How do people not get this?

They are not so worthy, however, as to entitle you to call anyonedumb.

The fact that you would look at an exchange and decide to judge it by “who looks good” and not who is morally in the right or wrong means the Bret Stephens was inside you all along.

I’m saying that Samer didn’t lens the discussion through whether or not something would damage his credibility because it was immaterial to the discussion.
Anyone on the street can say “That billboard looks like shit, and whoever put it up is a shitty person”, and they don’t worry about whether or not saying that will…

Hmm. I’m not sure if feel insulted or flattered.

I think you’re projecting. I read this as Samer thinking this made Stephenson look bad (which it does), not that it made Stephenson look worse than Samer.

Disagree. Why invest thought into someone you are not sure you are even engaged with. A submarine has to ping a target before it launches torpedoes.

I don’t think the last email would have elicited a response from Stephens.if it was the first. Sometimes results happen non-circuitously, which is what seems have occurred here. It was the discovery from the Google search that prompted Stephens’ smarmy, patronizing diatribe. His whole existence is his insistence that…

I stopped reading his reply when point 2 made it clear that his argument was “do you know who I am?!  I’ll make sure you never work in this town again!”

These comments just keep getting dumber and less self aware. I’m almost impressed.

Which begs the question, why hasn’t he been picked up by fox news yet?

On my, I guess supporting apartheid and climate denial trump everything!

It has EVERYTHING to do with his outright evil views.

Nobody gives a shit about civil discourse you gigantic fucking nerd.

Irony. You haz it.

You couldn’t miss the point more if you were blindfolded.

Then decorum is negated. Now who is right?

That some people are easily tricked into overvaluing the appearance of civility in a very specific and singular context more than the actual track record of the shitty person putting on the dog and pony show so that they look “reasonable.”

Because they are right? Decorum is nice, but facts trump everything and garbage people deserve no respect.

Imagine missing the point SO badly that you think anyone is interested in a "proper discourse" with Stephens. Sheesh.