Friday, April 9, 2010

The danger of pouring the derogatory language on too thick

IMPORTANT REMINDER: THIS BLOG HAS NO OPINIONS ON ANYTHING CONTROVERSIAL (SEE "ABOUT ME AND THIS BLOG" IN THE LEFT MARGIN).

[Conservatives] have a general hostility to government and proposals formulated by Democrats, and since they reject the overwhelming majority of actual health care experts on ideological grounds, they have relied on a tiny handful of self-styled conservative pseudo-wonks to fill in the details for them. [emphasis added]

--Jonathan Chait, "The Conservative Misinformation Feedback Loop, Cont'd," New Republic

So here's the conversation:

"So, tell me a little about yourself."

[With smug, satisfied smile] "Well, I like to think of myself as a pseudo-wonk."

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Yes, stuff like this does sometimes appear in the scholarly stuff that we edit.