tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post8730046429205245756..comments2023-12-20T04:18:41.617-06:00Comments on The Hunting of the Snark: Keeping The Little People In Line: How Authoritarians Maintain DominanceSusan of Texashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00076915322771385454noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-8453330052493386412010-07-26T15:14:46.845-05:002010-07-26T15:14:46.845-05:00No problem, brad.No problem, brad.Susan of Texashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00076915322771385454noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-67215902812332313972010-07-26T15:04:26.486-05:002010-07-26T15:04:26.486-05:00Sorry about the false lead, I'm still getting ...Sorry about the false lead, I'm still getting used to the newish comment system at the Atlantic.bradhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06907349163323395529noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-89671447515467119952010-07-23T17:59:46.747-05:002010-07-23T17:59:46.747-05:00To be an authoritarian while posing as a libertari...To be an authoritarian while posing as a libertarian is a pretty clever strategy.<br /><br />As long as your minions are really quite stupid.Downpuppyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10312490198813632190noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-42829190245432717902010-07-23T12:42:44.289-05:002010-07-23T12:42:44.289-05:00Well, now we know what Megan's like with the m...Well, now we know what Megan's like with the mask off--arrogant, mean-spirited,and 13 years old, mentally. A bright future in corporate America beckons....Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-32225186825188658342010-07-23T12:21:42.742-05:002010-07-23T12:21:42.742-05:00Apologies for the double post! Also, the tortured ...Apologies for the double post! Also, the tortured analogies.<br /><br />aimaiaimaihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03956073425680585780noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-86006171850821650622010-07-23T12:03:08.788-05:002010-07-23T12:03:08.788-05:00There are so many "tells" in that exchan...There are so many "tells" in that exchange--little verbal tics and flat out statements from Megan that are frighteningly revealing. To Megan the source of authority (and power) is not knowledge, or education, or the ability to marshall and deploy the relevant facts and arguments but the ability to be rude to another poster/person unchecked, or the ability to receive the attacks and arguments of another person without having it affect you. <br /><br />In striking back at Zosima she consistently attempts to gain, as she sees it, the upper hand by dismissing, ridiculing, and attacking Zosima not for the details of the argument ("anyone would know that GDP..." might be the form that would come in) but by attacking Zosima's standing to challenge Megan herself. And its part of Zosima's standing, apparently, that Megan can't be disturbed by comments from such as he. She repeats that over and over, in various ways. <br /><br />But such argumentation doesn't even make sense in an academic or intellectual setting. There's no such thing as les majeste. The fact that Megan is uncomfortable (or comfortable) when confronted by an irrefutable argument says nothing about the argument, or the opponent in the argument. It tells us how very insecure Megan must be, since she worries out loud about how she feels, and protests over and over that she feels nothing like embarrassment. But, she tells us, she feels no embarrassment at losing the argument because Zosima is the wrong class to make the argument, not because Megan hasn't lost. Zosima doesn't have standing to make Megan look bad, and the proof (the only proof Megan can adduce in the world of blog posts) is her insistence that she doesn't feel bad. <br /><br />I'd say she's a bit like the Black Knight in Monty Python. She's had her legs cut off, and her arms cut off, but she thinks if she keeps pretending not to care she might yet win the battle for public approval. And that's the last funny part about Megan, no body can protest louder that she cares nothing for conventional wisdom, the wisdom of crowds, or what people think of her--all the while keeping one eye anxiously on the mirror of her blog commenters good opinion.<br /><br />aimaiaimaihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03956073425680585780noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-1998900393148001412010-07-23T12:02:20.100-05:002010-07-23T12:02:20.100-05:00There are so many "tells" in that exchan...There are so many "tells" in that exchange--little verbal tics and flat out statements from Megan that are frighteningly revealing. To Megan the source of authority (and power) is not knowledge, or education, or the ability to marshall and deploy the relevant facts and arguments but the ability to be rude to another poster/person unchecked, or the ability to receive the attacks and arguments of another person without having it affect you. <br /><br />In striking back at Zosima she consistently attempts to gain, as she sees it, the upper hand by dismissing, ridiculing, and attacking Zosima not for the details of the argument ("anyone would know that GDP..." might be the form that would come in) but by attacking Zosima's standing to challenge Megan herself. And its part of Zosima's standing, apparently, that Megan can't be disturbed by comments from such as he. She repeats that over and over, in various ways. <br /><br />But such argumentation doesn't even make sense in an academic or intellectual setting. There's no such thing as les majeste. The fact that Megan is uncomfortable (or comfortable) when confronted by an irrefutable argument says nothing about the argument, or the opponent in the argument. It tells us how very insecure Megan must be, since she worries out loud about how she feels, and protests over and over that she feels nothing like embarrassment. But, she tells us, she feels no embarrassment at losing the argument because Zosima is the wrong class to make the argument, not because Megan hasn't lost. Zosima doesn't have standing to make Megan look bad, and the proof (the only proof Megan can adduce in the world of blog posts) is her insistence that she doesn't feel bad. <br /><br />The whole scene looks like some mashed up version of the Princess and the Pea, with Zosima putting more and more rocks in the bed of a pretend Princess and the Pretend Princess, having heard that no real Princess would notice the antics of the lower orders, rolling off the bed continually, covered in bumps and bruises, and rising to her feet saying (through clenched teeth) "why no, there were no rocks in my bed."<br /><br />Alternatively, I'd say she's a bit like the Black Knight in Monty Python. She's had her legs cut off, and her arms cut off, but she thinks if she keeps pretending not to care she might yet win the battle for public approval. And that's the last funny part about Megan, no body can protest louder that she cares nothing for conventional wisdom, the wisdom of crowds, or what people think of her--all the while keeping one eye anxiously on the mirror of her blog commenters good opinion.<br /><br />aimaiaimaihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03956073425680585780noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-24361630257154763782010-07-23T09:35:56.931-05:002010-07-23T09:35:56.931-05:00If zosima leaves, we just have to take his place.
...If zosima leaves, we just have to take his place.<br /><br />Pity, because s/he is truly excellent at it.Downpuppyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10312490198813632190noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-83197342075994133052010-07-23T01:16:45.955-05:002010-07-23T01:16:45.955-05:00Do we need to drag out the 2 x 4 post again?
Me...Do we need to drag out the 2 x 4 post again? <br /><br />Megan starts with her conclusions ("Give the rich more money," "Don't give the poor health care,") and then just throws whatever crap she can find or make up to "justify" it. The thing is, she really seems to think she's a wonk, and she's not even a good hack.Batocchiohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02193752396025012825noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-50597709291393215332010-07-22T18:53:00.240-05:002010-07-22T18:53:00.240-05:00Remember a Gene Wilder movie: "Sherlock Holme...Remember a Gene Wilder movie: "Sherlock Holmes SMARTER Brother"?<br /><br />Well, McArgleBargle is Doughy Loadpant's Smarter Sister, Snippy SoggyPanties. Only she's not 1/100th as funny as Wilder.<br /><br />Don't worry about her kids: they'll be as bad as her, maybe worse. When she gets old and erratic they'll shove her in a crappy Government-run nursing home, while making condescending insults and laughing at her.Kathyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03176801494652946278noreply@blogger.com