in the chotiner interviewer titled Can Liberalism Be Saved?

Well, the next time someone brings up a terrible anecdote about Cambodia or Vietnam, I will definitely drop the Star Wars story to show that people have two sides.

Yeah. And I get those who think you shouldn’t be friends with someone who did terrible things. I hear that. I can just say that he was, as a very large number of people would say, though many fewer would say it publicly, an extraordinarily generous friend.

Professor, thank you so much for doing this.

Great, thanks. If we go light on the Kissinger part, I wouldn’t complain, because it could dwarf everything else.

linky to lib yorker

  • ThermonuclearEgg [she/her, they/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
    30·
    14 days ago

    But you could have an opinion on it. You have an opinion on all kinds of things, right?

    Well, on him and his role in government, that’s not something I’ve particularly studied, so I don’t know. I know some people who think he was a horrible historic figure. They would say, “Would you be friends with Genghis Khan? Would you be friends with Stalin?” And I wouldn’t be friends with Stalin, so I concede that.

    If we’re going to keep the Star Wars analogy going: “I haven’t particularly studied Darth Vader and his role in government, but I wouldn’t be friends with Luke Skywalker”