RIP, Irving Kristol (Related: Comparing AP Kristol and Kennedy Obits)

(Originally posted earlier this morning, and carried to the top).

Here’s the reaction from House Republican Leader John Boehner:

“Today, America has lost one of its finest thinkers and greatest patriots. Irving Kristol added intellectual rigor and heft to the conservative movement by redefining how we apply the values and principles our nation was founded on to the challenges of the modern era. My thoughts and prayers are with his family at this difficult time.”

Here’s the best excerpt at the Wall Street Journal’s compendium (bolds are mine):

Income Inequality Without Class Conflict, Dec. 18, 1997

It is often said that capitalism—that is, a market economy—is morally obnoxious because its “trickle-down economics” inevitably creates inequality of income and wealth. Now it is certainly true that “trickle-down economics” has that effect. It is also true, however, that if you want economic growth and greater affluence for all, there is simply no alternative to “trickle-down economics,” which is just another name for growth economics.

The world has yet to see a successful version of “trickle-up economics,” an egalitarian society in which the state ensures that the fruits of economic growth are universally and equally shared. The trouble with this idea—it is, of course, the socialist ideal—is that it does not produce those fruits in the first place. Economic growth is promoted by entrepreneurs and innovators, whose ambitions, when realized, create inequality. No one with any knowledge of human nature can expect such people not to want to be relatively rich, and if they are too long frustrated they will cease to be productive. Nor can the state substitute for them, because the state simply cannot engage in the “creative destruction” that is an essential aspect of innovation. The state cannot and should not be a risk-taking institution, since it is politically impossible for any state to cope with the inevitable bankruptcies associated with economic risk taking.

Related: The Associated Press’s Kristol obituary is here (saved here at host) It uses the term “neoconservative” or equivalent nine twelve times, including three times hyphenated, in about 1,400 words, accompanied by eight uses of forms of “conservative.” AP Writer Hillel Italie referred to Kristol as a “radical” before he moved to conservatism twice.

Ted Kennedy’s AP obituary (saved here at host) used the term “liberal” three times in about 2,000 words. The word “radical” does not appear.

I expanded my reaction to the AP’s obit at a NewsBusters post this morning.