Jeane Kirkpatrick: a neocon, American hero?

In this interesting article, Norman Podhoretz hails Jeane Kirkpatrick as an American hero. Perhaps more interestingly, he also talks about her as an early neoconservative.

Why interesting? Because the paper that first brought her to public attention drew a line between authoritarian and totalitarian regimes. As the New York Times puts it:

She said it was an historic mistake for the United States to have shied away from dictators like the Somozas in Nicaragua and the Shah of Iran. If they served American interests, they were defensible.

This is not now the position associated with neocons. It is worth noting that when she drew it, the left hated it.

Comments

[George Lindo]

Can one assume from your ill-judged post on Pinochet that you share the left's hatred of Ms Kirkpatrick's distinction, Daniel?