Don't legitimize what is illegitimate

Submitted by Lawrence Auster (United States), Aug 4, 2005 at 16:35

I agree with Mr. Pipes's decision not to appear on tv shows with jihad and terror supporters, but I would add a further reason, beyond his "time of war" argument, which is that one should not appear with and thus legitimize people who don't deserve to be legitimized.

The classic example is Al Sharpton. He should have disappeared after 1988, when the Tawana Brawley fraud was revealed. Instead the media and Democratic estabishment gave him continued recognition, with the media constantly covering his every move, and top Democrats trooping up to his headquarters in Harlem to pay him homage. Instead of becoming persona non grata, he became a national figure. This would have been inconceivable in a previous era. It showed that the society, or at least the left and the media, had abandoned the most minimal standards, and so began to tolerate the intolerable, and normalize what should have been shunned.. .

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