John, on John Podhoretz:

A year ago, I wrote a letter to Charles Krauthammer. The essence of the letter was that while sometimes I find myself in disagreement with his commentary, unlike the case with many other writers, I have to work very hard to defend my disagreement. His writing has not only a clarity that is unusual compared to the veritable swamp of poorly-explicated ideas among his peers, there is an intellectual depth that challenges thoughtless retort. Finally, at some point, I was driven to read this man’s biographical details. I was less impressed by his rigorous efforts at overcoming physical handicap, as difficult as this may have been for him ( and I think well beyond my own abilities), than I was absolutely awed by his intellectual achievements. I no longer felt so bad about not rising to his challenge. As the saying goes, his intelligence is “off the charts.”