On the Patterico/PW fight

I'm gonna go ahead and disagree with Eddie on the PW/Patterico fight. As Veeshir says, we've got to get our collective shit together before we can defeat the leftists and statists once and for all, and what Patterico and Jeff are arguing is a critical issue. 

I happen to agree with Jeff that going forward, we can no longer cede the meaning of our own words to the left, which is what most of the GOP leadership has done with Rush and us as conservatives(except Jindal!).  The problem with this is that unlike Rush, we don't have the ability to bring the wrath of millions of activists to bear when our words get twisted, and even then, even Rush himself can't stop the left and media from doing so anyway.  We've ceded language to the left too often already, and have paid a dear price for it.  The fatal flaw in Patterico's criticism of Jeff's arguments over the Four Words is that Patterico is arguing from a place of tactics, not strategy.  Tactics don't win wars, strategies do.  Even if it makes tactical sense to throw Rush under the bus, it makes zero strategic sense, which is the key, Jeff and most of us understand that, Patterico and most of the GOP leadership don't.

As you follow the argument, you'll notice that Patterico has offered up all kinds of different scenarios and arguments in an effort to try to make a dent in Jeff's arguments regarding language, to no avail.  Jeff hasn't had to make any adjustments in his argument, just simply applying his argument to the various scenarios laid out by Patterico (until it became an exercise in futility).  That isn't to say we don't need good tacticians, we need both, but the overall strategy has to take precedent.

As for the whole "threat" thing, silly crap, and I'm dismissing it as such.  I won't go so far as to attribute it to Patterico acting desperate as a result of losing the argument, but I think it is silly.

Posted by: doubleplusundead at 11:28 AM | Comments (131) | Add Comment
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Some Perspective...

Machinist over at TSW nails what has been going on in the dextrosphere the last few weeks, vis a vis what we face as a whole.

When two kids get into a fight at a kids’ game, that reflects badly on today’s standards of sportsmanship.

When the parents turn it into a riot, that reflects so sadly on our culture and our standards of parenting.

To see two prominent bloggers get into a disagreement and carry it way past the point where either was thinking with the big head is sad. They both lost credibility and dignity in this.

Their true friends would have tried to part them or calm things down until the hosts cooled off enough to part ways and make their cases to those who came to their sites to learn, leaving the other to do the same. Some regulars tried to do just that, to their credit. But too many preferred to join with the trolls from both sites in stirring up a riot and making any reasonable outcome impossible. The original issue is not even discussed seriously now. Each day I go to mourn the losses on both sides and I find the delinquents are still at it, trying to stir up a rumble for their own purposes or entertainment.

The enemy is laughing, a pox on both their houses.

I missed much of the PW/Patterico war, but it has turned very ugly and VERY personal. Maybe we should realize our common enemy. That's all I'm sayin'.*

*Yeah, I know. I have attacked Allah (and Ace for defending and protecting Allah), but a link whore who goes out of his way to antagonize 95% of his readership and fellow travelers just for a hit count uptick is different from a nasty, vitriolic feud between two guys who openly admit they share the common foe that leads to what has developed over the last few days.

And besides, if anybody should be acutely aware of menacing comments left at another blog that could be misconstrued as threatening, it's Goldstein.

Posted by: eddiebear at 12:40 AM | Comments (9) | Add Comment
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Photos from the Cincinnati demonstration

Pretty big crowd considering these sorts of marches are not really our kind of thing, and big cities aren't really known as conservative strongholds. 

Posted by: doubleplusundead at 06:27 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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What Is The Last Straw For You?

Mare mentioned something at H2 today that got me wondering.

Here is an excerpt:

In other words, what is the last straw for you guys?

Let me be clear: I favor democratic change at the ballot box, not violence. Voting the bums out? Yes. Protest? Yes. Paper Maiche Heads? Yes. Violence on any level*? Absofuckinlutely not.

But, it is a good point. What is the tipping point for most of us? Or, are we already there, and just need to bring the unwashed with us?

*Again, let me reiterate (especially since I will soon be working for Uncle Sam), I support only legal means of dealing with the political class. The ballot box and free speech is as far as I'll go, and anybody who goes beyond that is dead to me.

Posted by: eddiebear at 12:08 AM | Comments (16) | Add Comment
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