Congratulations To Ross
Ross has been picked up as the new op-ed columnist at The New York Times. Congratulations to him on the new job. The NYT has made a smart choice, and as always I am looking forward to reading what Ross has to say.
Update: I would just add that I hope this means that The Atlantic will now provide Reihan an individual blog platform to fill the gap Ross will leave behind.
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Filed under: miscellaneous
Daniel:
I read your blog each day, despite the fact that I am an atheist/engineer who is primarily left-leaning but moving rightward. I found your blog late one night a few years ago, and started reading – your erudition is immense and I assumed you were in your thirties or forties. Imagine my surprise to find a wunderkind. (PhD in Byzantine history?!)
I have stopped reading lefty blogs mostly because they bore me – they’re too predictable. A conservatism that truly cherishes liberty, the Bill of Rights, an effective social net for those in need, and a respect for science would go a long way with me. But the fundies will always be the scarecrow that keeps me away from the Right at election time.
Personally, I just can’t ever stomach the appeal to tradition, it’s too empty a vessel for me, although I understand that liberty as negative freedom has similar problems.
It seems that conservatism is at war with reality (intelligent design, stem cell research and reproductive rights – a zygote is a person, all problems originate from the librul media, W was a great leader, tax cuts are the answer to all problems, etc).
What is so odd is that conservatives seem to think that they are realistic ones (that avoids social engineering and starts with our fallibility), but today’s mainstream version is the opposite – so vain and in love with nation-building and micromanaging my life.
(I should say that progressives seem to be at war with society – there are no differences between men and women, we can help everyone whose ignorance lost them their house, etc)
There is such a respect for the reader in your posts, in that dour, rational, steady-as-you-go voice. I find that refreshing. Why read Sullivan when his shtick is so entrenched by now? Or Atrios?
I had to register here though when I saw Douthat got the Prize. He’s clearly more mainstream. He’s smart and a good writer, but imho I don’t think he’s in your class. He isn’t as insightful.
I’d never expect the NYT to make you their newest addition.
An author is who against corporate America has NO chance of making it into the Manhattan elite’s paper of record. (I never understood how Republicans could stomach the glaring contradictions of Fox – Murdoch pitches sleeze during prime time yet preaches piety for commentary. Murdoch embodies the hypocrisy in the GOP I despise.) I think that capitalism is far more an attack on the family and healthy values than, say, gay marriage, working on many levels with much greater impact.
That’s why I respect your blog. You seem to be capable of stating the obvious with disarming clarity.
Sorry for the ramble. Gotta get the kids to baths and bedtime. Otherwise I’d shorten and tighten this mess of mine.
But I just wanted to throw my two cents in – I think there are many dems and libs in addition to conservatives who greatly respect your voice too. I’d say you’re the best blogger out there. Keep at it. Adios.
It should have been you, Daniel, but congratulations to Ross.
Would have preferred you Daniel. I might have actually resubscribed to the Times. But as DFS said over at Balloon Juice:
“Anybody who thought they would seriously consider Larison is delusional. He writes about seventeen grade levels above what they’d be going for.”
That’s a bit snippy of course but I agree not so much because Ross is bad but because your writing kicks ass. We’re almost at completely opposite ends of the political spectrum yet I read you every day. Keep up the good work.
Thanks very much to all of you and to all of the other readers for your extremely kind words. I’ll keep trying to produce work that you will find worthwhile. It is gratifying that so many readers appreciate what I’m doing here, and I will do my best to maintain a high standard.
Frequent reader, first time commenter, here.
I’m an unabashed, unapologetic liberal who thoroughly enjoys your columns, and frequently links to you. I may not always agree with you, and sometimes I even energetically disagree with you, but you would have made a find addition to the NYT.
NYT 0
AmConMag 1
I’m not going to be like everyone else in saying how great you are. Instead I’ll just link to what I said elsewere.
I’m in the same boat as many here; I’m a left-leaning person drifting right and I’ve become a daily reader of your blog after finding it a few months back. Keep up the good wwork :)
Ha! Here I was thinking “They should’ve chosen Larison” but I didn’t want to write it in the comments ’cause I thought it would sound…I don’t know…corny? Mushy?
Then I read all the comments, and I’m damn glad I’m not the only one who was thinking that…
totally bummed but not surprised they didn’t pick you: you never give truth a “spin” — you just say it, in that entertainingly “dour, rational, steady-as-you-go” way tor mentioned above (great description). and that’s why i love reading you though i too am a dirty librul. (are there ANY conservatives who read you, by the way, or can they not handle the truth?) i read you because i don’t want to be the liberal version of a dittohead, and if i need to know the smart conservative side of an argument that’s stripped of spin, this is where i come.
i read sullivan for fun, but i read you because i need to be more educated politically. also because no one does weary, detached disgust — with both sides of the political spectrum — as well as you do.
can’t wait to see what the coming years hold for you!
Thanks very much to all the recent commenters. It is greatly appreciated.
“also because no one does weary, detached disgust — with both sides of the political spectrum — as well as you do.”
That means a lot. Truly, I take that as a great compliment.
And, yes, I believe there are quite a few conservatives who read this blog and other things I have written. I think that includes some people on the right who disagree with much of what I have to say.
Having neglected to mention it above, I should also add here that Ross has always been very fair and generous in his engagement with my arguments, which have not always been as charitable to his views as they probably ought to have been. He did a lot to draw attention to Eunomia when I was a no-account independent blogger in the early days, and he didn’t have to do that. It is because of the help of Ross and other bloggers like him that Eunomia is as much of a success as it is. It is to his credit that he has been willing to take seriously the criticisms coming at him from his right. We have disagreed often in the past, and I expect we will disagree in the future, but he has always been respectful, and I hope that the same can be said about me.
The idea that Daniel would ever be considered for a Times column, much less chosen, is pretty naive.
‘I should say that progressives seem to be at war with society….. we can help everyone whose ignorance lost them their house’
OMG. Ignorance isn’t the problem. If a bank gives a jobless monkey a $300000 loan to buy a $150000 asset it’s not the monkeys fault. He’s not to blame. All he can do is ask for a loan. Banks are supposed to assess risk before they fund a loan. Instead they ignored it. The entity insuring the loan against default also ignored it (no way any credible agency insures that loan, it’s guarrenteed to default). Because of their willful ignorance and Wall Streets greed we have people who never should have got loans defaulting all over and killing our economy. And yet you see past all the bank activity and toss some Joe the Plumber wisdom at us.
Stop pretending to have any left leanings. You are purely right wing is you blame the people.
Maybe we should form a librul/DFH Larison fan club (or Facebook group :} ). Freddie could be president.
And yes, Daniel, like probably many of your early adopter leftie fans, I found you through Ross, about whom I learned when he and Julian were guest-blogging for Andrew. There are many niches in the ecology of ideas.
I second the nomination of Reihan for the Atlantic slot, ideally paired with Razib. If we want a trinity of cobloggers, the third really should be Christian. Perhaps Bobby Jindal is available.
Faithful paleoconservative (and fellow orthodox convert) reader here. I’ve never read a blog that has so consistently and so eloquently advanced the cause of the anti-war, anti-modern right like you have, Daniel. No; you would never be chosen to write for the Old Gray Lady. You might actually provoke discussion instead of simply affirming the basic political, moral, economic and religious assumptions of the left-wing in this country, in both its neoconservative and liberal guises.
I’m surprised they chose Douthat, to be honest. Seems rather politically risky to choose someone that closely involved with the populist right. We’ll see how things turn out.
After reading these posts I’ve three things to say:
1. Your writing is pretty much the only political writing I bother to read; so that’s my compliment
2. I am a conservative reader, and
3. I have increasingly come to realize just how far removed America is from tradition and good living. I’m living in Europe right now, and though it’s clear that they are themselves becoming detached from their past we in America stand to learn a lot about what it would be like to be a part of a community and a nation that values persistence and conservation over renewal, growth, the free-market (whatever that is) and technology as the main source of happiness…
I hadn’t thought Ross Douthat would be picked by the NYTimes. It had crossed my mind that he could be recruited to fill the gap left by the death of Rev. Richard John Neuhaus at First Things.
His move to the NYTimes is merited and promising. I can’t think of another realistic choice that would have pleased me more. Douthat’s rise is a rebuke to those pundits and their followers who complain about “the MSM” keeping them down. Talent and a congenial personality can take you far.
Now I’m not up to date about who the pundit powerhouses are. But it’s difficult for me to see how someone more critical of mainstream conservatism from the right could ascend to national prominence beyond TAC. The talent is certainly there, but I sense a lack of the ambition and the patience required to generate the kind of network needed.
This may give TAC some of its freshness through avoiding mere social climbing, but it also keeps the general national scene bland. Who’s going to take Pat Buchanan’s place when he retires?
I, too, must voice appreciation for Daniel Larison. I can’t believe how much of your great commentary I’m getting from Eunomia at no charge. (Though the blog did encourage me to subscribe to TAC.)
You other Larison admirers here should know that Michael Brendan Dougherty started a “Daniel Larison Astounds Me” facebook group. It’s seldom visited, but it’s there.