On & Of Podhoretz

Both current & recent Commentaries offer discussions of possible interest to Chicagoboyz. One is about the personal – how are our friendships defined? developed? Podhoretz’s Ex-Friends appears to stimulate “Friendship Among the Intellectuals” by Joseph Epstein. The role of civility and affection in friendships that are strained by a variety of forces, notably a drifting apart in political or ideological passions, is demonstrated by Epstein, clearly a man with a respect for the importance of such friendships. Why Podhoretz’s life contains many “ex-friends” is demonstrated in the current issue, “Is the Bush Doctrine Dead?” where he affirms the position he has set out in a series of Commentary essays – a position quite different from that taken by his friends of a few decades before.