Mirror images of each other’s folly

At Ilana Mercer’s blog, I came upon a commenter who is Patrick Buchanan’s mirror image, and I lambasted them both. Whoops, there I go again, smearing my fellow conservatives.

By the way, every time I declare in no uncertain terms that Buchanan is an Israel hater and an apologist for Muslim terrorists, some paleo blogger somewhere will say, “This proves that Auster is a neocon.” But how do the demonstrated, self-evident facts that Buchanan is an Israel hater and an apologist for Muslim terrorists prove anything about me, let alone that I am a neocon?

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A reader writes about my initial comment to Shiloh Kalmen at Ilana Mercer’s blog:

Did you actually need the phrase, “two prize packages,” in this sentence?

“So Shiloh and Buchanan, two prize packages, are mirror images of each other.”

LA replied:

Well, I didn’t need it, but it felt right. Each of them shows hostility and/or blindness/indifference to the survival of a country.

I think Shiloh deserved to be gone after for his nonsense. I think it is time for us not just to disagree politely with certain types of statements, but to show intolerance for them. Shiloh’s mindless comment about Mexican migrants “worshipping” our system, even while he expressed concern about Muslims threatening Israel, was such a statement.

The reader replies:

Actually, I frequently say that “the time for politeness is about over.” For example, when I get begging letters (usually blended with one of those phony opinion polls) from the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee or similar entity, including a postage-paid envelope, I always ignore the poll questions or other ceremony and write, in bright red marker, “Close the borders, you f***ing morons.” Obviously I have no animus against the kind of person likely to be opening the envelopes, but I hope that if this sort of thing is done enough, word of it will trickle upward to the blockheads in power.

And I think to-the-person impoliteness may be called for, especially if it’s likely to have some effect. But I thought it was gratuitous in your Shiloh/Buchanan case, and so maybe off-putting to some of your intended readers. It deviates from your usual approach of criticizing ideas but not getting personal.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at June 14, 2006 08:54 PM | Send