On Wed, 15 Jan 2003 14:32:13 -0500 Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com>
writes:
> Jim Farmelant wrote:
>
> > > the tergiversation."
> >
> >Exactly, how does Buckley think that you have been guilty of
> waffling
> >or equivocation?
>
> Not that - in this sense (from Dictionary.com): "the act of
> abandoning a party or cause." I.e., turning on the POR and
> publishing
> a quasi-marxist newsletter.
Well the dictionaries give two senses for the word:
1. To use evasions or ambiguities; equivocate. 2. To change sides; apostatize.
Possibly, Buckley himself is guilty of tergiversation, since it was not immediately clear whether he was charging you with being equivocal or evasive, or whether he was charging you with apostasy.
>
> > Now, I think that you have been guilty of that
> >on occasion,
>
> Hardly - just an appropriate recognition of the complexities and
> contradictions.
Of course Buckley and his friends have always used that line of argument against leftists, claiming that they had a better recognition of all of the complexities and contradictions that would subvert the best efforts of leftwing reforms.
>And adherence to Driscoll's Law: knowing what
> questions to ask your answers.
>
> Doug
>
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