RSS Feed MenuAs the old saying goes, if you want a friend in Washington, get a dog. Perhaps that’s why the Frum household now has three.
I’ve been married to David Frum for nearly 22 years–or just under half my lifetime–and have lived through numerous controversies that have resulted from his speaking out for the ideas he believes in, regardless of the personal consequences to himself. Right after we met, when he was a budding journalist in Toronto, I watched him challenge Canada’s then-ruling Liberal establishment on the issue of Free Trade. It was a huge and hysterical issue back then–as big as healthcare is here today–but at that time the hysteria was entirely on the left. Nerdy girl that I was (and am), my head was quite turned by this young man who quite literally waded into throngs of hostile crowds and patiently debated with them as to why the North American Free Trade Act would be good for Canada. And at the end of these debates, even those who remained unpersuaded (and of course there were many), expressed grudging respect for David’s willingness to engage them in a discussion, and not a shoutfest.
So fast forward to this week, when conservative hell erupted over David’s now infamous “Waterloo” column on the GOP healthcare defeat. For days I’ve been sitting here in the bunker with him (and our three dogs), watching the whizzbangs land all around. What is distressing is not the predictable hate mail he has been receiving–and thanks to the internet, he’s been receiving in hundredfold; we’ve both seen that before. What is distressing (to me, anyway) are the dishonest slurs on his character and integrity by people who know him, and in some cases have known him for many years–truly ugly suggestions that David is motivated by cynicism or sycophancy, or both. (If he were, maybe he’d still be employed…)
We have both been part of the conservative movement for, as mentioned, the better part of half of our lives. And I can categorically state I’ve never seen such a hostile environment towards free thought and debate–the hallmarks of Reaganism, the politics with which we grew up–prevail in our movement as it does today. The thuggish demagoguery of the Limbaughs and Becks is a trait we once derided in the old socialist Left. Well boys, take a look in the mirror. It is us now.
David of course doesn’t need my defense–and a defense coming from his wife probably isn’t worth much (although I can categorically state this has been posted without his authorization, approval or even, um, knowledge–he’s flying somewhere over the country right now). My role right now is to pass him the flask in the trench.
But to return to Washington and dogs: Along with the bile, there has been an equally considerable outpouring of support and defense, from friends and foes alike, who–whether they agree with David or not–are horrified by the guillotine that is being set up in the public square of democratic debate. They understand that nothing good can come of this, for anyone of any political stripe.
For this support, we are both very grateful. And while I wouldn’t have thought it possible to admire David more than I do, I have to say he is still turning this old girl’s head–now more than ever.
ottovbvs // Mar 28, 2010 at 10:56 am
sinz54 // Mar 28, 2010 at 9:46 am
“Maybe Frum should have made a counter offer: “I’ll agree to continue working at AEI for zero salary, as long as you continue to give me all my tax-free fringe benefits. Specifically: Health insurance”
……that would be ironic indeed….but 100k for what is basically a sinecure is not chump change……the nature of the jobs of these media professionals for hire (conservatives and liberals who both actually inhabit the same world which is one far removed from that of the heavy breathers) is probably a bit like my son’s as an itinerant musician…….he get’s to play lots of gigs as a temp with middle rank orchestras, opera companies and so on, and does well but it’s made up of lots of bits and pieces and inherently fragile……but I suspect in the long run it won’t do Frum any harm…..it’s raised his visibility (look at the site traffic) and he’ll get some nice gigs because basically he has the intellectual horsepower for it…..he’s a very clever guy.
sinz54 // Mar 28, 2010 at 12:30 pm
ottovbs:
I hope Frum can find the money to keep this blog going.
Running a server costs money.
And now with all this additional traffic, he may need to upgrade too.
ottovbvs // Mar 28, 2010 at 1:20 pm
sinz54 // Mar 28, 2010 at 12:30 pm
“I hope Frum can find the money to keep this blog going.”
…..I rather doubt this is being done on Frum’s dime….he has backers…..who knows one of them could be George Soros….ho ho ho……more likely some deep pocketed Republicans who can see beyond the end of their noses
Douglas Anthony Cooper // Mar 28, 2010 at 3:46 pm
Just as a matter of interest, Mr. “Independent” (note the quotation marks): which upsets you more — my praise of sanity and decency, or my “farLeft” refusal to embrace sedition?
(You’ve certainly nailed my politics: like so many on the far left, my personal hero is Winston Churchill.)
laughingcanuck // Mar 28, 2010 at 5:27 pm
Yes David Frum is brilliant, charming, impeccable manners blah blah blah. But seriously, how did he wind up with such a hot wife? Can we talk? Seriously, Danielle. Can I call you Dani? Was the picture of you airbrushed? You look good. I mean real good. You’re totally foxy, and I don’t mean the network. You’re your own axis of hotness.
David Frum you lucky bastard.
ChristinaSumi // Mar 28, 2010 at 7:38 pm
I love this. Beautifully written from a wonderfully supportive wife. Thanks for sharing.
Marsh626 // Mar 29, 2010 at 3:06 am
Yap. Yap. Yap.
Frum has been giving the leftist media everything they want to hear for a while now. He’s willingly played the role of the right winger who bashes his own side and plays right into the left’s hands for too long now. Deriding the Tea Party activists as some kind of rabid nutjobs and conservative radio, Fox News and right wing blogs as the center of our supposed “problem” is simply absurd. For God sakes, that’s all we have as conservatives! The left completely and utterly controls ~every~ other aspect of our popular culture – from academia to the media to the entertainment industry. How else are we supposed to get our voices, our ideas and our side heard?
The truth is he’s a typical Beltway Republican who’s embarrassed by his redneck uncle – aka socially conservative Middle America. But what exactly does he suggest we all do? Subscribe to a handful of highbrow biweekly political journals and read the Conservative Classics while swirling a glass of brandy and twiddling our fingers like Mr. Burns? Will that make him happy and decide “Okay, I think conservatives are worth defending now when I’m interviewed on ABC.”?
There’s absolutely ~nothing~ wrong with having a populist and even entertaining message and an industry that gets our opinions out there into the wider public. Afterall, the left does it as well! Hell, I grew up in the Washington D.C. area, came from an upper class family, support gay marriage, am not religious and have never done anything remotely redneck in my life. ~I~ like Rush Limbaugh! ~I~ like Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity too even! That doesn’t mean I agree with every single thing they say but at least I don’t want to shut them down like you do and at least I’m not ashamed to admit that I listen to them when in a liberal crowd like you are.
Far too many of my fellow coastal right wingers – and neoconservatives – seem to be ashamed of their base in Middle America. As if we’re some smarmy sophisticrats embarrassed of bringing up our blue jeaned and plaid shirt wearing relatives back home while attending cocktail parties in Washington D.C. and New York. Get over yourselves… There’s ~nothing~ wrong with Middle America and other conservative Americans who enjoy going to church, watching NASCAR, eating steak and hunting. They’re quite normal, warm and intelligent people despite the constant hateful bigotry hurled at them from the elitist Marxist left. I’ll take those kinds of people as my political base over the Che t-shirt wearing, conspiracy theorizing, America and Israel hating base of the left ~any~ day.
If the socially and culturally conservative aspect of the conservative movement is something you’re ashamed of enough to constantly and publicly betray your own side of the isle then move back to Canada where you can once again be a member of a neutered Frumism version of “conservatism” which is more like the American Democrat Party than any kind of actually recognizable version of conservatism.
We get it, David. You don’t like social conservatives or conservatives at all for that matter and you want us to be more Democrat-lite in order for us to win more favor with the liberal establishment and for you to feel more comfortable about being a conservative when hanging around liberals. You don’t need to keep harping on it like a broken record for years and years and then get upset when real conservatives give you crap about it. Please stop whining and either switch to the Democrats where you belong or change the freaking record!
Stop blaming real conservatives for ~your~ neoconservative failures!
CentristNYer // Mar 29, 2010 at 11:51 am
Marsh626 // Mar 29, 2010 at 3:06 am
“Deriding the Tea Party activists as some kind of rabid nutjobs and conservative radio, Fox News and right wing blogs as the center of our supposed “problem” is simply absurd.”
And yet entirely true. It’s no coincidence that the rise of Limbaugh/Hannity/Beck/Palin/Bachmann corresponds directly with the decline in voter identification with the GOP.
Douglas Anthony Cooper // Mar 29, 2010 at 5:02 pm
@Marsh626
Hard to disagree with much of what you’re saying, especially regarding the decent, church-going, NASCAR-loving steak and hunting crowd. I in fact vastly prefer them to the “Che t-shirt wearing, conspiracy theorizing, America and Israel hating base of the left.” The problem is that we’re faced with something much more complex than this dichotomy.
The right wing shaped and goaded by Glenn Beck is not this decent, unsophisticated version of Middle America (which does, I agree, exist). No, it’s a toxic mix of rabid conspiracy theorists (birthers, deathers); *actual* bigots (who shout “nigger” at a Civil Rights hero); torture apologists (in contrast with, oh, ever military hero in American history); and — perhaps most dangerous of all — *complete hypocrites*. These are people who pay lip service to fiscal conservatism, and utter not a peep when Bush spends us into penury; who talk loudly about “family values” and still suffer the presence of Vitter in the Senate. Etc.
My guess is that David has very little trouble with the decent, unsophisticated folks you’re promoting — and shares your contempt for the Che-shirted crowd — but the issue here is the vicious populist mob that falls into neither category: it’s a grotesque distorted cartoon of sober conservatism, and it has nothing whatsoever to do with class or geography.
Douglas Anthony Cooper // Mar 29, 2010 at 5:11 pm
(Correction: *every* military hero in American history.)
(Beginning with Washington, btw, who thought that soldiers who tortured military prisoners merited the most severe punishment, not excluding the death penalty.)
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[...] Another conservative rising up in Frum’s support: Self-confessed conservative and “fully paid-up member of the mushy political center” Anne Appelbaum (The GOP’s Waterloo warning, Washington Post 3/25/10) defends Frum and supports his accusations, drawing an interesting and useful parallel to the UK, where Tories indulged in angry xenophobic rhetoric and refused to “modernize,” and have for that reason remained in the minority for the last 13 years. Frum’s wife Danielle Crittenden also comes to his spirited defense. [...]
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nuser // Apr 18, 2010 at 2:53 pm
Sorry for all the hateful mail you are getting.
You might however consider the source!
You told the truth, and now you are penalized for it.
Unfortunately in this era , all members of a politically party
must think as one, even when the majority might be wrong.
Dogs frum begin | Eautolot // Dec 18, 2010 at 9:39 am
[...] A Message From Mrs. Frum | FrumForumAs the old saying goes, if you want a friend in Washington, get a dog. Perhaps that's why the Frum household now has three. … [...]