In Praise of Conor Friedersdorf

Posted on | June 21, 2013 | 29 Comments

Everyone who’s raised a child, or housebroken a puppy, knows the importance of rewards and punishments.* So it is with young pundits who show the occasional flashes of conservative or libertarian leanings: we must fisk them, or at the very least point and laugh, when they write something stupid for public consumption, but by the same token we must link and give praise when they write something worth reading. This is how we get to today’s reflection on a post by Conor Friedersdorf** at The Atlantic, notorious haven of half-bright intellectualoids of the “progressive” persuasion. Conor has been (deservedly) mocked on this blog for thinking he is smarter than he actually is and making noises about being conservative when in fact his writings would lead one to suspect that his politics are somewhere between Chris Christie and Megan McArdle, and I am being generous here.

Conor does a fine job of fisking epically stupid pieces by Jonathan Chait and Julia Ioffe (BIRM) who through the magic of advanced cognitive dissonance technology manage to claim that Rand Paul is some kind of Objectivist monster who hates personal freedom even while acknowledging that Paul has been on the right side of every fight this year over the First, Second and Fourth Amendments. “Everything is wrapped in paranoia,” Conor correctly observes. Read the whole thing; it is refreshingly free of backhanded slaps at the GOP and conservatives, and even if fisking Jonathan Chait is like shooting fish in a barrel with an automatic shotgun, it still needs doing, especially in the pages of websites like The Atlantic, which still makes some pretense of being politically neutral.

Tip o’ the Wombat’s fedora to Instapundit for linking the article and inspiring this.
*Actually, I’m beginning to suspect a lot of parents don’t know this, judging from the number of rotten little kids I’m exposed to when I go out in public.
**Yes, one “n” in “Conor”.

Category: Blogging, Libertarians

Comments

29 Responses to “In Praise of Conor Friedersdorf”

MrEvilMatt
June 21st, 2013 @ 12:16 pm

In Praise of Conor Friedersdorf: – by Wombat-socho Everyone who’s raised a child, or housebroken a puppy, know… http://t.co/lm1Np3JAzI
jwbrown1969
June 21st, 2013 @ 12:16 pm

In Praise of Conor Friedersdorf: – by Wombat-socho Everyone who’s raised a child, or housebroken a puppy, know… http://t.co/u83CCKGuGZ
Lockestep1776
June 21st, 2013 @ 12:16 pm

In Praise of Conor Friedersdorf: – by Wombat-socho Everyone who’s raised a child, or housebroken a puppy, know… http://t.co/c3sZ55czIR
preciseBlogs
June 21st, 2013 @ 12:25 pm

In Praise of Conor Friedersdorf http://t.co/pPckufFB3X #news #conservative #libertarians #blogging
rsmccain
June 21st, 2013 @ 12:27 pm

@smitty_one_each What? http://t.co/OEd1CTiKug
NASCARNAC
June 21st, 2013 @ 12:29 pm

RT @rsmccain: @smitty_one_each What? http://t.co/OEd1CTiKug
robcrawford2
June 21st, 2013 @ 12:30 pm

In twenty years the little turd might accidentally say something worth listening to.

Might.
Evi L. Bloggerlady
June 21st, 2013 @ 12:42 pm

Conor Friedersdorf managed to pee on the wee wee puppy pad? Yeah he needs to be praised for that.
Wombat_socho
June 21st, 2013 @ 12:42 pm

This appears to be one of those times.
Adjoran
June 21st, 2013 @ 2:08 pm

his politics are somewhere between Chris Christie and Megan McArdle, and I am being generous here.

Well, certainly not to Christie or McArdle!

[emphasis mine]
Adjoran
June 21st, 2013 @ 2:09 pm

Then back to relentlessly mocking him, and we’ll meet back here in 2033 for his next cogent effort, mmmkay? 😉
robcrawford2
June 21st, 2013 @ 2:31 pm

Meh. I’m not convinced. Noticing that the left casts anyone who shows any success opposing them as a monster is about as original an insight as “water is wet” or “the sun rises in the east”.
rsmccain
June 21st, 2013 @ 2:33 pm

On This Day in History: @wombat_socho agreed with @conor64 http://t.co/XMfQiOONn0
Richard McEnroe
June 21st, 2013 @ 3:09 pm

but by then we won’t be allowed to listen.
jakee308
June 21st, 2013 @ 4:04 pm

Yeah, I saw this too. I thought “crap, now I’ve got to give props to the little twerp”.

Still, a trend this does not make. I’ll be waiting to see if he reverts to his previous idiocy.

also; a stopped clock is right twice a day so this doesn’t alter my PAST opinions.

I will give him a teeny tiny benefit of the doubt in future but not for long.
TC_LeatherPenguin
June 21st, 2013 @ 4:05 pm

I’m of a thought what thinks, “OK, that’s it: you’re dead to me, ‘bat-boy.” One Enn took a shot he knew his keening Juicebox brethren would allow him to take. Cutting him slack is the same as affording it to the douchebag Weigel.
jakee308
June 21st, 2013 @ 4:08 pm

I think Weigel’s (I call him wiggle cause he’s such a little worm) douchbaggery is far greater than One Enn (I like that and will steal that forthwith). Wiggles is in an entire different class from One Enn and deserves NO, that is ZERO wiggle room. SWIDT?
Wombat_socho
June 21st, 2013 @ 5:47 pm

Well, no.
Wombat_socho
June 21st, 2013 @ 5:51 pm

Well, we have the rolled up newspaper ready in case he piddles on the carpet again. God’s mercy may be infinite, but our patience isn’t.

Also, Dave’s a friendly enough guy in person, but it’ll be a cold day in the Fifth Circle of Hell when I do a post like this for him.
TC_LeatherPenguin
June 21st, 2013 @ 6:24 pm

ahem…
Adjoran
June 21st, 2013 @ 10:00 pm

Know who else is friendly in person? Hookers! Run into them on the street, they are all sweetness, quite solicitous of your well-being, so to speak, anxious to be helpful. But when you pass them by, behind your back, it’s not so nice.

Sorta like Wiggles.
Wombat_socho
June 21st, 2013 @ 11:35 pm

Mr. Weigel and I don’t have that kind of relationship.
Jaynie59
June 22nd, 2013 @ 10:13 am

I am so sick of this kind of thing. Some liberal occasionally states the obvious and there will always be some conservative who feels the need to fall all over themselves in praise.
Anyone who has said a bad word about Mark Levin should never be praised for any reason at any time. Ever. I don’t care if they find a cure for cancer. When there is so much stupidity out there that flows from the mouths of prominent, elected, high-ranking Democrats every single effing day, why do so many bloggers write so many articles either attacking conservatives or praising hacks like Conor-with-one-N?
Never mind. Nothing, apparently will ever make you people mad enough to fight back effectively.
TC_LeatherPenguin
June 22nd, 2013 @ 11:27 am

“Anyone who has said a bad word about Mark Levin should never be praised for any reason at any time. Ever.”

You do realize Levin would kick your crotch if you said something that stupid within earshot, right?
TC_LeatherPenguin
June 22nd, 2013 @ 11:28 am

Wait… what?!
Jaynie59
June 22nd, 2013 @ 2:01 pm

He’d make mincemeat out of me for sure. I cringe at the way he treats his callers but I sympathize. I watch Fox News a lot and it’s really frustrating how few articulate talking heads we have on our side. Mark has no patience with inarticulate people so he’s short with his callers. Even those who love him.
But he’s hysterical when he gets a stupid liberal caller. I love Mark Levin.
Wombat_socho
June 22nd, 2013 @ 3:36 pm

Excuse me? “Falling all over themselves?” Do your reading comprehension skills suck that badly?
Jaynie59
June 23rd, 2013 @ 7:49 am

Andrew Breitbart was my hero. You insult me in defense of your promotion of one the worst tools of the Left?

One of the last things Andrew said was FU #WAR. He fought back hard because he knew how liberals think.

Don’t ever promote a liberal. Especially one who has repeatedly gone out of his way to trash true conservatives like Mark Levin. Who’s next on your praise list? The Dave’s? Brooks, Frum, and Weigel? How about Tommy Christopher?
Unbelievable.
Wombat_socho
June 23rd, 2013 @ 11:16 am

You also have no sense of proportion, and can’t tell a liberal from a libertarian. Advice from you, I don’t need.