Our man J.Peter Freire gives the Obama infomercial
a well-deserved
spanking over at Culture 11. Predictably, critics in the
comments section call our Managing Editor an angry idiot while
simultaneously lamenting the loss of thoughtful discourse--you
know, the kind where you shellack the entire conservative
movement outside of yourself and your holier-than-thou blogging
buddies as a bunch of knuckle-dragging ninnies so that you might
get an electronic pat on the head from Andrew Sullivan and a
perfumed invitation to the pseudo-intellectual circle jerk that
has suddenly become the hottest ticket in town for pretty young
right-wing things in D.C.--not to mention for some
not-so-pretty-or-young right-wing things.
Admission is cheap enough: Mostly a willingness to hate on the
squares you frequently agree with to curry favor with those cool
cats who would fit you with fangs & horns if your ideas ever
approached anything resembling politically feasibility. At first
the approach is kind of a turn-off, but, then...Oh, the way you
cut your condescending pretentiousness with knowing pop culture
references! And who wouldn't want to become smarter than everyone
else just by saying it is so?
Um, actually, thanks anyway. I'll stick with someone like J.P.
who does the hard work of elevating and furthering principle
rather than simply award himself hipster chits for shouting
"Idiot!" in a crowded blogosphere.
Listen, if "circle jerk" is now acceptable in the blog, does that
mean it is OK if I go ahead and post pictures of the Olsen Twins
in their almost-naked Halloween costumes? I'm just trying to
figure out where the line is, so I don't cross it by accident.
I think you might have already accidentally crossed a line by
having those pics, brother! And if I offended the Other McCain's
sensibilities I probably, indeed, have crossed the blog line. We
stand together at a crossroads, RSM. Not as dire as the one
Thelma and Louise faced, but of possibly some import yet...
Hilari0us post. But friendly debate isn't the same thing as
ideological capitulation. Just something to keep in mind.
Shawn Macomber| 10.30.08 @ 1:18PM
No one said it was! My point--as someone who holds many views
outside the ideological orthodoxy and has disagreements/debates
all the time with some of my close friends/family/allies--was/is
those who can't keep the debate friendly--who, in fact, care not
to debate anything, but rather qualify every postulation with a
bit about how clever, unique and smart they are--are making a lot
of the noise these days about how everyone else should be
behaving and debating. And, frankly, if they want to be nice, we
can all be nice. If they want to be asses...well, I guess that's
why I have a blog login, for whatever pittance it's worth.
Robert Stacy McCain| 10.30.08 @ 11:32AM
Listen, if "circle jerk" is now acceptable in the blog, does that mean it is OK if I go ahead and post pictures of the Olsen Twins in their almost-naked Halloween costumes? I'm just trying to figure out where the line is, so I don't cross it by accident.
Shawn Macomber| 10.30.08 @ 12:00PM
I think you might have already accidentally crossed a line by having those pics, brother! And if I offended the Other McCain's sensibilities I probably, indeed, have crossed the blog line. We stand together at a crossroads, RSM. Not as dire as the one Thelma and Louise faced, but of possibly some import yet...
Will| 10.30.08 @ 12:39PM
Hilari0us post. But friendly debate isn't the same thing as ideological capitulation. Just something to keep in mind.
Shawn Macomber| 10.30.08 @ 1:18PM
No one said it was! My point--as someone who holds many views outside the ideological orthodoxy and has disagreements/debates all the time with some of my close friends/family/allies--was/is those who can't keep the debate friendly--who, in fact, care not to debate anything, but rather qualify every postulation with a bit about how clever, unique and smart they are--are making a lot of the noise these days about how everyone else should be behaving and debating. And, frankly, if they want to be nice, we can all be nice. If they want to be asses...well, I guess that's why I have a blog login, for whatever pittance it's worth.
Robert Stacy McCain| 10.30.08 @ 1:36PM
Friendly debate? You mean about the Olsen Twins?
Shawn Macomber| 10.30.08 @ 1:44PM
Robert,
What else could I possibly mean? I'm proposing secret ballot.