I wrote:
I suppose what's strangest to me is that we give David Horowitz as much
"airtime" as he can handle, when he has so clearly deserted sane principles
for steaming rancor and ugly rhetoric--yet Todd Gitlin, who continues to be
thoughtful if not dogmatic, earns a "who cares." The wrong person is being
ignored, I think.
To which Brad replied:
> I guess it all depends on your definitions of "sane principles" and "steaming
>
> rancor and ugly rhetoric", doesn't it? I see plenty of rancor and rhetoric
> leveled against Horowitz around here. Oh...wait...he's a conservative now,
> so vilifying and lambasting him is okay as they don't count. Sorry...I
> forgot the rules for a moment. :-)
...which rather misses my point, I think--or really just re-states it. I agree
with you about the depths to which otherwise caring people have sunk in
villifying Horowitz on the list, when the more appropriate response to the
latter's abhorrency is quiet disdain...the virtual chirping of crickets.
Instead, it's Gitlin who gets this silent treatment, despite the fact that his
commentary is calmly and thoughtfully delivered. It's disheartening to see him
dismissed with a wave, rather than engaged and debated. It's HIS positions that
deserve discussion, even if you disagree. Horowitz's babble is best left to
it's natural asphyxiation of intellect.
M
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Fri Nov 16 2001 - 18:26:01 EST