Charles Krauthammer

[[File:Reagan Contact Sheet C33978 (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|Krauthammer meeting [[Ronald Reagan|Saint Ronnie]] at the [[White House]], 1986.]]
{{Pundits}}'''Dr. Charles Krauthammer''' {{lived|1950|2018}} was a [[psychiatrist]] turned arch-[[neoconservative]] pundit who had been a [[Washington DC|Beltway]] denizen for the last three decades. He was also a [[oxymoron|Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist]] for the ''[[Washington Post]]'' and a regular guest on [[Fox News]]. He died of small intestine cancer in June of 2018.<ref>[https://www.npr.org/2018/06/21/622398703/charles-krauthammer-pulitzer-winning-columnist-dies-of-cancer Charles Krauthammer Pulitzer-winning Columnist Dies of Cancer]. NPR. June 21, 2018. </ref>

==Political career==
Krauthammer entered politics in 1978 when he became a director for psychiatric programs under the [[Jimmy Carter|Carter administration]] and wrote speeches for Vice President Walter Mondale. During the 1980s, he wrote for various magazines including ''The New Republic'' and ''Time'' and eventually landed his spot at the ''Washington Post''. He is most known for his writing on foreign policy and [[international relations]] and for coining various terms that are commonly used in the punditocracy:
*[[Gunboat diplomacy|The Reagan Doctrine]]<ref>[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,964873,00.html The Reagan Doctrine], Krauthammer in ''Time''</ref>
*Unipolarity<ref>[http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/46271/charles-krauthammer/the-unipolar-moment The Unipolar Moment], Foreign Affairs</ref>
*Democratic realism<ref>[http://www.aei.org/files/2004/03/01/20040227_book755text.pdf Democratic Realism], [[American Enterprise Institute]]</ref>
*[[Bush Derangement Syndrome]]

==Fortunate Son==
Given that he grew up in [[Quebec|Montreal]], it should come as no surprise Krauthammer graduated from McGill University. What is mysterious is how a [[patriot]]ic young man would not return to his home country, enroll in an [[American]] school (McGill is a prestigious institution: he'd have his pick of the top tiers) and join the ROTC.

===Democratic realism===
Krauthammer divided philosophical approaches to foreign policy into four schools and characterized them thusly:
*[[Isolationism]]: The earliest form of US foreign policy, originally based on [[American exceptionalism]] and a desire to stay out of the conflicts of "Old [[Europe]]." (It has, arguably, evolved into non-interventionism.)
*Liberal internationalism: The multilateral approach to foreign intervention. [[Liberal]]s seek to intervene in foreign affairs through supranational organizations like the [[UN]] (e.g., [[Bill Clinton]] and the [[Balkans]]) but restrain unilateral intervention using those same bodies (e.g. [[Iraq]]).
*Realism: There is no "international community" but a collective of competing powers which are kept in check by the US as the sole [[Hyperpower|superpower]]. The US should intervene everywhere in foreign affairs to protect its national interests.
*Democratic globalism: A philosophy built on American exceptionalism that claims the US has the duty to "spread democracy" throughout the world.

Krauthammer called his philosophy "democratic realism":
{{cquote|…[T]his is its axiom: We will support democracy everywhere, but we will commit blood and treasure only in places where there is a strategic necessity &mdash; meaning, places central to the larger war against the existential enemy, the enemy that poses a global mortal threat to freedom.}}

How did his philosophy work out? Keep reading.

===War on Terror===
Krauthammer was known for being one of the biggest media cheerleaders for the [[War in Iraq]]. Like [[Bill Kristol|all]] [[Thomas Friedman|the]] [[Rush Limbaugh|others]], he was consistently wrong. In one 2003 column, he noted, "if in a year or two we are able to leave behind a stable, friendly government, we will have succeeded. If not, we will have failed. And all the geniuses will be vindicated."<ref>[http://www.vanityfair.com/online/daily/2009/08/the-trouble-with-charles-krauthammer.html The Trouble with Charles Krauthammer], Vanity Fair</ref> Aha.

He later jumped on board the [[Dubya|Bush administration]]'s [[moving the goalposts|shifting goalposts]] and attempts to shove the [[WMD]] claims down the [[memory hole]]. The invasion was always about bringing democracy to the Iraqi people, not WMD!<ref>[http://www.brendan-nyhan.com/blog/2006/11/krauthammers_re.html Krauthammer's revisionism on Iraq], Brendan Nyhan</ref> And [[Elvis]] didn't do no drugs!

==Krauthammer, religion, and science==
Krauthammer called himself "[[Jew]]ish but not religious."<ref name="jpost">http://www.jpost.com/Features/In-Thespotlight/The-unfashionable-Charles-Krauthammer</ref> Probably as a result of this, he had major differences with the [[Religious Right]] and was known for supporting [[pro-choice]] policy,<ref name="jpost"/> increased funding for [[stem cell research]],<ref>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/12/AR2009031202764.html</ref> and opposition to the [[death penalty]].<ref>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/11/AR2006051101949.html</ref> [[Stopped clock]].

===Evolution===
When it comes to [[evolution]], Krauthammer had been one of the few voices from the right loudly denouncing [[intelligent design]]. He didn't mince words on this topic, having called the evolution-Intelligent Design "debate" a "false conflict" and deriding ID as "tarted-up [[creationism]]" and a "phony theory".<ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/17/AR2005111701304.html Phony Theory, False Conflict], Krauthammer in the ''Washington Post''</ref> Predictably, the [[wingnut]]s didn't take kindly to this.<ref>See, for instance, [http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1527149/posts the Freeper response to one of his anti-ID columns]</ref>

===Global warming===
Unfortunately, Krauthammer [[inverse stopped clock|slipped]] when it comes to [[global warming]]. While he called himself a "global warming [[agnostic]]" rather than a "[[denialism|denier]]" and acknowledged how "it can't be very good to pump lots of CO2 into the atmosphere", all he did whenever he wrote on the subject is spew [[PRATT|tired denialist talking points]] about how the science isn't settled and how [[environmentalism]] is a religion.<ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/29/AR2008052903266.html Carbon Chastity], ''Washington Post''</ref><ref>[http://thinkprogress.org/2011/02/06/krauthammer-climate-religion/ Krauthammer: Global Warming is a religion], Think Progress</ref><ref>See also [http://climateprogress.org/2008/05/30/krauthammers-strange-denier-talk-points-part-1-newtons-laws-were-overthrown/ Joe Romm's response to Krauthammer.]</ref>

==External links==
*[http://projects.washingtonpost.com/staff/articles/charles+krauthammer/ Krauthammer's columns at WaPo]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

[[Category:Global warming denialists]]
[[Category:Jews]]
[[Category:Journalists]]
[[Category:Neoconservatives]]
[[Category:Physicians]]
[[Category:Political pundits]]
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Categories: Global warming denialists, Jews, Journalists, Neoconservatives, Physicians, Political pundits