I took an interesting class with Gelernter when I was an undergrad. Fortunately, he left politics out of it. (I also wasn't really aware that he was a reactionary nutbag at the time - this was around 8 or 9 years ago.)
I have to say, it's remarkable that he's so dumb in print. Just remarkable. His class was very sophisticated and intriguing (it was basically a mix of computer science and philosophy of the mind). He's either gotten very stupid in recent years, or he just hid it from us back then.
The one redeemable thing about Gelernter is that he comes by his hatred of leftist intellectuals pretty honestly. If I recall correctly, the Unabomber partially blew him up. Honestly, what Reynolds' excuse? That Ward Churchill made fun of his haircut?
I am off to find out how you get partially blown up. It doesn't sound like the thrill of a lifetime.
I summon thee, google, to tell me the tale!
'Gelernter suffered extensive wounds to his abdomen, chest, face and hands in the June 1993 bombing. The letter was mailed from Oakland on the same date as three other letters and a package bomb that killed Sacramento timber lobbyist Gilbert B. Murray.'
What is so hard to understand about the fact that 49% of people are Democrats? (Well, voted for the Dem last election- more like 35% registered Dem.) Every time one of these idiots says Democrats are abnormal/elitist/evil, or say that voting for Kerry was "trying to overthrow the government," do they realize they're insulting half the country?
Was the Unabomber really a Marxist? Or, for that matter, a professor? From what I gather, based on a close study of all relevant news sources, he was actually a maniac hiding in a shed in the woods. And an anarchist, rather than an advocate of "nanny statist totalitarianism with a heaping spoonful of condescension."
OK, which is the anti-French fry party again? I get so confused.
FWC3, you're right about all those things, though the Unabomber did in fact have a PhD, in mathematics. Gelertner's in comp sci. It may be that these fields require skills that don't always transfer to being smarter than a post in your political theorizing.
Also, I'm pretty sure Gelertner was a right-wing nutbag before the bombing.
I was trying to remember where I had seen this approach before. I knew it was familiar. And finally it dawned on me.
This is old-time tobacco advertisement.
Rebel by using my product! They say it is stupid, they say it will hurt you, they say they care about you? How dare they do that. Grab a Camel and be revolting!
I accidently came across your comments about David Gelernter in a Blog, in which you said he came by his right wing fanatic positions because of the Unibomber. This is simply not true. I was married to him in August of 1976, and divorced a few years later. He was at least as bad then. Many people are mislead about is background because he is a Jew, and his father was a professor at Stonybrook. However, his mother's family dominated the house he grew up in. His mother's mothers was from an old Southern family who settled on the Kentucky Frountier in the 1840s, helped found Louisville, and generally become a part of antebellum Southern society. They were fanatical racists. Her husband, Reform Rabbi Theodore Lewis, was thrown out of the Progessive Synogogue of Brooklyn, where he had been the Rabbi for years, due to his racist preaching from the pulpit.
How could anyone take seriously an essay that contains the phrase "As Michelle Malkin points out on her blog, ... "?
Posted by joe o | Link to this comment | 04-29-05 12:43 PM
I took an interesting class with Gelernter when I was an undergrad. Fortunately, he left politics out of it. (I also wasn't really aware that he was a reactionary nutbag at the time - this was around 8 or 9 years ago.)
I have to say, it's remarkable that he's so dumb in print. Just remarkable. His class was very sophisticated and intriguing (it was basically a mix of computer science and philosophy of the mind). He's either gotten very stupid in recent years, or he just hid it from us back then.
Posted by DavidNYC | Link to this comment | 04-29-05 1:00 PM
[redacted]
Posted by [redacted] | Link to this comment | 04-29-05 1:06 PM
The one redeemable thing about Gelernter is that he comes by his hatred of leftist intellectuals pretty honestly. If I recall correctly, the Unabomber partially blew him up. Honestly, what Reynolds' excuse? That Ward Churchill made fun of his haircut?
Posted by pjs | Link to this comment | 04-29-05 1:19 PM
I am off to find out how you get partially blown up. It doesn't sound like the thrill of a lifetime.
I summon thee, google, to tell me the tale!
'Gelernter suffered extensive wounds to his abdomen, chest, face and hands in the June 1993 bombing. The letter was mailed from Oakland on the same date as three other letters and a package bomb that killed Sacramento timber lobbyist Gilbert B. Murray.'
http://www.unabombertrial.com/players/gelernter2.html
That does sound like the sort of thing to make a person a bit less impartial.
Posted by winna | Link to this comment | 04-29-05 1:35 PM
Can I email Gelernter your blog post?
Posted by Michael | Link to this comment | 04-29-05 1:55 PM
What is so hard to understand about the fact that 49% of people are Democrats? (Well, voted for the Dem last election- more like 35% registered Dem.) Every time one of these idiots says Democrats are abnormal/elitist/evil, or say that voting for Kerry was "trying to overthrow the government," do they realize they're insulting half the country?
Posted by SP | Link to this comment | 04-29-05 2:06 PM
Was the Unabomber really a Marxist? Or, for that matter, a professor? From what I gather, based on a close study of all relevant news sources, he was actually a maniac hiding in a shed in the woods. And an anarchist, rather than an advocate of "nanny statist totalitarianism with a heaping spoonful of condescension."
Posted by F. Winston Codpiece III | Link to this comment | 04-29-05 5:59 PM
steer clear of those nasty French fries.
OK, which is the anti-French fry party again? I get so confused.
FWC3, you're right about all those things, though the Unabomber did in fact have a PhD, in mathematics. Gelertner's in comp sci. It may be that these fields require skills that don't always transfer to being smarter than a post in your political theorizing.
Also, I'm pretty sure Gelertner was a right-wing nutbag before the bombing.
Posted by Matt Weiner | Link to this comment | 05- 1-05 8:24 AM
Also: Biscuit conditionals are yummy.
Posted by Matt Weiner | Link to this comment | 05- 1-05 8:37 AM
I was trying to remember where I had seen this approach before. I knew it was familiar. And finally it dawned on me.
This is old-time tobacco advertisement.
Rebel by using my product! They say it is stupid, they say it will hurt you, they say they care about you? How dare they do that. Grab a Camel and be revolting!
Posted by Tripp | Link to this comment | 05- 2-05 7:45 AM
I accidently came across your comments about David Gelernter in a Blog, in which you said he came by his right wing fanatic positions because of the Unibomber. This is simply not true. I was married to him in August of 1976, and divorced a few years later. He was at least as bad then. Many people are mislead about is background because he is a Jew, and his father was a professor at Stonybrook. However, his mother's family dominated the house he grew up in. His mother's mothers was from an old Southern family who settled on the Kentucky Frountier in the 1840s, helped found Louisville, and generally become a part of antebellum Southern society. They were fanatical racists. Her husband, Reform Rabbi Theodore Lewis, was thrown out of the Progessive Synogogue of Brooklyn, where he had been the Rabbi for years, due to his racist preaching from the pulpit.
Posted by Barbara Reader | Link to this comment | 07-21-05 10:12 PM