Friday, January 25, 2008
Shimaguni
It strikes me that this paragraph could easily be re-written with "Kos", "DU", etc. and "Democrats" substituted at critical points.
Look, I've been a critic of Sunstein myself, but this is as pure an example of echo chamber thought as I've seen in a long time. It reminds me of the "objectively pro-whatever" argument in different attire. Or perhaps 'failure to denounce'.
Perhaps I'll have to reconsider Sunstein's point.
P.S. Or Quiggin is kidding, as suggested in the comments.
Before the Internet, the average liberal or social democrat was largely insulated, on a day-to-day basis, from the kinds of views represented by Free Republic or Little Green Footballs. Similarly, unless we sought out rightwing magazines we were insulated to a large extent from commentators like Goldberg, Michelle Malkin and Ann Coulter. Now we can see them minute-to-minute and it’s obvious that the idea of treating them as part of a legitimate discussion is absurd.
Moreover, where it was once possible to treat occasional public manifestations of Freeperism as aberrations, it’s now obvious that this is how the Republican base really thinks. So, any Republican advocate or politician, no matter how superficially reasonable, must be regarded as either someone who shares Freeper/LGF views or someone who is willing to exploit the holders of such views in the pursuit of a personal or class interest.
Look, I've been a critic of Sunstein myself, but this is as pure an example of echo chamber thought as I've seen in a long time. It reminds me of the "objectively pro-whatever" argument in different attire. Or perhaps 'failure to denounce'.
Perhaps I'll have to reconsider Sunstein's point.
P.S. Or Quiggin is kidding, as suggested in the comments.
Labels: partisan schmucks
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