Holy Crap: Andrew Sullivan Sees the Light

[JohnnyCougar]

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/03/what-i-got-wron.html

I was distracted by the internal American debate to the occlusion of the reality of Iraq. For most of my adult lifetime, I had heard those on the left decry American military power, constantly warn of quagmires, excuse what I regarded as inexcusable tyrannies and fail to grasp that the nature of certain regimes makes their removal a moral objective. As a child of the Cold War, and a proud Reaganite and Thatcherite, I regarded 1989 as almost eternal proof of the notion that the walls of tyranny could fall if we had the will to bring them down and the gumption to use military power when we could. I had also been marinated in neoconservative thought for much of the 1990s, and seen the moral power of Western intervention in Bosnia and Kosovo. All of this primed me for an ideological battle which was, in retrospect, largely irrelevant to the much more complex post-Cold War realities we were about to confront.

When I heard the usual complaints from the left about how we had no right to intervene, how Bush was the real terrorist, how war was always wrong, my trained ears heard the same cries that I had heard in the 1980s. So I saw the opposition to the war as another example of a faulty Vietnam Syndrome, associated it with the far left, or boomer nostalgia, and was revolted by the anti-war marches I saw in Washington. I became much too concerned with fighting that old internal ideological battle, and failed to think freshly or realistically about what the consequences of intervention could be. I allowed myself to be distracted by an ideological battle when what was required was clear-eyed prudence.

More if you click on the link. I always felt this way when arguing against conservatives. I'm glad he has come around. I forgive you Andrew!

[rurallib]

1. I am having a hard time forgiving him

[Glorfindel]

2. You're a better person than I am, JohnnyCougar

I'll find it very hard ever to forgive Andrew for his many, many trespasses. I'm glad he's come to his senses, but I fear it's "too little, too late."

[Warpy]

3. His self flagellation is too little and too late

and he's missed the point entirely when he only blames the men at the top of the administration. His whole party has been heading down this road for decades, and he is too smug to bother to read the signs.

[JohnnyCougar]

4. Oh, come on y'all.

Just admitting it is a HUGE step. Not all of us are prefect, either. We've all probably believed one thing or another for poor reasons. Besides, what's done is done (even though what's done was horrible). Holding a grudge against those who admit they were wrong is only going to deepen the divide. I don't think conservatives really intended to make this world a worse place. Deluded? Yes. Evil? For the most part, No. Unless you are talking about the Bush Administration.

[Warpy]

11. He's going to have to work a whole lot harder

to earn more than an "I told you so, fool!" from me.

He's finally noticed what has been obvious to the rest of us for 8 years.

In the words of one of his former lords and masters, "So?"

[AzDar]

5. He's still a fuggin' moron.

:mad:

[DangerousRhythm]

6. It's been fascinating...

...watching the evolution of Andrew Sullivan over the years. I always forget to check his blog regularly but I wind up reading it once a month or so. Thanks for the link!

[JohnnyCougar]

9. No prob.

It's a good one to e-mail to your Republican friends; not in a "told you so" kind of way, but in a nice sort of way.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

7. Sullivan endorsed and voted for Kerry in 2004.

[BlooInBloo]

12. It's like DUers just learned how to read yesterday or something.

[apocalypsehow]

23. He may well have *endorsed* Kerry, but he sure didn't *vote* for him:

Andrew Sullivan is not an American citizen. He is not eligible to vote in our presidential elections.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

24. Sorry for my mistake. I thought he was a citizen. According to him, he is barred because he's HIV

positive.

[goodgd_yall]

8. The guy's not too bright

Took him this long, eh? Allowed himself to "be distracted by an ideological battle." This, to me, is not the sign of a clear, independent thinker.

[lonestarnot]

10. hmmmmmf! 4k and he is now willing to admit he was stupid.

Fuck him.

[JI7]

13. he saw the light some time ago, voted Kerry in 2004

[MADem]

14. No. He's doing what he always does--sucking up to strength.

He's betting on a Democratic win, see? He doesn't want to be sent to the wilderness, so he's making it clear that he's "onboard" now.

He's a survivalist in the media jungle, that's for sure. And a craven opportunist.

[guruoo]

15. Welcome to America, Mr. Sullivan n/t

[Hamlette]

16. he says he is no longer a republican, voted for Kerry in 2004

I was curious to see when it "started" with him. He was pissed at all the gay bashing in 2002 but the torture really pushed him over the edge.

I went back and read his archives. He posted the picture of the woman at the GOP convention in 2004 with the "purple heart" bandaid on her chin. He was disgusted. I never saw him take a cheap shot at a dem again.

Well, if you don't count Hillary this year. He hates her.

He did a cover story called "Why Obama matters" in the Atlantic several months back. He is a HUGE Obama supporter.

The best mea culpa however is John Cole's. Here it is in case you missed it:

I see that Andrew Sullivan was asked to list what he got wrong about Iraq for the five year anniversary of the invasion, and since I was as big a war booster as anyone, I thought I would list what I got wrong:

Everything.

And I don’t say that to provide people with an easy way to beat up on me, but I do sort of have to face facts. I was wrong about everything.

I was wrong about the Doctrine of Pre-emptive warfare.
I was wrong about Iraq possessing WMD.
I was wrong about Scott Ritter and the inspections.
I was wrong about the UN involvement in weapons inspections.
I was wrong about the containment sanctions.
I was wrong about the broader impact of the war on the Middle East.
I was wrong about this making us more safe.
I was wrong about the number of troops needed to stabilize Iraq.
I was wrong when I stated this administration had a clear plan for the aftermath.
I was wrong about securing the ammunition dumps.
I was wrong about the ease of bringing democracy to the Middle East.
I was wrong about dissolving the Iraqi army.
I was wrong about the looting being unimportant.
I was wrong that Bush/Cheney were competent.
I was wrong that we would be greeted as liberators.
I was wrong to make fun of the anti-war protestors.
I was wrong not to trust the dirty smelly hippies.

I mean, I could go down the list and continue on, but you get the point. I was wrong about EVERY. GOD. DAMNED. THING. It is amazing I could tie my shoes in 2001-2004. If you took all the wrongness I generated, put it together and compacted it and processed it, there would be enough concentrated stupid to fuel three hundred years of Weekly Standard journals. I am not sure how I snapped out of it, but I think Abu Ghraib and the negative impact of the insurgency did sober me up a bit.

War should always be an absolute last resort, not just another option. I will never make the same mistakes again.

Now, John gets it.

[JohnnyCougar]

17. Where'd you get that?

Is there a link to John Cole's?

[Hamlette]

25. sorry, here's the link to John Cole. I read him daily.

http://www.balloon-juice.com/?p=9942

I also love this post when he switched parties:

Long story short, I got up there to register as an independent, said “Fuck it,” and now I am a Democrat. I certainly don’t agree with all their positions, but they are not bat-shit crazy like the GOP. That has to count for something. Additionally, I no longer have to read posts by the 24% crowd calling me a “true conservative” with quotes o’sarcasm (you know who they are). Not any more, bitches. I repudiate you, your party, and whatever the fuck it is you are currently pretending is “conservatism.” It isn’t.

Now send me my check from Soros and the 40 virgins.

http://www.balloon-juice.com/?p=8971

[JohnnyCougar]

30. LOL

That's pretty fuckin' funny. :)

[apocalypsehow]

22. Well, he was never a Republican since he's not a citizen. Ditto for "voting for Kerry" in '04:

he is not eligible to vote in an American presidential election, and has never cast any such ballot.

That said, I'm glad he's seen the error of his ways, and has altered his beliefs & stated opinions accordingly.

[Hamlette]

26. ooops, you're right. He can't vote.

he is HIV positive and can't get citizenship. He's talked about that before.

He was a vocal Kerry supporter in 2004 I should have said.

[magellan]

18. How convenient

And too late, just like all the others out there apologizing. Not moved by his repentance.

A proud Thatcherite? Is he British? Because there are very few Brits who would be brave enough to publicly admit to being a supporter of the Iron Lady. There's only one type who would claim to be a proud supporter: rightwing elites who care more about their investments than country and people.

The same type who support Reagan and Bush Sr. and Bush**.

[LeftishBrit]

28. Yes, he's British; and yes, he was a Thatcher supporter

'Because there are very few Brits who would be brave enough to publicly admit to being a supporter of the Iron Lady. There's only one type who would claim to be a proud supporter: rightwing elites who care more about their investments than country and people.'

There are actually quite a number of Brits who admire Thatcher, much as I regret to say so. And not all of them are wealthy elitists by any means; though Sullivan probably is, and though it's true that really poor people generally hate her guts. But she had and has a significant base among some lower middle-class/ upper working-class people, who (a) still appreciate the fact that she made it possible for them or their parents to purchase their council homes; (b) appreciate her jingoism and 'putting the Great back into Great Britain'.

As regards Sullivan, he has for some time had an ambivalent attitude to the right-wing - in part, no doubt, due to the fact that he is gay and HIV-positive and thus himself represents some of their hate-targets. He is more a right-libertarian than a typical Bushie Republican. I don't like many of his political views, but he endorsed Kerry, and is now against the war, even if a bit late.

[seabeyond]

19. old news.... n/t

[JohnnyCougar]

20. It's new news to me.

I spent a year and a half on political hiatus, though. Shit was just pissing me off too much.

[seabeyond]

21. havet seen you around. he was on colbert a couple months ago....

was fun to see.

i have gotten totally off, (politics) but close enough.

[EFerrari]

27. I like Andrew Sullivan. It's hard to admit to being wrong and in public.

Good for him.

[malaise]

29. I will never forgive one of them

Andrew Sullivan will remain an enabler to the grave. Fugg him.

[OwnedByFerrets]

31. Glad he has come over to the light...

but its very much, too little, too late.

[Orsino]

32. No, he hasn't seen the light.

He's still ignoring the elephant in the living room as he portrays * as a failed idealist. The war was an invention of corrupt plutocrats. It was never intended to make America safer; its job was to cover an epic-scale robbery of the Treasury by corporate executives. Until Sullivan wakes up to this simple fact, he is still a tool ready to be used by the next neocon who wants to bomb us into security.

* is a lying, corrupt SOB, who was never well-intentioned. Sully dined off the neocon philosophy for many years, and has yet to prove himself any less corrupt. When he "sees the light," he will sell everything he owns to fund reparations and to care for veterans wounded in his war.

Don't hold your breath. The most we'll get from Sully is a little hand-wringing as he rebrands himself for the next Administration.