This is tragic: He has just announced that he has only weeks to live. It’s certainly been a life well lived.
[Update a while later]
Here’s a piece he wrote at the turn of the century, lamenting the decline of the space program.
10 thoughts on “Charles Krauthammer”
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I only discovered he was a quadriplegic a few years ago. Never noticed on television – he just seemed poised. Always enjoyed his opinions.
He is an amazing guy. So sorry to learn of this. I didn’t agree with a lot of what he said, but he certainly challenged me to be thorough in considering my positions.
He always had insightful commentary and was one of the few who elevated Special Report above the less serious/professional programming that runs at other times during the day.
From the point of view of space, he has had that curious neocon attitude that government is the way to go, the one you still see reflected in SLS.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/11/AR2010021103484.html?noredirect=on
“This is nonsense. It would be swell for private companies to take over launching astronauts. But they cannot do it. It’s too expensive. It’s too experimental. And the safety standards for getting people up and down reliably are just unreachably high.
Sure, decades from now there will be a robust private space-travel industry. But that is a long time.”
The Cato Institute called out Krauthammer for his attitude on space. They said it made him, normally a hardheaded conservative, sound like “a yoga instructor gone lightheaded during a juice fast.”
https://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/space-program-was-our-biggest-bridge-nowhere
He eventually realized this attitude was wrong.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/space-the-visionaries-take-over/2015/12/31/d0f9d956-affa-11e5-b820-eea4d64be2a1_story.html?utm_term=.dcc82f9d0755
Yes. He is (sadly, soon to be was) one of those rare people willing to have their minds changed by new information.
I should write a eulogy, because for years, I felt he was one of the most powerful conservative forces keeping conservatives from embracing an actual conservative space program.
Yeah, it was after that article that I stopped listening to him. Perhaps he knew what he was talking about when it came to politics and related subjects. However, he was completely wrong about a subject I know about, so how could I trust him for anything else? How could I have any confidence that he was any more accurate about other things? Gell-Mann Amnesia Effect.
Well, I don’t know I’d stop listening, but I wouldn’t take his word as gospel. But then, you shouldn’t do that with anyone.
I haven’t mentioned anything about Krauthammer, because I know long ago I quit listening to him. As Rand noted, I’ve give Krauthammer credit for being able to listen and change his mind. However, he’s just one more talking head to me. I feel the same about O’Reilly and Hannity, which is basically nothing.
I appreciate Carlson as a moderator, and I respect Brett Hume. I miss Tony Snow. But otherwise, it is all downhill and fast for national TV news types regardless of network.
However, facing the end with dignity as Krauthammer is showing, and with the adversity in which he lived his life; that’s impressive. It is a sign of a life well lived.
He has now died.