Of the many forms of cruelty, that directed against those who are weak or powerless is one of the worst. Of itself, it undermines whatever legitimacy a person can claim by virtue of intellectual or professional distinction. Societies and governments will have elites—that is simply inescapable, except perhaps in an ancient city state, and probably not even then. But in a free society, for those elites to exercise their power—their very real power, as those subject to it well know—they have to do so with restraint and good judgment.
He is referring in part to Ed Whelan, who made an accusation, which he later retracted, against what he called a “Kavanaugh look-alike.”
1. I really strongly endorse the first sentence of the quoted paragraph. My philosophy is “punch up, not down.” There is a columnist who writes often for Medium. Every column boils down to “America is bad. Capitalism is bad. American capitalism is bad.” If you’ve read one, you’ve read them all. The Medium editors plug him relentlessly. Probably 8 out of 10 emails I get from Medium highlight one of his columns, and that annoys me.. But I let it go. I would much prefer to go after two Nobel Prize winners.
2. I have another strongly-held view, which is that I should avoid commenting on whatever news story is most prominent at the moment. There are many reasons for that: don’t feed the trolls; write for the long term, not the short term; write where you can add value; etc.
3. But I admit that the Kavanaugh story grabs me somehow. So here goes.
[paragraphs deleted]
On second thought, no. Everybody’s nerves are too raw. I am back to my principle of letting the hot news story of the day pass.