Peeve Farm

g r o t t o 1 1

Peeve Farm
Breeding peeves for show, not just to keep as pets

  Blog \Blôg\, n. [Jrg, fr. Jrg. "Web-log".
     See {Blogger, BlogSpot, LiveJournal}.]
     A stream-of-consciousness Web journal, containing
     links, commentary, and pointless drivel.

On My Blog Menu:

InstaPundit
USS Clueless
James Lileks
Little Green Footballs
As the Apple Turns
Entropicana
Cold Fury
Capitalist Lion
Red Letter Day
Eric S. Raymond
Tal G in Jerusalem
Secular Islam
Aziz Poonawalla
Corsair the Rational Pirate
.clue

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10/6/2003 -  10/8/2003
9/29/2003 -  10/5/2003
9/22/2003 -  9/28/2003
9/15/2003 -  9/21/2003
  9/8/2003 -  9/14/2003
  9/1/2003 -   9/7/2003
8/25/2003 -  8/31/2003
8/18/2003 -  8/24/2003
8/11/2003 -  8/17/2003
  8/4/2003 -  8/10/2003
7/28/2003 -   8/3/2003
7/21/2003 -  7/27/2003
7/14/2003 -  7/20/2003
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6/30/2003 -   7/6/2003
6/23/2003 -  6/29/2003
6/16/2003 -  6/22/2003
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  6/2/2003 -   6/8/2003
5/26/2003 -   6/1/2003
5/19/2003 -  5/25/2003
5/12/2003 -  5/18/2003
  5/5/2003 -  5/11/2003
4/28/2003 -   5/4/2003
4/21/2003 -  4/27/2003
4/14/2003 -  4/20/2003
  4/7/2003 -  4/13/2003
3/31/2003 -   4/6/2003
3/24/2003 -  3/30/2003
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  3/3/2003 -   3/9/2003
2/24/2003 -   3/2/2003
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2/10/2003 -  2/16/2003
  2/3/2003 -   2/9/2003
1/27/2003 -   2/2/2003
1/20/2003 -  1/26/2003
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12/30/2002 -   1/5/2003
12/23/2002 - 12/29/2002
12/16/2002 - 12/22/2002
12/9/2002 - 12/15/2002
12/2/2002 -  12/8/2002
11/25/2002 -  12/1/2002
11/18/2002 - 11/24/2002
11/11/2002 - 11/17/2002
11/4/2002 - 11/10/2002
10/28/2002 -  11/3/2002
10/21/2002 - 10/27/2002
10/14/2002 - 10/20/2002
10/7/2002 - 10/13/2002
9/30/2002 -  10/6/2002
9/23/2002 -  9/29/2002
9/16/2002 -  9/22/2002
  9/9/2002 -  9/15/2002
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8/26/2002 -   9/1/2002
8/19/2002 -  8/25/2002
8/12/2002 -  8/18/2002
  8/5/2002 -  8/11/2002
7/29/2002 -   8/4/2002
7/22/2002 -  7/28/2002
7/15/2002 -  7/21/2002
  7/8/2002 -  7/14/2002
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6/24/2002 -  6/30/2002
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5/20/2002 -  5/26/2002
5/13/2002 -  5/19/2002
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4/29/2002 -   5/5/2002
4/22/2002 -  4/28/2002
4/15/2002 -  4/21/2002
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  4/1/2002 -   4/7/2002
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3/18/2002 -  3/24/2002
3/11/2002 -  3/17/2002
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2/25/2002 -   3/3/2002
2/18/2002 -  2/24/2002
2/11/2002 -  2/17/2002
  2/4/2002 -  2/10/2002
1/28/2002 -   2/3/2002
1/21/2002 -  1/27/2002
1/14/2002 -  1/20/2002
  1/7/2002 -  1/13/2002
12/31/2001 -   1/6/2002
12/24/2001 - 12/30/2001
12/17/2001 - 12/23/2001

Thursday, April 17, 2003
11:11 - Random Thought	(top)
So I got to thinking... There's a concept called a trusted opponent-- or if there isn't, there should be, and I'm coining the term right now. It's someone who, even though his position on some issue disagrees with yours, is logically and ethically consistent in his reasoning; it's not a raving lunatic, but neither is it someone who will waffle and espouse varying stances depending on circumstance or mood or audience, or use sneaky sucker-punches by way of argument. It's someone whom you wouldn't be ashamed to be convinced by. So-- who would be a more credible opponent: a liberal who expresses respect for Bush? Or a liberal who loudly repudiates Stalinism? In other words, does it give a member of a given group more moral authority to claim solidarity with that group's ideological opposition on certain issues, or to denounce the more extreme incarnations of his own group's ideology? I'm leaning toward the latter. I know that during high school, when I was tending to the liberal side on more issues than I do today, I would have been a lot more reassured by a Republican who loathes Pat Robertson than by a Republican who supports environmental controls. There's just something more soothing about seeing someone's eyebrows aimed at the slippery slope behind him than seeing his hands held out supplicatingly towards me. It makes me feel like there's less to worry about. And it would have been an excellent spur for me to think "Hey, maybe these guys aren't all nuts; maybe they have a point after all." If they repudiate their extremists, it tells me they're willing to sacrifice some solidarity with the members of their group that only they would support, in favor of coming to the table with their opponents on issues that all or most people should be able to agree (or at least compromise) upon. Seems reasonable to me. After all, is this about group loyalty, or about the relevant issues? That's the kind of predicament Islam is finding itself in, it seems to me. While it's well and good to hear of Muslims in support of our troops and the War on Terror, somehow it just doesn't do as much as would hearing of Muslims denouncing al Qaeda and the Palestinian suicide bombers and the like. Not just denouncing them either-- but also denouncing those among their own leaders and respected figures who fail to denounce such things. These would include folks like Altaf Ali, Florida director of CAIR, who steals his opponent's notes to avoid having to answer hard questions; and Kevin James, New York director of government relations for (yep) CAIR, who despite being featured in December's PBS special Legacy of a Prophet as Exhibit A on the list of patriotic American Muslims (a FDNY hero, no less), now has a severely hostile Arab News article vilifying Bush and the War on Terror. These guys don't exactly reflect well upon the faith, and nor will a lack of widespread condemnation of them. On the other hand, things like this really encourage me: an honest self-examination that isn't afraid to point out areas in which Islam might be lacking, or in which it could stand to benefit from the examples of other religions, if the goal is truly to aid ordinary humans in their everyday lives. I don't know how many people would subscribe to this fellow's viewpoint, but little would make me happier than to discover that "it's a lot". Links all via LGF, which has the odd property that although Charles Johnson's own text borders on bile-spewing generalist invective, the much more expansive pieces to which he links-- in major news sources like Yahoo News and Arab News and the BBC-- tend to justify his words, sad though it is. UPDATE: Speaking of LGF, this comment thread has turned somehow into Ex-Lefty Anonymous-- seems just about every reader is a former liberal who underwent a political shift with age, money, responsibility, and 9/11, while yet hanging on to many core liberal values. Lots of interesting personal stories, not one of them irrational (rationality and a willingness to agree to disagree on certain divisive issues is a hallmark there). Interesting moniker they've (we've?) adopted, too: Eagles.