----- Original Message ----- From: Adrian <adrian at SAFINS.NE.JP> To: <CHOMSKY at MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU> Sent: Friday, October 20, 2000 5:28 AM Subject: [CHOMSKY] The 'Abdo Exception'?
> Tony declared:
> >If Yugoslavs want to criticize Milosevic for getting them
> >into a fight with The Big Guys, that's an entirely different
> >matter than [Chomsky] going to bat against Milosevic [...].
>
> Tony declared:
> >I don't defend Milosevic at all.
>
> Tony declared:
> > Milosevic headed a 'parlimentary democracy' and was not a
> >'dictator' of the Saddam Hussein variety.
>
> Tony declared:
> >Left opposition to Milosevic from citizens of the US and it's
> >NATO allies should be seen as giving ideological support to
> >NATO during its attack on Yugoslavia.
>
> So let me get this straight. According to Tony Abdo, you can be anti-NATO
> without being pro-Milosevic. However, you cannot be anti-Milosevic
> without being pro-NATO. Blimey. This makes discussing anything with him
> tricky! It would seem to me that Tony is trying to establish a sort of
> 'Abdo Exception' in terms of logical argument. Luckily for Tony, this
> tidy piece of sophistry is an exact match for his point of view! Being
> anti-X without being pro-Y, is not only permissible, it also serves "to
> state the obvious", as he puts it. So there you go. On the other hand:
> being anti-Y without being pro-X, he insists, is not only impermissible,
> it is also "particularly repulsive". The 'Abdo Exception' allows you to
> side-step explaining exactly half of what makes up your biaxial view
> (Tony does not address the Milosevic issue). Meanwhile, those of us who
> are passionately anti-NATO are suddenly rendered pro-NATO at one stroke
> of the 'Abdo Exception's deadly logic: you're not ALLOWED to address the
> Milosevic issue and, er... what's more, you support the U.S. Empire,
> unwittingly and DESPITE YOURSELF. Well. This discussing-things business
> is hard work. I didn't think so at first, but I now have a feeling that
> Abdoism is just Meechamism fleshed out with more words.
>
> Unless... I'm right about the parody thing. There used to be someone like
> that on the Medeski Martin and Wood list. Used to make really redneck
> remarks which wound everybody on the list up no end! I constantly thought
> he'd blown his cover but people kept falling for it. Not that Tony Abdo
> is a redneck, of course. Although, come to think of it, the proverbial
> visitor from Mars would not be able to differentiate between the shrill
> and inflexible pedantry of Tom DeLay and Tony Abdo.
>
> Are there any Chomsky admirers on this list?
>
> Cheers
>
> Adrian