two posts today

a slightly too long response to blake smith

he handles the mail

On his Substack, Blake Smith has a post dedicated to publishing a few paragraphs that were cut from a piece of his. These paragraphs are dedicated to rebutting something he believes me to have said:

A petulant aside

He categorizes these paragraphs as part of his tendency toward “ad hominem asides aimed at various unremarkable people who in their role as arbitrary emblems of some bad (but I suppose tempting, otherwise why would it/they both me?) idea of life had been standing for some time already in my mental gallery of detestables.” I get the sense I am supposed to take this all personally and… cry, I guess?

But it seemed sort of full of myself not to say anything, so here is my response, though I think it’s longer than Smith’s original. As I understand it, Smith is making two arguments here. The first is a general argument in favor of personal hatred and attacks in intellectual disputes. The second is an argument about something else that is also meant to illustrate the importance …