Internationally known and respected intellectual-columnist-blogger Andrew Sullivan was kind enough to submit to an e-mail interview with me recently. His responses are brief, but this is understandable due to his busy schedule. Here is the result:
1 - You seem to support the idea of Bush choosing Condi Rice as his running-mate in 2004. She has never been married. If she were to become Bush's VP candidate, how do you think the press will handle the inevitable question of whether or not she is a lesbian? How will the Right deal with this?
AS - It should be a non-issue.
2 - You are an HIV-positive gay man. Do you think the President should focus more on a cure for this monstrous disease than on helping HIV-positive Third World peoples live a little bit longer?
AS - It's not either/or. A full cure is unlikely. Good treatments can work.
3 - You support the right of gay men and women to marry. As a gay man, this is to be expected. How do you view those who are ambivalent about such a proposal, and think (without anti-gay bigotry) that marriage should remain between a man and a woman.
AS - I think they need to be reassured that including gay people in marriage will do nothing to affect or weaken the heterosexual institution.
4 - The current budget deficit is enormous. Should the Bush tax cuts be repealed, should spending be cut, or should there be a combination of the two? Or should short-term deficits be ignored if the larger issue is long-term economic growth?
AS - If we means-tested social security and medicare, and ended agricultural subsidies and corporate welfare, we wouldn't be talking about deficits. We'd be talking about fast growth and surpluses.
5 - Who do you feel is the strongest Democrat in the current field to take on Bush in 2004?
AS - Howard Dean.
6 - Does Bush have a chance in winning California in 2004, with the help of Arnold? Or is Cali destined to be a "Blue State"?
AS - Almost certainly a Democratic state. The damage the far right has done to the GOP in California will take more than Arnold to heal.
7 - Should Kurds be given a larger role in post-war Iraq, given their strong support of the US?
AS - They should be given their fair share - no more, no less.
Article comments
1 - Eric Olsen
great job RJ, nice coup! AS wasn't exactly voluble. I agree with him on many policies: gay rights, War on Terror, decriminalize and tax drugs gambling (is there anything left to decriminalize?) prostitution. But I still find him to be solipsistic, narcissistic, and disingenuous. Too bad because it was he who got me interested in blogging in the first place.
I think anyone who drinks Jager chased with Red Bull is fatally flawed.
2 - Mens Only
Interesting coments..!!
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4 - RJ Elliott
WTF?
5 - jack e. jett
great interview.
i wish i could be smart.
jack
6 - Hal Pawluk
Good job, RJ.
I was interested in his responses to 4, 6 and 18 - definitely in the realm of reality.
15 was no surprise :-)
7 - RJ Elliott
Thanks HP!
When I originally posted this interview, there was almost no response. I was surprised at that (to say the least).
Andrew Sullivan, love him or hate him, agree or disagree, is a true intellectual. Though his responses to my queries were brief, they were much appreciated.
8 - Hal Pawluk
Your questions ranged widely enough that he was able to speak to issues I hadn't heard him addressing before, and it's nice to see that he's not a "Stepford right-winger."
I'm going to move him back up on my bookmarks list :-)
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10 - Turismo activo aventura
GuÃa y portal sobre el turismo activo y de aventura en España. Visita: http://www.turismoenactivo.com y descubre otra forma de ver el turismo. Casas rurales y turismo rural asturias cantabria, galicia, pais vasco
11 - Bob A. Booey
Andrew Sullivan likes Jager bombs ... who knew?
RJ, were you drunk when you thought up these questions?
Canada in the EU?
Who actually says "Red China" anymore? That's willfully backwards. I'm glad you interviewed him, but Sullivan thinks you're a rube, especially for the Hitler/Mao/Stalin question.
I wonder why no one ever asks Sullivan about the "bareback" scandal of his a few years back that basically cost him his status as a rising star in "legitimate" journalism (a career only now being slowly rebuilt, interestingly, partly through his blog) and how it's changed his views on the personal lives of gay people and journalism as an industry when he became a story.
I think Sullivan's political views are often perplexing and arbitrary, but he's bright and candid, especially when analyzing culture. His characterization of the Passion of the Christ as pornographic was right on (as was the similar take of Christopher Hitchens). Did anyone else see Chris Matthews (great TV personality, but most certainly NOT an intellectual) abruptly cut Sullivan off when he tried to bring that up again on a recent Sunday morning show when discussing the Oscars? It was one of the rare moments where Sullivan was being Sullivan on that show -- I almost always think he's restrained and not particularly controversial -- and it seemed to upset Matthews.
That is all.
12 - Eric Olsen
I have come to the conclusion that Sullivan is a Clintonian personality: very obvious strengths including intelligence and ability to sell himself, but tragic flaws including an astonishing personal recklessness, lack of impulse control, and dishonesty
13 - RJ
5 - Who do you feel is the strongest Democrat in the current field to take on Bush in 2004?
AS - Howard Dean.
Oops... ;-/
14 - kate
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