Day By Day

Sunday, March 04, 2012

Trolls and Creeps

Mickey Kaus, the sanest Democrat on the internet, passes on a report of a "near perfect experiment":
I just watched John Avlon’s Daily Beast commentary about the ugly tweets celebrating Andrew’s passing. His underlying logic, like some other commentary I’ve read, seems to accept that the vicious attacks from the left (which he counsels them to suppress out of good taste and decency) are a direct response to Andrew’s combative and aggressive personal. ‘It’s true, Andrew was a lightning rod. So, it’s natural, if regrettable, that you are reacting as you are. But try to contain yourself, people. Do the right thing, for goodness sake.’
Regretfully, I must remind these deans of civility that when Tony Snow announced that his cancer had returned, gleeful cheers rose up from prominent quarters of left. Tony, as absolutely everyone knew, was courtly, contained, a devout Evangelical Christian, who’s unflappable public style could not have been more different than Andrew’s flamboyant, and, yes, often combative personality. It didn’t matter. It doesn’t matter. Low key, or fever pitch. The standard that counts is influence. If a conservative has it, they can expect to be savaged, even in death. And Andrew knew this.

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