lee bond
lee bond
Jul 21, 2017 · 2 min read

I think your response to her response is off the mark. You start off your initial post by noting that others will assess the accuracy of MacLean’s portrait of Buchanan and instead choose to focus on her treatment of Tyler Cowen. You then spend the rest of your post correctly, in my opinion, proving that MacLean blatantly misquoted Cowen by any plain reading of her claims and his words.

Her response barely refutes even addresses the evidence you brought to bear and instead declares, in essence that its ok to say that Cowen wants to overthrow the American system of democracy because he has never explicitly said he does not, or at least not explicitly enough for MacLean.

Her evidence to back up that notion is vague claims that Cowen is “ a man who has not just flirted with the idea of shackling majority rule, but helped powerful actors think about how to make it happen”

Does her evidence back up this charge or is it just more selective misquoting? We dont really know because she changes the subject to Charles Koch and his networks, writ large and you let your response go off into the weeds about Democracy and Buchanan and Libertarianism.

In my opinion you should stick to your original thesis, that MacLean is slandering Cowen and should retract her statements about him. Most people would consider a desire to “ overturn the American democratic system of majority rule” to be a fairly serious charge, one that requires a bit more proof than selective misquotes. By declining to drive home that point, you effectively let stand her maligning of Cowen, which she should be made to either defend more vigorously or retract.

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