The Smoking Socks award is presented to a letter writer in a South African paper whose funky smelling socks have induced him/her into a bout of prejudiced stupidity.
The tide of erratic abuse in the letters section of our newspapers reached such extreme levels during the Lebanon war that we stopped scanning the letters for smoking socks awards. But the sequence of letters following an article by Kasrils in the Cape Times in which he presumably acquiesced to government demands to support a two state solution (for pragmatic reasons) has been particularly entertaining.
Ronnie's childish demeanour (boosted by his high profile status) ensures that he always has the last say and for this he gets our latest Smoking Socks award. In his latest red rant he accuses a previous letter writer of the wrongs that he himself is guilty of.
(Three other examples of Ronnie having the last say in order to bully those that dare to criticise him are here, here and here. Note the vicious bullying tone of his vengeful responses.)
Well done Ronnie...you deserve it. |
David Hersch's letter ("Kasrils is a caricaturist", September 27) is an example of the cheap and lazy ad hominem school of debate. The substance of the issue is blithely ignored as the player and not the ball is maliciously kicked. I gave a substantive example to illustrate my point, which is the antithesis of Hersch's diatribe. But then when did the SA Zionist Federation ever show tolerance of any critical statement concerning Israel? RONNIE KASRILS, MP CAPE TOWN |
Ronnie's previous letter personally insulted the South African ambassador to Israel - Ronnie played the man and not the ball when he wrote "ISRAELI Ambassador, Ilan Baruch, shows he cannot follow a debate" and "It appears that anything other than black or white is difficult for the ambassador to grasp".
Ronnie's response to the ambassador was anything but a substantive reply to the ambassador's previous article - read it for yourself.
For the record, I thought the David Hersch letter was pretty good. In the name of good faith and transparent comment I provide it in full below.
RONNIE kasrils is an imaginative advocate of unconvincing and failed world-movements, a bundle of prejudices, intuitions, ignorance, halfsciences and distorted history. He takes an aspect of truth, detaches it from its circumstances, inflates it, twists and remodels it, until its old likeness and its new likeness together are unrecognisable. These pseudo insights are his triumph. He is a caricaturist rather than a serious commentator on the Middle East. It is noted that kasrils this time signed the letter to the Cape Times (September 25) in his official capacity. It is time for the minister to genuinely choose whether he writes as a minister of the South African government or truly in his personal capacity. If he chooses the former, he is in conflict with the government's stated policy on the Middle East and therefore prompts the question: Can a cabinet minister have a personal role that conflicts with his government? In reality it is Kasrils who is unable to distinguish between black and white, and continues to confuse his official and personal role. Kasrils's glib accusation that the Israeli ambassador failed to understand the debate is merely a projection by Kasrils of his own inability to objectively and constructively engage in a debate on the Middle East. |
So is Kasrils projecting his own faults like Hersch alleges?
- Personal insults instead of tackling the substantive issues? Check.
- Ignoring the substance (his conflict with the government's stated policy) and replying with ad-hominem attacks? Check
- Intolerance of any critical statements directed towards him. Check.
View previous Smoking Socks Award winners:
- SA should help the Palestinians
- Basing Israel over Immigration
- Apartheid Israel
- Kasrils: Zionist myths rooted in racism
- ANC laughs at Jewish Board
- Is Kasrils honest?
- Courageous Iran
- Radical Right Wing Jew: I disengage and I engage
- Two state solution is no answer to the conflict
- Palestinians need a Robert Mugabe
When are you going to do the "Soscars" award?
Posted by: Derikboy | October 03, 2006 at 10:06