Ramesh Ponnuru

Infobox journalist
name=Ramesh Ponnuru


caption=
birth_date=Birth date and age|1974|8|16
birth_place=Prairie Village, Kansas
education=B.A. Princeton University
occupation= Columnist & Editor
title= Senior editor
spouse=April Ponnuru
ethnic=Indian American
religion=Roman Catholic
credits=The Party of Death

Ramesh Ponnuru (born August 16, 1974) is a Washington, D.C.-based Indian American columnist and a senior editor for "National Review" magazine. He has also written for several other newspapers and publications, including "The Weekly Standard", "Policy Review", "The New Republic" and "First Things".

Ponnuru was raised in Prairie Village, Kansas. He attended Briarwood Elementary School and Mission Valley Middle School in Johnson County, Kansas. After graduating from Shawnee Mission East High School at the age of 15, he went to Princeton University, where he earned an B.A. in history and graduated "summa cum laude". He is of Asian Indian descent and has converted to Roman Catholicism. [ [http://www.onpointradio.org/shows/2006/06/20060615_b_main.asp On Point : The Party of Death - The Party of Death ] ] He is married to April Ponnuru. [http://votenote.aol.com/mygov/bio/staff/?id=357]

A conservative pundit, Ponnuru has appeared in many public affairs and news interview programs. He is perhaps best known for his 2006 book, "", published by Regnery Publishing. In response to questions about and criticism of the provocative title, Ponnuru has explained in interviews that the term is intended to define a political movement that has taken over control of the Democratic Party through abortion and other death-related issues. [ [http://www.nationalreview.com/interrogatory/qa200604240727.asp Ramesh Ponnuru on The Party of Death on National Review Online ] ]

Dispute with Andrew Sullivan

Ponnuru has had an ongoing disagreement with blogger Andrew Sullivan, with Sullivan accusing him, among other things, of not speaking out on what he believes to be Bush Administration human rights abuse, being a "Christianist," [ [http://time.blogs.com/daily_dish/2006/05/christianism_de_5.html The Daily Dish ] ] hyperbolic attacks on the Democratic Party, and abandoning conservative principles. [ [http://time.blogs.com/daily_dish/2006/07/email_of_the_da_2.html The Daily Dish ] ] Sullivan was very critical of the title and inner flap of "Party of Death," purporting that they were "too overtly partisan." [ [http://time.blogs.com/daily_dish/2006/05/ramesh_coulter_.html The Daily Dish ] ] The two have also debated the state and nature of contemporary conservatism. [ [http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZjdiYTNjZTdmOThlM2FkMzNmNjA0YWRlODA4NmU2ZTE= The Corner on National Review Online ] ]

Dispute with John Derbyshire

Ponnuru has also had disagreements with fellow "National Review" columnist John Derbyshire. Derbyshire panned Ponnuru's book "Party of Death" in a review written for the "New English Review" in 2006, in an article titled "A Frigid and Pitiless Dogma." Derbyshire remarked that Ponnuru's Right-to-Life philosophy "seems to some degree (depending on the observer’s temperament and inclinations) nutty; to some other degree (ditto) hysterical; and to some yet other degree (ditto ditto) a threat to liberty. My own ratings of RTL [Right-to-Life] on those three degrees are 2, 6, and 4 out of a possible ten each." [ [http://www.newenglishreview.org/custpage.cfm?frm=3190&sec_id=3190 A Frigid and Pitiless Dogma - New English Review ] ]

Derbyshire later expressed regret about writing those comments [ [http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZWY3ZWFlODEwNzY1MmFmN2FiZjI1ZDkzNzZjMjZkYTY= John Derbyshire on Party of Death on National Review Online ] ]

On the 2006 U.S. elections

On September 13, 2006, speaking of the 2006 election, Ponnuru wrote in "The New York Times" that "a straight loss...would make the Republicans hungrier and sharpen their wits."

References

External links

* [http://www.nationalreview.com/masthead/masthead-ponnuru.asp "National Review" biography]
* [http://www.nationalreview.com/ponnuru/ponnuru-archive.asp "National Review" columns]
* [http://bloggingheads.tv/search/?participant1=Ponnuru,%20Ramesh Video interviews and conversations] on Bloggingheads.tv