Another one sniffs JFK 2.0's bicycle seat

From American Digest, an essay that compares Andrew Sullivan to Judas Iscariot. Probably a harsher condemnation than I'm willing to make, but I get his point.

Andrew Sullivan (won't link to him, but put a .com at the end of his name and have at it) was the first blog I read with any frequency after 9/11. He had a clear image of the task before us, and rightly condmned those who desired to place the blame where it didn't belong, and were being part of the problem. The fact that he was an HIV-positive gay man who had written for and edited The New Republic made him more, not less, credible on the war and what must be done. But after a while I noticed he seemed to be backtracking, taking Bush to task more than usual, and then Abu Graib and talk of a Federal Marriage Amendment to prevent same-sex marriage broke the piñata wide open, and he was revealed as what he had probably always been: a sleeper agent in service of the Democratic candidate.

Some people, including Sullivan's readers, had pointed this out before I got the hint, but when I want to be, I'm pretty credulous of what appear to be good intentions on the part of smart, informed people. And Sullivan is smart, and informed, not to mention charming and a convincing writer. But after a while the hysterical nature of his rants turned me off, and I stopped reading his site. He and Jon Stewart are dead to me now not because they aren't good people, which I imagine they are, but because they aren't just wrong but actively trying to impede the wagon the rest of us are behind, pushing up the hill. If you're not part of the solution . . .

The tragic part about all this is that they both have much to offer. I miss Sullivan's analysis on things he still sees clearly, and I really miss the Daily Show if only for Stephen Colbert. But I can't take any more blood pressure spikes, and my wife doesn't like it when I talk to the TV. So long, boys. Maybe I'll check in after Nov. 3.