What mattered to Krauthammer

Politics is the moat, beyond which lie the barbarians.

Charles Krauthammer, Things That Matter

The late Charles Krauthammer had originally intended this collection of columns and articles to focus on the things that mattered most to him, things other than politics, things like baseball, chess, science, medicine and family. Then he realized that ultimately everything that mattered most to him depended on politics. Consider how the political change that created Nazi Germany affected every aspect of life in Germany, and the rest of Europe as well.

So Krauthammer did include political commentary in Things That Matter, although these essays now seem the most dated, at least those that relate specifically to issues that were hot topics during the Clinton years or either of the Bush administrations. Obama discussions seem a bit more topical. The book predates the Trump administration.

When writing about politics in general terms, however, it sounds like it could have first appeared in print yesterday. One example is when he writes, “Conservatives think liberals are stupid. Liberals think conservatives are evil.” Krauthammer wrote this in 2002, but today conservatives are ranting about the stupidity of the open borders and Medicare-for-all advocated by left-wing politicians, while liberals use any excuse to call conservatives Nazis or racists.

Still he is at his best when writing about subjects more dear to his heart — why religion should be taught in the schools (“A healthy country would teach its children evolution — and the Ten Commandments.”), why Winston Churchill was the most important figure in the 20th century, why turning the border collie into a show dog is likely to ruin its most important quality — its intelligence, and so on.

This is good stuff, stuff that will matter to most readers as it mattered to Charles Krauthammer.