Tuesday, December 17, 2002 :::
Instapundit quotes a critique of Michael Moore:
Moore is not interested in exploring complexity. He likes to find scapegoats - generally some mix of corporations, America, and "stupid white males" - and hammer them.
Well, yeah. There are a couple ways to do commentary -- you can go for a screed, to entertain those on your side and piss off the rest; or you can try reason. It's more of a range than a dichotomy, but Moore and -- on my side -- Ann Coulter are generally not going to convince anyone. When I'm up and at home for "This Week", George Will and Michel Martin always strike me as exceptionally reasonable -- even though I usually disagree with Martin, she challenges me to think about my views, rather than to yell "so's your mother" and leave the room.
Incidentally, I've noticed that sometimes Justice Volokh appears to miss this -- he logically, reasonably argues against a Moore/Coulter piece. If anyone can pull it off, he can (I'll not dis my betters), but it always seems a little strange.
::: posted by Steven at 6:33 PM
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