العربية
中国
Français
Deutsch
Ελληνική
हिन्दी
Italiano
日本語
Português
Русский
EspañolJOHN PODHORETZ
'John Podhoretz' (born April 18 1961) is a U.S. neoconservative commentator for a variety of media sources, the author of several books on politics, and a former presidential speechwriter.
Podhoretz has contributed to a number of leading conservative publications, including ''National Review'' and the ''Weekly Standard''. He was also a consulting editor at a former imprint of HarperCollins, ReganBooks. Podhoretz has a regular column at the ''New York Post'', has been a political commentator on Fox News, and regularly appeared on CNN's ''Reliable Sources''. He has also worked at ''Time'', the ''Washington Times'', ''Insight'', and ''U.S. News & World Report''. Podhoretz is a contributor to The Corner, a group blog run by ''National Review''.
Podhoretz has also served as speechwriter to former U.S. President Ronald Reagan as well as former President George H.W. Bush. He also served in the capacity of special assistant to White House Drug Czar William Bennett. He was co-founder as well of the White House Writers Group, a corporate speechwriting and public-relations firm in Washington, D.C.[1]
The son of Norman Podhoretz and Midge Decter, Podhoretz grew up on the Upper West Side in New York City and received a bachelor's degree from the University of Chicago in 1982. In 1986, he became a five-time champion on the game show ''Jeopardy!''. His first marriage, in 1997, ended in divorce after less than three months. He is now married to Ayala Cohen, a co-producer for ''Saturday Night Live'', and they have two daughters.[2][3]
Podhoretz has been one of the most steadfast supporters of U.S. president George W. Bush, and even wrote a book extolling Bush as "the first great leader of the 21st century". He is quick to note any upturn in Bush's approval ratings and has often praised Bush's political acumen in winning re-election as President and improving the political standing of the Republican party, at least before the 2006 midterm elections. He is particularly emphatic in arguing against criticism of Bush from the political right. When some conservatives denounced Bush's immigration plan, Podhoretz wrote that Bush's "efforts on behalf of conservative causes — from faith-based policies to stem-cell research to a strict-constructionist judiciary to entitlement reform and massive tax cuts — have all fallen down the memory hole".[4]
Podhoretz is emphatic in his defense of Israel in its conflicts with its Arab neighbors. When pundit Pat Buchanan called Israel's actions in the recent Israel-Lebanon hostilities "un-Christian", Podhoretz wrote: "You want to know what anti-Semitism is? When Pat Buchanan calls Israel's military action 'un-Christian', that's anti-Semitism."[5] However, Podhoretz was critical of the tactics used by Israel's leadership in the recent Lebanon conflict, and argued that the Olmert government should have been more forceful in its efforts to weaken Hezbollah as a political and military force.
In a July 25, 2006 column for the ''New York Post'' that discussed the Israel-Lebanon conflict, Podhoretz wrote: "What if the tactical mistake we made in Iraq was that we didn't kill enough Sunnis in the early going to intimidate them and make them so afraid of us they would go along with anything? Wasn't the survival of Sunni men between the ages of 15 and 35 the reason there was an insurgency and the basic cause of the sectarian violence now?"[6] This comment has been criticized as advocacy of immoral war-fighting tactics.[7]
In disagreement with several other writers at ''National Review'', Podhoretz has favored a more open immigration policy for the United States. He has specifically emphasized his Jewish ancestry in such discussions, writing: "I said merely what I feel deeply — which is that, as a Jew, I have great difficulty supporting a blanket policy of immigration restriction because of what happened to the Jewish people after 1924 and the unwillingness of the United States to take Jews in."[8] Podhoretz has been generally supportive of President Bush's proposals for a guest worker program and a path to citizenship for certain illegal immigrants in the U.S.
In his political handicapping of the 2008 U.S. presidential race, Podhoretz virtually assumes that U.S. Senator and former First Lady Hillary Clinton will be the Democratic nominee. He recently published a book about Hillary Clinton's political potential and has dismissed possible rivals for the nomination such as former Vice President Al Gore and 2004 nominee John Kerry. On the Republican side, Podhoretz appears to favor the chances of former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani. On ''National Review Online'' he has stated: "He wears drag, he bunked with a gay couple, blah blah blah. Rudy Giuliani scores 30 percent in a poll of Iowa caucus-goers. That's Iowa. About as far from New York City as you can get."[9]
On March 30, 2006, Podhoretz was criticized by various bloggers [10][11] for posting the following comment on National Review Online approximately three hours after hostage Jill Carroll's release from her captors: "It's wonderful that she's free, but after watching someone who was a hostage for three months say on television she was well-treated because she wasn't beaten or killed -- while being dressed in the garb of a modest Muslim woman rather than the non-Muslim woman she actually is -- I expect there will be some Stockholm Syndrome talk in the coming days."[12]
Within days of Carroll's release, a video of Carroll slamming the "occupation" of Iraq and praising the insurgents as "good people fighting an honorable fight" appeared on an Islamist website. While counterterrorism expert Laura Mansfield, (who had neither met nor interviewed Carroll), posted on CNN that Carroll's actions "may indicate she was experiencing a touch of Stockholm syndrome", Carroll subsequently released a statement through the ''Christian Science Monitor's'' website stating that she participated in the video only because she feared for her life and because her captors said they would let her go if she participated to their satisfaction. Carroll called her captors "criminals, at best" and said she remained "deeply angry" with them.[13]
On April 1, 2006 Podhoretz quoted his original comment on the Jill Carroll situation and added the following on ''National Review Online'': "For writing these predictive words, which were entirely accurate, I've been pilloried all over the blogosphere. Weird, especially in light of Jill Carroll's statement today, which was an effort to address and quiet precisely the kind of talk I predicted would take place."[14]
Podhoretz often writes about popular culture, and has even been called the "resident pop culture expert" at ''National Review Online'' by Jonah Goldberg.[15] Podhoretz' references to pop culture often have political overtones, as when he wrote that U.S. Senator Jim Webb resembled a muppet in his delivery of the Democratic response to a State of the Union address.[16] But he has also cautioned against "judg[ing] pop culture by its politics."[17]
In response to assertions by fellow ''National Review'' writer John Derbyshire that the victims of the Virginia Tech massacre should have been more forceful in defending themselves, Podhoretz wrote: "The notion that a human being or group of human beings holding no weapon whatever should somehow 'fight back' against someone calmly executing other people right in front of their eyes is ludicrous beyond belief, irrational beyond bounds, and tasteless beyond the limits of reason. 'Why didn't anyone rush the guy?' Derb asks. Gee, I don't know. Because he was executing people? Because if you rush a guy with a gun, he shoots you in the head the way he executed the teachers in each classroom?"[18] Podhoretz went on to ridicule Derbyshire's claim that he was touching a "third rail" by raising a subject nobody else wanted to discuss. Podhoretz dimissed this as an empty metaphor compared to the reality of the shootings.
Podhoretz has frequently clashed with Derbyshire before on immigration policy and other issues. In an apparent attempt to smooth over this dispute, ''National Review'' editor Kathryn Jean Lopez wrote: "Jpod, Derb's point is one that has been echoed by other rational people — here and elsewhere. Folks ponder — and pray over — what would I advise my child to do? What would I do? Why do we hold that heroic professor in such esteem? Because he did something remarkable. But thinking and discussing what one would do in such a situation is only normal...and rational."[19]
★ Podhoretz is listed as a consultant for the popular television series ''The West Wing'', including the controversial episode "Gaza" in season five, first broadcast May 12, 2004.[20]
★ Podhoretz knew Gwyneth Paltrow before she became famous — in fact, before she became an adult: "I babysat for her once in 1978 and she was very sweet," he wrote.[21]
★ On The Corner blog, Podhoretz frequently posts under the name "JPod."
★ Podhoretz has appeared on ''The McLaughlin Group'' in the chair usually occupied by conservative Tony Blankley.
★ According to blogger and columnist Andrew Sullivan, when Podhoretz worked at ''The Washington Times'', he was nicknamed "J. P. Normanson", a reference to his father Norman.[22]
★ In response to now-deleted comments in his Wikipedia article that he is a homosexual, Podhoretz joked: "For the record, I am not an admitted homosexual, nor am I a homosexual, though I do know the lyrics to every show tune ever written, which might perhaps account for the confusion."[23] Podhoretz again commented humorously on the subject in a ''Weekly Standard'' column: "Despite what you may once have read in my Wikipedia entry (since edited, though not by me), I am not gay. However, according to an astonishingly dreadful new comedy called ''I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry'', I simply must be--because I like show tunes and know how to tap-dance a little."[24] Podhoretz has also made more serious critical remarks about Wikipedia's reliability and authority.
★ Political pundit and prolific writer on racial issues, Steve Sailer, quoted Hanna Rosin's remark that the term "podenfreude" described the sensation of reading bad writing for comic value. In response, Podhoretz e-mailed Sailer: "Please keep attacking me. It's how I know I'm not a bigoted, racist scum...If you think I lack them [wit, eloquence, etc.], I imagine you think I have too much melanin in my skin." Sailer riposted: "Amazing as it may seem, the rumors that Mr. Podhoretz maintains a staff of Nobel Laureates and Oscar-winning screenwriters to craft his devastating comebacks for him are not true. The reality is that, somehow, ''he makes them up himself!''"[25]
1. John Podhoretz
2. John Podhoretz This site is hostile to Podhoretz but appears to have correct facts on his biography.
3. Welcome, Shiri Podhoretz Mark Ankcorn
4. The Inability to Stomach Disagreement John Podhoretz
5. You Want to Know What Anti-Semitism Is? John Podhoretz
6. Too Nice to Win? Israel's Dilemma John Podhoretz
7. Morality and war-fighting Gregory Djerejian
8. Having Been Booed Recently... John Podhoretz
9. He Wears Drag, He Bunked With a Gay Couple, Blah Blah Blah John Podhoretz
10. John Podhoretz Attacks Jill Carroll
11. Jill Carroll Andrew Sullivan
12. Jill Carroll John Podhoretz
13. Carroll takes shot at her kidnappers Octavia Nasr and Susan Garraty
14. Jill Carroll, Continued John Podhoretz
15. "Resident Pop Culture Expert" Jonah Goldberg
16. Webbie the Grouch John Podhoretz
17. It Stunk, But It Was Right-Wing John Podhoretz
18. In a Classroom WIth a Gunman John Podhoretz
19. Not quite irrational Kathryn Lopez
20. John Podhoretz
21. Gwyneth Paltrow Is Proud to Be An American John Podhoretz
22. JPod Immortalized Andrew Sullivan
23. From My Wikipedia Bio Last Month John Podhoretz
24. Queens of Comedy John Podhoretz
25. "Please keep attacking me" Steve Sailer
★ ''Can She Be Stopped?: Hillary Clinton Will Be the Next President of the United States Unless...'', Crown Forum, ISBN 0-307-33730-8
★ ''Bush Country: How George W. Bush Became the First Great Leader of the 21st Century---While Driving Liberals Insane'', St. Martin's Griffin, ISBN 0-312-32473-1
★ ''Hell Of A Ride: Backstage at the White House Follies 1989-1993'', Simon & Schuster, ISBN 0-671-79648-8
★ The Corner at ''National Review Online''
★ "Oedipus and Podhoretz", an article from ''New York'' by Hanna Rosin
Life and career
Podhoretz has contributed to a number of leading conservative publications, including ''National Review'' and the ''Weekly Standard''. He was also a consulting editor at a former imprint of HarperCollins, ReganBooks. Podhoretz has a regular column at the ''New York Post'', has been a political commentator on Fox News, and regularly appeared on CNN's ''Reliable Sources''. He has also worked at ''Time'', the ''Washington Times'', ''Insight'', and ''U.S. News & World Report''. Podhoretz is a contributor to The Corner, a group blog run by ''National Review''.
Podhoretz has also served as speechwriter to former U.S. President Ronald Reagan as well as former President George H.W. Bush. He also served in the capacity of special assistant to White House Drug Czar William Bennett. He was co-founder as well of the White House Writers Group, a corporate speechwriting and public-relations firm in Washington, D.C.[1]
The son of Norman Podhoretz and Midge Decter, Podhoretz grew up on the Upper West Side in New York City and received a bachelor's degree from the University of Chicago in 1982. In 1986, he became a five-time champion on the game show ''Jeopardy!''. His first marriage, in 1997, ended in divorce after less than three months. He is now married to Ayala Cohen, a co-producer for ''Saturday Night Live'', and they have two daughters.[2][3]
Political commentary
George W. Bush
Podhoretz has been one of the most steadfast supporters of U.S. president George W. Bush, and even wrote a book extolling Bush as "the first great leader of the 21st century". He is quick to note any upturn in Bush's approval ratings and has often praised Bush's political acumen in winning re-election as President and improving the political standing of the Republican party, at least before the 2006 midterm elections. He is particularly emphatic in arguing against criticism of Bush from the political right. When some conservatives denounced Bush's immigration plan, Podhoretz wrote that Bush's "efforts on behalf of conservative causes — from faith-based policies to stem-cell research to a strict-constructionist judiciary to entitlement reform and massive tax cuts — have all fallen down the memory hole".[4]
Israel
Podhoretz is emphatic in his defense of Israel in its conflicts with its Arab neighbors. When pundit Pat Buchanan called Israel's actions in the recent Israel-Lebanon hostilities "un-Christian", Podhoretz wrote: "You want to know what anti-Semitism is? When Pat Buchanan calls Israel's military action 'un-Christian', that's anti-Semitism."[5] However, Podhoretz was critical of the tactics used by Israel's leadership in the recent Lebanon conflict, and argued that the Olmert government should have been more forceful in its efforts to weaken Hezbollah as a political and military force.
Criticism of Iraq war tactics
In a July 25, 2006 column for the ''New York Post'' that discussed the Israel-Lebanon conflict, Podhoretz wrote: "What if the tactical mistake we made in Iraq was that we didn't kill enough Sunnis in the early going to intimidate them and make them so afraid of us they would go along with anything? Wasn't the survival of Sunni men between the ages of 15 and 35 the reason there was an insurgency and the basic cause of the sectarian violence now?"[6] This comment has been criticized as advocacy of immoral war-fighting tactics.[7]
Immigration
In disagreement with several other writers at ''National Review'', Podhoretz has favored a more open immigration policy for the United States. He has specifically emphasized his Jewish ancestry in such discussions, writing: "I said merely what I feel deeply — which is that, as a Jew, I have great difficulty supporting a blanket policy of immigration restriction because of what happened to the Jewish people after 1924 and the unwillingness of the United States to take Jews in."[8] Podhoretz has been generally supportive of President Bush's proposals for a guest worker program and a path to citizenship for certain illegal immigrants in the U.S.
2008 U.S. presidential election
In his political handicapping of the 2008 U.S. presidential race, Podhoretz virtually assumes that U.S. Senator and former First Lady Hillary Clinton will be the Democratic nominee. He recently published a book about Hillary Clinton's political potential and has dismissed possible rivals for the nomination such as former Vice President Al Gore and 2004 nominee John Kerry. On the Republican side, Podhoretz appears to favor the chances of former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani. On ''National Review Online'' he has stated: "He wears drag, he bunked with a gay couple, blah blah blah. Rudy Giuliani scores 30 percent in a poll of Iowa caucus-goers. That's Iowa. About as far from New York City as you can get."[9]
Jill Carroll situation
On March 30, 2006, Podhoretz was criticized by various bloggers [10][11] for posting the following comment on National Review Online approximately three hours after hostage Jill Carroll's release from her captors: "It's wonderful that she's free, but after watching someone who was a hostage for three months say on television she was well-treated because she wasn't beaten or killed -- while being dressed in the garb of a modest Muslim woman rather than the non-Muslim woman she actually is -- I expect there will be some Stockholm Syndrome talk in the coming days."[12]
Within days of Carroll's release, a video of Carroll slamming the "occupation" of Iraq and praising the insurgents as "good people fighting an honorable fight" appeared on an Islamist website. While counterterrorism expert Laura Mansfield, (who had neither met nor interviewed Carroll), posted on CNN that Carroll's actions "may indicate she was experiencing a touch of Stockholm syndrome", Carroll subsequently released a statement through the ''Christian Science Monitor's'' website stating that she participated in the video only because she feared for her life and because her captors said they would let her go if she participated to their satisfaction. Carroll called her captors "criminals, at best" and said she remained "deeply angry" with them.[13]
On April 1, 2006 Podhoretz quoted his original comment on the Jill Carroll situation and added the following on ''National Review Online'': "For writing these predictive words, which were entirely accurate, I've been pilloried all over the blogosphere. Weird, especially in light of Jill Carroll's statement today, which was an effort to address and quiet precisely the kind of talk I predicted would take place."[14]
Pop culture
Podhoretz often writes about popular culture, and has even been called the "resident pop culture expert" at ''National Review Online'' by Jonah Goldberg.[15] Podhoretz' references to pop culture often have political overtones, as when he wrote that U.S. Senator Jim Webb resembled a muppet in his delivery of the Democratic response to a State of the Union address.[16] But he has also cautioned against "judg[ing] pop culture by its politics."[17]
Virginia Tech massacre
In response to assertions by fellow ''National Review'' writer John Derbyshire that the victims of the Virginia Tech massacre should have been more forceful in defending themselves, Podhoretz wrote: "The notion that a human being or group of human beings holding no weapon whatever should somehow 'fight back' against someone calmly executing other people right in front of their eyes is ludicrous beyond belief, irrational beyond bounds, and tasteless beyond the limits of reason. 'Why didn't anyone rush the guy?' Derb asks. Gee, I don't know. Because he was executing people? Because if you rush a guy with a gun, he shoots you in the head the way he executed the teachers in each classroom?"[18] Podhoretz went on to ridicule Derbyshire's claim that he was touching a "third rail" by raising a subject nobody else wanted to discuss. Podhoretz dimissed this as an empty metaphor compared to the reality of the shootings.
Podhoretz has frequently clashed with Derbyshire before on immigration policy and other issues. In an apparent attempt to smooth over this dispute, ''National Review'' editor Kathryn Jean Lopez wrote: "Jpod, Derb's point is one that has been echoed by other rational people — here and elsewhere. Folks ponder — and pray over — what would I advise my child to do? What would I do? Why do we hold that heroic professor in such esteem? Because he did something remarkable. But thinking and discussing what one would do in such a situation is only normal...and rational."[19]
Miscellaneous
★ Podhoretz is listed as a consultant for the popular television series ''The West Wing'', including the controversial episode "Gaza" in season five, first broadcast May 12, 2004.[20]
★ Podhoretz knew Gwyneth Paltrow before she became famous — in fact, before she became an adult: "I babysat for her once in 1978 and she was very sweet," he wrote.[21]
★ On The Corner blog, Podhoretz frequently posts under the name "JPod."
★ Podhoretz has appeared on ''The McLaughlin Group'' in the chair usually occupied by conservative Tony Blankley.
★ According to blogger and columnist Andrew Sullivan, when Podhoretz worked at ''The Washington Times'', he was nicknamed "J. P. Normanson", a reference to his father Norman.[22]
★ In response to now-deleted comments in his Wikipedia article that he is a homosexual, Podhoretz joked: "For the record, I am not an admitted homosexual, nor am I a homosexual, though I do know the lyrics to every show tune ever written, which might perhaps account for the confusion."[23] Podhoretz again commented humorously on the subject in a ''Weekly Standard'' column: "Despite what you may once have read in my Wikipedia entry (since edited, though not by me), I am not gay. However, according to an astonishingly dreadful new comedy called ''I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry'', I simply must be--because I like show tunes and know how to tap-dance a little."[24] Podhoretz has also made more serious critical remarks about Wikipedia's reliability and authority.
★ Political pundit and prolific writer on racial issues, Steve Sailer, quoted Hanna Rosin's remark that the term "podenfreude" described the sensation of reading bad writing for comic value. In response, Podhoretz e-mailed Sailer: "Please keep attacking me. It's how I know I'm not a bigoted, racist scum...If you think I lack them [wit, eloquence, etc.], I imagine you think I have too much melanin in my skin." Sailer riposted: "Amazing as it may seem, the rumors that Mr. Podhoretz maintains a staff of Nobel Laureates and Oscar-winning screenwriters to craft his devastating comebacks for him are not true. The reality is that, somehow, ''he makes them up himself!''"[25]
Notes
1. John Podhoretz
2. John Podhoretz This site is hostile to Podhoretz but appears to have correct facts on his biography.
3. Welcome, Shiri Podhoretz Mark Ankcorn
4. The Inability to Stomach Disagreement John Podhoretz
5. You Want to Know What Anti-Semitism Is? John Podhoretz
6. Too Nice to Win? Israel's Dilemma John Podhoretz
7. Morality and war-fighting Gregory Djerejian
8. Having Been Booed Recently... John Podhoretz
9. He Wears Drag, He Bunked With a Gay Couple, Blah Blah Blah John Podhoretz
10. John Podhoretz Attacks Jill Carroll
11. Jill Carroll Andrew Sullivan
12. Jill Carroll John Podhoretz
13. Carroll takes shot at her kidnappers Octavia Nasr and Susan Garraty
14. Jill Carroll, Continued John Podhoretz
15. "Resident Pop Culture Expert" Jonah Goldberg
16. Webbie the Grouch John Podhoretz
17. It Stunk, But It Was Right-Wing John Podhoretz
18. In a Classroom WIth a Gunman John Podhoretz
19. Not quite irrational Kathryn Lopez
20. John Podhoretz
21. Gwyneth Paltrow Is Proud to Be An American John Podhoretz
22. JPod Immortalized Andrew Sullivan
23. From My Wikipedia Bio Last Month John Podhoretz
24. Queens of Comedy John Podhoretz
25. "Please keep attacking me" Steve Sailer
Bibliography
★ ''Can She Be Stopped?: Hillary Clinton Will Be the Next President of the United States Unless...'', Crown Forum, ISBN 0-307-33730-8
★ ''Bush Country: How George W. Bush Became the First Great Leader of the 21st Century---While Driving Liberals Insane'', St. Martin's Griffin, ISBN 0-312-32473-1
★ ''Hell Of A Ride: Backstage at the White House Follies 1989-1993'', Simon & Schuster, ISBN 0-671-79648-8
External links
★ The Corner at ''National Review Online''
★ "Oedipus and Podhoretz", an article from ''New York'' by Hanna Rosin
This article provided by Wikipedia. To edit the contents of this article, click here for original source.
psst.. try this: add to faves
