This letter is associated with the following article:
Letters
Tuesday, May 15, 2007 12:00 AM

Gonzales' yearlong effort to block Comey's testimony

Read other letters about this article

  • Thursday, May 17, 2007 12:13 PM

    Re Ignoring or Banning jake007

    It's as obvious to me as it is to anyone else here that the mentality that "jake007" manifests in this forum, whether he's sincere or consciously satirizing militaristic nationalism, represents an egregiously authoritarian mindset, mindlessly embracing the notion that the end justifies the means, even if the means involves torturing children.

    The question is, "How should one deal with the opinions of such a person?"

    I want to suggest that anyone laboring under the burden of such a mindset should not only be read attentively, but engaged. Not only does engagement create the possibility that he will be made to think outside his usually sclerotic parameters, it also potentially benefits others who share his consciousness, e.g., who may be "lurking" here.

    I've learned a number of interesting and important historical facts from the posts of the people who've attempted to disabuse jake of his ignorance and/or prejudiced interpretations of historical and contemporary events, which might not have come to my attention if others hadn't responded to his attempted defenses of the guardians of the Fatherland.

    It also encourages those of us who find repellent his sado-masochistic politics to think about and articulate even more clearly our own positions, placing us in a better position to influence the thinking of

    anyone with whom we interact, whether they're initially sympathetic, apathetic, or antipathetic to our own positions on issues.

    Banning benighted people from fora is analogous to executing serial killers who personally dispatch their victims, rather than delegating the authority for mass murder to the government: doing so precludes the possibility of gaining insight into the perpetrators' consciousness, let alone enlightening them in any degree.

    So let's hear from the jakester and any of his fellow travelers, try to understand how they've come to such a pass as to endorse the torture of their fellow human beings, enlighten them to the best of our ability, and offer them forgiveness should they be able to see and renounce the error of their ways.

Most Active Letters Threads

530

Do Obama officials know what his Afghanistan plan is?

What explains the completely contradictory statements from key aides on a central plank of the war strategy?
128

Is my kids making me not smart?

Stay-at-home fatherhood dulls my intellect to a nub. Excuse me while I ponder the subtext of "Hippos Go Berserk"
126

Trig, the anti-abortion straw baby

Sarah Palin's son is being used to demonize pro-choicers
113

I survived Glenn Beck's Christmas spectacular

The preposterous showman brings his holiday book, and waterworks, to the stage and screen. Lights! Camera! Jesus!
84

I live in a van down by Duke University

How do I afford grad school without going into debt? A '94 Econoline, bulk food and creative civil disobedience

View all »

Letters Help

Currently in Salon