the breakfast table
columns
- The Supreme Court Breakfast Table
Should there be a shooting range next to the Supreme Court gift shop?
Walter Dellinger
posted June 27, 2008 - The Supreme Court Breakfast Table
Was it ever Miller time?
Dahlia Lithwick
posted June 26, 2008 - What's the Big Secret?
Continuing the conversation.
Patrick Radden Keefe
posted Aug. 30, 2007 - A Supreme Court Conversation
Everything convservatives should abhor.
Walter Dellinger
posted June 29, 2007 - The Midterm Elections
The blame game, George Allen, and more.
Mark Halperin
posted Nov. 3, 2006 - Search for more the breakfast table articles
- Subscribe to the the breakfast table RSS feed
- View our complete the breakfast table archive
Katha Pollitt and Andrew Sullivan
entries
Headline
Posted Thursday, April 23, 1998, at 5:23 PM ETDear Andrew,
Re marriage gay and straight: of course I can have it both ways. Since there is marriage, do I think it should be available to all? Yes! Do I think its social and economic benefits might be better distributed in some other way (health insurance, for example), are often illusory, come with large helpings of inequality, sexism, psychological torment and so on? Yes!
Is there an anti-family values "left"? Lower Manhattan I give you. But I have to laugh when you talk about my "friends at The Nation" as anti-family values types. Victor Navasky -- married forever, three children; Katrina van den Heuvel, married, one child; Richard Lingeman, another supersolid family man; Art Winslow, ditto. John and Sue Leonard, not only married but job-sharers, together 24-7. Quick mental glance at the rest of the editorial staff--usual collection of urban publishing-industry singles. Nobody's even pierced!
Columnists and writers? Christopher Hitchens, married (to a stay-at-home wife no less) with whom he has one child (also two children by a previous wife); Pat Williams, single mother of adopted child. Alex Cockburn, well okay, maybe he's a bit of a rogue, I give you him too. But as far as personal conduct goes, The Nation is probably as conventionally virtuous as any magazine in the land. Except for Slate, of course.
As for ideology, I stick to my contention that family values hold sway partout, except in tiny subcultures. Most of the people tagged by the right as anti-family values advocates are actually asserting mainstream ideas, like, there are many different family forms in contemporary America, working mothers are okay, and so forth. But perhaps we should define what we mean by family values.
What do those loaded words mean to you?
Cheers,
Katha
PS. Re NOW and Paula Jones. I always thought, and have written many times, that Paula Jones was telling some version of the truth, although whether it is legally actionable, even if she could prove it, which she can't, is another story. The New Republic, I seem to remember, took a strong stand that it was not actionable, because there were no work-related consequences, prompting a hilarious letter from a reader who opined that if the magazine really believed that it was okay for the boss to drop his trousers and ask an employee for a blowjob, The New Republic must be a helluva place to work.
But you know, it isn't just NOW that wants Paula Jones to go away. Just about everybody in the country feels that way. Kenneth Starr, Paula Jones, Linda Tripp, Lucianne Goldberg, Susan Carpenter-McMillan, the Rutherford Institute people -- they're very unpopular, even among salt-of-the-earth citizens who don't at all condone the sorts of shenanigans alleged of Clinton. The anti-Clintonites didn't bargain on this, and still don't seem to understand it.
entries
Headline
Posted Thursday, April 23, 1998, at 5:23 PM ETfeedback | about us | help | advertise | newsletters | mobile
User Agreement and Privacy Policy | All rights reserved
- Today's Headlines
- [audio] 134-Year-Old Man Attributes Longevity To Typographical Error
Sat, 26 Jul 2008 01:00:36 -0400 - Can't Go Wrong With A Cheeseburger, Area Man Reports
Fri, 25 Jul 2008 10:00:21 -0400 - Courageous E-mail To Boss In Drafts Folder Since December
Fri, 25 Jul 2008 08:00:05 -0400 - » More from the Onion
Let the Oil Deals FlowRaad Alkadiri | Congress should not interfere in the oil industry's contract negotiations with the Iraqi government.
- Ronald Kessler: Happy 100th Birthday, FBI!
- Binder & Evans: How to Teach Evolution
- Colbert I. King: More D.C. Incompetence
- Today's Headlines
- Alter: How History Shapes Coverage of Candidates
Sat, 26 Jul 2008 00:01:40 GMT - Obama’s Paris Visit Captivates French Minorities
Fri, 25 Jul 2008 23:26:56 GMT - Did a Test Company Mess Up Its Hopes to Go Global?
Fri, 25 Jul 2008 21:03:32 GMT - » More from Newsweek
- Today's Headlines
- Over the Rainbow: Angie and Jo
Tue, 22 July 2008 16:21:23 GMT - The New Tavis Smiley, Beware!
Tue, 22 July 2008 16:27:58 GMT - Go for the Bronze
Fri, 25 July 2008 4:18:27 GMT - » More from The Root

the breakfast table









