The American Conservative

A reader writes:

I must take great exception to your endorsement of The American Conservative as "more intellectually alive" than the Weekly Standard or National Review. This is a magazine that echoes the kind of crude anti-Israel attacks recently waged by Nick Kristof in the NYT and by George Soros in the NYRB. Indeed, they often go beyond those. Kristof and Soros at least pretend to make an argument. But TAC has run crude and vicious pieces by Taki, that are openly anti-Semitic. Look at the back issues if you don’t believe me. Moreover, their analytical pieces in essence blame Israel for all the faults of US foreign policy, including going to war in Iraq. Most of us who follow Israeli politics and policy, in fact, realize that most Israelis did not favor the Iraq war, and were worried far more about Iran.

I didn't say it was all good. There is a vast amount in it with which I strongly disagree. I find the occasional anti-Semitic undertones repellent; and I found the recent hit-job on Obama callously insensitive (but it still prodded me to read Obama's first book). But TAC does seem to me to be able to think outside the box of recent conservatism (as in torture and the war). And that's a good thing, mixed with bad things.