I got the biggest kick out of Steve Duin's column today.
The great thing about "limited world view" liberals like Duin is that they often write from a presumptive starting point, absolutely certain that any normal reader will share the values reflected in that presumption, because, well, there are only two reasons why someone wouldn't: either he is stupid, or he is evil.
The column was about the diverging paths two Washington High grads took in their careers and their politics. On the one hand is Dianne Linn, and on the other is a guy named Stephen Bradbury, who is now an assistant U.S. Attorney General. They were great friends in high school, but now, they are so politically different!
Duin seems astounded by how someone could travel the political path that Bradbury has taken. There's lot's of wierdness in Portland, says Duin in is opening sentence, "but you'd have a difficult time topping this:"
I'm thinking, reading it: OK, what is coming? What is the wierdest thing that has happened in Portland, according to Duin?"
This Stephen Bradbury fellow, who grew up in Portland's Sunnyside neighborhood ("a mecca of social justice and progressive politics") actually argues that waterboarding is not torture, and once even worked for Clarence Thomas!
That pretty much takes the cake! How could anything be wierder than that? "It makes absolutely no sense to me," he quoted Dianne Linn as saying.
In Steve Duin's world, there is no legitimate argument about these things. That a person could grow up in Portland, have Dianne Linn as a close friend in high school, and then diverge so dramatically from the "progressive" path is just so .... inexplicable! It pretty much blows the mind. There can be almost no explanation.
Dianne Linn - she's the right kind of person. Grew up in liberal Portland, went to liberal Portland State, and maintained her liberal values. We won't mention that she is an incompetent disaster as a manager, a politician, and and in her personal life. We won't mention the Vulcan interpreter, the snow day pay, the same-sex marraige rebuke. We won't mention being drummed out of office in a landslide by the very same liberal voters in Multnomah County.
No, in Duin-world, Dianne Linn is the beacon of virtue. It doesn't matter how much of a mess she has made of literally everything she has touched. This guy Stephen Bradbury -- Stanford Grad, Michigan Law, U.S. Attorney - no, HE is the one to have scorn heaped upon him, because remember: there are only two reasons someone would not share those progressive values - he is evil or he is stupid.
Stupid is off the table on this guy, obviously. So he must be evil. And why would Steve Duin need to be fair or nice or even so much as presume good faith about someone who is evil?
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3 comments:
Come on, Rob. Get your facts straight. It was Klingon.
HIja'qaStaH nuq toH, tlhIngan Hol DajatlhlaH 'e' Da
That roughly means: Yeah, what he said.
I have reviewed several Duin columns this year and have not found anything constructive in content or by suggestion. A case in point was his article (April 13th Living section Pg 1) on two Lake Oswego grads who are first year Teach For America teachers in bottom-of-the-barrel schools in Baltimore and Chicago.
Steve made note of the hazards both young teachers face and the heroic efforts both teachers and one Chicago student are making.
Nothing was said of the fact that some very effective inner-city Kipp Schools were founded and now operated by former TFA teachers. Nor did Steve have any information or comment as to why there are no TFA teachers in the Portland district.
Gus Miller
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