Jeff Goldstein gets to the nub of it

Those Jooooozz, they're like that, you know:

The question is, why? Is it to "out" "racists" who may damage conservatism at large by dint of their being attached to the movement publicly? . . .
Finally, are there other motivations at play here? — a wish, for instance, to preen unsullied amid the harsh spotlight of political correctness at the expense of forever closing down legitimate areas of inquiry and the free exchange of ideas.

You can read the rest. Like I said a few posts ago, I sided with Goldstein in his debate with Patterico about Rush Limbaugh's "I hope he fails" comment, and fear that Patterico's engagement with me might be the result of smoldering embers of a long-held grudge. That is (we hope) irrelevant to the present discourse, but it does show how what Hollywood calls the "back story" can come into play in such discussions.

What sometimes occurs is a basic problem of organizational dynamics, where personal ambition and personal grievances are externalized as arguments about something else -- anything else. People don't want to admit to being envious or insecure, or to talk about their own fears and doubts, so instead they find someone to scapegoat.

This kind of scapegoating attack is dishonest, because it's not about what the attacker says it's about. Andrew Sullivan's wild obstetric speculations about Trig Palin are an example of this. Any rational observer -- and Sarah Palin's Uterus is admirably reasonable -- can see that Sully is actually suffering from borderline personality disorder, and all his demands for an investigation of the evidence are merely the externalization of his own underlying psychopathology.

Goldstein and Patterico might each accuse the other of scapegoating, each claiming that his opponent's arguments about Rush Limbaugh weren't actually about Rush Limbaugh. I am here to mediate their unfortunate dispute, because it is my heartfelt desire that all men should live in the harmony of universal brotherhood and . . .

What the hell? No, scratch that universal brotherhood crap. Patterico sucks, Goldstein is inarguably Da Man, and you can cue the soundtrack from the rumble scene in West Side Story, baby.

When you're a Jet,
You're a Jet all the way,
From your first cigarette
'Til your last dyin' day.

That's how I roll. If Patterico wants a rumble, we'll give him a rumble, even if it's just me and Goldstein against the whole damned blogosphere.

BTW, I'm not making any accusations or anything, but the first sign that Charles Johnson was going nuts was when he went after Pamela Geller. Patterico's March attack on Jeff Goldstein . . . just a coincidence, I'm sure.