Seth Finkelstein has a funny response to time-wasters in the DMCRA* hearings:
It would great if everyone could just take a loyalty oath at the start
and thus get beyond the endless querying about whether they believe in some sort of heretical radicalism… “I pledge allegiance to copyright, and to the intellectual property system
for which it stands, one compensation, responsible, with property and profit for all.”
Meanwhile, in the Iraq sector of blogworld, one of Josh Marshall’s readers complains that “the fact that you’ve .. neglected to give even one line to this guy [Nick Berg] who was brutally slain for being one of us just sickens me.”
Josh replies:
I could write a post saying that I thought Berg’s execution was horrifying and awful and that I couldn’t get to sleep last night because the ugliness of the images wouldn’t leave my mind. But what would that tell you? That al Qaida is awful and that I think they’re awful too? Perhaps I simply have nothing to add….
Now put Josh and Seth together, and you get not JSoesthh but a subtle way to solve the problem of mistrust when people who live in different echo chambers try to talk with each other.
I, a known Democrat, would raise my right hand and begin:
I do not despise America or love Osama. I do not have a maniacal hatred of rich people, churchgoers, or George W. Bush. I do think that ripping people’s heads off or putting them through a plastic shredder is worse than the worst allegations from Abu Ghraib.
Then you, an admitted Republican, would raise your right hand and respond:
I do not despise the Bill of Rights or love the idea of a police state. I do not have a maniacal hatred of foreigners, dark-skinned people, or homosexuals. I do think we should make sure that what happened in Abu Ghraib never happens in any other prison the US is running.
Then, we can talk.
* Digital Media Consumers Rights Act