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LONG_NOSED_BEAGLES

                                               February 5, 2010

Legal beagles have long noses...

                                    TRAITORS_OF_INTELLECT

Is there a problem with public
intellectuals with legal backgrounds?            Richard Posner
                                                 Alan Dershowitz

  In a legal arena, scoring points
  with a deceptive argument is fair
  game -- rewarded if successful,
  unpunished if exposed.

  Could it be that they tend to lose
  track of the fact that for some
  people a reputation for integrity
  matters?                                Or at least, is supposed
                                          to matter, in theory.

    They have a debating society
    ethic where no one cares
    about sincerity, and nothing     SPORTS_LOGIC
    is really at stake except
    which side wins the contest.

    It's like they've forgotten
    there's a real world out
    there, beyond point-scoring            If so, that's an interesting
    gotcha debates and                     twist-- at least for me--
    pandering to the jury.                 because formal debate and it's
                                           even more formal twin, legal
                                           debate, strikes me as having
                                           some practical advantages for
                                           getting at the truth.

                                              THE_GREAT_DEBATE



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