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The Exceptional Jeremy Lott

Posted on | November 18, 2013 | 15 Comments

When I first started writing for The American Spectator, Jeremy Lott was my editor. He has since joined the RealClearPolitics family of sites, but continues to be one of the most lively and versatile writers around. Unlike a lot of conservative journalists, Jeremy has no evident ambition to be regarded as a pundit. His specialty is good feature reporting, which he displays in an American Spectator article today on local elections in Whatcom County, Washington:

There was cursing from Republicans all over Whatcom County as the results of the county council elections slowly rolled in. The right-of-center bloc of four councilmembers had enjoyed a one-vote majority going into the elections, which put three of their seats at risk. All three lost, leaving Sam Crawford as the single conservative voice in county government.
Whatcom County offices are usually non-partisan in name only. Candidates here are endorsed and campaigned for by parties. Local Democrats dearly wanted these county officials to go down, and go down they did.
The Democrats’ campaign pressed two points against their opponents: 1) they are Tea Party-connected extremists; and 2) they want to allow the construction of the deep water Gateway Pacific Terminal for exports to Asia, which would mean more coal-bearing trains running through the most granola-crunching parts of Bellingham.

Read the whole thing, and when you’re done with that, read Jeremy’s review of Charles Murray’s new pamphlet, American Exceptionalism: An Experiment in History:

Folks have been taking exception to American exceptionalism for a long time. It’s possible Joseph Stalin coined the term when he denounced the “heresy of American exceptionalism” in 1929, though if so it was something of an accident. The important word at the time was not “exceptionalism” but “heresy.”
The Soviet ruler was appropriating an idea with a pedigree and applying it to his own secular faith. Pope Leo XIII had denounced a group of heresies colloquially known as “Americanism” in an encyclical in 1899, and Pope Pius IX did something similar in 1864.
Leaders do not declare heresies for the hell of it.

Read the whole thing. Good writing by a good guy.

 

Category: Journalism

Comments

15 Responses to “The Exceptional Jeremy Lott”

  1. MrEvilMatt
    November 18th, 2013 @ 12:51 pm

    The Exceptional Jeremy Lott: When I first started writing for The American Spectator, Jeremy Lott was my edito… http://t.co/uPpCqBtf4E

  2. CHideout
    November 18th, 2013 @ 12:51 pm

    The Exceptional Jeremy Lott: When I first started writing for The American Spectator, Jeremy Lott was my edito… http://t.co/QAGrscBKus

  3. Resista38176897
    November 18th, 2013 @ 12:51 pm

    The Exceptional Jeremy Lott: When I first started writing for The American Spectator, Jeremy Lott was my edito… http://t.co/5JnejGilb5

  4. jwbrown1969
    November 18th, 2013 @ 12:51 pm

    The Exceptional Jeremy Lott: When I first started writing for The American Spectator, Jeremy Lott was my edito… http://t.co/9c05vT2JI8

  5. Lockestep1776
    November 18th, 2013 @ 12:51 pm

    The Exceptional Jeremy Lott: When I first started writing for The American Spectator, Jeremy Lott was my edito… http://t.co/6V3ldoyKV0

  6. Citzcom
    November 18th, 2013 @ 12:51 pm

    The Exceptional Jeremy Lott: When I first started writing for The American Spectator, Jeremy Lott was my edito… http://t.co/TM8dpwR9FN

  7. rsmccain
    November 18th, 2013 @ 1:13 pm

    RT @commonpatriot: via @rsmccain: The Exceptional Jeremy Lott http://t.co/1gDe0OLUjH #tcot

  8. Evi L. Bloggerlady
    November 18th, 2013 @ 1:16 pm

    Bellingham socialists? I really hate those guys.

  9. JeffWeimer
    November 18th, 2013 @ 1:21 pm

    The jungle primaries in WA are designed to do this, by Democrats for Democrats. It does nothing but foment a popularity contest rather than an honest contrast of policies. I’m glad I don’t vote there anymore, it got too depressing.

  10. JeffWeimer
    November 18th, 2013 @ 1:22 pm

    BTW, Glenn Beck is from Bellingham, and there was a hue and cry over giving him a key to the city a few years ago.

  11. Professor_Why
    November 18th, 2013 @ 1:41 pm

    The Exceptional Jeremy Lott http://t.co/YWmzonWmrq

  12. The Exceptional Jeremy Lott | Dead Citizen's Rights Society
    November 18th, 2013 @ 1:51 pm

    […] The Exceptional Jeremy Lott […]

  13. Adjoran
    November 18th, 2013 @ 5:01 pm

    Note that the “Americanism” Pope Leo XIII considered heresy was NOT the concept of “American exceptionalism” as we understand it, but the doctrine of separation of church and state, which was one of the major differences in our Republic and the European governments.

  14. hrittelmeyer
    November 18th, 2013 @ 6:13 pm

    The Exceptional Jeremy Lott http://t.co/JRPRpdA7ry

  15. waltherm
    November 18th, 2013 @ 7:46 pm

    Hear, hear!