Lithwick, Meet Google and Technorati. Google and Technorati, Be Nice to Ms. Lithwick. or Why Slate's Columnists Should Learn To Use A Bloody Search Engine
One of the many reasons I miss the Curmudgeonly Clerk: his habit of giving Dahlia Lithwick the pummelling she deserves for the sloppy left-wing drivel that passes for a "jurisprudence" column at Slate. Today, under the provocative headline Bring It On, the Doyenne of Dunce seems to having bizarre auditory hallucinations. In her madness, the roar of thunder all around her makes no more noise than a light spring breeze:
Or listen instead to the near-deafening silence from the columnists, advocates, and politicians who only weeks ago begged the president to ditch Harriet Miers for a candidate who would boldly and lucidly articulate the arguments against liberal judicial activism, "legislating from the bench," and the results-oriented judging that brought us decisions like Roe.
Much follows about a dearth of commentators who want to discuss--and want Judge Alito to discuss--jurisprudence and abortion.
Ms. Lithwick, it's possible that the near-deafening silence you hear has nothing to do with reality, and everything to do with the fingers you've got stuck in your ears. You show no sign of a penny's worth of research, and as such you should refund Slate whatever pittance they gave you for that misery of a column. I mean, you'd be nutty even to ignore the conversations going on in the blogosphere, but you missed Hugh Hewitt, for pity's sake! If your Silence of the Elephants includes the voice of a major conservative commentator, who do we need to get for you to notice? Should we re-dub the Mouth of Sauron? Perhaps request a papal emmissary be sent to you? Commission sky-writing?
(Readers are welcome to leave their own suggestions as to how Ms. Lithwick's attention might be garnered in the comments. Keep it clean.)
Fortunately, even with the Clerk's retirement, folks like Will Baude will do the five minutes of research necessary to prove the old adage about those who will not see. Even Mr. Baude, however, cannot explain how columns this bad keep being published. (One would have thought an editor, before publishing a piece grousing about a lack of controversy, would make a quick check to make certain there was indeed silence on the issue.)
