Let me make something very clear: I like, admire and respect Andrew
Sullivan and his writing. I can’t remember when I first started reading
his blog, but I think it must have been in early 2001. Certainly before
9/11. Since then I suspect I must have read more words written by
Andrew than by any other journalist or blogger. Before his blog moved
to Time and, subsequently, The Atlantic, I regularly contributed to his bi-annual pledge drives. I’d recommend his book, The Conservative Soul to anyone interested in the subject.
Heck,
he’s often been kind enough to link to this blog and, indeed, I once
helped fill-in for him while he took a well-deserved break. In other
words, I owe Andrew rather more than the nothing he owes me. That goes
for most bloggers, mind you, even those to whom he hasn’t sent his
readers. Any history of blogging - and its interaction with
“traditional” journalism - that fails to include a lengthy passage on
Andrew’s career is unlikely to worth reading. He’s done more for
blogging than almost anyone else. I mean this.
From this you
will surmise that there must be a rather hefty “but” on the way. And
you would, alas, be correct. Nevertheless, the existence of this "but"
does not in any way invalidate anything I've written here.
There
are plenty of long-term Sullivan fans disappointed and even, in some
cases, infuriated by his reaction to John McCain's decision to put
Sarah Palin on the Republican ticket. That's everyone's prerogative of
course and, equally obviously, Andrew can and should write whatever he
damn well pleases. (Equally, I'm sure there are thousands and thousands
of people who admire his recent writing and consider it the best stuff
he's ever produced.)
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