Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Anthony Lewis: an old fashioned liberal

I am not on the same side politically with Anthony Lewis: he was a liberal after all. But he was a true and sincere liberal: the old fashioned type.  He was humane and analytical but not as courageous as he should have been, especially on Palestine.  Of course, compared to Friedman and Kristoff, he is very courageous.  What I respect about him is that he genuinely listened to the natives and did not insert himself into stories (like Geraldo and Kristoff) and would have despised the antics of Kristoff when he takes off to "liberate" native women from their oppressors.  Finally, I respected that he grew on the job and became less enamored with the media orthodoxy, when most people become more enamored with the orthodoxy on the job.  On Palestine, he developed and mature but as if he had a built-in restraint that prevented him from going all the way.