Friday, November 04, 2005
I Shoulda Known Better, And Althouse Shoulda Too
Ann Althouse posted some pics on her blog on Wednesday of an anti-war demonstration in Madison, Wisconsin, where she teaches law. No comment other than "Anti-War Rally Today in Madison."
In the "Comments," the first comment came from a poster named Mary who said something that had crossed my mind, too:
And she continued:
Tear into the protestors many commentors did, and a few comments later, Ann replied:
Horse hockey!
Althouse is a smart woman, and she's gotta know that any regular reader of her blog would take into consideration some of her wry and oft-accurate barbs at the knee-jerk leftyism on the Madison campus and infer that people will draw similar conclusions from the new pictures. Putting the responsibility for this perception totally on the eye of the beholder is a cop-out, and very uncharacteristic of this particular blogger.
By the same token, given that I'm a regular reader of political blogs in general, for me to click on the link that said "94 Comments" and then bemoan the pirhana feeding frenzy that I knew I would find there between belligerent conservatives and smug liberals is disingenuous of me. You don't walk into a bordello and then criticize the place for not being a Howard Johnson's.
Oh, and to the guy who wrote:
Go sit on a tack. Putting anyone with a question or criticism into the same moral league with every loony in a turban who wants to blow up the civilized world is a trick from the Rove playbook that I've found particularly odious. And judging from the president's latest approval ratings, such tricks are beginning to result in less and less magic for this administration.
In the "Comments," the first comment came from a poster named Mary who said something that had crossed my mind, too:
I just hope your commenters don't tear into these young protestors too much.
And she continued:
Just curious: do you post these Madison photos, like the woman with the nightstick calling for riots, to make the city of Madison look bad? It seems like the commenters always think the PC "liberals" here in Madison are responsible for everything, but it should be noted that we have a large contigent of conservative young men here who enjoy the drinking and police baiting as much as the PC "liberals".
Tear into the protestors many commentors did, and a few comments later, Ann replied:
As for today's photos: how could they be more neutral? I was walking from my office to State Street to get some lunch, saw something happening on the Mall, and tried to get some good photos, which I posted with the most minimal possible commentary. What you see is mainly what you project -- your own hopes and fears.
Horse hockey!
Althouse is a smart woman, and she's gotta know that any regular reader of her blog would take into consideration some of her wry and oft-accurate barbs at the knee-jerk leftyism on the Madison campus and infer that people will draw similar conclusions from the new pictures. Putting the responsibility for this perception totally on the eye of the beholder is a cop-out, and very uncharacteristic of this particular blogger.
By the same token, given that I'm a regular reader of political blogs in general, for me to click on the link that said "94 Comments" and then bemoan the pirhana feeding frenzy that I knew I would find there between belligerent conservatives and smug liberals is disingenuous of me. You don't walk into a bordello and then criticize the place for not being a Howard Johnson's.
Oh, and to the guy who wrote:
BTW, please post photos of leftist demonstrations against Iran's genocidal plea for Israel to be "wiped off the map." What's that you say? There aren't any? Hmmm.
Go sit on a tack. Putting anyone with a question or criticism into the same moral league with every loony in a turban who wants to blow up the civilized world is a trick from the Rove playbook that I've found particularly odious. And judging from the president's latest approval ratings, such tricks are beginning to result in less and less magic for this administration.
