Go, Read: PEN America Documents Fueling New Hebdo Battle; The Nib On Trudeau

* the on-line publication The Intercept has a bunch of letters exchanges that fueled a new stand-off between members about whether or not an award should go to Charlie Hebdo. If I'm reading the arguments correctly, one side is arguing giving them an award as a way to recognize a publication that resisted pressure against an approach it thought important and right, while another fails to see a specific positive being accrued to the magazine beyond that resistance. I'm sure other people would disagree with that characterization.

* here's a different entry point into that material, starting with Salman Rushdie's incindiary slams against those involved with the organization that want to boycott or otherwise protest the award.

* meanwhile, The Nib asks if Garry Trudeau's recent commentary about Charlie Hebdo is right or wrong.

It seems to me that none of the various sides are coming at any of these flourishings of these issues in a way willing to let go of rigid stances that might diminish their chances to win the arguments involved in a forceful, dramatic fashion. Certainly no one is going in with the chance that they might have their minds changed. That makes discussion beyond restating priniciples, shouting/dismissing the other side and trying to "catch" opponents in a rhetorical cul-de-sac pretty near impossible.

This may be super-dumb, but if an argument about Hebdo doesn't wish to be analyzed with respect to the murders maybe not bring them up? Even in a roundabout way, I mean. If we're all in agreement that murder is off the table and deplorable no matter what, let's focus our arguments and our discussions on areas of disagreement, or, perhaps, on other aspects of the issues involved where we agree (say the course of police work when new threats come up). It might not make the arguments as dramatic, but at least we'd be focusing on where the arguments are. Right now for the shmear of argumentation involved there's no moving forward to a greater understanding or a more just result or any of the things that might be more preferable than an agitated, unchanging status quo.
 
posted 11:55 pm PST | Permalink
 

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