Midge Decter, social critic and leader of neoconservative movement, dies at 94
Source: Washington Post
Midge Decter, an intellectual leader of the neoconservative movement whose acerbic, stylishly written essays and books assailed Soviet communism as well as American liberalism, denouncing feminism and other progressive movements while calling for unwavering support for Israel, died May 9 at her home in Manhattan. She was 94.
...
Mrs. Decter was the matriarch of a formidable neoconservative family that included her second husband, Norman Podhoretz, the longtime editor of Commentary magazine; their son John Podhoretz, a former speechwriter for President Ronald Reagan and now editor of Commentary; and son-in-law Elliott Abrams, who served in foreign policy positions in the Reagan and George W. Bush administrations.
Along with her husband and other New York-based intellectuals including editor and essayist Irving Kristol and his wife, historian Gertrude Himmelfarb Mrs. Decter was considered one of the founders of neoconservatism. The intellectual movement emerged in the 1960s out of the pages of Commentary, a previously liberal magazine founded by the American Jewish Committee.
Like many of her peers, Mrs. Decter was raised in a Jewish family of New Deal Democrats who grew disaffected by what she saw as an alarming tear in the American social fabric. Finding fault in welfare programs and moral relativism, she and other neoconservatives shifted rightward and became anti-communist hawks, championing a muscular foreign policy that saw peaks of influence during the Reagan White House and later under Bush.
Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/midge-decter-social-critic-and-leader-of-neoconservative-movement-dies-at-94/ar-AAX4YfJ
Good riddance to bad philosophy.
DURHAM D
(32,611 posts)Grins
(7,228 posts)I thought she was already dead.
Dont mourn her. A lot of what infects Reich-wing conservatism started with her and her husband.
Everything SHITTY about her doubled down into her disgusting murderous son-in-law, Elliot Abrams. Who should have been in prison decades ago.
LT Barclay
(2,606 posts)attempted global domination in a manner more like a live-action version of Pinky and the Brain.
mountain grammy
(26,648 posts)an intellectual neocon.
pwb
(11,287 posts)Bless her heart.
turbinetree
(24,720 posts)the air traffic controllers....
good riddance.....
AZLD4Candidate
(5,753 posts)bucolic_frolic
(43,283 posts)I much preferred Hannah Arendt.
Warpy
(111,339 posts)Midge Decter is dead.
GOOD.
LiberalFighter
(51,084 posts)2Gingersnaps
(1,000 posts)I did not know Robin Williams or Harry Nillson, but I cried like I did when I lost my brother, they brought that much joy to my life. I cannot bring myself to pretend sorrow for a 94 year old who lived a long and comfortable life, and championed a mind set that brought and still brings suffering to so many.
Solly Mack
(90,785 posts)About 94 years too long.
eppur_se_muova
(36,289 posts)They keep growing back.
Response to TheProle (Original post)
JudyM This message was self-deleted by its author.
PlanetBev
(4,104 posts)She lived too long. One less soulless reptile on the planet.
The Grand Illuminist
(1,336 posts)That is all the right care about.
Icanthinkformyself
(220 posts)There is nothing intellectual about conservatives, neo or otherwise and it is leading to their extinction as young people abandon the right wing of politics, recognizing the cesspool of toxic waste the party is and has been for decades. A philosophy of hate and derision that denigrates those of us who have less and refuses to help others is degenerate and inhumane. Call neoconservatism what it is, fascism dressed to look acceptable. But it is just as rotted inside as the Notsees of the 1930s. It's sad that even Jews who should know better fall into the trap of the greed that is a core value of conservatism. She came of age when we all came together and saved the world from fascists and saved the Jews from extinction. It's too bad she became one of them.
tonekat
(1,820 posts)Good Riddance to such a harmful stain on the planet.
Demsrule86
(68,667 posts)TheProle
(2,198 posts)and I have always been intrigued with the evolution of American politics.
She's dead and while her ideas are still actively toxic, there has been a sea-change in mainstream attitudes and it's apparent that her brand of conservatism is destined for the ash-heap of history. Her death represents (to me) some degree of turning a very ugly page.
I'm sorry if history or nuance is of no use to you.
If you feel it endangers the community, please feel free to alert and let a jury decide.