Dyson vs. Breitbart
Readers will know I am no friend of the Republicans (this as one of a billion possible links) — and though some attentive reader is going to claim that this is another instance of my thinking that a prominent black man is full of shit, Andrew Breitbart was fucking railroaded on Bill Maher by Michael Eric Dyson, the studio audience, and (to a somewhat lesser degree) by Maher himself.
Did anyone see this bullshit?
Breitbart confronted Maher by asking him to provide references when he accused Rush Limbaugh of racism. This is not impossible to do, and Dyson did provide some (one of which was even relevant) — but Maher? He passed the buck, asking if Dyson “wanted to take” that one. Back up your own fucking claims, man.
Dyson (and, look, I’d say this in a moment about Dershowitz, Paul Kurtz, or any number of other people — this is not a black thing) indeed did try to steamroller Breitbart with ten dollar words (yes, I knew them all, and I would still be a dick if I spoke like that in an argument, which I expect I’ve done); insinuations of speaking in “code words” when it was very clear (to me) that Dyson was doing this very thing; and self-conscious affectation of urban African-American diction at precisely the points one would choose if one were suggesting that Breitbart was himself a racist.
Breitbart was completely right that Social Security is a “box of magic” that needs to be confronted. Breitbart was completely right that it is disingenuous — he didn’t use these words, I’m speaking for him now — to hold up Obama as a paragon of virtue and call Clarence Thomas a “ventriloquist’s dummy” (yes, Dyson said that — actually, he said “a ventriloquist”, but I think I got what he meant.) Breitbart was off the map when he laid into “black studies” professors and “post-structuralist” intellectuals, and in a number of other places, but look — ok, don’t look. I have no idea who is going to jump on this thread, or what accusations they are going to make. But I will stand to my last breath demanding that someone fights fairly. What I’m saying:
- If you make an accusation and you cannot cite references, you are a dick.
- If you respond to someone’s point, delivered in simple language, by laying in with long words and demanding the other person “let [you] finish” when you did not allot them the same courtesy, you are a dick.
- If you continue to rework your argument when challeneged, and then claim that that’s what you’ve been saying all along when it is completely clear that you have been doing nothing of the sort, you are a dick.
- And, yes, I’m a dick.
Oh, and by the way: what the hell is a “talking eTrade baby”?
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March 16th, 2009 at 09h37
It really is inexcusable that they didn’t have any concrete examples (a quick look here pulls up dozens of them in a matter of seconds), given that it was clear that the topic would be discussed.
On the other hand, it’s not much of a surprise. I’ve held the opinion for a while that Bill Maher does a decent job of telling jokes, but seems like he seldom does the sort of research necessary to back them up if anyone calls him on them.
March 16th, 2009 at 19h01
Oh, shit, man. Those Limbaugh quotes are nauseating. I only made it through a fifth of the page before giving up, but it should be noted that I found about twenty quotes in that time that could have been concrete examples to be thrown back at Breitbart, and that I am not in charge of fact-checking a major television show, under which circumstances I would swallow the bile and, um, swallow the bile.
I’d give Maher a little more credit, but only go so far as to say he is hit-and-miss when it comes to research. Frequently he has exact numbers to cite (which I assume to be correct — foolish?), and sometimes he misses the boat entirely and deflects his lack of preparation with a snarky comment. I still have a crush on him, though.
October 16th, 2009 at 10h22
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