First of all, I have nothing personal against Donald Douglas. However, I feel this to be a bit nasty:
I saw this Will Wilkinson piece earlier and read it all: “A Libertarian’s Lament: Why Ron Paul Is an Embarrassment to the Creed.” I didn’t bother commenting on it because Wilkinson’s not worth it. He’s a drug-addled leftist, IMHO, and a pretty much typical libertarian. So, what do you know, but American Glob has picked up the slack, “In Which I Respectfully Disagree With Will Wilkinson” (via Glenn Reynolds):
Firstly, let me say this; I have not always agreed with Will Wilkinson either. Wilkinson is an uncompromising libertarian and I respect the man for that. However, I feel that Donald Douglas is being a bit nasty here. With this logic, I could be considered a “Drug-Addled” leftist as well. I did smoke my share of weed back in the 1990’s when I was living a bit crazier than I do now. Not only that, I also voted Democrat for most of my young life, that is until 2008, when I decided that the “Herd Mentality” was not going to cut it anymore.
What I am saying here is simply this; as someone who has flung my share of manure at the left in the past and at the right a few years back — having an opinion is cool and I do not dare try to stifle that at all. However, using this sort of over-simplified logic is not only silly, it cheapens the debate and it discredits the right-wing Blogosphere. Not only that, but Douglas is also venturing into libel territory. I mean, it is one thing to say that Wilkinson is wrong and here is why; but it is another entirely to insinuate that the man has a drug problem and because of that, he cannot think clearly. One is expressing your opinion; the other is making a wild accusation that could get you sued.
Again, I am not picking on Douglas, and I hope he does not get angry. I just wish that our side, whatever stripe that they might happen to be; would use a little bit more thought into their blog postings. I did bust Don’s chops a bit in his comment section. I could yowl on about Douglas being a “big government” Conservative, as most Neo-Cons are, but that is not the point. The point is, that slams like this, do nothing more our side at all. If we are going to sling poo, sling it at the other side — not at a sublet within our own ranks.
Update: It seems that Donald Douglas is taking this personally and made it about me. He responded in the comments of his blog, linking to post defaming me. So, this discussion is over. There two columns of Conservatives; ones that I like and ones who do not like me and I do not like and do not link to. Douglas is now in that second column now. As a parting shot, no damned wonder there are people trying to get him fired from his job.