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 THE LIBERTARIAN ENTERPRISE Number 664, April 1, 2012 "The glue that holds the Left together"
Attribute to L. Neil Smith's The Libertarian Enterprise Elsewhere in this issue of L. Neil Smith's THE LIBERTARIAN ENTERPRISE, you will find an article about a young woman—a college professor—who thinks that anyone who disagrees with her about global warming should be "treated" for the "illness" their dissent reveals. We have also published the woman's photograph, which I believe makes an argument all by itself. But more on that later, as I get to it. An old friend, one of a handful of folks with whom I shared this photograph and insight chose to differ with me about it, saying, "to think it makes any kind of argument at all is the lowest of ad hominem attacks." Instead of informing him he was suffering an illness and needed treatment—which would be a lot (to quote the late, lamented Roger Price, the father of Mad Libs and Droodles) like all the people who believe the Earth is round gathering up all the people who believe it's flat, and shoving them off the edge—I wrote back to him, to wit: I disagree, my friend. I have had this argument with others, as well. I believe that hollering "ad hominem" is only a way to avoid arguments about character. I'm not saying you're guilty of that. If you had any more weight of character you'd sink to the center of the Earth. The dodge was established centuries—or perhaps millennia— ago. As you are aware, I am primarily a novelist, more and more concerned with the phenomenon of character with every book I write. I believe—no, make that I know—the kinds of things that influence a person's character and her (or his) subsequent actions. As a novelist, that is my province, and I won't be badgered out of it by anybody. I have also observed—and I'm sure you have, as well—the way that what's behind a person's eyes eventually begins to alter their external appearance. If Hillary Clinton, to name a most conspicuous example, was anything like a decent human being inside, she could have been almost pretty. Every necessary element was there for it to happen. But Hillary is evil, arrogant, and stupid. After about 50 years of that, swirling around inside her, wrenching her features this way and that, she now resembles the poisonous harpy that she is, not-so-deep inside. I'm also certain that you've noticed that many more conservative women are pretty than liberal women, and that many more libertarian women are pretty than conservative women. I suppose that the same thing ought to be true of men, as well, but I'm far from the one to judge. Read what Professor Kari Norgaard wants to do to her fellow human beings. It's almost certain that the way she looks has been a major contributor to the way she is inside. And to the extent that isn't true, the way that she is inside has written itself into the way she looks. Two more words and then I'm done: Madeline Albright. [To which my correspondent replied, "I'll see your Madeline Albright and raise you a Bella Abzug."]
Was that worth reading?
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