Letters to the Editor
William Timberman
Published Letters: 3298 Editor's Choice: 7
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Not mutually exclusive
[Read the article: Our benevolent surveillance state]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Ktwdawg, I don't think we disagree as much as our comments do, if that makes any sense. We've stated a more extreme version of our argument than we actually hold, perhaps, in order to make our positions clearer. I don't think that stubborn, pigheaded, or belligerent is the way to go any more than you do. I do believe that no synthesis is possible without a genuine antithesis. If you don't state your position clearly, you can't hope to persuade anyone. Sometimes, too, there's no way to finesse an agreement. I don't think that in such cases you should pretend to believe something you don't merely in the interest of civility.
When I was younger, I had a lot of experience with white people in the South who would approach me with something that might start out like this: What're we gonna do about those nigras; aren't they really gettin' outta hand? Best to nip such things in the bud, I discovered, even at the cost of a conflict, rather than appear to collaborate in an anathema. If nothing else, it might leave them with the impression that not every Caucasian was a racist, and that maybe the next time they should step more lightly.
There are degrees in every situation, of course, but the basic principle, I think, is that there's no such thing as cooperation unless you stake out your position; there's only collaboration, because that's all that's being offered.
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An invidious comparison
[Read the article: Charles Krauthammer takes rank hypocrisy to new lows]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I don't know how to explain Charles Krauthammer's ravings any more than I do Cho Seung-Hui's, but I do see a similarity between them. Last week, both were acutely conscious of some nebulous wrong done to them, one which filled them with rage, and blotted out the contours of the human landscape most of the rest of us treasure. Today, Cho and his demons have been laid to rest along with his victims; Krauthammer continues in his affliction, and the tally of his victims continues, in Iraq and elsewhere.
Pity for both of them, if you please, but don't forget that while one is beyond our reach, the other is not. If Krauthammer wants to discuss preventive action, the establishment of a justice system for the punishment of pre-crime, let him, so long as he himself is one of the first in the dock.
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Technique
[Read the article: Charles Krauthammer takes rank hypocrisy to new lows]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Watching Jack try to split hairs with a six-pound sledge has been instructive. Incompetence at all levels seems to be essential to the concept of a permanent Republican majority. Again, why exactly were we worried?
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A simple oversight?
[Read the article: Charles Krauthammer takes rank hypocrisy to new lows]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I seem to have neglected to mention guns, probably because the right-wing varmints here today aren't enough of a threat to bring them to mind.
In any event, congratulations on formulating both sides of the argument all by yourself. The passers-by, once they recognize your self-sufficiency, will be able to go on about their business without stopping to find out what all the shouting's about.
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Pearls before swine
[Read the article: Charles Krauthammer takes rank hypocrisy to new lows]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Paul, another excellent piece of analysis and exposition, but talk about being over someone's head! If Charles Krauthammer couldn't understand it -- and clearly he couldn't -- how on earth could Jack?
The way CK plays semantic hide-and-seek with his own prejudices in that first paragraph alone is a stunning example of world-class self-delusion. And though it's never a pretty sight, watching a man bite himself in his own ass, when he does it repeatedly, with such élan, it becomes a strangely seductive spectacle. Perhaps that's why the Washington Post keeps him on, and not because he's so widely respected. He's Jojo the dog-faced boy, in other words, not the Pontiff of Geopolitics.
As for Jack, et al., if an equation has more than one variable, they blink and move on, but not before accusing their betters of obscurantism. Pathetic.
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Oops!
[Read the article: Charles Krauthammer takes rank hypocrisy to new lows]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Another one of those prejudicial metaphors to add to my never-to-be-used-in-the-future list. Profound apologies, jojo.
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I don't think there's any doubt about it
[Read the article: Charles Krauthammer takes rank hypocrisy to new lows]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]It also would seem to imply that modern authoritarianism must be ultimately self-destructive. -- jojo++
History would confirm, I think, that it isn't just the modern forms, but ancient forms as well. The lone and level sands... etc. The modern forms, though, seem more virulent. They certainly have a shorter half-life, largely due, I think to the advanced instrumentalities at their disposal.
What's worrisome, of course, is the impressive number of us which they can take with them when they do self-destruct, and without giving us even a moment's notice. The flash of light in the sky, followed quickly by oblivion. If it were just ourselves under this threat, the instantaneous nature of it might be a blessing. As it is, the threat to our posterity makes an old evil new again, and causes the sane among us to wonder if the equally old virtues of patience and persistence might not fail us in the end.