Annoyed by Pontificating Europeans

[Regarding Filippos Klironomos' letter, "The USA is a Cultural Midget":]

A graduate student from overseas takes some easy shots at the US and makes some points with which I quite agree. Unfortunately, he chooses to shoot us down from the perspective of the US as an "indispensable nation." On this web site? Huh!?

He reckons that ours is a culture of violence and fast food. Right on both counts. But the Euros annoy me so much with their pontificating. Whose idea was it to murder Christians in Serbia? ...It was those wonderful non-violent Euros, wasn't it? Last time I checked, Russia is in Europe, Germany is in Europe, plus Britain and France. …Where have most wars originated and what countries have started them?! But at least they pretend to not like fast food.

…Assuming that we as a people agree with anything our government says tells us much about [Filippos Klironomos] – because in his neck of the woods, that is probably true. Look at the uproar when Austria dared to assert a non-socialist opinion or two – the Euros nearly wet their knickers! But, sonny, here in the USA we regard government as a bunch of crooks and usurpers that will be dealt with one of these days…

~ Michael Peirce

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South Africa Is Not a "Third World Hellhole"

[Regarding Justin Raimondo's column, "Why They Hate Us":]

Justin's assertion that none of the African countries serving on the [UN Human Rights] Commission (including South Africa) could be described, in terms of human rights, as anything other than Third World hellholes is way off the mark… [The headline of] the article which (apparently) informs his thesis screams that South Africa is on the verge of tyranny… [But] the hardest piece of evidence it presents to this effect is the threat to fine newspapers which do not testify before the human rights commission – and that there were thoughts to legislate on racism in the media (something which never transpired).

The author of the piece…suggests that, "Freedom of expression is not the only casualty of the transition away from white control", as if there was freedom of expression under apartheid. He pretends the apartheid government made efforts to curb the spread of AIDS and crime among blacks, when the Truth Commission revealed apartheid-state-run programs meant to develop germs which would affect only black people… The racist government also fomented gangster-ism in black communities (to divert the struggle against apartheid), so the claim that crime was not rampant under apartheid…is ludicrous. What is accurate is that among white communities crime has skyrocketed, but that's because of the redistribution of resources… …Under apartheid only white people enjoyed police protection. …

~ Veli Msimang

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Propaganda

[Regarding Justin Raimondo's column, "Libertarians and China":]

You berate [Liberty magazine editor] Bradford for daring to believe the propaganda of the US government. Then you turn around and choose to believe the propaganda of communist China and its "useful idiot" travelers. Do you see the short circuit in your thinking or would you like a diagram drawn?

~ Dave Marciniak

As Monty Python famously stated, an argument is "a connected series of statements intended to establish a proposition." An argument is not abuse ("useful idiot," "short circuit in your thinking," "snotty-faced heap of parrot droppings") and it's not mere contradiction.

You assert that Mr. Raimondo believes Chinese propaganda, but you do not refute any alleged propaganda from his column.

Let's analyze one of Mr. Raimondo's arguments:

~SK

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