At the end of August, New Republic editor-in-chief Martin Peretz apologized to Liza Minnelli for something he wrote. Well, he didn’t actually really write it but he was quoting somebody. Anyway, it was mean! And, by the way, on topic of Ms. Minnelli, “what an exemplary private life she has had,” Mr. Peretz wrote.
This morning Mr. Peretz found another occasion to apologize on his blog, The Spine. Mr. Peretz is sorry that two quotations from his writing became the opening anecdote in Nicholas Kristof’s New York Times column on September 11th about tolerance for Muslim Americans, or the lack thereof.
Mr. Peretz actually wrote the things he’s apologizing about this time. That said, he doesn’t agree with one of them anymore. “Vociferousness is my business,” Mr. Peretz declared (parenthetically) to begin his apology. He no longer wonders whether Muslim Americans should be afforded First Amendment rights and, as for the other quote used by Mr. Kristof — “Muslim life is cheap, most notably to Muslims” — well, that’s just a statement of fact, Mr. Peretz added.
