While I agree with your general point against echoing fascist propaganda (I would not knowingly do it myself), I also think that this is a slippery slope leading to personal attacks, inquisitorial character assassinations and in extreme cases - persecution. I am aware that this can be a very powerful propaganda that sometimes can be used for a good cause, in most cases it has been used in sectarian rivalries and persecution of political opposition. This is also what separates "yellow journalism" (such as AIM or talk show radio) from the more reputable varieties - the former consists mainly of ad hominem attacks and character assassinations and the factual content, if any, is used mainly as a platform for launching such attacks.
Wojtek
On Tue, Jan 4, 2011 at 8:37 AM, Richard Seymour < leninstombblog at googlemail.com> wrote:
> On 04/01/2011 13:06, Wojtek S wrote:
> > [WS:] Because I thought that what he said about the US financing the
> > so-called democracy movement in Belarus (and by implication other
> ex-Soviet
> > states) was interesting. Are you saying that this is not true?
> >
> > PS. I do not know - nor do I particularly care - who Mr. Shamir is. I
> do
> > not find alleging personal connections to "imperialism" "fascism" or
> kindred
> > declared "public enemy" a very fruitful way of argumentation, although it
> > seems rather popular with inquisitors of various stripes.
>
> I am saying that he's a well-known Nazi provocateur and not someone the
> Left should be promoting. Shamir's support for Nazi movements, parties
> and ideologies is not an "alleged personal connection", it's an
> established public role, visible in his writing, most of which he
> doesn't go to any length to disavow.
>
> Obviously, I can understand your position if you don't consider such
> people enemies, or if the only issue that matters to you is
> "argumentation". But - snotty accusations of Torquemadism to one side
> - I do vehemently consider the organised devotees of the Third Reich
> enemies, and I do want them to be permanently smashed, finished as a
> movement and as a political option. And I would just like others on the
> Left to consider whether that is something they want too. If so, it is
> not conducive to that end to promote the works of those same people.
>
> In that light, whether or not you could construe something they say as
> "interesting" is as beside the point as if one were to have said: "I was
> reading Mein Kampf last night - Hitler! Very interesting guy, such a
> provocative read, so many telling points about the liberal elite! Eh?
> What? Antisemitism, you say? Crushing democracy, you say?
> Anticommunist, you say? Well, I don't find such accusations a very
> fruitful way of argumentation, comrade. I didn't expect the Spanish
> inquisition...".
>
>
> --
> *Richard Seymour*
>
> Writer, blogger and PhD candidate
>
> Email: leninstombblog at googlemail.com
>
> Website: http://www.leninology.blogspot.com
>
> Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/leninology
>
> Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Seymour_(writer)
>
> Book 1: http://www.versobooks.com/books/307-the-liberal-defence-of-murder
>
> Book 2:
>
> http://www.zero-books.net/obookssite/book/detail/1107/The-Meaning-of-David-Cameron
>
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