Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Frummery: Good or Bad?

Jim Manzi on Mark Levin at The Corner(!!!):
Groupthink or corruption is always possible, and maybe the entire global scientific establishment is wrong. Does he think that these various scientists are somehow unaware that Newsweek had an article on global cooling in the 1970s? Or are they aware of the evidence in his book, but are too trapped by their assumptions to be able to incorporate this data rationally? Or does he believe that the whole thing is a con in which thousands of scientists have colluded across decades and continents to fool such gullible naifs as the U.S. Congressional Budget Office, numerous White House science advisors, Margaret Thatcher, and so on? Are the Queen of England and the Trilateral Commission in on it too?

But what evidence does Levin present for any of this amazing incompetence or conspiracy beyond that already cited? None. He simply moves on to criticisms of proposed solutions. This is wingnuttery.
Andy "Bill Ayers and Birth Certificates" McCarthy clutches his Pearl Harbors:
I've read a number of Jim's articles and posts over the years, including more than a few involving exchanges with other writers. He has always struck me as a model of civility, especially in his disagreements with the Left. Why pick Mark for the Pearl Harbor treatment?
K-Lo senses a Frumming:
He's heard a lot worse and can handle his own battles, but as one who has followed Mark's career, I found Jim's tone deeply disappointing. Especially at a time when Liberty actually is endangered and Mark Levin is not to blame.
Who do we have to thank for this deeply disappointing attempt to call bullshit at the bullshit factory? The Manzi article starts off considering a challenge from St. Ross Douthat of Chunkiness and Popery:
What you don’t hear enough from the pundits and intellectuals, I think, are complaints about this state of affairs. Conservative domestic policy would be in better shape if conservative magazines and conservative columnists were more willing to call out Republican politicians (and, to a lesser extent, conservative entertainers) for offering bromides instead of substance, and for pandering instead of grappling with real policy questions. This is part of why David Frum attracts so much attention, positive and negative: Not because his policy preferences are so far outside the conservative mainstream, but because he’s made it his business to hold various prominent right-wingers and Republicans accountable for being vacuous or inflammatory, instead of just training all his fire on liberals. I don’t always agree with the targets he picks and way he goes about it, but conservatism needs more of that kind of internal criticism, not less.
Well, Ross Douthat at the evil New York Times, if you can bring wagon-uncircling to the NRO you may have your uses before you die in that fire.

Mind you a little "I agree with this thing I'm not considering or even reading and I have to go" from Jonah Goldberg helps too.

7 comments:

J— said...

Epistemic closure.

Hamish Mack said...

Especially at a time when Liberty actually is endangered and Mark Levin is not to blame
Lassie: No, no, it's Timmy who's in danger, down the mine. I don't know why I fuckin bother some days.

M. Bouffant said...

I'm on a deadline, so I reserve the right to revise and extend my remarks, but I think Ross Douthat is basically right in his take.

There is never a time when Procrastino, the Gold-Bricking Alpaca, is not "on deadline," is there? (Though if it takes longer to decide about Douthat than it takes to type it you're a cretin.)

Mr. Orthodox tears Levin's book a new binding.

This has nothing to do with “preserving and improving American society,” as Levin likes to put it, and everything to do with securing and expanding the power of the national security and warfare state.

ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®© said...

Especially at a time when Liberty actually is endangered and Mark Levin is not to blame

K Lo is on the job
~

Dragon-King Wangchuck said...

Uncircling the wagons at NRO? And I thought I was an optimist.

Another purge would certainly be entertaining, but I am at a loss of snark after reading this pwnage.

mikey said...

I sure wish one of these jackasses would stop teaing all over the place long enough to explain to me:

1. What they mean when they say "Liberty"
and
2. What they believe is putting it at risk

Because they say these words and I can't figure out what they're talking about and nobody ever asks them what the hell they're talking about and I very strongly suspect they don't know themselves...

Smut Clyde said...

There is a difference between capital-L Liberty, enjoyed by corporate entities, and the ordinary liberty that used to apply to ordinary people of uncertain ethnicity before Security became a higher priority.