalp of one Hannah Rosenthal, Obama's appointee to combat global anti-Semitism. His conclusion?

Obama has put in a major position of influence a person from the left-wing of the political spectrum, who as an official whose office monitors anti-Semitism, is using her position to support J-Street, on whose Board she previously sat.

Rosenthal's crimes – apart from those of association – are that she was in an organization that was "highly critical of Israel’s policies." And that she took offense at Michael Oren's blatant attacks on J-Street. Remember what the neocons believe is a criterion for public office: no criticisms of any Israeli policies. Or you are a suspect Jew or a closet anti-Semite. And they believe this. Thank God the younger generations are less paranoid and less blinkered.

From The In-Tray I

I thought it might be revealing to open up the in-tray from a few of my regular correspondents. A few of them are truly a little, well, passionate. The following writes multiple times a month – and has sent hundreds of emails over the years. Here's a selection. December:

Shameless shill … …that would be you….celebrating…in dishonest terms, of course….the health care disaster…."the government [sic] helping the working poor [sic]"…meaning, as always, forced re-distribution….well, duh!!….the "government" can always "help" whatever targeted group the bien-pensants wish to benefit, can't they…with MY money….that's always the left's claim as they accrue power and wealth to their New Class selves….at the same time exhibiting and expressing utter contempt for the intended beneficiaries…"clingers", remember? "tea-baggers" with obviously false consciousness failing to recognize the beneficence of their saviours…as that CNN bitch openly expressed it contemptuously… Oh, yeah…the Hope and Change thing, too….what a crock!…what liars!…what hypocrites, shameless dissemblers!

November:

He's probably just going through a PROH-sess, see…..LOL!!…His Oneness doesn't know whether to shit or go blind….if He lets the kooks have the nukes….He's toast…worse than the helicopters on the roof in Saigon (how did that work out for the left?)…it will be dolchstoss, baby!!…..and if He preëmpts….it's the Bush Doctrine…and the left will eat Him alive….we'll help them….can't wait….

October:

NOW you're just figuring it out?….it's worse than you expected?…LOL!!….you're the rube…He's taken you for a ride….on EVERY issue! "Does [H]e think we're stupid?"….well, actually…..yes!…He must!…or else He knows you have nowhere else to go….and will continue to support and outright SHILL for Him no matter what!…pretty shrewd, dude!…very clever…and you all trusted Him….because you thought that when He said He was against gay marriage…that HE WAS JUST LYING!….LYING WAS A FEATURE, NOT A BUG!!!…turns the joke is on you!!…and totally deserved… Ah!…but His temperament!…see…He's going through a PROH-sess….since He's a "robust self-contradiction" He cannot be held to rhetorical exactitude…that other stuff, remember, was "overheated and amplified rhetoric"….just "statements generated [sic] during the campaign", that all….

As I said, there are hundreds of these. So about that comments section … ?

The View From Your Recession: Checking Back In

This reader was a third-year law student about to take the bar exam in Massachusetts. Original post here. He writes:

I graduated this spring with a law degree, and spend the summer in bar preparation.  I sat simultaneously for the New York and Massachusetts bar exams, figuring that I would put my eggs in as many baskets as possible.  Afterwards, I moved to D.C. from Boston in search of work.  From all I had read, D.C. seemed to have a better job market for attorneys than any other locale.

I threw myself into the job hunt with gusto – I was on ten different job email lists, and probably can immediately recite twenty different job posting websites off the top of my head.  I informational interviewed and attended alumni and networking events.  I also applied to thirteen temping agencies, primarily legal.  When I say I applied, I mean I actually went to their offices in suit and tie ready to sell my skill set and impress them – these were not anonymous resume drops.  Each agency’s representative was pleasant and said that opportunities would come in any day now. And then they shooed me out of the office when I tried to press for details.  I call each every Monday and leave a voicemail (always a voicemail).  Since mid August, I have not received one job opportunity from these companies.  Not one.

The first job I got out of law school requires me to wear an apron and hairnet, paying me twenty-five cents an hour less than a high school job I had in 2001.  I’ve also proctored the LSAT, and joined an HIV vaccination study for money – yes, my health is now for sale. 

Happily, my story ends on a happy note. 

I was selected for a fellowship through the Office of Personnel Management this past spring, and with this designation, I was able to get interviews for fellowship-specific management jobs in the federal government.   I received an offer to work for a federal agency just last week, and begin on January 4th.  It’s a non-attorney role, but I hope to use my fellowship (and the completed background check) to continue on in federal service.   It’s the best Christmas present anyone could ever dream of.

I’m very excited about this opportunity, but also very conscious about how dire things were getting. My savings are absolutely depleted, and my credit cards have been filed away lest I overdraw them in a weak moment when I want caffeine.  I qualified for food stamps the same day I learned I’d passed the New York bar exam.  I believe there is no entitlement to a job in this country, but I am very very angry to see so many of my peers struggling though no fault of their own – It's a great hardship to have a newly-minted professional degree right now.  Before the new job came along, my income-based repayment figure for my student loans was $0.00 monthly. I predict that student loans will become less easily available in the coming years as more and more students don't keep up on their payments, or pay very little as I was scheduled to do. 

The hardest part about this experience was when the Massachusetts bar association swore in this summer’s test takers.  I viewed all my law school classmates’ ceremony pictures on Facebook – I could not afford to travel back to Massachusetts and share this great accomplishment in Faniuel Hall at Qunicy Market, where the oldest bar association in the western hemisphere has always held its induction ceremonies.  Instead, I’ll have to be sworn in by affidavit later in January.  I'm a grown man, but I was in tears at viewing those pictures and being struck at how much I wanted to hug my classmates-now-attorneys. 

We live in interesting times, and I know my generation will come out of it with a very different perspective on savings, spending, and investment than did the graduates of the 1990’s and early 2000’s.