Michael Kinsley Pulls a George Will
Why is columnist Michael Kinsley pulling a George Will?
Writing in his column, “Sins of the Father”, Kinsley claims, “[W]hen Bush came up and asked him how his son was doing, he basically told the president to flake off. Webb’s self-righteousness can be obnoxious.” Like Will, Kinsley deliberately neglects to mention two salient facts.
The first is that when Webb responded to Bush that he wanted his son to come home Bush said “that’s not what I asked you”: that is the primary reason that Webb was impolite to the President.
The second is that, as the President (and probably Kinsley) knows, three weeks ago, the vehicle next to Webb’s son was attacked, killing three Marines: this has been confirmed by Eleanor Clift, writing in Newsweek.
I appreciate that Kinsley believes that Webb is “morally serious”: however, by omitting these two relevant facts, Kinsley helps to reinforce the false impression that Mr. Bush was being cordial to the Senator-elect. He was not, and Webb responded appropriately. If Michael Kinsley had children fighting in Iraq, would he have responded any differently?
Brendan Skwire
