A conservatory of Ldotter blogs.

Friday, December 16, 2005

The sensitivity of the Left. . .

. . .is something that I find mindbendingly hypocritical when it comes to namecalling. I won't deny it. I use a little ad hominem when the mood strikes, and that sometimes manifests itself in a bit of labeling, oftentimes in the form of the derisive appellation du jour. I don't think there's anything particularly cruel in the way in which I go about it, though I can see where it might rankle the touchy. I'm prepared to accept that as a consequence of making my writing interesting. At the same time, anyone is perfectly free to tell me I'm failing miserably, and that my writing is about as interesting as a box of saltines with unsalted tops. That's a consequence of putting yourself out there.

But, I recently had an exchange with a couple of people of a left-ish bent in the comments section of one of my earlier posts, both of whom expressed some umbrage at the fact that I would engage in "namecalling". I actually thought it pretty mild by modern polemical standards, but for some reason, the word "pinko" stirred a good bit of ire among at least two of my critics. I suppose the reference to "Moonbat" in the title of the entry might have chapped a couple of left buttocks as well. But, neither struck me as particularly harsh in light of all the epithets that get hurled at the right everyday. Here's a sampling from just today on the most popular left-wing forum on the internet:

(1) "Fascist Social Engineering brought to you by ....drumroll..... the GOP!"

(2) "The corporatists of today are far more subtle than the ones defeated 60 years ago with the fall of fascism. They learned their lessons from that era well. They want to be silent and slow in their pursuit of more power and consolidation, but that cannot be done if we have people like Bush breaking and smashing everything. It provokes reactions from the proletariat, and they need to be anesthetized, not agitated, in their minds. Therefore, Bush should be sacrificed for someone far more subtle and effective."

(3) "I'm think the word revolution might be in order! WE THE PEOPLE ARE FED THE F*** UP WITH THESE LYING CROOKS AND KILLERS!!!"

(4) "if the "far left" even smells like they might get near power. . .they get KILLED by the far right.

this is a FACT.

JFK
Malcom X
MLK
RFK

when grover norquist is assassinated, i'll listen to this argument."


Now, if anything I've ever written on this blog approaches the stridency of this stuff, I humbly apologize.
 

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