Tony West wrote:
Bullshit, Karen. You know better.
KAREN ALLEN wrote:
Tony,
I seem to recall you saying that you left this list because it was
uncivil. Yet, you're back here cursing at me because you disagree with
me. Or apparantly because I disagree with you.
KAREN, YOU IGNORANT SLUT.
remember that line?
coincidentally, this month's daedalus has an article by amy
gutmann called "the lure & dangers of extremist rhetoric".
it begins:
In a democracy, controversy is healthy. Complex issues as
far-ranging as immigration, health care, military
interventions, taxation, and education seldom lend
themselves to simple, consensual solutions. The public
interest is well served by robust public argument. But
when disagreements are so driven and distorted by
extremist rhetoric that citizens and public officials
fail to engage with one another reasonably or
respectfully on substantive issues of public importance,
the debate degenerates, blocking constructive compromises
that would benefit all sides more than the status quo
would. Like many scholars, American citizens today
discern a link between the impoverished, divisive
discourse that pollutes our politics and culture, and the
diminished capacity of America's political system to
address intelligently, let alone solve, our most
challenging problems--from health care to global warming,
from public education to Social Security, from terrorism
to this country's eroding competitive advantage in the
global economy.
To help us understand the nature of this link between
extremist rhetoric and political paralysis, let us begin
with an example of extremist rhetoric in entertainment,
where it is even more common and far less controversial
than in politics. Many Americans over the age of forty
may remember the weekly "Point/Counterpoint" segment from
60 Minutes, which pitted the liberal Shana Alexander
against the conservative James J. Kilpatrick. Even more
will recall the spoof of "Point/Counterpoint" from
Saturday Night Live, where Dan Ackroyd resorted to a show
of verbal pyrotechnics as he drove a single point to the
ground, while effacing Jane Curtin as an "ignorant slut."
Jane and Dan were clearly not out either to advance the
public interest or to respect one another. Nor should
they have been. SNL is, as they say, entertainment. And
when extremist rhetoric is intentionally outlandish, it
makes for great entertainment. But when it is politically
for real, extremist rhetoric has far less benign effects
on democratic discourse: it demeans opponents, radically
narrows understanding of the issue at hand, and closes
off compromise.
As we have seen all too vividly, extremist rhetoric has
become par for the course of democratic controversy in
America. It dominates cable tv news. (Talk radio is even
more extreme.) The public issues discussed are complex
and important, but little light is shed on them. The
entertainment is that of a wrestling match, with far less
demonstrable skill. Serious extremist rhetoric has two
defining features. First, it tends toward
single-mindedness on any given issue. Second, it
passionately expresses certainty about the supremacy of
its perspective on the issue without submitting itself
either to a reasonable test of truth or to a reasoned
public debate.
gutmann concludes:
Democracy's saving grace is that most citizens are put
off by demagogues and their techniques. By recognizing
that the person with whom we disagree, far from being an
"ignorant slut," typically has a valid point worth
considering, we can work together as fellow citizens who
respectfully disagree with one another to give our great
constitutional democracy a longer lease on life.
http://www.mitpressjournals.org/toc/daed/136/4
..................
UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN
[aka laserbeam®]
[aka ray]
SERIAL LIAR. CALL FOR RATES.
"It is very clear on this listserve who
these people are. Ray has admitted being
connected to this forger." -- Tony West
"Ray's falsehoods are more sophisticated,
more believable" -- Tony West
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