| | Awesome! Well done, Prof. Machan!
I very heartily enjoyed your commentary. It stood out from most expert commentary in an important way. What was special about it was that, while addressing the issue intelligently, your spirit for man's freedom radiated strongly enough where the strength and courage of your moral convinction and rectitude was more than evident.
You can find folks who correctly analyze an issue, but they do so somewhat detached, without what I might call 'ethico-emotional conviction'. You can also get folks who strongly project what is in their heart, but are almost always wrong about what they have to say. But, rarely, do you find them in the same person. You either find someone who is right (1), or you find someone who is wrong, but with all-to-obvious conviction (2). You showed that you were more than right on the subject. Bravo. It takes courage to show that much 'chutzpa' (even if you can prove your arguments).
Disclaimer
I heard that, in the classroom, you become somewhat of the 'detached professor' (presenting both sides of a moral issue with equanimity) and that may very well be appropriate in that setting. I just really liked how, in this TV appearance, how the strength and spirit of your convictions were unmistakable. It reminds me of a certain novelist-philosopher who came from Russia to America -- who had that kind of an inspirational tone when she spoke about important ideas.
:-)
Ed
(1) an example of someone who is right, but not quite as inspirational, would be John Stossel. Bless his heart, but he never really comes off as 'ethico-emotionally' committed to the material. He comes off more as a 'disinterested professor' a lot of the time. I've never heard him raise his voice over anything. I've never seen him respond to someone with absolute moral rectitude. I think that, on the inside, he has absolute moral rectitude about his convictions, but he doesn't seem to ever display it.
(2) an example of someone who is almost always wrong (maybe even always wrong??), but "projects" an ethico-emotional attachment to the material when speaking, would be Nancy Pelosi.
(Edited by Ed Thompson on 12/18, 5:28pm)
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