George Will

[[File:George Will.jpg|thumb|right|165px|George Will in 2011, demonstrating the [[toupée fallacy]]]]{{media}}
{{cquote|'''Kramer:''' I'll tell you who is an attractive man… George Will.<br>'''Jerry:''' Really?<br>'''Kramer:''' Oh yeah! Yeah, he has a clean look. Scrubbed, and shampooed...<br>'''Elaine:''' He's smart.<br>'''Kramer:''' No, no I don't find him all that bright.|||''Seinfeld'', ''The Jimmy''<ref>S06E19</ref>}}
'''George Frederick Will''' {{lived|1941}} is an [[United States|American]] newspaper columnist and political commentator. He is a Pulitzer Prize-winner, best known for his [[conservative]] commentary on politics. In 1986, the ''[[Wall Street Journal]]'' called him "perhaps the most powerful journalist in America," in a league with Walter Lippmann {{lived|1889|1974}}.<ref>{{cite news |last=D'Evelyn |first=Thomas |title=[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=5KErAAAAIBAJ&sjid=hPwFAAAAIBAJ&pg=6848,9446339&dq=most-powerful-journalist-in-america+george-will Will's collection of columns chronicles his conservatism]|accessdate=July 30, 2012 |newspaper=The Christian Science Monitor |date=October 26, 1986}}</ref><ref>Quoted in Eric Alterman, ''Sound and Fury: The Making of the Punditocracy'' (1999) pp. 87–88.</ref> 

==Views==
Even while acting as an independent apologist for the [[Republican Party]], Will differs from most of the Republican Party. He is a self-declared "amiable, low voltage [[atheist]]"<ref name="George Will: 'I'm an amiable, low voltage atheist'">{{cite web |title=[http://dailycaller.com/2014/05/03/george-will-im-an-amiable-low-voltage-atheist/#ixzz30kf5svXK George Will: "I'm an amiable, low voltage atheist"]| publisher=The Daily Caller | date=May 5, 2014 | accessdate=23 September 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=[http://www.newrepublic.com/article/116426/george-will-finds-his-wild-side George Will Finds His Wild Side - The New Republic]|author=Isaac Chotiner|work=The New Republic}}</ref> and his political and social views are fairly mixed.  For instance, he opposes the [[death penalty]],<ref>{{cite web|last=Ponnuru |first=Ramesh |url=http://old.nationalreview.com/ponnuru/ponnuru200311060839.asp|title=Penalty Box: George Will gets capital punishment wrong|publisher=National Review Online |date=November 6, 2003 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/20120118091131/http://old.nationalreview.com/ponnuru/ponnuru200311060839.asp |archivedate=January 18, 2012 }}</ref> proposed that the [[United States]] withdraw all troops from [[Afghanistan]],<ref>{{cite news | work=[[The Washington Post]] | title=[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/31/AR2009083102912.html Time for the U.S. to Get Out of Afghanistan]| first=George F. | last=Will | date=September 1, 2009 | accessdate=May 3, 2010}}</ref> criticized the [[W|Bush]] administration for engaging in warrant-less surveillance,<ref>{{cite news| work=[[The Washington Post]] | title=[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/15/AR2006021502003.html No Checks, Many Imbalances] | first=George F. | last=Will | date=February 16, 2006 | accessdate=May 3, 2010}}</ref> and favors legalization of [[drugs]]<ref>{{cite news |last=Will|first=George F. |title=[http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/should-the-us-legalize-hard-drugs/2012/04/11/gIQAX95QBT_story.html Should the U.S. legalize hard drugs?] |accessdate=July 30, 2012 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=April 11, 2012}}</ref> while supporting tighter [[Secure the border|border security]],<ref>{{cite news | work=[[The Washington Post]] | title=[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/29/AR2006032902004.html Guard the Borders – And Face Facts, Too]| first=George F. | last=Will | date=March 30, 2006 | accessdate=May 3, 2010}}</ref> abolishing the [[minimum wage]],<ref>{{cite news| work=[[The Washington Post]] | title=[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/03/AR2007010301619.html The Right Minimum Wage]| first=George F. | last=Will | date=January 4, 2007 | accessdate=May 3, 2010}}</ref> and lowering [[taxes]].<ref>{{cite news| work=[[The Washington Post]] | title=[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/08/AR2007060802397.html Democrats' Prosperity Problem]| first=George F. | last=Will | date=June 10, 2007 | accessdate=May 3, 2010}}</ref> Occasionally with his [[conservative]] views, he will give a truly independent conservative opinion, but those times are rare.

He believes that progressives are obsessed with the construction of [[High speed rail|high-speed trains]], and not for the stated reasons of reducing traffic congestion or [[Environmentalism|improving the environment]], but as part of an innate desire to control other people, destroy individualism, and turn all Americans into [[collectivist]]s.<ref>[http://www.newsweek.com/will-why-liberals-love-trains-68597 Will: Why Liberals Love Trains By George F. Will On 2/27/11]</ref>

==Getting off the crazy train==
Will has been a frequent critic of [[Donald Trump]] since the very start of his 2016 campaign. Following the annoying orange's rise to power, Will left the Republican party,<ref>{{cite web|title=[https://www.politico.com/story/2016/06/george-will-leaves-gop-224801 George Will leaves the GOP]|author=Kristen East|work=Politico}}</ref> and has since sensibly dismissed the GOP as a cult.<ref>{{cite web|title=[https://www.salon.com/tv/video/843042 George Will's case for conservatism and how the Republican Party became "part of the cult" of Trump]|work=Salon}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Pundit]]
*[[Anti-environmentalism]]

==References==
{{reflist|2|90%}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Will, George}}
[[Category:Atheists]]
[[Category:Authors]]
[[Category:Global warming denialists]]
[[Category:Journalists]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Right-wing activists]]
[[Category:Neoconservatives]]
[[Category:Political pundits]]

Categories: Atheists, Authors, Global warming denialists, Journalists, Living people, Right-wing activists, Neoconservatives, Political pundits