Jonah Goldberg: Hater. At least, that’s what David Frum might label him, given Goldberg’s refusal to sign on to the “no labels” idea.
Writes Goldberg:
What no-labelers really mean is that they don’t like inconvenient disagreements that hinder their agenda. And that’s what is so troubling, indeed so undemocratic, about this claptrap. When they claim we need to put aside labels to do what’s right, what they are really saying is you need to put aside what you believe in and do what they say. When activists say we need to move past the partisan divide, what they mean is: Shut up and get with my program. Have you ever heard anyone say, “We need to get past all of this partisan squabbling and name-calling. That’s why I’m going to abandon all my objections and agree with you”? I haven’t.
No Labels says it’s “about taking the politics out of problem-solving.” It is amazing how cavalierly people say this sort of thing, as if it weren’t the rationale behind pretty much every dictatorship since the dawn of man. Nearly once a week, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman gives voice to his full-blown man-crush on China’s one-party dictatorship because — according to Friedman — the Chinese, unlike us, can implement “optimal” policies without getting bogged down in such distractions as elections, the rule of law, human rights, etc.
Look: You can’t take the politics out of problem-solving. Politics, even in China, is the art of problem-solving. People aiming to yank the politics out of government invariably end up removing the democracy instead.
See? Hate.
He just made the list.
Jonah’s having a field day with #aworldwithoutlabels over on Twitter. Sample:
People formerly known as pedophiles rejoiced today at the news no one was going to use labels anymore.
Animal formerly known as “cat” still refuses to fetch, even though liberated from the “cat” label.
DHS announced today it will stop screening for “terrorists” because that is just a label, and a hurtful one at that.
I would have told you you were about to drink poison, but poison is just a label and I don’t believe in labels.
hey mabel-fetch me another black label
“When it says Libby’s Libby’s Libby’s on the…”
Nuts.
Look for the union… Shit!
i label my shoes–left-and the other one…right
believe it not-it helps
Well, that is unhelpful to say the least.
fragile-this side up…
does anybody believe that?
let’s throw stones at glass houses!
i’m dieng to cut off the label on my mattress
that says do not cut,penalty, blah, blah..
cuz i’m an outlaw!
and i wear a PONCHO!
If I had the time I’d do some Lexis Nexis searches on all the participants to see just how bereft of labels and partisanship they’ve been for the last ten years or so. Convenient that this outfit pops up in time to make the attempt to save Obumbles and his agenda from himself.
I think Frum spent his intellectual capital quite some time ago. Bought Twinkies with it.
tables!
you go all in..i see ur face through ur cigar smoke
as u hunt..
as u lean on the table..to throw ur winning hand down
all proud and smiley..
guess wht- i got a gun
sorry to end ur fun..
label me-cheater?
as my horses clop clops echo in the distance
a smiles just a frown
turned upside down..
a person who becomes a clown
will eventually kill ur cats
he will drown them..in a bag
don’t mix ammonia and bleach
I think Frum spent his intellectual capital quite some time ago.
Does anyone even attempt to defend Frum with the argument that his history fo the 70s is a good (allegedly) book? You use to hear that when he first started on his current can’t-beat-’em-gotta-join-’em kick. I don’t know if it is or isn’t, and I doubt I’ll ever find out. He’s written too much risible dreck since then for me to contemplate investing any time in it.
Frum’s like David Brooks that way. The only time I ever read him is when somebody else is quoting him before kicking him around.