Anonymous fails to penetrate the veil:
I will never understand why Vox takes such pleasure in twisting someone’s hind most hairs. It’s perverse. heaven forbid that someone should accuse him of being inconsistent. You might as well say he lied.
That’s an interesting metaphor, and no doubt a Freudian would make great hay of it, but if you can’t understand the pleasures of literary sadism, well, then you’re probably not a writer. And considering that the column was fundamentally nothing but more homeschooling advocacy, inconsistency is a strange charge to level given my past record on the issue, unless one is focusing solely on the petty bits. Which Rat Spleen was, of course, doing.
The world is full of people that are going to misinterpret what you said no matter how clearly you say it. And there are some that are going to think you’re just plain wrong. Get over it. Reality bites.
Now, this is ironic. As Rat Spleen himself writes: “Here’s the neat part Vox, it was perfectly obvious only to someone with a good grasp of your personality and your viewpoints.” Like, perhaps, the regular readers of my column? You see, I not only am not surprised that many people will misinterpret my writing, but I have learned to expect it. After three years, it doesn’t even bother me anymore.
You’re so defensive. Did Ratspleen have a point maybe? Could you be wrong? Could you be inconsistent? Heaven forbid…that would make you human. We wouldn’t want that now would we? We’d all be terribly crushed.
Wrong about what? That children in public schools are at greater risk of terrorist attack than those being homeschooled? That the possession of the San Diego school district plans by an Iraqi in Iraq supposedly linked with terrorists is highly suspicious? I certainly CAN be inconsistent and incorrect, I just don’t see any explanation of HOW I was either, except in utilizing the fear-mongering tactics of the other side, which I certainly did in sarcasm.
As for being “defensive”, I am simply defending myself against Rat Spleen’s charges, as it would be both inconsistent and hypocritical to fail to do so in light of the way in which I have deplored Mrs. Malkin’s ostrich imitation.