Monday, November 29, 2004

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry

A safe place to be in European society

CanadaCees (ip:24.67.253.203) 29 November 2004 - 20:43 uur

"Personal Issues Score" says it all...

Michael in SC (ip:68.209.214.4) 29 November 2004 - 12:54 uur

Why the adoption of the term "fisking"? Are you so tickled to be mentioned by Andrew Sullivan that you adopt his point scoring jargon? I would think as a journalist you would have some respect for Robert Fisk of the Independent, despite your obvious disagreements of his politics. I read and enjoy Andrew Sullivan, though I don´t agree with him very often.

Would you want to see the word "Sullivaning" to represent trolling for unprotected backdoor action on the internet?

Amstertim (ip:195.212.29.75) 29 November 2004 - 15:16 uur

1) It's not the first time it was used here, but anyway. To answer your question: because it's a common colloquialism for what the article I'm linking to does, and because the author of the article uses the term himself. Having just read 'Tell me no lies' (Jonathan Cape, London, 2004), which contains several articles by Mr. Fisk, I'm unhappy to say there may be a reason why this term became so popular. I had no idea Mr. Sullivan came up with it first. Mr. Sullivan has been criticised on this blog, by the way. I've never even written about Mr. Fisk before, until now.
2) No. The way you pose the question makes it really doesn't merit a more elaborate answer.

You must have an interesting definition of respect. Especially considering your closing comment about Mr. Sullivan. But coin the phrase, by all means ( maybe they beat you to it at http://sullywatch.blogspot.com ) Whether or not I would like it (or anybody else) really isn't the point. You have every right to, or at least, I feel you should have.

Arjan Dasselaar (ip:82.161.93.35) 29 November 2004 - 15:47 uur

The first point was one of professional courtesy among journalists, and the second one was rhetorical. I have no intention of creating a neologism to perpetuate a political and perhaps personal disagreement.

What ever happened to complaints about "demonizeren" in the dutch press? I miss those days

Amstertim (ip:195.212.29.67) 29 November 2004 - 16:46 uur

1) It is precisely as a journalist that Mr. Dasselaar shouldn't respect Fisk, in the same way that doctors don't respect phrenologists and biologists don't respect creationists. "Professional courtesy"? If Fisk behaved like a professional, that would be a valid consideration.

2) If Sullivan were iconically identified with that kind of irresponsible behavior to the degree that Fisk is identified with compulsive dishonesty while posing as a journalist, that'd make sense. That is to say: If Sullivan worked overtime for years to make himself a poster boy for high-risk gay sex, it would surely be reasonable to call him on it. (I really have no idea whether Sullivan has done that or not, and I don't much care. He's an adult. He's got a right to screw up his own life any damn way he pleases -- which brings us back to our putative topic, libertarianism...).

3) There is a very short list of questions on the test. I've seen similar libertarian tests before. It's easy to design a test that emphasizes issues where most people have relatively libertarian views, and to express the questions in a way that makes the libertarian view seem most sensible -- so most people who take it will get a relatively libertarian score. For a libertarian group, that's a great way to get people thinking they might want to join you. Like most outside-the-center political ideologies, libertarians are eternally in the business of trying to convince themselves and everybody else that they're really the majority. I once read something where Chomsky claimed that most Americans really, deep in their hearts, agree with him (this is not the only reason I think Chomsky's living in a fantasy world, but it's a good start).

So, I'd have to point out that these tests are fun, but not profoundly meaningful.

Marky Markov (ip:66.236.178.100) 29 November 2004 - 20:26 uur

Comment