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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