By Michael Waldron

I enjoy reading Charles Krauthammer’s opinions on the Internet, usually in the Washington Post. I like to listen to Charles Krauthammer on television as he dissects the arguments of his liberal colleagues. I am currently savoring his book, “Things that Matter: Three Decades of Passions, Pastimes and Politics.” It’s a collection of his columns in the Washington Post and a smattering of essays to Time and other magazines. I’m not the only fan of his book. It’s been on the New York Times best seller list for 14 weeks and is currently number two.

If he had never published a single word, he would have a very interesting biography. He excelled at Harvard Medical School. At Harvard he was paralyzed in a swimming pool accident and finished confined to a wheel chair. At Massachusetts General he completed his residency in psychiatry. All that time in his life, he considered himself a Democrat. In fact, he worked on Walter Mondale’s campaign for president.

About the time that Mondale failed to win the presidency in 1984, Krauthammer noticed that few of the aims of the Great Society initiated in the 1960s were being achieved. He analyzed the empirical evidence of the lack of success of liberal political philosophy and concluded that conservatism was more effective than liberalism. He explains his metamorphism much better than I. That’s one of the impressive things about Krauthammer ­— he precisely explains his positions.

There are some areas where I don’t agree exactly with Krauthammer. Israel is one area. But then I’m not Jewish and none of my people died in NAZI extermination camps. The death penalty is another area. Krauthammer doesn’t support the death penalty, but I cannot think of a more appropriate consequence for Timothy McVeigh, the bomber of the Murrah building in Oklahoma City.

Too many Americans vote for the person with the nicest smile or the person with whom they would share an evening. Barack Obama does have a nice smile. Many people voted for Barack Obama in 2012 and were shocked to watch his administration stumble and lurch from crisis to crisis in 2013. The Affordable Care Act or Obamacare may have been the biggest surprise, but other surprises were Benghazi, the NSA spying on Americans, IRS political abuses, a naively lame foreign policy, and his administration’s targeting of critical journalists. Inform yourself in 2014. If you can’t stand Krauthammer’s views, read somebody else. Given the length of American election campaigns, we should know clearly what kind of president we would elect.

For progressives (liberals), even if you intensely dislike conservatives and consider them Satan-incarnate, please read Krauthammer’s column the next time you see it in a newspaper. You probably won’t agree with him, but that’s OK. For conservatives, read Krauthammer to test your beliefs against his. You may learn new facts and you will appreciate his logical analysis of current events. Both liberals and conservatives certainly will benefit from Krauthammer’s logic and insight.

 

Michael Waldron is a retired lieutenant colonel, US Army, who was born and raised in Niles. He has served on the Niles Community School Board of Education since 2007. He can be reached at ml.waldron61@gmail.com.