Jonah Goldberg's greatest fan.

"You don't read the conversations closely enough." There are recurring themes among the symphony of complaints the Fray Editors hear each day. One fair objection, if a tad perfectionist, is that we often neglect the give-and-take of hard conversations in favor of the well-polished opening essay. Though we may not make much mention of it, one of the Fray's greatest strengths is the quality of discussion which routinely happens there. So, in honor of our critics, we will be dedicating this space today to a close reading of an unusual Fray conversation.

Our discussion begins in Chatterbox, in response to Timothy Noah's aggressive report on publishing delays for Jonah Goldberg's forthcoming book, Liberal Fascism. First-time Frayster and evident Goldberg fan, SCP (aka, "Not Jonah Goldberg!") sticks up for the coming book:

As someone who had a chance to talk to Jonah Goldberg about his book, I would advise Noah to reserve comments on how "stupid" Goldberg's argument is until he actually […] learns what Goldberg is saying. […] Owing to the fact that this conversation occurred several months ago and I did not take notes, I won't risk mischaracterizing Goldberg's book by going on further, but at least my characterization has the advantage of being based on more that just the title, unlike, apparently, Noah's.

Is the title provocative? Sure. Is it accurate? Based on what I was able to glean, pretty much. As for its release date, while I find myself disappointed to have to wait so long, I am not surprised; from what Goldberg had to say, I gathered it was a massive undertaking. […]

Indeed, the most perturbing thing about Goldberg's book is that it undercuts me personally. You see, I'm a political scientist and I've been toying with the idea writing a paper that would be titled "Theodore Roosevelt: Protofascist?" I now have to wait to see how Goldberg's book might impact on my own research.

A post like this sets off klaxons in the head of any seasoned Frayster. Can he possibly be for real? Is this some kind of sprezzatura? The post purports to refute Noah's argument, but it rests upon the basis of a personal experience conveniently beyond challenge. Does this putative academic, beavering away at exposing TR's inner-Hitler, not realize what he's doing? Citing personal authority on an anonymous chatboard is like citing to an "As-Yet Undiscovered Manuscript" in an academic journal.

Is it odd that this poster anticipates the substance of Goldberg's eventual response by several hours? If you spend too much time reading chatboards—as I certainly have—"odd" loses all referents. But I can safely describe this as unusual.

MojoMojo, cartoon villain, clearly senses chum in the waters, and takes a lazy bite:

You must not be much of a political "scientist" if are intimidated by a hack bloggers' book. And are you really defending Jonah Goldberg?????? That is quite sad. Let the hack defend himself.

Reading this entry, one could forgive SCP for concluding he's speaking with an idiot. Note the missing pronoun and the over-use of question marks. But, despite appearing to dodge any substantive question, the reply draws a circle around the new poster's greatest rhetorical liability—his unverifiable credentials.

In reply, SCP cloaks his own authority with the same veil of potential he's draped over Goldberg's upcoming book:

Hmm. Engaging in ad hominem attacks on a person you know jack about […]. The creators of this forum must be so proud at the high level of intellectual rigor you've brought to this site. [We take it where we find it – ed.]

As for being "intimidated" by Goldberg's book, not at all, but I also don't want to merely recapitulate Goldberg's work. You see, as anyone involved in scholarly endeavors can tell you, the point of any sort of research is to add to the sum total of knowledge and understanding of a subject, not to merely repeat what others have done. That would be pointlessly redundant.