November 13, 2002
Who Is The Weirdo Now?

Eugene Volokh of The Volokh Experience quotes reader Matt Bower on terrorist-sympathizing lawyer Lynne Stewart:

The frightening thing about Lynne Stewart's complaint ("It's the first time I've been censored in this way") is . . . that she's apparently gotten a pass for so long that didn't realize anyone might object to her views. What social circles must she run in?

That reminded me of something that happened to me just about twenty years ago, in the two years after Reagan was elected and before Brezhnev died. While shopping at a record store near Dupont Circle in D.C., a friend of a friend demanded to know why I wasn't joining the big demonstration against cruise missiles in Europe. I told him it was because I thought American cruise missiles in Europe were a good thing. He looked stunned, as if he couldn't believe that I would dare to say something so offensive, and thought I should be ashamed to think it, much less say it. Since he was a party-line pro-Soviet (and pro-Brezhnev) communist and I was supporting the policy of a government elected by 51% of the American people, I thought he had a lot of nerve treating me as if I were the weirdo in that particular conversation. What social circles must he have been running in?

Posted by Dr. Weevil at November 13, 2002 11:28 PM
Comments

I know the store you're talking about. Next door to that, um, specialty bookstore. I used to work with the type of people you describe. They are a breed apart. Good thing they're morally superior to us and all that.

Posted by: Anna on November 14, 2002 08:36 PM