pynchon-l-digest V2 #6726

[Carvill John]

NOt to harp on about all this, but having had Pauls Mackin's post swirling around my head all morning (among a great number of other swirlings of course), it occurs to me that there's a central irony here which I didn't really address yet.
 
Paul said:
 
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Now leaving aside the cheap rhetorical trick of Paul telling me what my case rests on, and then setting fire to that convenient straw man, what's really rich is that he seems to be saying that I expect people to buy my view of teh matter because i have this gospel truth to back me up. Well, I'm *not* saying that, but what if I was? 
 
How would even that stack up against Paul Mackin's case, which (if I may take teh liberty of setting it out for him) seems to be:
 
1. John Carvill is not God, therefore any 'knowledge' or 'facts' he may have do not make for a cast-iron case; and
 
2. My approach, which is based on an absolute absence of knowledge of teh matter, but relies instead on my blind faith in Chomsky, is the more credible one.
 
 
What anyone who wants to make an unbiased assessment must consider, is that all the people who argue agsinst me on this one seem to be basing their argument on their support for someone - Chomsky - whose opinions on other matters they trust and respect. They like the cut of old Chomsky's jib, as it were, so calling him out on his denials and water muddyings over genocide just can't be cricket, can it? I think what you need to do is to accept the fact that Chomsky may have got this particular issue wrong, and keep in mind that if he has, then that doesn't mean he has always been wrong about everything else.
 
Me, I could never rely on anything such a person said, ever again, because if they can make such an arse of themselves over this issue, if they base their argument on knee-jerk, one-dimensional, chronically un-nuanced prejudices, then who's to say they won't do that again? 
 
It makes me really really angry to hear people like Paul Mackin choosing sides with Chomsky on this issue, purely because of their blind faith in him, without ever stopping to think about the issues themselves. It's frightening really.
 
 
 
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