Sunday, July 17, 2005
Bob Kuttner, mensch
It's a tough thing to admit you were wrong. It's easier, I guess, when you're dealing with matters of fact - if the facts show you're wrong, then you're wrong. In matters of opinion, though, changing your mind can be seen as a weakness, especially if you are an opinion leader.
In my view, it shows courage and confidence and strength of character. In yiddish, this is known as "menschlichkeit".
Which brings me to Bob Kuttner of The American Prospect.
A couple of weeks ago, Mr. Kuttner penned an op-ed for the Boston Globe "Politics Taints Probe of CIA Leak", in which he speculated that Fitzgerald might be politically motivated in the way he's conducting the Plame leak inquiry. I found this column to be uncharitable and unfair to Fitzgerald, and I wrote Mr. Kuttner to tell him so. To my surprise (after all, who am I?), Mr. Kuttner responded to my email! We swapped a couple of messages, and a day or two later, he wrote this article in the online Prospect, allowing how he could have been mistaken. And later, in the same space as his original article, he wrote this column, explicitly expressing his "second thoughts".
Now, I'm not claiming I had anything to do with Mr. Kuttner's change of heart - I'm sure he had quite a bit of comment about that first column. But Mr. Kuttner's very public change of mind shows his courage and thoughtfulness.
Bob Kuttner is a mensch.
In my view, it shows courage and confidence and strength of character. In yiddish, this is known as "menschlichkeit".
Which brings me to Bob Kuttner of The American Prospect.
A couple of weeks ago, Mr. Kuttner penned an op-ed for the Boston Globe "Politics Taints Probe of CIA Leak", in which he speculated that Fitzgerald might be politically motivated in the way he's conducting the Plame leak inquiry. I found this column to be uncharitable and unfair to Fitzgerald, and I wrote Mr. Kuttner to tell him so. To my surprise (after all, who am I?), Mr. Kuttner responded to my email! We swapped a couple of messages, and a day or two later, he wrote this article in the online Prospect, allowing how he could have been mistaken. And later, in the same space as his original article, he wrote this column, explicitly expressing his "second thoughts".
Now, I'm not claiming I had anything to do with Mr. Kuttner's change of heart - I'm sure he had quite a bit of comment about that first column. But Mr. Kuttner's very public change of mind shows his courage and thoughtfulness.
Bob Kuttner is a mensch.
# posted by Steve : 5:24 PM
