It’s not surprising that the same people who brought us a new meaning of the word “is” would skirt around a rebuttal and instead give us a meaningless biographical sketch of those whom they do and do not like. David Halperin, of Campus Progress, did just that when he responded to my Human Events Online op-ed. “When it comes to accuracy, persuasiveness, and civility, Jason Mattera makes Rush Limbaugh look like Abraham Lincoln,” he writes. Halperin regrets that I’m not nice to him like other conservative reporters. In fact, if you delete all the lines in which Halperin expresses his personal dissatisfaction with me, the article is threadbare.
Halperin’s feelings were obviously hurt. Next time I’ll try to be more delicate. I’m a New Yorker, so I can’t make any promises. But such emotional breakdowns were not limited to only liberals, as Alston B. Ramsay’s posting reveals. Ramsay, too, is distraught by my tone and tenor, but besides that, adds nothing to the main point of contention: Is Campus Progress a member of the press? We say “no.” If Ramsay’s answer is “yes,” then Campus Progress should contract him to rebut that point.
Ramsay writes that “Halperin’s factual take-down [of me] is pretty sufficient, so I’ll avoid getting into those weeds.” Let me cut the weeds.
‐ What about the notion that Campus Progress is a smear group? In my HEO piece I mention that Campus Progress calls Rush a “permanent scab on the American political landscape” and lampoons Dr. Laura’s commitment to traditional values just because some website purports the radio host had an extramarital affair. But to top it off, the Soros—yes, Soros—group has an entire section on its website called “Know Your Right Wing Speakers” that is one rhetorical jab after another at conservatives such as Kate O’Beirne, William F. Buckley, and Ward Connerly. With this list prominently shown on its website, Campus Progress indicates that smearing conservatives is central to its mission.
Now that I’ve gone through the facts, I would address Ramsay’s objections, but his post is filled mainly with empty rhetoric, such as implying that I am “irrational,” “tin[-eared],” “contemptuous,” “indefensible,” “bankrupt,” and that I possess no “intellectual gravitas.”
Ramsay’s post does display, however, that he has no idea how to spread conservative ideas on college campuses. His highbrow attitude is good for those who want to be teachers’ pets, but when it comes to the basics of college activism, he’s both naïve and ignorant — a dangerous combination for anyone in a position to give advice to students.
If Young America’s Foundation’s “no-holds-barred intellectual war” didn’t work, Campus Progress wouldn’t be so determined to imitate our programs and infiltrate our conferences. The undeniable truth is that our aggressive style of activism is the reason that Young America’s Foundation reaches the maximum number of students with the ideas of small government, free enterprise, and traditional values.