Wednesday, October 01, 2003

 
Today's Tom Sawyer

Rush Limbaugh is at it again, and now he's got sports writers all in a tizzy. I can't say I support Mr. Limbaugh's general tenor — in fact I'm tired of attempts (by what would seem to me to be almost everyone) to obfuscate the genuine philosophical differences that exist in today's political discourse by constantly portraying the opposition as fundamentally evil. In that vein, I think Rush had it coming to him as it were, but I still think it sucks.

McNabb’s knee-jerk offense seems to me no more merited than Limbaugh’s constant knee-jerk suggestions that social engineering lurks in every corner – but come on, neither position is evil. I can’t see how Rush’s commentary can be construed as anything other than a snarky comment directed at the media for being ostensibly “racist” (by merit of Rush’s contention that any sort of preferential treatment based upon race is “racist” regardless of the motive.) This seems to me a position that can be argued for or against, but hardly a bit of pure malice, nor does it seem to me to be saying, as some have suggested, that QBs should only be caucasian.

Here’s my take: We cannot look into people’s souls, and as such, we are under what I believe to be a considerable obligation to seek a better understanding of our political opponent’s views and their philosophical antecedents. The attempt to lead the populace by attaching purely emotional labels to any views that differ with our own, is to my mind, the greatest single challenge to an increased and improved political dialogue.

posted by Malaclypse the Tertiary at 6:01 PM ·


Smart Blogs:
(in no particular order)
Deinonychus Antirrhopus
The Knowledge Problem
InstaPundit
OxBlog
The Volokh Conspiracy
Kloognome
The Kolkata Libertarian
Andrew Sullivan
Little Green Footballs
Dave Barry
EconLog
Libertarian Samizdata
Balloon Juice
Discount Blogger
Truck and Barter
Catallarchy
Peking Duck
The Gweilo Diaries

Edification:
Ludwig von Mises Institute
The Cato Institute
Junk Science
David Friedman
Tech Central Station

Archives
<< current