Kingsolver Strikes Again
And strikes out again, too.

By John J. Miller & Ramesh Ponnuru
November 26, 2001 4:15 p.m.

ne of the enduring comedies of American life is the notion that criticism of the American government is a species of heroism," Leon Wieseltier wrote recently in The New Republic. For a certain kind of person — usually a liberal — disagreement with the vast majority of people is proof of his courage. But if he is wrong, of course, it may simply be proof that he has an uncommon degree of idiocy; and that this idiocy is backed by stubbornness.

Which brings us to the case of Barbara Kingsolver. David Gates, a writer for Newsweek, recently celebrated her and fellow novelists Arundhati Roy and Susan Sontag as "The Voices of Dissent." They raise important points, it seems, but are being persecuted by "the hard right." But what about those of us who dissent from their dissent? Aren't we being, in turn, persecuted by Gates's caricature of us? ("The new united-we-stand orthodoxy holds that. . . the attempt to understand the enemy's perception of us is disloyal.")

Some of our colleagues in the suppressing-dissent business may have missed Kingsolver's latest offering, an op-ed in Friday's Washington Post. Here's a representative sample: "Gone is the inclusive vision of an earlier president. [She means FDR.] Freedom from fear, freedom from want-these clearly aren't meant just now for the millions of Afghan civilians placed at risk of starvation because of the war. Our campaigns proudly place our safety and material prosperity ahead of any concern for the majority of world citizens who are starving and frightened-or for that matter, the hungry here at home. . . . As our war drives a population into refugee status, immense waves of new recruits are entering schools in Pakistan and other places where young men train to a lifelong vow of vengeance against America."

Kingsolver has clearly spent too much time on Nation cruises. Where to start? Has Kingsolver seen no footage of Afghans cheering their liberation? Is she unaware of the food we are sending their country? Does she think "the hungry here at home" will be better off if terrorists are left alone? What's her evidence that most "world citizens" are "frightened"? Kingsolver lauds FDR for speaking many fine words about world peace and prosperity. But she ignores one feature of FDR's wartime leadership that some people might consider important: He waged a war. Including, you know, bombing people. Unconditional surrender. That sort of thing.

In the Newsweek article, Gates reports that Kingsolver "resents being told — as she has been lately-that she should stick to writing novels." We won't tell her that. From what we've read of her fiction, she should lay off novels too.

The Bradley Presidency
Michael W. Grebe will become the next president of the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, its board of directors has announced.

"Mike Grebe is a man of the highest ethical standards and moral virtues, firmly holds those values that are the bedrock of our organization as set forth by its founders, and is a proven manager and a splendid and dedicated leader," said Bradley Foundation chairman Allen Taylor in a statement.

Grebe, 61, is the CEO of Foley & Lardner, a large national law firm based in Milwaukee, and has served on the Bradley board for five years. He is currently a trustee of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, a director of the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute, and a Republican National Committeeman. He was formerly president of the University of Wisconsin's board of regents, chairman of West Point's board of visitors, and general counsel for the Republican National Committee.

Grebe will start his new job in July. He succeeds Michael Joyce, who retired from the foundation earlier this year.

On the Site
Melissa Seckora on Emory University's Michael Bellesiles and his fraudulent book, Arming America.