Katha Pollitt and Andrew Sullivan
Katha,
I'm duly impressed by the veritable Peoria that tippy-taps on the word processors at The Nation. And thanks for giving me Lower Manhattan. Of all the places in the United States I'd be happy to inherit, I could hardly do better. Which brings me to the nice irony about family values. It's amazing how many advocates of the traditional kind (married for life, totally faithful, lotso kids) personally eschew them in real life. Newt and Marianne have no kids; neither does Pat Buchanan; Bob Barr, married thrice and veteran of whipped cream on waitresses; Bob Dole, ditched his first; John Podhoretz, scourge of gay monogamy, quitting his first marriage after a matter of weeks, John McLaughlin... well... I'm not saying these people are hypocrites; or even in the slightest bit immoral. We're all human. But perhaps their devotion to the cause of orthodoxy is related to their awareness of their own frailty. I know, to some extent, my own support for (and admiration of) gay couples, fidelity, marriage etc. is probably, at some deep level of my subconscious, related to the fact that I have never been able to keep a steady boyfriend. I need help!
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StumbleUponCouldn't it also be true that all the tweedy monogamists of the old left are so naturally virtuous that they can't conceive how others might need social incentives to maintain similar virtues? How many of us, after all, can aspire to the lofty moral heights of Victor Navasky without some social incentives to help us get there?
As to Paula, when I wrote the editorials at TNR, we were early supporters of her right to a say in court and leery of those who dismissed her veracity. I'm glad (and not surprised) you have taken the position you have, and, like you, am unsure about her legal position. Nevertheless, NOW is still an absolute scandal, no? Have you taken them on, yet? Or does no-enemies-to-the-left still apply?
And re: Paul McCartney, yes, I am a bit of a softy. And yes, it is possible, I think, to be a billionaire and still be thoroughly middle class. Look at the British Royal family.
my love to lower Manhattan
Andrew
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