If Benedict Arnold were alive today and wrote an Op Ed to the “Tribune” on military preparations…even though he had been a traitor to his country…as a former general, hero of the Battle of Saratoga and strategist responsible for the capture of Fort Ticonderoga before he stabbed his country in the back, his views might well warrant publication--if for no other reason than despicable as he is, his column could convey challenging opinion on a subject with which he is expert.
In fact if Arnold were even to write his memoir as a betrayer of his country…even then…his insight would be of historic interest although one would be advised not to eat heavily before reading for fear of regurgitation. But, needless to say, if Arnold were to write his opinion of dentistry, no editor should care nor publish him. All this is to cite a truth that an editorial page editor should be wary of a writer who is not known for expertise. Were a plumber to submit a column on the War of the Roses an editor would be understood not to publish it. If Al Gore were to write an article on Aquinas’ Question 1, “The Nature and Extent of Sacred Doctrine,” the editorial page editor would have license to laugh it off.
Why then, in the name of God, would the “Tribune” publish Douglas Kmiec, once a distinguished lawyer, now a professor of law at Pepperdine, once foremost for support of pro-life and conservative social policies…now known for betraying his church’s foremost moral principle for an anticipated political reward to come so he can give the finger to his church…why would the self-same paper publish his views on the supply side economics and the Laffer curve? Probably because the commentary editor believes it would help Kmiec to win a broadened following: that and nothing else. That and the zest it gives her to contemplate the death of the GOP with which Kmiec titles his piece.
This appears to be the reason why the “Tribune” has done it—to rub Catholic noses in the excrement that Kmiec discharges…and to give him credibility on a subject about which he knows nothing (believe it: I have known Kmiec for many years).
The pro-abort “Tribune” was one of the earliest to publish Kmiec when he speciously suggested that…only a few Supreme court justices away from trimming down “Roe v. Wade”…the need for Catholics to support a pro-life president is foolhardy. His view was valuable then as evidence of an intellectual and spiritual traitor—helpful to understand the perfidy extant in the human condition. But Kmiec on the economy? Only Marcia Lythcott, the editor of its Commentary page…and the woman who chooses Garrison Keillor and who chose Kmiec to be published…can tell us. That she is superbly equipped for this duty can be seen because she is militantly pro-abortion so she is titillated by the sic-ing of Kmiec on Catholic readers—without ever countering anti-Catholicism…since to her defense of the church is of little consequence…and, hell, it’s a good bit of fun to serve up a Catholic traitor’s views on the economy, even if he knows nothing about the subject: kind of makes you feel warm inside.
It’s satisfying to Ms. Lythcott who stirs the mélange to stick it to social conservatives from all angles. She was, after all, a cookbook editor for the paper which propelled her…as well as her black activism…to the catbird seat where she decides what concoctions readers will have to face in the morning.
In raw political terms…something I know a good deal about…a candidate always fails when he loses his base. Ms. Lythcott doesn’t know much about the historic base of the “Tribune”…and is willfully ignorant of it… so she gives us a dash here of rampant libertarianism, a dollop there of lefty rationale elsewhere: a sprinkling of Keillor’s world-weary nihilism: anything but traditional thinking. Bruce Dold doesn’t know or care: he, after all, he didn’t have a vote on the paper’s endorsement of Barack Obama but the decision matters little to him. That the paper approved him who voted against babies born from botched abortions to be assisted to continue their lives is of little consequence to Dold. Joyfully he went forth to explain it on “Chicago Tonight.” All in a day’s work.
It is fitting that the Benedict Arnold to Catholicism be given a commanding appearance in the “Tribune” which itself shrinks from formulating a coherent philosophy except political correctness and endorsement of abortion. Were Kmiec extolling Jews for Jesus he would get no forum; or a critic of the Muslim faith. Well, bon voyage Ms. Lythcott, you and your enabler Mr. Dold. I give you a lot less credence than I do the “Sun-Times” now sans Michael Cooke. All in all, big newspapers crashing around us is not all bad: the steady diet of liberal editorial glop in “major” newspapers signify that they have it coming…to be succeeded by more authentic American opinion in the diverse media. Anyhow, when the Lucifer lookalike goes roaring off on his motorcycle having busted the joint, it will be a joy to see Ms. Lythcott return to the cookbook business and Dold sitting in the Edelman waiting room waiting for his interview.
Doug Kmiec on the economy indeed. What next, Ms. Lythcott: Doug Kmiec on how the Moroccans defeated the Songhai empire in 1591? Tell him to write it up: it’ll give him some depth.
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