answering Malign assertions

[Terrance]

Doug Millison wrote:
> 
> Malign,
> 
> I'm surprised you're bucking Terrance's insistence that we only talk about
> Pynchon's texts in this forum.

I'm not insisting that we limit discussion to Pynchon's texts. 
I'm not limiting my posts to Pynchon texts. 
I don't want you to limit your posts to Pynchon. 

MalignD wrote: 
"Those who disagree with you, who believe a military response necessary,
and 
say as much (some what:  94% of the American citizenry?), are engaged in 
sickening and disgraceful cheerleading and will be found by history to
live 
outside the "civilized"?  Your opinion, of course, but do you believe
this is 
stimulating discussion and providing an opening to civilized discourse;
i.e., 
different from the posts of others on this list you so vehemently (and 
regularly) decry?" 

AND 

"One cannot "understand" Pynchon and yet find a military response to the 
current situation ("cretins who crow and drool over the blood," in your 
quotable prose) warranted and necessary?  "Understanding" Pynchon
requires 
agreement with a perceived notion of what Pynchon would think now, based
on 
things he wrote prior to the events, in some cases over thirty years
prior?" 

This what we are bucking, Doug. Are we wasting our time, Doug? 
I agree with you on so many of these issues. I oppose the bombing of
Afghanistan. 
I oppose the bombing of Iraq. I agree that the food program is a sham,
that the popular  media  and press is  failing and  is become a tool for
propaganda, that our civil rights and liberties are being compromised,
that debate on these issues has been thwarted by a dangerous nationalism
and patriotism spurred by the great losses on 9/11, that the arms/oil
alliances in the ME put money and corrupt regimes ahead of people. I
agree that Pynchon's novels are relative to these issues and that is
possible to demonstrate, with a close reading of the texts, how and why.
But you don't want to take the time to make these arguments in a clear,
textually supported, ad hominem free manner. Why not? Why do you insist
on turning this forum into a political cock fight? Maybe you don't have
an interest in Pynchon. Maybe you are only interested in fighting about
the issues you obviously care very deeply about. Maybe this is not the
place to do that.