For a bunch of people who supposedly spend a lot of time reading and writing, many members of the blogosphere seem to have some pretty lousy reading comprehension skills. Check out this post from Mark Byron (which I will admit is poorly written), in which he sketches a hypothetical situation.
I am not sure why bloggers are reacting to this post the way they have, particularly when it was clear it was just a hypothetical situation. Check out the idiotic remarks in his comments section, where he is called a fascist, a zealot, etc. He was not advocating that his hypothetical situation occur, yet people are acting like he is some kind of brownshirt thug.
Even the Instapundit, who I normally agree with, states that Byron’s post is “well into Ted Rall territory, it seems to me. He should be ashamed.”
I can think of some other territory it is well into- John Grisham. You guys have read the Pelican Brief, or at least seen the movie? You know the one, where Big Oil assassinates several Supreme Court Justices. Should Grisham be ashamed (other than letting them cast Julia Roberts, I think not)?
People need to lighten up.
*** Update ***
Mark Kleiman’s ham assault on this Instapundit post about Wesley Clark is particularly annoying. Somehow, Kleiman divines new meaning for Instapundit’s words, then proceeds to excoriate him for Kleiman’s fantasy interpretation.
Equally amusing is Kevin Drum’s reaction– and yes, this is the same Kevin Drum who can see any combination or words, create new meaning for it, and define it as a ‘Bush Lie.’ Kevin sees the Instapundit’s response to Kleiman, in which Glenn states I didn’t say anything of the sort, which he didn’t, and decides yet again that the he knows what Glenn ‘really’ meant.
*** Update #2 ***
I forgot to mention the Calpundit has been shilling for Clark for weeks now, so I am not surprised he was quick to defend him. At any rate, Clark was on Meet The Press this morning repeating the DNC’s blank check lie (for Kerry supporters, that would be carte blanche) regarding the 87 billion for military operations and the reconstruction of Iraq.
*** Update #3 ***
This post was substantially edited because it was rude, offensive, and obnoxious. I am not doing it to defend myself (because my words did make me look like a flaming asshole), but rather because leaving it up would continue to be offensive to those individuals who were the initial target of my words. In other words- trust me, I was being a jerk, and leaving the post unedited would continue to do damage to those who don’t deserve it.
Muriha
Any new ideas?