Glass Maze Every jumbled pile of person

Vitriol

A brief word on vitriol. I mentioned in my last post that I sent a note to Josh Marshall the other day, objecting to a point he’d made about the Israeli incursion into Lebanon; and then, incredibly, I accused him of being in favor of murdering civilians.

Every time I read over my note, that nasty bit of unsubstantiated, outrageous meanness reaches out and slaps me in the face; and the more I read it, the harder it slaps. It’s punching me now, full roundhouse punches, nose crunching blood-spattering punches. Really, I can’t believe i said it.

I sent him an apology, of course, but the fact remains that the words dribbled out of my fingers and onto the screen without first passing through my decency filter, which I like to think stretches across the aperture of my mind like the Great Wall of China: unporous, impassible, absolute. Don’t know how it got through, but it did.

I agree with what Kevin Drum said recently, about why bloggers — and in particular, liberal bloggers — are so reluctant to post anything about the Middle East:

1. It sparks unusually vicious comment threads, something this blog hardly needs since comments here spin out of control often enough anyway. Needless to say, this phenomenon is fairly universal …

2. As with the conflict itself, punditry is heavily dominated by extremists on both sides. I normally take my cues on subjects I’m inexpert in from people whose sensibilities are similar to mine, but it’s nearly impossible to figure out who those people might be in this case.

Is this me? Is he describing me? One of my policies in life it to always approach a mirror prepared. Know where they are, don’t let them sneak up on you, and when you do look into one, make sure your face is composed into the person you expect to see. Firm up those jowls. Smile pleasantly, or glower handsomely. Don’t slouch.

Reading my note to Josh is like being surprised by a mirror, over and over again, and over and over again seeing someone you’d really rather not be.

I don’t think I’m wrong about what’s going in Lebanon right now. I don’t think I’m wrong about the basic injustice of the Israeli bombardment. I don’t think I’m wrong in my assessment of Bush’s stance on this whole issue.

But still: I wish I could be less unattractively right.

gah, that’s why editing is so important. i don’t write about politics for fear of the evil twin taking over. some manage it, some occasionally manage it etc.