Infinite MonkeysI never thought I'd say this, but I actually feel kinda sorry for Joel Stein. No doubt he woke up on Tuesday feeling pretty good about himself for actually trying to make a statement in one of his useless columns. Then a mountain of shit came crashing down on his head.
It's a testament to Joel's naiveté that he thought he could lead off a column with "I don't support our troops," and not get spanked for it. Reading his piece, it's pretty clear to me that he was trying to take his rather asinine basic premise -- that it's hypocrisy to both protest the war in Iraq and support the troops -- and make it go down easier by coating it with some of his patented brand of humorless humor. He just did such an inept job of it that readers who weren't already aware that Joel and his works are utterly disposable took it seriously.
Now he has the likes of Michelle Malkin gloating about how Hugh Hewitt beat him up in an interview. I'll be the first to admit that fate has smiled far too kindly on Mr. Stein over the years, but nobody deserves to have to put up with that. Hell, even Lileks took a chunk out of him. That's like being beaten senseless by a garden gnome, and twice as humiliating.
It must be bewildering to Stein that the same pundits who for months have been spouting off that people who oppose the war also inherently oppose the troops now jump down his throat for attempting to make the same point. Worse still, his column was meant as a knock on the anti-war folks, so ain't nobody gonna be standing up for the guy. Least of all his editor at the Times, who really should have known better.
No doubt Stein's been chugging along all these years writing his dumb little columns and hearing nothing but, "Oh, you're so witty, Joel," from whomever actually reads his tripe. This must have been a pretty rude awakening. I feel for the guy.
Posted by Poochucker at January 27, 2006 01:03 AMSorry for him? Isn't that a little like feeling sorry for a stomach virus?
Dan
Posted by: Dan Patterson at January 27, 2006 05:30 AMHey, man. The stomach virus is just doing what it was made to do.
Posted by: Monkey RobbL at January 27, 2006 09:50 AMAlso, I have never actually been a stomach virus, though I've been told that the symptoms of having me are remarkably similar. This makes it somewhat difficult to empathize.
I have, however, been a naive writer who wrote something foolish and was subsequently faced with consequences far beyond his expectations. True, I had learned that lesson by the time I left high school, and the fact that Stein hadn't caught on well into his thirties just goes to show how inconsequential everything he's written to date has been. But I don't hold that against him. Not everyone can be as mature and sophisticated as your pal Poochucker.
Posted by: Poochucker at January 27, 2006 12:29 PMWell, at least he did have a cartoon of the Prophet.
Posted by: Monkey David at February 7, 2006 05:58 PM