Look, I realize that arguing with the guy is frustrating beyond all belief. I realize that he has an awful habit of using biased sources, and of using op-ed pieces as evidence. I’m not even going to try to defend him on these grounds, because criticisms to these effects are usually spot on.
But can we at least let the man make an argument before dragging out the tar and feathers? I’m noticing recently, at least in the only two december threads that I’ve actually opened, that he can’t seem to even start before people leap in with comments to the effect that december is a troll who can’t cite properly, or some such. It’s true that his citations leave something to be desired, but if it says absolutely nothing whatsoever about the OP, what in the fuck does it contribute to the thread?
Consider here, where two of the first comments made were “DNFTT,” and “I note you use an opinion piece as your ‘evidence.’”
Now, perhaps my reading comprehension skills are utterly deficient, but it seems to me that december hadn’t even advanced an argument yet, so he can hardly be said to be using an op-ed as evidence, can he? Certainly, he wanted a debate on the merits of the opinion piece, but where’s the claim that the opinion piece is accurate?
Similarly, here, december wanted to discuss the standard for op-ed pieces. Given his unfortunate proclivity for using them as citations, it could have been, perhaps, interesting and relevant. Unfortunately, not ten replies into the thread, we get the throw away comment that december’s posts don’t meet his own standards for op-ed pieces. Fine, and true, but… how does this add anything to the discussion of standards for op-ed pieces? Unless there’s some great big secret that people have failed to alert me to, GD threads don’t get printed in the Washington Post opinion section!
I’m as sick as the next person of seeing columns used as evidence, and seeing biased sources, and all the rest, but is it really too much to ask that we refrain from chastising him on some particular faux pas until he’s actually made the faux pas, and that we refrain from injecting random december bashing in a thread in which december bashing isn’t relevant?