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Subject: Jeane Kirkpatrick - in Memoriam
swhitebull    12/11/2006 1:54:39 PM
From William F Buckley in 1984, who knew her well: = swhitebull - especially for Fwingo
 
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swhitebull    America's Iron Lady - 'Free Speech on Campuses' and Jeane Kirkpatrick   12/11/2006 2:09:56 PM
From National Review:
 
Full Circle With Jeane [Stanley Kurtz]
The silencing of conservative speakers by shouting campus mobs is a sadly too common occurrence nowadays. (Has anyone seen Lee Bollinger?)  Yet the mother of all campus shout-downs was the drowning out of a talk by Jeane Kirkpatrick at the University of California at Berkeley in February of 1983.  At the time, the practice of shouting down speakers was uncommon.  So it shocked me when, as Berkeley grad student, I heard faculty members openly justifying that action with the claim that “oppressors have no free speech rights.”  The Kirkpatrick incident was a key moment in my long, slow transformation from McGovern liberal to conservative.

A few years ago, I was out at a college giving a talk on free speech when I raised the matter of the Kirkpatrick incident.  After the talk, I was approached by a faculty member who, like me, had been a grad student at U.C. Berkeley at the time of Kirkpatrick’s visit.  This professor denied that Kirkpatrick had been suppressed at all.  And how did she know this?  Well, this professor had actually been one of the protesters shouting at Kirkpatrick!  And now she steadfastly maintained that there had been no violation of Kirkpatrick’s freedom of speech.  After all, this professor said, Kirkpatrick duly finished reading her talk.

Shortly after I gave that lecture, I happened to run into Jeane Kirkpatrick.  I told her what this erstwhile protester, now professor, had said, and asked if it was true.  Kirkpatrick dismissed the professor’s remarks as an absurd excuse.  Yes, she had insisted on finishing her talk, Kirkpatrick said, but it was merely an act of defiance against the hecklers who were drowning her out.  A fighter, Kirkpatrick refused to give up, and so read her interrupted talk through to the end, despite the fact that the audience could barely hear her.  Kirkpatrick said she could see the faculty member who’d invited her to speak at Berkeley near tears, in the audience, by the end of the talk, deeply embarrassed by the fiasco.  And of course, the incident became a famous controversy precisely because Kirkpatrick had been interrupted and drowned out.

Here’s a San Francisco Chronicle article on a 2000 incident at Berkeley in which leftist protesters forced the cancellation of a speech by former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Note that one of the protesters said, “I don’t believe in free speech for war criminals,” the same sort of justification openly offered by Berkeley faculty members years before, during the Kirkpatrick incident.  At the bottom of the article, there is a long list of prominent figures whose speeches at Berkeley have been disrupted or canceled.  The list begins with the Kirkpatrick incident in 1983, in which, according to the Chronicle, Kirkpatrick “left the stage...shouted down by hecklers opposed to U.S. policy in El Salvador.  She resumed her talk, but canceled a lecture the next day.” 

For my take on the Kirkpatrick incident and the troubled Berkeley ethos see, “The Berkeley Censors.”) And here’s a 1983 Time Magazine Essay by Lance Morrow on the Kirkpatrick affair. Read Morrow and notice, as we endlessly await word from Lee Bollinger on the results of his (non)investigation into the Gilchrist affair, how little has changed in the past 23 years.  Why should it, when the very people who once shouted Jeane Kirkpatrick down are now professors?

Today I’m a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center.  Shortly after I arrived at EPPC, I noticed a plaque ho
 
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eu4ea       12/11/2006 3:27:28 PM
Agree.  While I am no fan of Ms. Kirkpatrick, that was wrong. Under our system freedom of speech is sacred, period.

However, I do find it amusing that you'd choose that as the #1 topic in memorializing Ms. Fitzpatrick.  Sadly campus shoutdowns are far from uncommon, and that 1983 incident is just not as most relevant aspect of Ms Fitzpatricks carrer.

If I had to pick one aspect, it would be her staunch support for military dictatorships in Latin American during the dirty war. If you prefer to pick a specific incident, that would be in 1982 when she came out in favour of the military invasion of the Falklands by the Argentinian military dictatorship headed by Gen. Leopoldo Galtieri. 

Eventually the Reagan white house told her to pipe down, but the spectacle of the US ambassador to the UN supporting the invasion of a UK territory by a floundering latin american dictatorship was *rich*. 

Even if we overlook the fact that the dictatorship in question was particularly unsavoury (they overthrew a democraticly elected government, established death squads, torture centers, "disapearances", etc.), and many of it's leaders (Gen. Galtieri included) have been found guilty of graft, torture and crimes against humanity by both Argentinian and international courts, this is still bottom-of-the-barrel decision making. 

For crying out loud, this is *England* we're talking about - arguably our staunchest and most important ally worldwide.  Not only that, it was *Maggie Thacher's England* and if she'd caved in to military agression by Argentina's generals, as Ms. Fitzpatrick prefered, there's no doubt that Thacher would have lost the next election.

Given that sort of track record, I just dont see how Ms. Fitzpatrick can possibly qualify as a conservative icon.  Heck, by 1983 pro-Thacher conservatives had just as much reason to shout her down as anyone else.

Heart,

eu4ea

 
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swhitebull    More on the Iron Lady   12/11/2006 11:20:53 PM
What most people don't realize is the Jeane Kirkpatrick was a lifelong DEMOCRAT - one who moved from the idealism of Kennedy, thru the disillusionment of Vietnam, to a hard-core conservatism shared by Henry "Scoop" Jackson, and fellow DEMOCRATs William Bennett and  Ronald Reagan.
 
Some more testimonials to her greatness:
 
>>
 
swhitebull
 
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swhitebull    More on the Iron Lady   12/11/2006 11:22:41 PM
Link didnt work, here's the whole text from National Review symposium:
 
Iron Lady
Remembering Jeane Kirkpatrick.

An NRO Symposium

On Thursday, former United States Ambassador to the United Nations Jeane Kirkpatrick died. National Review Online gathered a group of friends, colleagues, and admirers to pay tribute.
Anne Bayefsky
To say Jeane was exceptional is an understatement. She was an exceptional diplomat, exceptional scholar, and above all, an exceptional human being. I came to know Jeane originally from her work at the United Nations, where she served in the 1980s and more recently in 2003 as American ambassador to the U.N. Human Rights Commission. The job of U.S.-U.N. ambassador is not a pleasant one, since everything one holds dear — and assumes erroneously that democratic allies do too — is up for grabs all the time. It was a testament to Jeane’s love for her country and strength of purpose that she agreed to go back to the U.N. and its Human Rights Commission at the age of 76, where she found herself under constant attack as the human-rights bad guy among fellow members which included a Libyan chair, Syria, and Sudan. In this environment, Jeane exhibited her trademark qualities that made her great. She just said “No.” She would not be pushed into actions inimical to her deeply ingrained sense of decency and justice, no matter how unpopular it made her in the midst of a menacing crowd of bullies and thugs. When everyone else was intimidated Jeane was not. She never forgot who and what she represented, and strongly believed there was no substitute for clarity of vision and goals. Ironically, this made her unpalatable to most in the human-rights movement, who have never understood either the threat to our way of life or the deeply humanistic character that drove whatever Jeane Kirkpatrick did. She will be sorely missed.

— Anne Bayefsky is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and at Touro College Law Center. She is also editor of >> .


William J. Bennett
It was early in the Reagan administration—a lot of the older-GOP guard was still a little distrustful of this neoconservative group, wasn’t sure what to make of us, or even to trust us. Some of us were still Democrats after all (including Jeane and myself).

Members of the administration used to give talks to the larger administration, I think they were in Constitution Hall. Jeane’s turn came and I remember feeling a chill in the room...until she took to the podium. She took her glasses off in that wonderful professorial way she had, cleared her throat, and said, “The U.S. has been getting kicked around a lot lately at the UN, and I just want you to know President Reagan and I think that’s wrong. And as long as I’m here, we’re not going to be kicked around anymore!” The place went crazy. All doubts left the room right there and then.

She and I became closer and closer over the years. She was a strong woman who believed in a strong America because she believed strongly in freedom and democracy. She made us all better, she made America better. She was our, America’s, Iron Lady.

William J. Bennett , former secretary of Education and drug czar, was one of the co-founders of Empower America, with Jeane Kirkpatrick.


Frank J. Gaffney Jr.
I first met Jeane Kirkpatrick in 1974 as a student in her Georgetown University course about France’s Fourth Republic. She brought to that extraordinarily esoteric — not to say tedious — topic a mastery of the subject matter, strong views about its heroes and villains and a passion for persuasively communicating her insights to others.

Over the ensuing years, the world came to know these qualities from her service as the U.S. permanent representative to the United Nations and a prominent member of Ronald Reagan’s Cabinet, her high-profile appearances on behalf of her adopted Republican
 
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swhitebull    More on the Iron Lady - THE SPEECH   12/11/2006 11:29:59 PM
1984 GOP Presidential Convential - San Diego -
 
"They Always Blame America First"
 

1984 Jeane Kirkpatrick

Thank you very much for that warm welcome.

Thank you for inviting me.

This is the first Republican Convention I have ever attended.

I am grateful that you should invite me, a lifelong Democrat. On the other hand, I realize that you are inviting many lifelong Democrats to join this common cause.

I want to begin tonight by quoting the speech of the president whom I very greatly admire, Harry Truman, who once said to the Congress:

"The United States has become great because we, as a people, have been able to work together for great objectives even while differing about details."

He continued:

"The elements of our strength are many. They include our democratic government, our economic system, our great natural resources. But, the basic source of our strength is spiritual. We believe in the dignity of man."

That's the way Democratic presidents and presidential candidates used to talk about America.

These were the men who developed NATO, who developed the Marshall Plan, who devised the Alliance for Progress.

They were not afraid to be resolute nor ashamed to speak of America as a great nation. They didn't doubt that we must be strong enough to protect ourselves and to help others.

They didn't imagine that America should depend for its very survival on the promises of its adversaries.

They happily assumed the responsibilities of freedom.

I am not alone in noticing that the San Francisco Democrats took a very different approach.

Foreign Affairs

A recent article in The New York Times noted that "the foreign policy line that emerged from the Democratic National Convention in San Francisco is a distinct shift from the policies of such [Democratic] presidents as Harry S Truman, John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson."

I agree.

I shall speak tonight of foreign affairs even though the other party's convention barely touched the subject.

When the San Francisco Democrats treat foreign affairs as an afterthought, as they did, they behaved less like a dove or a hawk than like an ostrich - convinced it would shut out the world by hiding its head in the sand.

Today, foreign policy is central to the security, to the freedom, to the prosperity, even to the survival of the United States.

And our strength, for which we make many sacrifices, is essential to the independence and freedom of our allies and our friends.

Ask yourself:

What would become of Europe if the United States withdrew?

What would become of Africa if Europe fell under Soviet domination?

What would become of Europe if the Middle East came under Soviet control?

What would become of Israel, if surrounded by Soviet client states?

What would become of Asia if the Philippines or Japan fell under Soviet domination?

What would become of Mexico if Central America became a Soviet satellite?

What then could the United States do?

These are questions the San Francisco Democrats have not answered. These are questions they haven't even asked.

Carter Administration

The United States cannot remain an open, democratic society if we are left alone - a garrison state in a hostile world.

We need independent nations with whom to trade, to consult and cooperate.

We need friends and allies with whom to share the pleasures and the protection of our civilization.

We cannot, therefore, be indifferent to the subversion of others' independence or to the development of new weapons by our adversaries or of new vulnerabilities by our friends.

The last Democratic administration did not seem to notice much, or care much or do much about these matters.

And at home and abroad, our country slid into real deep trouble.

North and South, East and West, our relations deteriorated.

The Carter administration's motives were good, but their policies were inadequate, uninformed and mistaken.

They made things worse, not better.

Those who had least, suffered most.

Poor countries grew poorer.

Rich countries grew poorer, too.

The United States grew weaker.

Meanwhile, the Soviet Union grew stronger.

The Carter administration's unilateral "restraint" in developing and deploying weapon systems was accompanied by an unprecedented Soviet buildup, military and political.

The Soviets, working on the margins and through the loopholes of SALT I, developed missiles of stunning speed and accuracy and targeted the cities of our friends in Europe.

They produced weapons capable of wiping out our land-based missiles.

And then,

 
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EW3       12/11/2006 11:39:17 PM
The most brilliant woman I have ever had the privilege to hear speak.
She gave women a voice long before half bright sucked up to that NK ahole. 
Jeane would never  have behaved the way these modern cheap copies of her would.
But that is all lost on the modern "generation" because they have been taught in
school and on TV how evil she was. 
She was the Amelia Earhart of the political world.
 
 
 
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eu4ea       12/12/2006 12:44:22 AM
Maybe.  Nice speeches. Good for 'energizing the base', as the lingo goes.

Her actual policies when she held any actual power were uniformly short-sighted and ineffective.  See comment above about her support for the 'dirty war' in latin america, and how during the Falklands invasion she sided up with Argentina's military dictatorship rather than with Maggie Thacher's Britain before the Reagan white house got her to pipe down. Overall a C-, if that.

Heart,

Eu4ea

 
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swhitebull       12/12/2006 5:52:41 AM

Maybe.  Nice speeches. Good for 'energizing the base', as the lingo goes.

Her actual policies when she held any actual power were uniformly short-sighted and ineffective.  See comment above about her support for the 'dirty war' in latin america, and how during the Falklands invasion she sided up with Argentina's military dictatorship rather than with Maggie Thacher's Britain before the Reagan white house got her to pipe down. Overall a C-, if that.

Heart,

Eu4ea


See Soviet Union today.  Make that, FORMER Soviet Union.   Short-sided indeed.
swhitebull -  A+
 
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swhitebull    Bastion of Conservatism Washington Post Agrees with Kirkpatrick on Pinochet   12/12/2006 12:02:22 PM

Maybe.  Nice speeches. Good for 'energizing the base', as the lingo goes.

Her actual policies when she held any actual power were uniformly short-sighted and ineffective.  See comment above about her support for the 'dirty war' in latin america, and how during the Falklands invasion she sided up with Argentina's military dictatorship rather than with Maggie Thacher's Britain before the Reagan white house got her to pipe down. Overall a C-, if that.

Heart,

Eu4ea


Hmmm,  talking about "Energizing the base", you mean the Reagan DEMOCRATS?  What was that margin of victory again over Walter Mondale, EU?  A+ for Energizing. How many states again did Mondale "I-will-raise-your-taxes" win again? and what again was the popular vote count?  Seems you need another lesson in US Domestic politics, and elections. Or perhaps you were too young back then to know?
 
As for latin dictators and Kirkpatrick, no less a conservative bastion and Reagan supporter Washington Post had this to say about the Iron Lady, the Chilean Pinochet and other fine fellow Dictators:
 
 
swhitebull
 
 
.

 
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sentinel28a       12/13/2006 11:23:15 AM
Okay, EU, tell me who your favorite politician ever is, and I'll have dirt on he or she faster than you can say Google.
 
Kirkpatrick was human.  She made mistakes.  That doesn't take away much from the fact that she was steadfast when she needed to be, at a time America needed to be.  Her "blame America first" speech was aimed at people like you, but apparently you missed the point.  No one expects you to write paeans to her memory, but your first post is merely a cheap shot at a dead woman. 
 
 
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