I will even name the place. The Dragon*Con convention in Atlanta, Georgia, fall of 2007. Debate at ten paces before an audience at one of my panels.

How DARE you say that I am an intellectually lazy, New York pretender! For the record, I work for a living. I work for a living in the industry Havrilesky claims to observe. I work in a red-collar job - my collar is red from the blood I must sweat to complete it.

As a friendless, loveless fat boy, TV was my only friend. I worked my entire life to become part of it, to pay back the industry that was my only companion, in hopes that I might help others out there feel less lonely. I learned some ugly truths about the making of television - much like the truths of how sausage was made - but I still believe in its value as a positive force.

Over the last decade, I've seen megacorporation takeovers, the elimination of the genuinely "locally-owned" TV station, the Jerry Springer-ization of local news and the disappearance of the unpretentious, simply entertaining network adventure show.

I still love the medium for which I work. That love is not returned very often these days, but I still have hope that the Democrats will break up the megacorporations, especially the media conglomerates, if they ever find their spines and their souls. That will be a start in making TV vital again.

Although that effort is impeded by people like Havrilesky, who often populate the "free" givewawy newspapers, who think that theoretically-witty contempt for a medium and the people who watch it is "criticism."

I've thrown down the gauntlet. Hope it landed square on your flip-flop. If you really want to apologize to a Cartoon Geek (hint, hint) you can find a certain web site.

It's her insulting and contemptuous TV reviews. It would be too much for me to hope that those would improve with the birth of her child, although the realization that she is not the only human being in the world would be a positive development.

It's taking all my will to avoid saying something cruel and pointless about a woman near to giving birth. Yes, I do have that much anger at the stuff she writes, and the fact that she is one of the few writers remaining on the earth who can get a paycheck for writing. I have tried to mentally walk in her shoes. It would have to be mentally, because one pair of her shoes costs more than my monthly salary.

Of course childbirth is a terrible burden, catastrophic to the psyche and frightening physically. But of course, it is only being written about because Havrilesky is undergoing it now. I don't sense she would be sympathetic to any other woman going through it, and five months later, she'll be back to insulting her readers and possibly any pregnant woman she comes across.

This wasn't the Heather Havrilesky of "I Love to Watch (You Drooling Chickens Who Watch TV)". It was far too thoughtful for that Havrilesky. I will refrain from offering obvious explanations - a twin from a negative-parallel universe, plagiarism, schitzophrenia, actually taking the right prescribed meds, a really good editor forcing proper media criticism - and just accept the situation. For now.

There has been a tradition of science fiction involved with social situations, but it's in the genre's literature, not its entertainment media. Also, for the most part science fiction literature has been old-school conservative. For the few liberal voices like Spider Robinson or Harry Harrison, there are lots more like Ben Bova or Jerry Pournelle who range from old-school 1950's Republican to Ann Coulter lunatic fringe. Don't forget that the National Review was the first mainstream magazine to regularly review science fiction books.

It used to be Westerns - "Bonanza" comes to mind - that tried to show contemporary problems set in a distant setting to make them less immediately threatening. The Western is dead, all the hype about "Deadwood" to the contrary. When science fiction dies off (and George Lucas is doing his level best to kill it) perhaps some other genre, maybe the hard-boiled detective story, will grasp the falling torch.

As I said, there ARE a few people with progressive ideas and thoughts in science fiction. But I still contend they are in the minority, and the thrust of most science fiction is right-wing.

If you doubt this, attend any science fiction convention. Not necessarily one of the big ones like WorldCon or Dragon*Con; go to one of the little local weekend cons held throughout the country. Talk to the people. Listen to the guests. Don't be a Havrilesky and assume God threw wisdom into your head (and don't assume that God wears Prada).

Most fans don't wear Spock ears. They don't dress up. Most especially, they don't even talk much. They aren't passive observers (they paid admission to go to the con, after all) but they are often afraid to ask celebrities or speakers questions. They talk among themselves, nervously, about what is going on. Ask a question or two about a current political statement and your response will usually be right-wing.

The loudest politics occur in the game rooms, with the Halo/Warcraft/Shadowrun/Doom/Battletech players (yes, mixing video and tabletop combat gaming). Lots of ex-vets and would-be vets there, lots of cammo and "humorous" weapons slogans on T-shirts. (Typical: "Girls Dig Guys With Higher Armaments.") They're the 38 percent that still believe there is no alternative to Bush.

If you want to know what being a outcast among outcasts feels like, wear a Greenpeace T-shirt in a science fiction convention and try to pass out global warming literature. You'll be called every kind of fool that exists, or simply shunned. You won't be physically threatened, though: we are nerds, after all.