The Incredible Failures of Charles Krauthammer

The value of the Pulitzer Prize for commentary seems to have depreciated over the last decade or so; New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman received it in 2002, around about the time he was assuring the public that the Bush Administration had a fantastic strategy in place for winning the Afghan war (and noting a couple of months later that the Taliban had been totally and eternally defeated). And then there is Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer, who shares Friedman's unfortunate record as a prognosticator while lacking his colleague's studied benevolence.

As is demonstrated in my latest Vanity Fair piece, Krauthammer is among those allegedly top-tier pundits who seem to have risen to prominence largely due to inertia. Note, for instance, his dismal record with regards to the U.S.-Kosovo conflict:

When NATO sought to derail another potential Balkan genocide by way of its 1999 air bombing campaign against Serbia, Krauthammer denounced the move as mere wide-eyed liberal amateurism on the part of Clinton, arguing that air strikes would be insufficient to force Milosevic out of Kosovo. Bizarrely enough, he tried to convince his readers that General Wesley Clark agreed, quoting the then-NATO commander as telling Jim Lehrer, "We never thought that through air power we could stop these killings on the ground." But the columnist leaves out the rest of Clark's answer, in which it is explained that "the person who has to stop this is President Milosevic" and that the purpose of the air campaign was to force him to do just that. For good measure, Krauthammer also criticizes Clinton for playing golf in the midst of conflict ("The stresses of war, no doubt"); he seems to have changed his mind on the propriety of such stress-relief measures around 2002 or so.

Even after the Kosovo campaign proved successful, Krauthammer remained ideologically committed to chaos in the Balkans, having also predicted in 1999 that NATO involvement "would sever Kosovo from Serbian control and lead inevitably to an irredentist Kosovar state, unstable and unviable and forced to either join or take over pieces of neighboring countries." When an ethnic Albanian insurgency arose in Macedonia along its border with UN-administered Kosovo in 2001, he felt himself vindicated, announcing that "the Balkans are on the verge of another explosion," making several references to Vietnam, and characterizing our continued presence in the region as a "quagmire." The violence ended within the year, having claimed less than 80 lives. Kosovo has since joined both the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank; Macedonia is preparing for membership in NATO and the European Union.

Krauthammer is, of course, still at large. Once a pundit is hired, he rarely faces the prospect of being fired. Having achieved a certain level of name recognition, his real job is already done.

Comments

[Shayrae]

SourKrauthammer. Old, bitter and hateful.

[JScott]

Punditry is all about the person who's the pundit, not what they say. And listeners and viewers are stupid enough to think what they say is credible.

[BlackJAC]

Clark wasn't saying anything particularly defeatist. Despite what we saw with DESERT STORM, air power is really just ultra-long-range artillery and has never been a substitute for ground forces.

[BennyW]

Krauthammer and his merry band of neo cons have done a top job of creating havoc, supporting evil wars, and creating hatred for America around the world. When oh when will these guys get their comeuppance? America is not the better for these purveyors of hatred.

[booker52]

Charles has a steady booking appearing on the Fox Noise network. He fits right in, adding nothing to the discourse of true discussion, therefore he fits right in.

[Megley]

Thank God for Eugene Robinson.

[TheEmptinessOfTruthiness]

Wingbots like Krauthammer, Kristol, Friedman et al - they don't get where they are based on correctness of factual content.

They get there by towing their party line, regardless of facts.

The World is Flat? Only if you're a 2-dimensional character living in a 3-dimensional world.

[realpolitic]

Great point!

[realpolitic]

There is no more secure job in America than that of being a conservative pundit. One can be wrong on every topic and as long as one stays committed to his belief system, he will remain on the job. Kristol and Krauthammer were wrong about Iraq and Afghanistan and yet they go on Fox to spout about being wrong on the next topic with utter sanctimoniousness and arrogance. It is inevitable that they are seldom if ever right, although they are completely predictable.

[ESerafina42]

Charles Krauthammer - a shande for the goyim.

[HST]

The sight of Charles Krauthammer makes my skin crawl with him all puffed up, nose held high and a look on his face thats says mere punditry is beneath him -either that or something smells really bad in his studio. Krauthammer and Bill Cristol have something in common, they both are always wrong.

[realpolitic]

I guess Krauthammer could not make a living as a psychiatrist, his former trade?

[LiberalLee]

Even his picture on his posts matches shows his true colors: sneering, supercilious, sour and bitter.
A man that will die trying to find the worst in everyone and everything.
How sad. How pathetic. What a waste of editorial space.

[realpolitic]

He seems to enjoy absolutely nothing at all, but demonizing Democrats. Kristol is one and the same.

[LiberalLee]

I've rarely read such sour, bitter, and usually plain old cuss-headed nonsense as CK spouts.
I think the man secretly wants the whole world to go down the toilet just so he can say, " I told you so."
Seeing his sneering face in my local newspaper's op-ed section is all it takes to ruin an otherwise lovely day.

[pfc1369]

Charles Krauthammer is the frozen embodiment of every smug, combative, and elevated far beyond his capacities blowhard that ever existed.

[urweatherman]

No....that would be Paul Krugman!

[RoloTomassi]

In order to be considerate of other commenters, please grow a brain before using your keyboard....

[Melissa]

No.... that would be Olberman.

[MajorKong]

What's truly amazing is that for a brief shining moment in 1999 Charles Krauthammer was actually AGAINST bombing somebody.

[Msohio]

Krauthammer's jibberish makes no logical or politcal sense. I don't really understand why he is still on Faux News or in the Post. Is it his controversy? Most certainly is not his talent.

[realpolitic]

He really does not speak coherently, but speaks with such a monotone no one can understand his meanderings.