Monday, August 08, 2005
Right wingers: The new champions of political correctness
I'm kinda jealous of Mithras, a Philly blogger I'd never heard of until this post by him ignited a shitstorm of indignation among right wing bloggers. Entitled "A Conservative Blog Taxonomy," the post insultingly describes a handful of left wing blogs. Proving that they are just as capable of being humorless twits as any left wing speech-code enforcer, a lot of right wing bloggers got their panties in a total wad about the post, particularly Mithras's description of Michelle Malkin:
I thought that was kinda funny, especially the "arrest herself for trying to cross a border." But the fact that Mithras mentioned her race, albeit obliquely ("affirmative action hire," "arrest herself for trying to cross a border"), and her tits, greatly offended bloggers such as David Bernstein of the libertarian-ish The Volokh Conspiracy. Professor Bernstein (he's a law professor at George Mason) mischaracterizes Mithras's post - he says Mithras is attacking Malkin for being a woman of color, when Mithras is actually attacking her for being an unapologetic BIGOT. Personally, I thought the "arrest herself for trying to cross a border" bit was pretty damn funny, though I grant you the "tits" bit was crude (and yes, some of the comments I've seen on Atrios about Malkin have been appallingly, inexcusably racist - and I say that as someone who admits hating white people). But Professor Bernstein thought the comments were beyond the pale.
Professor Bernstein, by the way, is the author of of You Can't Say That! The Growing Threat to Civil Liberties from Antidiscrimination Laws (Cato Institute 2003). *
Oh, and in the comments to his Mithras post, Professor Bernstein says "Future comments that diverge into Malkin-hating or loving will be deleted." Apparently there are a lot of things You Can't Say in Volokh land.
(Mithras apologizes for his political incorrectnesshere)
UPDATE: Because I'm fair and balanced, here's the Rude Pundit taking left wing scolds to task.
|
I'm kinda jealous of Mithras, a Philly blogger I'd never heard of until this post by him ignited a shitstorm of indignation among right wing bloggers. Entitled "A Conservative Blog Taxonomy," the post insultingly describes a handful of left wing blogs. Proving that they are just as capable of being humorless twits as any left wing speech-code enforcer, a lot of right wing bloggers got their panties in a total wad about the post, particularly Mithras's description of Michelle Malkin:
2. Michelle Malkin - Far-right affirmative action hire who is so bigoted she'd arrest herself for trying to cross a border. Famously published a book praising internment of Japanese-Americans that was (a) incoherent and (b) probably not written by her. If she didn't have tits, she'd be stuck writing at Townhall.com.
I thought that was kinda funny, especially the "arrest herself for trying to cross a border." But the fact that Mithras mentioned her race, albeit obliquely ("affirmative action hire," "arrest herself for trying to cross a border"), and her tits, greatly offended bloggers such as David Bernstein of the libertarian-ish The Volokh Conspiracy. Professor Bernstein (he's a law professor at George Mason) mischaracterizes Mithras's post - he says Mithras is attacking Malkin for being a woman of color, when Mithras is actually attacking her for being an unapologetic BIGOT. Personally, I thought the "arrest herself for trying to cross a border" bit was pretty damn funny, though I grant you the "tits" bit was crude (and yes, some of the comments I've seen on Atrios about Malkin have been appallingly, inexcusably racist - and I say that as someone who admits hating white people). But Professor Bernstein thought the comments were beyond the pale.
Professor Bernstein, by the way, is the author of of You Can't Say That! The Growing Threat to Civil Liberties from Antidiscrimination Laws (Cato Institute 2003). *
Oh, and in the comments to his Mithras post, Professor Bernstein says "Future comments that diverge into Malkin-hating or loving will be deleted." Apparently there are a lot of things You Can't Say in Volokh land.
(Mithras apologizes for his political incorrectnesshere)
UPDATE: Because I'm fair and balanced, here's the Rude Pundit taking left wing scolds to task.
