Comments on: You Can’t Have it Both Ways! http://deanesmay.com/2008/03/04/you-cant-have-it-both-ways/ Defending the liberal tradition in history, science, and philosophy. Sun, 20 May 2012 15:33:28 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Trudy W. Schuett http://deanesmay.com/2008/03/04/you-cant-have-it-both-ways/#comment-150697 Trudy W. Schuett Wed, 05 Mar 2008 01:05:38 +0000 http://deanesmay.com/2008/03/04/you-cant-have-it-both-ways/#comment-150697 KTK: Letters to the Editor of most papers are carefully screened and regulated; hardly reflecting any diversity of ideas in most cases. I'm not getting a paycheck from anywhere; how did you get the idea that I did? As far as regular columnists are concerned, it would make sense to me to let the market/readership determine who they want to read, but as I'm not a newspaper publisher either, that's not my call. Finally, just because you don't like somebody's ideas doesn't mean everybody doesn't like those ideas. As far as "ideas of all kinds", and/or "ideas of no kind", I really have no clue what you're on about there. Lo siento! KTK: Letters to the Editor of most papers are carefully screened and regulated; hardly reflecting any diversity of ideas in most cases.

I’m not getting a paycheck from anywhere; how did you get the idea that I did?

As far as regular columnists are concerned, it would make sense to me to let the market/readership determine who they want to read, but as I’m not a newspaper publisher either, that’s not my call.

Finally, just because you don’t like somebody’s ideas doesn’t mean everybody doesn’t like those ideas.

As far as “ideas of all kinds”, and/or “ideas of no kind”, I really have no clue what you’re on about there. Lo siento!

]]> By: Kevin T. Keith http://deanesmay.com/2008/03/04/you-cant-have-it-both-ways/#comment-150675 Kevin T. Keith Tue, 04 Mar 2008 21:54:26 +0000 http://deanesmay.com/2008/03/04/you-cant-have-it-both-ways/#comment-150675 Do you mean the things you think you believe? "[I]t is courageous . . . that they believe that ideas of all kinds can and should be entertained." Is this intended to suggest that <em>you</em> believe "ideals of all kinds should be entertained"? Of <em>all</em> kinds? If that's true, what reason is there to distinguish between ideas of any kinds? You can get "ideas of all kinds" on your Letters page - why bother to pay columnists (such as, say, yourself), give them privileged space in the paper, and authorized blogs on the paper's Web site? But if what you want is "ideas of <em>some</em> kinds", if you feel the need to make any kinds of distinctions (and if <em>you</em> don't, again, you're always free to prove it by giving up your paycheck), if there really is such a thing as a column or columnist who is better and more deserving of space than another, then it is necessary to ask, of any columnist, is this that person, and are these those ideas? And Charlotte Allen, by unmistakable idiocy and gross, pandering offensiveness, has answered that question in the negative, in her own case at least. Your defense of her is only that her column is the one that should get printed if we want to print "ideas of all kinds" rather than ideas carefully chosen. And in that you may have a point. But, aside from the embarrassment she brings to herself, she also seems to have disproven your implicit thesis that "ideas of no particular kind" are the kind that should be featured in newspapers. Do you mean the things you think you believe?

“[I]t is courageous . . . that they believe that ideas of all kinds can and should be entertained.” Is this intended to suggest that you believe “ideals of all kinds should be entertained”? Of all kinds?

If that’s true, what reason is there to distinguish between ideas of any kinds? You can get “ideas of all kinds” on your Letters page – why bother to pay columnists (such as, say, yourself), give them privileged space in the paper, and authorized blogs on the paper’s Web site?

But if what you want is “ideas of some kinds”, if you feel the need to make any kinds of distinctions (and if you don’t, again, you’re always free to prove it by giving up your paycheck), if there really is such a thing as a column or columnist who is better and more deserving of space than another, then it is necessary to ask, of any columnist, is this that person, and are these those ideas? And Charlotte Allen, by unmistakable idiocy and gross, pandering offensiveness, has answered that question in the negative, in her own case at least.

Your defense of her is only that her column is the one that should get printed if we want to print “ideas of all kinds” rather than ideas carefully chosen. And in that you may have a point. But, aside from the embarrassment she brings to herself, she also seems to have disproven your implicit thesis that “ideas of no particular kind” are the kind that should be featured in newspapers.

]]> By: Acksiom http://deanesmay.com/2008/03/04/you-cant-have-it-both-ways/#comment-150640 Acksiom Tue, 04 Mar 2008 19:58:36 +0000 http://deanesmay.com/2008/03/04/you-cant-have-it-both-ways/#comment-150640 What has me laughing now is how Jay and Marilyn's comments over at PressThink (? more like PressKneeJerkOverReaction on this one) are starting to brush up against tinfoil hat territory. Really. They actually appear to be taking seriously the deranged conspiracy theorist idea that this, and another column by Linda Hirshman, are intentional, mutually supporting elements in some kind of deliberate, planned maneuver against Hillary via the damaging associations caused by such articles that 'tear down women' in general. You couldn't sell this as parody. It's unreal. What has me laughing now is how Jay and Marilyn’s comments over at PressThink (? more like PressKneeJerkOverReaction on this one) are starting to brush up against tinfoil hat territory.

Really. They actually appear to be taking seriously the deranged conspiracy theorist idea that this, and another column by Linda Hirshman, are intentional, mutually supporting elements in some kind of deliberate, planned maneuver against Hillary via the damaging associations caused by such articles that ‘tear down women’ in general.

You couldn’t sell this as parody. It’s unreal.

]]> By: deanesmay http://deanesmay.com/2008/03/04/you-cant-have-it-both-ways/#comment-150591 deanesmay Tue, 04 Mar 2008 15:36:54 +0000 http://deanesmay.com/2008/03/04/you-cant-have-it-both-ways/#comment-150591 Well said, Trudy. I thought it was a hilarious column. What kind of pussy would refuse to publish such "dangerous thoughts?" Well said, Trudy. I thought it was a hilarious column. What kind of pussy would refuse to publish such “dangerous thoughts?”

]]> By: You Can’t Have it Both Ways! · The Spin Doctor http://deanesmay.com/2008/03/04/you-cant-have-it-both-ways/#comment-150590 You Can’t Have it Both Ways! · The Spin Doctor Tue, 04 Mar 2008 15:22:13 +0000 http://deanesmay.com/2008/03/04/you-cant-have-it-both-ways/#comment-150590 [...] Blogs of War wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerpt I was frankly a little surprised to see that Jay Rosen, a big proponent of more open journalism, has his panties all in a bunch over the recent Carrie Lukas column in the WaPo. You’d think he’d be the first to applaud the appearance of an opinion (in a major paper, no less!) that runs counter to the doublespeak of feminism we’ve been force-fed for decades, but nooo… He calls it a “deeply foolish act of publishing.” Did he not say once : “We’re headed, I think, for schism, tumult and divide a [...] [...] Blogs of War wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerpt I was frankly a little surprised to see that Jay Rosen, a big proponent of more open journalism, has his panties all in a bunch over the recent Carrie Lukas column in the WaPo. You’d think he’d be the first to applaud the appearance of an opinion (in a major paper, no less!) that runs counter to the doublespeak of feminism we’ve been force-fed for decades, but nooo… He calls it a “deeply foolish act of publishing.” Did he not say once : “We’re headed, I think, for schism, tumult and divide a [...]

]]> By: Arnold Harris http://deanesmay.com/2008/03/04/you-cant-have-it-both-ways/#comment-150582 Arnold Harris Tue, 04 Mar 2008 14:14:55 +0000 http://deanesmay.com/2008/03/04/you-cant-have-it-both-ways/#comment-150582 All true, Trudy. Here in Wisconsin, the Madison Capital-Times is shutting down its daily printed edition and is starting an online newspaper. Which, in current practice, means a large-scale open forum of opinion. The nice thing about blog sites is that you no longer have to negotiate with a newspaper editorial page editor to publish a shrunken down 800-word version of your great thoughts of the week. Now, you just post it online. And in the case of some blogsites, you will have more readers than if you had it printed in a daily newspaper. Arnold Harris Mount Horeb WI All true, Trudy.

Here in Wisconsin, the Madison Capital-Times is shutting down its daily printed edition and is starting an online newspaper. Which, in current practice, means a large-scale open forum of opinion.

The nice thing about blog sites is that you no longer have to negotiate with a newspaper editorial page editor to publish a shrunken down 800-word version of your great thoughts of the week. Now, you just post it online. And in the case of some blogsites, you will have more readers than if you had it printed in a daily newspaper.

Arnold Harris
Mount Horeb WI

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