How to argue like one of the Radical Right…
…and think you’re really clever (while acting really stupidly) at the same time.
Lee Siegel, who was recently canned from his job at TNR for posting “go Siegel” comments on his own blog under a different username, really has the “right’s” style of argument down pat. Personally, I think it was at least two names he was using, or that he was feeding someone else their lines in addition to his own sock puppet. But anyway.
In the comments for this post (apparently critical of John Stewart – I don’t subscribe to TNR, so can’t read the whole thing and won’t comment), sprezzatura (who, it turns out is actually Lee Siegel wearing a sock) posts this bit of drivel (which happens to be Kos’ favorite sprezzing* thus far):
How angry people get when a powerful critic says he doesn’t like their favorite show! Like little babies. Such fragile egos. Siegel accuses Stewart of a “pandering puerility” and he gets an onslaught of puerile responses from the insecure herd of independent minds. I’m well within Stewart’s target group, and I think he’s about as funny as a wet towel in a locker room. Siegel is brave, brilliant, and wittier than Stewart will ever be. Take that, you bunch of immature, abusive sheep.
But this next quote is my own favorite. It has everything from irrelevancy, to childish taunting, to buzzwords-from-outta-nowhere, to projection, to fundamental deceit, to inane glee at one’s own cleverness:
Groupthink from a mob of bullies cowering behind their user-name aliases. Groupthink! Groupthink! Naaa naaa naaa-naaa naaa!
This right here is the tone and substance behind most of the “right’s” arguments: We know better, your opinion is wrong not only because it’s wrong, but because more than one of you think it, we’re going to get our point across by any means necessary, we’re going to do to the facts what we’re terrified teh gayz are going to do to our children if we don’t lock them up right now, and pre-emptively trash you for the very medium you’re communicating in at the same time (even though we’re using it too). Coming from the man who coined blogofacism, it is also worthy of consideration as Daily Show material. ‘Nuff said.
And from another commenter, we have a “you speak with greater truth than you know” moment:
What’s so wrong with all these passionate posts? Mr. Siegel put it out there, and his readers have responded. Freedom of the press isn’t free from criticism or personal attack. I bet Lee is enjoying all this right now. To those who attack Lee, good for you. For those who defend him, good for you…I guess. Another Drew Carey joke is what’s needed: My dick is so big, it has a basement.
I suspect Lee was positively giddy at that point.
Chinchillas for EVERYBODY, this story has some serious, serious legs.
Update: Ugh. He has not yet begun to sprezz. Found via Atrios.
Why? I don’t know. But the imaginary cat post… is massively creepy.
*yet another word/turn of phrase/thingie I haven’t seen before, but is just too perfect to not have been used earlier
September 11th, 2006 at 19:40
The imaginary cat posts only make sense if you are aware of Schrodinger’s cat, a famous thought experiment from quantum physics. Though in retrospect, the original version is a little weird itself.