Derbyshire’s embrace of Roissy

Todd White writes:

As a critic of John Derbyshire, you might feel vindicated by reading his take on Roissy, posted at Secular Right:

Where Pretty Lies Perish

I’m by no means the first to admit it, but I find the Roissy in DC blog hilarious and totally addictive. He’s one of us, for sure (secular, Right); and his stone reductionism appeals to me enough to override the nagging feeling that I’m probably a bit of a herb myself, or was when it mattered.

The Roissy phenomenon, and one or two other windsocks—the popularity of the Two and a Half Men sitcom, with the very Roissyan Charlie Sheen—all support Mr. Hume’s “back to the Paleolithic” theory of social change.

Note: “Bradlaugh” is Derb’s name at Secular Right.

LA replies:

I think we linked this pro-Roissy comment of his during the big Roissy debate at VFR last summer.

Todd White replies:

If you’re referring to your Aug. 19 essay, it cites a different (but similar) take by Derb, in which he says:

I got addicted to a certain blog. I had better not mention the name of the blog, or Kathryn will pull the whole diary. It’s gross, cynical, coarse, and obscene. And conservative!

The Derb quote I sent you below has much bolder praise of Roissy, and a more explicit link between Roissy and Reductionist philosophy. I guess it takes one to know one.

LA replies:

And Heather MacDonald is a colleague of Derbyshire’s at Secular Right. And all kinds of conservatives and paleoconservatives consider Derbyshire their fellow conservative. When conservatives embrace Derbyshire as one of their own, we’re doomed, indeed.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at October 31, 2009 02:12 PM | Send