November 12, 2003

Rhetorical Moderation for Thee...

Posted by Kieran

But not for me. David Bernstein today:

EGREGIOUS MISUSE OF THE LEGACY OF NAZISM:
Soros believes that a “supremacist ideology” guides this White House. He hears echoes in its rhetoric of his childhood in occupied Hungary. …

Yes, the Nazis were at war, and the United States is now at war. … What all this has to do with a “supremacist ideology” in today’s U.S. is beyond me, and I’m sure beyond Soros as well. Just goes to show that the fact that someone is a brilliant businessman and philanthropist doesn’t mean he always exhibits common sense.

David Bernstein yesterday:

But my ultimate concern is that the radical Left would like to bring to society as a whole the kind of authoritarianism they are constantly trying to, and sometimes succeeding in, bringing to universities … [their] ultimate goal, to be achieved through “harassment” law, hate speech rules, and changes in First Amendment jurisprudence, is to have the government enforce PCism throughout society. … By 2003, Robert Martin, a professor of constitutional law at the University of Western Ontario, commented that he increasingly thinks that “Canada now is a totalitarian theocracy.”

Just goes to show that [fill in the blank yourself]. On mature recollection, Bernstein has edited his post to tone down — I mean, clarify — its more wild-eyed bits, in response to several critical comments.

Posted on November 12, 2003 12:03 AM UTC
Comments

Heh.

Nice catch Kieran.

Of course we know, only Stalinist Commie Theocrat Authoritarians ever accuse their opponents of being totalitarians. David’s side never does that.

Posted by Andrew Edwards · November 11, 2003 09:36 PM

Bernstein is one of the main reasons I don’t read Volokh regularly anymore.

Posted by Keith M Ellis · November 11, 2003 10:50 PM

As a matter of law, of course, the United States is not at war, but why let that spoil a good trope?

Posted by paul · November 11, 2003 11:20 PM

Godwin’s law was abolished last February, based on the preponderance of evidence that most people are Nazis.

Posted by zizka · November 12, 2003 12:12 AM

Bernstein is one of the main reasons I don’t read Volokh regularly anymore.

You can skip Bernstein like this:

http://volokh.com/index.htm?exclude=davidb

Posted by Biff · November 12, 2003 01:00 AM

Guess they don’t miss you too much, having hit 20,000 unique visitors for the first time yesterday, and having their most traffic ever last week (click on the extreme tracking icon at the bottom the Volokh page).

Posted by Johnnyboy · November 12, 2003 01:52 AM

On mature recollection, Bernstein has edited his post to tone down — I mean, clarify — its more wild-eyed bits, in response to several critical comments.

That’s nice. Now, in order to put the universe back into ideological balance George Soros should travel back in time and kill his past self before he utters those intemperate words. Failure to do so will be considered definitive proof that conservatives are more sober and mature than liberals.

Posted by Andrew Northrup · November 12, 2003 02:25 AM

“Guess they don’t miss you too much, having hit 20,000 unique visitors for the first time yesterday…”

Well, yeah, since most people prefer Bernstein’s partisan hackery over Eugene Volokh’s more thoughtful and unpredictable musings. Bernstein’s posts ensure that, for example, Volokh’s politically (conservative) incorrect defense of gay rights and critique of homophobic scholarship scroll off the front page before the rabble notice them and get confused.

Posted by Keith M Ellis · November 12, 2003 07:50 AM

Hungary in 1930, when Soros was born, was ruled by Miklos Horthy, a fascist and/or authoritarian. Horthy had no trouble getting along with Hitler at first, but was eventually kicked out of the Axis for not being anti-semitic enough.

Posted by Arthur D. Hlavaty · November 13, 2003 01:55 AM
Followups

This discussion has been closed. Thanks to everyone who contributed.