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Wednesday, July 26, 2006

On Ad Hominem Attacks
as a Sign You're Getting Somewhere

Ann Althouse's current struggle with malicious commenters puts me in mind of this recent take on the Juan Cole controversy, at Chronicle of Higher Ed:


'At first the news that Yale had chickened out on hiring Cole alarmed me as a politically engaged professor who blogs. Fortunately, I got tenure in April, despite having an undistinguished and thus, perhaps, undiscovered blog. True, my scholarly expertise lies far from the life-and-death matters that we depend on Juan Cole to walk us through. Anyone who writes as well as he does about the Middle East, or any other bloody issue, is bound to attract low blows and ad hominem attacks. But my day may come. If it does, I'll know that I have made a difference.'
Posted at: 7/26/2006 08:10:00 PM