RIP, Dr. Charles Krauthammer....

What would you do, if at 22 and in medical school, with your life ahead of you, if you dove into a pool and became paralyzed from the neck down?

Thankfully, I never had to make that decision and most of us don't. I know I, and most of us would have never been able to accomplish half of what Krauthammer accomplished.

He finished medical school, became a psychiatrist and then devoted his life to journalism.

Here is his last commentary.

Do yourselves a favor and watch this video of remembrance and George Will's thoughts about Krauthammer.


As Charles wrote, Ankiel’s saga illustrated “the catastrophe that awaits everyone from a single false move, wrong turn, fatal encounter. Every life has such a moment. What distinguishes us is whether — and how — we ever come back.”

"I believe that the pursuit of truth and right ideas through honest debate and rigorous argument is a noble undertaking."

Here's the Amazon link to his book, "Things That Matter: Three Decades of Passions, Pastimes and Politics/

This from an interview with Dana Parino as found on Amazon.  

DP: Do you think that your training as a psychiatrist has given you an advantage when observing people in politics?

CK: Actually, no. Psychiatry has everything to say about mental illness, very little to say about ordinary life. It offers no magical formulas for understanding human behavior beyond what any lay person can see. Although I do like to joke that there's not much difference in what I do today as a political analyst in Washington from what I used to do as a psychiatrist in Boston—in both lines of work, I deal every day with people who suffer from paranoia and delusions of grandeur. The only difference is that the paranoids in Washington have access to nuclear weapons.

DP: Given the mention in your essay, and because I have a gut feeling that we’re on the same page, what is your preferred style on serial commas?

CK: With commas the rule should always be: the fewer the better. They are a scourge, a pestilence upon the land. They must be given no quarter. When you list three things, it should be written: a, b and c. If you see a comma after the "b"—call 911 immediately.

If we were checking out today and had a few moments of reflection, how would we view our life? If allowed a do-over what changes would we make? Given that there are no do-overs, what should we do from here on with our lives, so that we do not add to our lists of regrets? Regrets of things we did and regrets of things we didn't do.

EDIT: OK, OK, no more serials commas for me!