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Post Scriptum: Somehow, I convinced FrontPage mag to finally post the comment that was censored (see below). But then 4 days later, all of my comments, including the one below, were CENSORED. I took screen shots, so at least have the proof of the assertion. Censorship is bad! Period. It would have been interesting to know precisely what the moderators behind the scenes discussed regarding the comment I'd posted. But faceless censors do everything in secret. For the poem Bawer wrote praising Horowitz and his ad hominem criticism of the short comment I first posted, see https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2020/06/blitz-poem-bruce-bawer/. From 19 comments, suddenly there were only 12. I have been Soviet-like erased by David Horowitz and Bruce Bawer...
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Below is the "removed" comment I made yesterday. I repost in case someone deleted it accidentally. Comments should not be censored! Comments ought to provoke vigorous debate, cornerstone of a thriving democracy. Need I remind Horowitz of that cornerstone?
Dare criticize the left and it will mock you! Dare criticize the right and it too will mock you!
First, I commend Frontpage for NOT censoring my comment. It did, however, censor a comment I’d left five years ago regarding another backslapping publicist article a la Bawer. (see
https://wwwtheamericandissi... and
https://wwwtheamericandissi....
BTW, I do not simply sprinkle French words here and there in my writing like Bawer, but am fully fluent and write in that language. In fact, my latest blog post is entirely in French and critical of an article published in a Montreal newspaper. My doctoral degree is from a French university.
In any case, the comments regarding my comment, which must have angered Bawer so much that he actually responded, though in typical shoot the messenger/avoid the message fashion. The comments are interesting because they remind me of Greta’s “how dare you!” “Pretentious twit” and “punk” and “poor putz with his Ph.D.” are ad hominem and do NOT address the precise criticism I posted, nor do they indicate an iota of intelligence on the part of the person who wrote those comments. Wow, I guess Bawer is not used to receiving valid criticism! Popularity should NOT be and is NOT necessarily an indication of good or bad. MONEY, as I’m sure Bawer knows, tends to drive popularity! Indeed, I do not have the kind of funding that Frontpage has. In fact, is Frontpage funding public information? I’d be curious to know how much money it has at its disposal and from whom it comes from.
Bawer ought to get with it: rhyming was common in poetry ages ago. Backslapping is not what Frontpage should be about! And I do consult Frontpage often and do like some of the articles in it. However, there’s far too much backslapping and self-promoting in it. Bawer needs to get his facts straight: I do NOT call myself P. Maudit. P. Maudit is my cartoonist sobriquet, which I created several decades ago when I created The American Dissident, which I wanted to illustrate with critical cartoons. Has Bawer even examined any of the 100s and 100s of critical cartoons I’ve drawn? In fact, maybe I’ll do one on him. Too bad his email address is not readily available.
Finally, to dismiss an entire website as “ridiculous", or risible. Or “silly" is really quite sad, especially when that site is fully devoted to FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION. In fact, The American Dissident is perhaps the only periodical in the country that not only encourages harsh criticism against the magazine and editor, but publishes the harshest received in each and every issue, and NEVER slams the door shut on a critic. Does Frontpage do that? Certainly not! So, Bawer and Bawer-admirers, try sending something intellectually critical of the website, magazine, and/or me… and it will be published in the next issue… and you will be informed! Thanks for the joust. I do like jousting! And thank you Frontpage for permitting me to comment here.
PS: Rather than send ass-kissing poems like Bawer’s to my employers, I’ve always sent them harsh criticism, which is precisely why I never got tenure or became anointed as a professor emeritus… and I’d have it no other way! Free speech is what motivates me, NOT getting published….
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