No lower bound

Sullivan says of Krauthammer’s latest ravings, “Krauthammer is better than this.” False.

Andrew Sullivan says of Charles Krauthammer’s latest Two Minutes’ Hate directed at Barack Obama, “Krauthammer is better than this.” No doubt Sullivan is trying to be generous, but I have to disagree. For any possible value of “this,” it is not the case that “Krauthammer is better than this.” He is always “worse than this.” Krauthammer’s consistent vileness knows no lower bound.

We are speaking, after all, about a man who uses his professional credential as a psychiatrist to suggest that those with whom he disagrees are mentally ill.

It’s not everyone who can manage to be a disgrace to two professions at once.

Author: Mark Kleiman

Professor of Public Policy at the NYU Marron Institute for Urban Management and editor of the Journal of Drug Policy Analysis. Teaches about the methods of policy analysis about drug abuse control and crime control policy, working out the implications of two principles: that swift and certain sanctions don't have to be severe to be effective, and that well-designed threats usually don't have to be carried out. Books: Drugs and Drug Policy: What Everyone Needs to Know (with Jonathan Caulkins and Angela Hawken) When Brute Force Fails: How to Have Less Crime and Less Punishment (Princeton, 2009; named one of the "books of the year" by The Economist Against Excess: Drug Policy for Results (Basic, 1993) Marijuana: Costs of Abuse, Costs of Control (Greenwood, 1989) UCLA Homepage Curriculum Vitae Contact: Markarkleiman-at-gmail.com