aTypical Joe: a gay New Yorker living in the rural South

Wednesday, October 05, 2005

On Moonbats and Wingnuts

The Bostonian Exile, a Republican (in Boston?), has some thoughts on Moonbats and Wingnuts:

...or rather the level of disrespect embodied in those two words.

They are words I have never used, and they are words that I intend never to use against specific individuals. Of course, I—like everyone else—have read things on the Internet that have led me to question the author’s sanity. Usually, I will give an argument a full and fair chance, but sometimes things are just too incredible to pass the giggle test. That’s the way the world is, and so goes the blogosphere. I accept that, and you have to do so to stave off misanthropic tendencies. That said, I generally consider it a defeat to resort to name-calling.

I don’t use those words either (except this once). I don’t read rants; I find them culturally destructive and intellectually lazy. I notice that lots of sites that do get good traffic and sometimes wonder… But I am not tempted.

Overall, the tenor and tone of my small audience, my site and those I read regularly, is quite high. Whenever I see those words I wince, and find that it works to undermine, rather than augment, the argument being put forward.

Via Joe Gandleman.