Message for the choir

Submitted by Constantine Kipnis (United States), Oct 14, 2002 at 16:51

A cursory inspection of this and other discussion threads reveals a solid consensus of opinion. What's wrong with this picture, ladies and gentlemen? Daniel Pipes is, most commendably, a bulwark of sound commentary on Middle Eastern policy. Each time he writes an article or does a talk show, he should be steering the doubting Thomases to this site for re-education. This website should be a FORUM, not a plenary session of a central committee, which is how it currently comes across. All of you people with liberal friends need to challenge them to visit this site and contribute their misguided opinions, the better to crush them in an open debate.

As it stands right now, a casual visitor to this site would conclude that this is a conservative lair and would find no purchase... The trick to changing your adversary's mind is to engage him in debate, by hook or by crook - force him to voice his opinion, then force him to come to grips with the inanity of his own statement.

What we need is supplementary sidebar analysis of the published articles and talks, highlighting the misstatements, inaccuracies, and outright lies whenever they can be spotted. When an adherent of the Zinn school comes visiting, he would be bid welcome to a dissection of the Zinn cant - with references! As well as a standing invitation to pick up the gauntlet and challenge any of you gallant folk.

We can't lose but it takes two for a fight to take place and a mind to be swayed. A way needs to be found to turn Daniel Pipes' activity into an awesome debunking station rather than a reference site.

Any thoughts, anyone?

---

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".