Angry in the Great White North

I came across this piece at the pro-impeachment website AfterDowningStreet.org, by Larry C Johnson, ex-CIA, self-styled terrorism expert, and presidential critic:

THE RIGHT WING BULLY BOYS vs. MOM
Submitted by davidswanson on Tue, 2005-08-16 19:58. Cindy Sheehan

By Larry C. Johnson

The clueless right wing is up in arms over the momentum of the Cindy Sheehan anti-war movement. There appears no depth they will not plumb, nor mudpit they will not enter in their effort to smear a mother who gave her son in service to our country. I cannot award a Chutzpah prize because there are too many deserving schmucks. Take wheelchair bound Charles Krauthammer's recent vicious attack.

The essay goes on to try and refute Charles Krauthammer's arguments criticizing Cindy Sheehan for demoralizing the troops.

Agree or disagree with it -- I don't care.

Here's my beef. Why is Charles Krauthammer described as "wheelchair bound"? He is, in case you didn't know, a paraplegic:

In his freshman year at Johns Hopkins medical school in 1972, he was paralyzed in a serious diving accident which permanently confined him to a wheelchair. Continuing medical training during his rehabilitation, he earned an M.D. from Harvard University's medical school in 1975, and worked as a psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital for several years

But so what? Read Johnson's piece if you haven't already -- nowhere is there any argument that hinges on Krauthammer's physical condition. The quote from Krauthammer's essay on which Johnson focuses his criticisms makes no mention of his spinal cord injury.

A mark of a good writer is an economy of words. That is, every word you write is there for a reason. Every thought put into words is there to provide mutual support for other thoughts being brought out in the article.

The reference to Charles Krauthammer's condition should provide some kind of insight on the arguments Johnson is presenting, but it doesn't. Not in the least. As it is, the reference provides an insight into Larry Johnson himself.

Apparently, in order to establish the intellectual superiority of his position over the position espoused by Charles Krauthammer, Larry Johnson thinks it would be helpful to establish some twisted sort of physical superiority first.

Yes, I know, that makes no sense at all. Too bad Larry Johnson doesn't realize that, or that he would at least have the common sense to not write that sort of nonsense, and so prevent embarrassing himself any more than he has to.

You might interpret this differently, but this suggests to me that Johnson, deep down, is afraid that he can't beat Krauthammer in a war of words.

I think Johnson is right to to be afraid.

[Oh yes, and he threw in the gratuitous "clueless" insult. Another sign of a writer who tries to shore up a weak argument with name-calling, but frankly, it's trivial compared to the wheelchair reference.]

[Michelle Malkin has had her share of abuse, and it was just as tasteless as what Larry C Johnson said about Charles Krauthammer.]