This week has seen the “nationalization” of Rod Blagoevich hate – something Illinois residents have come to expect. Rod now is the poster-boy for all the vices, but mainly “hubris” – that oh-so intellectual damnation. It’s something Chris Hitchens and Rachael Maddow could agree on.

As we say with burglars or murderers, the accompanying vices of sloth or pride are the ‘real’ sin – not theft or killing – e.g. “He was a successful burglar – till he got ‘lazy’ in his method.” Or “He was a great serial murderer, but then he became too proud of his murders and spilled the beans.”

I follow the auto industry pretty closely, being both a fan and a critic (my book “Horsepower War” is a collection of essays, some of which are critical about Detroit) of American cars. After reading Tom Friedman’s “How to Fix a Flat” column in the NY Times November 13th, I had to get something off of my chest – something that’s really been bothering me about the ‘liberal’ critique of Detroit.

To wit: “GM-has-feet-of-clay-and-didn’t-make-the-small-cars-everyone-wanted.” And while liberals in the ‘60’s might have argued the quasi-monopolist GM (with 50% market share) made too much money, now neo-liberals – at least Tom Friedman, are exhorting GM’s foolish executives (they have feet of clay after all) to “innovate” so they will be profitable in the neo-liberal global capitalist order.

"Nothing Left of Liberals"

Speaking as a fellow undergraduate of Danny Postel’s, I can testify that his knowledge of academic minutiae was staggering even at twenty. His boundless knowledge reminded me of the ‘buff’ of whatever fetish - like the baseball fanatic who memorizes every player’s stats. Danny developed an interest in academia in boarding school, and watching him quiz elder members of the philosophy department on obscure journals I was reminded of the Bible story where Mary takes the twelve year old Jesus to the temple where he wows the scribes. Danny combines a commanding knowledge of intellectual history and incisive intelligence with a passionate zeal to do the right thing and defend and protect his intellectual heroes.