'Corner' thoughts

For those who've been following the debate in The Corner: I'm not sure I can ever read Derb the same way again. Not that I expect them all to march in lockstep over there -- far from it. And not that I've never disagreed with him before, as you'll know if you're familiar with this little blog.

But "drop in at my house for a beer and a chat. By all means bring Jodi and the kids"? This while Michael Schiavo's wife is dying? No matter the reason, the method, or the motivation, or whether you agree that she should die or not, she is dying. That remark has a degree of coldness I never expected from John Derbyshire.

I realize he was probably going for shock value. But he didn't shock in the way he intended. It's not the adultery that's the point here, it's the conflict of interest. Which he blows right past, with a merry quip, when it has everything in the world to do with the point he's arguing. That's what's shocking, and deepy disheartening.

On the other hand, Ramesh Ponnuru and Kathryn Lopez (and others over there) rock. There's always a silver lining.

(I hope that second link works, by the way. If not, just scroll down a little way.)

And incidentally, it's about time Derb gave up that "my mother was a nurse" argument. I've seen him use it before, for various issues, and the first couple of times it was effective, if not wholly persuasive. Now it's beginning to wear thin. My father used to be a soldier, but that hardly qualifies me to determine what our Iraq policy should be.