Go read this letter that Sully put up. I could have written that.
Archives for 2004
Intolerable Behavior
I spent the whole day formatting my computer- reinstalling everything, hunting down all the drivers, transferring from back-up to the computer- in short, rebuilding the software side from scratch. We all know how pleasant that is and what kind of mood I am in.
Then, I come here, and I find some jackass has taken it upon himself to start hurling personal insults at people in the comments sections of posts.
Let’s get a few things straight here, before things get out of control:
1.) I make mistakes from time to time. I make stupid arguments from time to time. I write stupid things in moments of anger, and from time to time, I am wrong. Really wrong. Just because I have a strong opinion about something does not make me right- hell, if strength of opinion was all that mattered, Bill O’Reilly would be the smartest man on the planet, and we all know what a jack-ass he is.
2.) I am a fierce partisan, as are many bloggers, yet I hold a lot of moderate positions. Example: I am pro-choice to some extent, but I see no problem with a waiting period or parental notification. I have no problems whatsoever with CAFE standards (other than a knee-jerk distaste for government egulation), yet I support drilling in ANWR and nuclear power. You get the idea.
At any rate, since I am a fierce partisan, when I go over the top, or say something stupid (as I did here, in retrospect), thechances are that theperson who is going to call me on it is a liberal or a Democrat. Kinda makes sense, doesn’t it?
3.) When someone challenges me, I try to respond. And I try to respond to their argument. If you agree with me, I don’t mind if you do the same- respond politely.
4.) What will stop, however, is the personal attacks on people who have done nothing more than engage in honest debate. And, if you think you are doing it in my name, or doing me a favor, think again.
5.) This may come as a shock to you, but I don’t hate liberals. Not even a little bit. I hate some of the things they do, I hate that a lot of their proposals are simply idiotic, and I hate the way they have behaved regarding this President. But I don’t hate them. I actually like Oliver Willis- he and I talk frequently online, and you might be surprised to know he is a decent fellow with a lot of things to say. Dwight Meredith is one of the most decent human beings on the planet. I would have no problem living next door to someone like Kevin Drum and Matt Yglesias. And, believe it or not, despite the fact that we are always taunting each other, Ezra Klein, Jesse Taylor and I don’t hate each other.
6.) In closing, when some asshole decides that the comments section is the right time and place to start lauching vicious personal attacks at Gary Farber, someone who I like and whose presence here is appreciated, it really pisses me off (you do have some fans here, Gary).
In short, quit acting like little kids. You aren’t always right, and making fun of someone’s personal appearance, ethnicity, socio-economic status never makes you right.
Oh- and btw, Gary was right. While I do have some objections from Clarke’s term in office, most of my disgust is from his odious behavior since.
Poll Questions I Don’t Understand
I will be the first to admit I do not understand why people like Oliver and Andrew Sullivan are surprised by this poll question:
A staggering 92 percent view the Coalition forces as “occupiers” as opposed to 2 percent who consider them “liberators.”
Shouldn’t 100% of them view as us occupiers? That is what we are, isn’t it? And the idea is to end the occupation as soon as possible.
Also, if they would read the actual polls, the would learn some interesting things. For example, Oliver wrote:
In other words… cut and run, leave Iraq to the whims of Sadr and Sistani… creating an Iranian style theocracy that does nothing to help the spread of democracy or curb middle eastern terror.
Apparently he read nothing but the Yahoo! news piece, because the actual poll itself states:
Moqtada
Mystic River
I saw Mystic River last night, and there is no doubt in my mind that Sean Penn is one of the greatest American actors of all time.
Pointless Post
I know this is pointless, but why is the UN Oil for Food Scandal not receiving the attention it deserves?
Daily Kerryism
I have written before about how stupid the Daily Kerryisms and the Daily Bushisms are, and I am glad to see others are beginning to agree. Well, sort of- mainly they just don’t like Kerry being bashed.
However, that is enough for me. Maybe one day they will realize the Bushisms are just as stupid and unfair.
Bush and the Black Vote
Two months ago, I noted that the Kerry invitation to Al Sharpton to speak at the convention looked to me to be a sure sign that Kerry felt he need to shore up the African-American vote. Juan Williams discusses what Bush can do to court the black vote in today’s NY Times:
With a direct appeal, President Bush could win at least 20 percent of the black vote