Bill Kristol

For the American comedian, see Billy Crystal.

I’d rather fight than switch. It’s worth fighting.

Isn't conservatism in part about resisting so-called new realities when you sense they might be questionable, even as people lecture you that you’ve got to get with the times?

William "Bill" Kristol (born 23 December 1952) is an American neoconservative commentator.

Quotes

The Obama years have been weighed in the balance and found wanting. Severely wanting. By the end of Obama's presidency, the U.S. standing in the world was weaker—clearly and appreciably weaker—than when he became president. The force of American power was diminished, and freedom was in retreat.

The present moment is not one to be proud of. The normal vulgarity of democratic politics has become the shameless demagoguery of democratic decadence. The routine operation of party politics has given way to the mindless polarization of partisan fanatics. The characteristic limitations of popular leaders have yielded to an abdication of leadership itself. A public life with occasional cringeworthy moments has been replaced by one that is on the whole cringeworthy.

No disease any refugee might bring to America is as dangerous as the disease of fear, bigotry and hatred now being spread in America by Fox.

1990s

• You have to use words as they are understood in your time and place.
  • As quoted in "'Conservative': A Term Up for Grabs" (18 November 2020), by Jay Nordlinger, National Review

2000s

• Well, Foley is responsible for it, and the voters in Florida, I guess, who elected him. Maybe they should have known better.
  • [1] Responding if Republican house leadership bears any responsibility for failing to properly address inappropriate emails allegedly sent by former Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.) to an underage male congressional page. (October 4, 2006)

• It's not a serious document.
  • Referring to the Iraq Study Group report
  • Fox News Live (December 6, 2006)

• I think Rumsfeld was not a good Defense Secretary. I'm glad he's gone.
  • Referring to the resignation of Donald Rumsfeld in an interview with The Daily Show's Jon Stewart

• Barack Obama is not going to beat Hillary Clinton in a single democratic primary. I'll predict that right now.
  • Fox News Sunday, December 17, 2006 [2]

2010s

2017

Obama's Legacy (2017)

"Obama's Legacy" (21 April 2017), The Weekly Standard

• The Obama years have been weighed in the balance and found wanting. Severely wanting. By the end of Obama's presidency, the U.S. standing in the world was weaker—clearly and appreciably weaker—than when he became president. The force of American power was diminished, and freedom was in retreat. By the end of Obama's presidency, was there a single part of the world where the United States was in a stronger position than when he took office? Was there an ally who was more confident or an adversary who was less so? By the end of Obama's presidency, were any important countries either friendlier or freer than they had been when he took over? The answer to all these questions: no.

After Trump (2017)

"After Trump" (5 May 2017), The Weekly Standard

• The present moment is not one to be proud of. The normal vulgarity of democratic politics has become the shameless demagoguery of democratic decadence. The routine operation of party politics has given way to the mindless polarization of partisan fanatics. The characteristic limitations of popular leaders have yielded to an abdication of leadership itself. A public life with occasional cringeworthy moments has been replaced by one that is on the whole cringeworthy.

A Sense of Responsibility (2017)

"A Sense of Responsibility" (12 May 2017), The Weekly Standard

• Donald Trump is an embarrassment. It would be better for the country if he were president for at most one term.

The Two Crises (2017)

"The Two Crises" (23 June 2017), The Weekly Standard

• [T]he Islamic world is a source of danger and destruction is all too conceivable. Indeed, it’s been on display, in plain sight, for years... The jihadist threat is real, and it must, obviously, be fought and defeated. But that raises another problem—not a problem with Islam, but a problem with the West. We have lost our nerve. In recent years, the attitude of Barack Obama has prevailed over the spirit of Charlie Hebdo. The claims of sensitivity have trumped the attachment to freedom. Appeasement of jihad has supplanted the war on terror. Most fundamentally—let’s be honest—fear has overwhelmed courage. And so the American president has been happy to proclaim, as he did at the United Nations in September 2012, “The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam.” He has been less willing to say that the future must not belong to those who kill in the name of the prophet of Islam... We face a crisis of Islam. We need to be clear-eyed about that. But we also face a crisis of the West. Only if we come to grips with that second crisis will this period of consequences turn out to be an occasion for renewal rather than another marker on the path to decadence.

True American Greatness (2017)

"True American Greatness" (21 July 2017), The Weekly Standard

• The noble simplicity of sentiment in McCain’s tweets is a world removed from Trump’s gaudy and boastful displays. And McCain’s demonstration of character and courage is a far more reliable guide to American greatness than the pronouncements of a president who speaks of it nonstop and embodies it not at all.

2018

• So WE are to blame for the "bad blood" with Russia. Not what Putin has done in Ukraine, in Syria, in the UK, at home, or with respect to our elections. Amazing.
  • Twitter post (11 April 2018)

• We're to blame for the "bad blood." Not Putin. The real meaning of America First is Blame America First.
  • Twitter post (11 April 2018)

• Winners have standards.
  • Twitter post (10 June 2018)

• [I]nstitutions are strong; it turns out you don't need a lot of sensible or even sane leadership in the White House.
  • Interview with the Octavian Report (2018)

• The town hall has the spirit of representative democracy, the rally of autocracy.
  • Twitter post (3 September 2018)

• I’d rather fight than switch. It’s worth fighting.
  • Twitter post (9 September 2018)

• The rhetorical extremism, the winking at violence, the reveling in vulgarity, and the embrace of amoralism are not bugs but features of Trumpism. Intellectual and moral coarsening is both a condition and a consequence of the demagogue's success. Trumpism really does corrupt.
  • Twitter post (20 October 2018)

• No disease any refugee might bring to America is as dangerous as the disease of fear, bigotry and hatred now being spread in America by Fox.
  • Twitter post (29 October 2018)

• Younger people actually understand how it works. They don't just take what they are fed according to their preferences; they go look at other things. So I've always been more anti-baby boomer and more pro-millennial.
  • As quoted in "Bill Kristol: 'I've Always Been More Anti-Baby Boomer and More Pro-Millennial'" (30 October 2018), by Renee Brown-Cheng, Bold

• Hasn't America really always been, at least since the middle of the 19th century, a majority-minority country? Lincoln, July 10, 1858: "We have besides these men—descended by blood from our ancestors—among us perhaps half our people who are not descendants at all of these men..."
  • Twitter post (6 November 2018)

• [T]here seem to be more CRIMINALS in the Trump Administration than in the Caravan.
  • Twitter post (21 November 2018)

The Silent Artillery of Time (2018)

"The Silent Artillery of Time" (20 February 2018), The Weekly Standard

• Trump is the proximate, the efficient, cause of the collapse of the conservative movement. The principles of sound conservatism compel us to criticize him, to rebut him, to resist him, and to plan to overcome him.

Still a Republican (2018)

"Still a Republican" (23 March 2018), The Weekly Standard

• Isn't conservatism in part about resisting so-called new realities when you sense they might be questionable, even as people lecture you that you’ve got to get with the times?

Quotes about Kristol

For years, Kristol and his gang have been clamoring for war not only with Iraq, but with the entire Arab Middle East. Now, in the wake of 9/11, they have seized their chance, and are taking the offensive: Kristol and a coterie of his fellow neocons recently signed an open letter to the President calling for the military occupation of not only Iraq, but also Syria, Iran, and much of the rest of the Middle East. ~ Justin Raimondo

• Have you ever met a war you didn't love?
  • Bill Maher, question to Kristol, guest on Real Time with Bill Maher, 28 February 2014. [3]

• I have known Bill Kristol since the mid-’90s, when I worked for him. I had admired him even before that, when he was a pup in the Reagan administration. He is his own man, come hell or high water. If I were president — LOL — I’d hang the Medal of Freedom around Bill’s neck.
  • Jay Nordlinger, "Lies, Patriotism, and Consequences" (11 January 2021), National Review

• Our winner [of BEST Persons], the one and only William Kristol, still of The New York Times. His latest gem, after the Supreme Court struck down the Military Commissions Act and restored the Writ of Habeus Corpus to even the detainees at Gitmo: "The decision was wrong and our fears about the Administration's attack on the great writ are overblown, because American citizens have a right to Habeus Corpus, and anyone arrested in this country has a right to Habeus Corpus." Sadly, no! That's the problem! The Military Commissions Act specifically said there was to be no Habeus Corpus for non-citizens, even if they were arrested in this country. More importantly, Bill, if, under the Act, or whatever monstrosity McCain is backing to replace the Act, if they arrested you, William Kristol, and declared you a non-citizen and an enemy combatant, and you say, "But I was born in New York City," exactly where do you think you'll be able to prove that and get yourself released? At a court hearing — a court hearing that would never happen because there would be no Habeus Corpus, because the government said you weren't born in New York City, and your response would never - even - be - heard.
  • Keith Olbermann, in his nightly Worst Persons segment; June 18, 2008; [4]

• The New York Times columnist, on the air: “I think Hillary Clinton was gracious, has put behind her the horrible sexism and misogyny the Democratic primary voters demonstrated, which I‘m appalled by, personally. Never would have happened in the Republican party.” Mr. Kristol is ignoring the public commentary by a prominent Republican on Fixed News on February 3rd of this year, who said the only people supporting Senator Clinton's bid for the presidency were, quote, “the Democratic establishment and white women.” Then this Republican added, quote, “white women are a problem. That‘s—you know, we all live with that.” Which Republican's horrible sexism did Bill Kristol forget? His own. All that was said by William Kristol, today's worst person in the world.
  • Keith Olbermann, in his nightly Worst Persons segment; June 18, 2008; [5]

• Kristol and his fellow neo-imperialists have never seen a war they didn't support, even going so far as threatening to abandon the Republicans, during the Clinton era, if they didn't get squarely behind Clinton's rape of Serbia. Kristol called for "cracking Serb skulls" long before the Great Pantsdropper decided, three years ago today [March 24], to drop bombs on Belgrade.
  • Justin Raimondo, Our Hijacked Foreign Policy - Neoconservatives take Washington – Baghdad is next, Antiwar, March 25, 2002

• For years, Kristol and his gang have been clamoring for war not only with Iraq, but with the entire Arab Middle East. Now, in the wake of 9/11, they have seized their chance, and are taking the offensive: Kristol and a coterie of his fellow neocons recently signed an open letter to the President calling for the military occupation of not only Iraq, but also Syria, Iran, and much of the rest of the Middle East.
• Justin Raimondo, Our Hijacked Foreign Policy - Neoconservatives take Washington – Baghdad is next, Antiwar, March 25, 2002