Goldberg on Huntington

Re “The man who saw the future,” Opinion, Dec. 30, 2008, and “Samuel P. Huntington, 1927-2008,” Obituary, Dec. 28, 2008

Usually, Jonah Goldberg’s arrogance is too much to swallow. His article on historian Samuel P. Huntington and his “The Clash of Civilizations” is again arrogant -- and his message confusing.

President-elect Barack Obama’s stated goal to unite Americans -- to reach across the aisle, to recognize the variety of beliefs and points of view that make up America today -- is so much unrealistic blather, according to Goldberg, because it appears to be against Huntington’s golden warnings of increasing cultural, religious and ethnic conflict. Goldberg asserts that Obama is confused about America’s national identity, but he offers, “There’s still time for him to read up before his inaugural address.”

Goldberg writes that “only Anglo American civilization” set out to emancipate its slaves -- “at enormous costs” -- ignoring the fact that the Russians freed 20 million serfs from bondage before we did, and without a horrible Civil War.

After suffering through eight dismal years of America-first politics, it would seem that philosophers like Goldberg might hold their fire.

June Maguire

Mission Viejo

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As if Goldberg’s slavish devotion to discredited neocon orthodoxy weren’t pathetic enough, now this lightweight has the temerity to lecture Obama on what should be on the president-elect’s reading list?

Huntington’s ideas are the sort of quaint, triumphalist Victorian thinking that has gotten us into the mess we’re in today. Somehow, I suspect that Obama isn’t paying much heed just now to the likes of Goldberg.

Take heart, progressives -- our long national nightmare is nearly over.

David O. Hendrix

El Segundo