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Originally Posted by Cardus
Seriously, you're a moron if you think that Will is a pompous gasbag.
While this is far from a perfect column -- for instance, I think that he should have considered the issues that I raised above (which he might have and I am unaware) -- Will routinely presents thoughtful, well-reasoned arguments. If nothing else, I'd describe him as a mature person in a field of flamethrowers.
You can disagree with him, but calling him a pompous gasbag shows massive ignorance.
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He did a piece in February about climate change where he blatantly misinterpreted data and also stated that a research group said things they'd never said (i.e., made stuff up about them). Why? Because, I'm sure, the pesky facts didn't fit in with his opinion. When these mistakes were pointed out, neither he nor the Washington Post ever did a correction. If you enjoy him great, but I think op-ed columnists should do a bit more fact-checking if they're writing for a big publication. Will just doesn't bother and then when the mistakes are pointed out, doesn't fix them.
This wasn't a well-reasoned argument (the ed on racing) as it was only tangentially connected to his main complaint, which is eminent domain. I do think there are very good arguments to be made against seizing private property to give to other private hands (and for a lot of public reasons, for that matter), but I think, as "just compensation" is required for seizing of property, it's pretty clear that revenue doesn't fall under the kind of private property eminent domain addresses. He's seriously reaching by using racing getting casino revenues as his straw man because many people have a bad opinion of gambling anyway, so he's safe. Maybe I'm misreading his argument, but I don't think so.
And any man who is going to do a piece on the trashy classlessness of blue jeans is a pompous gasbag in my book. And he doesn't check his facts. Which doesn't make him a gasbag, but does make him a lazy writer.