Monday, January 30, 2006

Condescension At Work

That is just about the only way to describe it. Via this editorial, we get this wonderful little exchange:

In response, I began to read verbatim quotes form Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and other Iranian rulers about their lethal intentions toward the U.S., their genocidal plans for Israel, their hostility toward “Anglo-Saxon civilization.”

Professor Amirahmadi objected that scholars and journalists must not take such remarks seriously. He suggested it was either unsophisticated or unfair of me (maybe both) to repeat such statements on the air.

By what measure does one use to judge whether a political leader can be judged by their words? This is saying that someone may not be taken seriously merely because... what? They use rhetoric that does not fit into the journalistic or academic paradigm? The decision to give credibility shows more of a high and mighty attitude on the part of the listener than any statement about the quality of the speaker..

If they can't be trusted to use words properly, then how can we trust them to have nuclear power? Even more, if they can not be trusted use words properly, how can we rely on the words they use in any negotiation?

Link via Castle Argghhh!

No comments: