31 January 2004

A better example of lefty propaganda

Busy Busy Busy gets it right with its execution of the ''shorter'' concept: snide one- and two- sentence summaries of conservative pundits' columns.

Dig this fine sample from their archives:

Shorter Donald L. Luskin
A Letter From Jeffrey J. Upton

I will personally track, hunt down and pursue my political opponent to the ends of the earth, while my lawyers flush out and assail anyone who dares call this stalking.

Shorter Max Boot
Dog Bites Man in Baghdad

Things are going swimmingly in Iraq, all appearances to the contrary being due to an exaggerated media focus on the body count, which isn't even all that high when compared to any larger number.

Shorter Gregg Easterbrook
One unseen divinity? Ridiculous! Billions of unseen universes? Sure, why not

Theoretical physicists stubbornly prefer science to magical thinking, even though science is complicated while magic easily explains lots of stuff.

The ''shorter'' concept was invented at D-Squared digest but has gone on to glory in lefty weblogs all over the place. Busy Busy Busy not only provides the richest source of them but also links to other good examples.

It's a terrific way of doing criticism. It's pithy, witty, and funny when done well. And yet it's not rhetorically irresponsible: rather, it's the opposite, surfacing core ideas that are often buried under the devices of rhetoric.

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