Meditations of a Militant Moderate

Vital center. Radical middle. Amid the red state/blue state divide, is there now space for an iconoclastic militant moderate? In this unusual and remarkably readable collection of short essays on a wide variety of hot-button public issues—race, affirmative action, surrogate motherhood, diversity, immigration, compensation of 9/11 victims, exclusion of gays from the Boy Scouts and the military, the 2004 election, the rule of law in developing countries, the invasion of Iraq, and many more—Yale Law School professor Peter H. Schuck reveals the distinctive sensibility and policy orientation of a militant moderate: pragmatic, reformist, nonideological, empirically minded, and skeptical of many liberal and conservative pieties.

Can affirmative action be fixed? Did 9/11 victims deserve special compensation? When is stereotyping necessary? In the age of Michael Moore and Ann Coulter, Peter Schuck shows that the middle, far from being a halfway house, has an intellectual vibrance all its own, and he reminds a hyperventilating culture that in the values debate the greatest strength of all—wisdom—is in the center. Dip into Meditations of a Militant Moderate and meet one of the best essayists of our time., Peter Schuck demonstrates in most vivid fashion that political moderation need not entail avoiding offense or controversy, much less seeking compromise for its own sake. His essays are provocative and far from consensual. But his approach to public policy is invariably intelligent, thoughtful, practical, and incremental—qualities all too scarce in this era of polarized politics and ideologically driven initiatives at home and abroad., We live in a Crossfire world—even if the CNN show Crossfire is gone—most of our public discourse features people at one end of the political spectrum screaming at people at the other end, or people whose job is to spin madly for one party shouting at the spinners on the other side. What about those who are not wingers, or who have no interest in pandering to a political party? That is where Peter Schuck comes in. Meditations of a Militant Moderate gives us thoughtful, reasoned, and straightforward analysis and commentary on some of the most important and volatile issues of our time. You don't have to agree with Peter on every issue to appreciate the class with which he handles his arguments and the insights he brings to the social, legal, and political spheres. What a refreshing antidote to the mindless cacophony., Peter Schuck's book is a provocative read in the best sense of the phrase—it provokes thinking. Schuck looks at contemporary issues in a way that should make people of all political beliefs want to look at those issues again.

Peter H. Schuck is Simeon E. Baldwin Professor of Law at Yale Law School.