sorry i asked rudely. your reply to me suggested that you aren't familiar with the pragmatist critique of truth and relativism so you were sloughing it off without giving it a chance. true, i didn't give you much to work with.
as for why it matters about fish: he's not a philosopher. he was responding to the comment rudy giuliani made to the UN: the age of postmodern relativism is over.
now, rudy is using it in a more common sense way and fish replied accordingly, as best he could. it seems to me that rehearsing the objectivism/relativism debate is not especially worthwhile in the context of a text written for a wider audience than academia.
anyway, bernstein's an excellent read on this topic. there is more to the objectivism/relativism debate than you would have it. it's not an either/or.
kelley