Wednesday, June 19, 2002

Charles Pierce on Dennis Pluchinsky:


From CHARLES PIERCE: All right, so now watch it happen. Dennis Pluchinsky publishes this rank idiocy which, in a more reasonable age, would have been one of those authoritarian wet dreams that somebody tapes to a lamp post in Washington Square Park, and that would've been the end of it. Watch now, though. He will be on at least five of the evening windfests in the next several days, along with some poor punching bag from the ACLU who will be forced to argue that, no, this is not Argentina. He will then move on to the more "rational" Sunday shows, where Tim and Sam and George and Cokie will chew their honorarium-fattened cuds, and gravely announce that Mr. Pluchinsky's views are "perhaps understandable" given how "we" are all so afraid these days. (Tim and Cokie likely will trot out the kids again.) And, like magic, into the mainstream debate go views that have as much to do with this ostensible democracy as a discussion of aliens in New Mexico do with the study of quantum physics. And anyone who thinks that Mr. Pluchinsky's views came oozing out of this Administration by accident hasn't been paying close enough attention since January of 2001. And, yes, I guess by Dennis Pluchinsky's lights, I am a traitor. Any free man would be proud to be.


from Medianews Letters.