A rebuttal for Mr. Troyan
Damn you, Scott Troyan. Your irresponsible leftist postings have spurred me to create a "Politics" category against my better judgement. I want you to know how much that upsets me. You couldn't have waited for Betacrat to be done, could you? You made me do this, Troyan, and for that, I shall never forgive you.
To briefly rehash the events leading up to this post, let's examine history:
- SenatorJohn McCain speaks at Liberty University, stomping grounds of our favorite Mr. Fallwell.
- Jon Stewart goes on air and derides Falwell; no surprise there.
- Senator McCain, in the interest of equal representation (or stumping, you decide), makes a visit to The New School, a university so far to the left that they probably offer courses in how to hold your roach clip while protesting the government. Their heads probably exploded when the ACLU, defender of substantive due process and protectors of fundamental rights (read: things you are by no means guaranteed in the Constitution), defended the KKK in court.
- Senator McCain is subsequently booed and verbally "assaulted" by both the student charged with introducing him and the crowd of graduates and faculty.
- McCain, always the class act, acts completely unfazed by the booing and hostile crowd.
- I post this article.
- Mark Salter, McCain's Chief of Staff, issues a statement in which he questions the character of everyone in the crowd.
- Jean Rohe, crackpot savant and above stated speaker, responds to the statement on her blog (surprise, surprise).
- Scott Troyan, co-founder of TROYAN-O'GUINNSTOCKAPALOOZAFESTATHON 2006 writes this in his blog, yet conveniently disables the commenting feature because of a "technical issue."
- I, representative of common sense and guardian of the middle ground, decide to jump back in to the fray.
Mr. Troyan has this to say:
If like, Russ Feingold to (sic) Bob Jones University and they booed, hissed, and spat at him, my reaction wouldn’t be “OMG kids have no respect”, I’d instead laugh and be like what’d you expect, you doof? College kids are passionate and idealistic, no matter where their beliefs fall.
I disagree. If Russ Feingold went to Bob Jones University, he would undoubtedly be booed. My reaction would be the same; the people who find it in their best interest to boo and hiss during a speech or turn their backs when someone gets up to talk are representative of a culture in which it is perfectly acceptable to be rude and insulting. I find it terribly courageous for these people to go into hostile environments in order to promote some kind of understanding in a country that has become increasingly more divided in the past eight years. We have plenty of people to blame for this, Republican and Democrat alike.
We've lost a sort of social capital that we had before the "glorious" revolution of the 1960s. What we have now is a bunch of stupid liberals (and I mean that there are stupid liberals, not that all liberals are stupid) providing a voice to all the liberals, preaching this self-actualizing, socially divisive dogma that stems from the "I don't give a shit about anybody but me" ideology of the 1960s. It seems that the civil religion of America has become selfishness and apathy for God and country.
Yet I digress. The point here is that the reaction that Senator McCain received is indicative of the society in which we live today. We're nasty and brutish, devoid of courage and lacking respect. Our problem isn't the war in Iraq, it isn't an energy crisis. The real issues start at home. We've gotten to the point where speaking out and organizing protests is no longer effective. It's all too commonplace. What we really need is a little personal integrity. It'll be infinitely more difficult to be "pushed around" by the government and corporations, or whoever the popular oppressor at the time may be, if we actually stand for something other than turning our backs to a man whose character speaks more than his words ever could.
Also, I like Scott Troyan. I'm just not in like with him.
Comments
Well, first a quote from Mr. Salter's comment:
This statement seems rather "nasty and brutish, devoid of courage and lacking respect." It also fails to "promote some kind of understanding" while being "socially divisive" and lacking in "personal integrity." In representing Senator McCain it doesn't seem to say much about his character in any positive light.Who is Salter to say that college students don't know what it's like to work for a living? How dare he say that they must all be self-indulgent. Are none of them working while going to school? Are none of them paying their own way through college? Or, as you put it, supposedly a college. Who is he to say that it is "certain knowledge" that any person could fail to have "one small fraction of the character of John McCain." Is he a god or a man? Honestly, Salter's comments are just verbal abuse. They are cowardly and fail to address the issues. The ad hominem fallacy of logic comes to mind because it is often used when attacking the salient points is too difficult or impossible.
Jean Rohe, "crackpot savant" as you quaintly frame her, is absolutely right in arguing about the fact that "it was equally out of place no matter where it was delivered." She is addressing the issues and is not attacking anyone. Quite sound reasoning for a crackpot.
But here is something with which we might hold common ground. Said Kerrey, "will you stand and say what you believe when you know that heckling and laughter and boos will arise?" In mass protest this is not what speakers experience. In the safety of a disgruntled crowd this is not what speakers experience. However, on a blog, in an editorial, or among political adversaries, this is the case. This is also when it matters most. In agreement, nothing changes. If everyone agreed with McCain, he would have no reason to speak, for no one preaches that the sun will rise every morning!
However, it must be clear that McCain's past and his level of character have very little to do with the credence of his words. Words should be weighed apart from the speaker. If George W. Bush and Al Gore gave the same speech, it should receive the same response, modulo statements specific to the speaker. If McCain is "one man who should never be booed" then it doesn't matter what he says, right? Well, that sounds like crackpot logic to me.
Two more things:
If "our problem isn't the war in Iraq, it isn't an energy crisis. The real issues start at home." Then why are we in Iraq and why does the energy crisis seem to be a real problem in my wallet?
And, I respect your writing but it seems to rather personally abusive. Ok, I've read 3 posts... But that's just what I've seen from them. Keep writing and I'll keep reading. :)
Posted by: Samurphy | May 26, 2006 1:22 AM