"To be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others" - Nelson Mandela
December 15, 2010By A. Gaffar Peang-Meth
PACIFIC DAILY NEWS
Structure must sometimes give way to flexibility. My holiday season column for today is replaced by the current one. My column last week, "Oppressors must fall if people unite," brought comments that deserve a response.
Although I generally attach less credence to anonymous comments, some warrant a response, even if the comments draw me back to topics I think I have covered fully in past columns.
One blogger disagreed with my assertion that while complaints serve a purpose, "Actions make things happen." Writing in Khmer, the commentator said, in strong and offensive language, that "we have to talk again and again about the bad things of Kampuchea leaders, Vietnamese dogs and servants."
Although I may have indulged in impassioned comments about the strongarm tactics of the Hun Sen regime, I am reminded of the dangers of intemperate words by the book next to my computer, "Wingnuts: How the lunatic fringe is hijacking America," by the Daily Beast's senior political columnist, John Avlon. It's on the rising of "professional partisans ... unhinged activists ... hard-core haters ... paranoid conspiracy theorists" from the political far-right and far-left, who are submerged in a "hydra-headed hysteria" -- cut off one accusation, another emerges in its place -- on hyper-partisan talk radio and Wingnut websites.
Please click here to read more...
Although I generally attach less credence to anonymous comments, some warrant a response, even if the comments draw me back to topics I think I have covered fully in past columns.
One blogger disagreed with my assertion that while complaints serve a purpose, "Actions make things happen." Writing in Khmer, the commentator said, in strong and offensive language, that "we have to talk again and again about the bad things of Kampuchea leaders, Vietnamese dogs and servants."
Although I may have indulged in impassioned comments about the strongarm tactics of the Hun Sen regime, I am reminded of the dangers of intemperate words by the book next to my computer, "Wingnuts: How the lunatic fringe is hijacking America," by the Daily Beast's senior political columnist, John Avlon. It's on the rising of "professional partisans ... unhinged activists ... hard-core haters ... paranoid conspiracy theorists" from the political far-right and far-left, who are submerged in a "hydra-headed hysteria" -- cut off one accusation, another emerges in its place -- on hyper-partisan talk radio and Wingnut websites.
Please click here to read more...
No comments:
Post a Comment