I agree with Eugene Volokh once again, this time as he goes after a particular group of (apparently) conservative Christians:
Distinguishing fair criticisms of one's adversaries from unfair criticisms is not a technicality. I've seen lots of people, left, right, or elsewhere, make the same mistake: Just because they think their adversaries are wrong in one way (e.g., propose an unsound view of the Constitution), they feel free to just throw a barrage of epithets at them -- their arguments are criminal, frivolous, pro-terrorist, dishonest, corrupt, Nazi, or what have you. And then, when a third party defends the targets against the unfair criticisms, the critics seem upset. How can you defend these bad people? They're clearly wrong! [Emphasis in the original]
This was the point of my parody of left-wing cries of "Nazi" and "fuehrer" and other silliness. It's possible the irony was lost on some. Perhaps writing, "DUCK: IRONY COMING STRAIGHT FOR YOU!!" with two (count them, two!!) exclamation points and in all capitals wasn't clear enough. Perhaps ending with (END IRONY) was too obscure for some. Perhaps the fact that I borrowed arguments from Seinfeld and The Simpsons confused those who believe those shows to be political roundtable shows and Meet the Press to be sketch comedy. Only a willfully careless reader could miss the fact that I was illustrating absurdity by being absurd. The intended irony was literally there in black and white.
When one consistently insults rather than argues it betrays the weakness of one's positions. Those on the right and left who always suspect bad motives on the part of their opponents need to take a deep breath. Those on the right and left who believe the political is personal need to get a life. Those on the right and left who wish to disagree with honor would be best served by giving reasons for one's positions, rather than spewing angry invective. I think Prof. Blanchard's post below on stem cells is a good example of disagreement with honor. If you think someone has made a bad argument, make a counter argument. Name calling and petulant pouting are not arguments.
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