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Quote of the Day – Civility Edition

“If the trans community really does want to help educate, inform and guide public policy, as they should, a little less fury, derision and anger might help.” – Andrew Sullivan

He’s responding to a rather harsh email correcting him on the facts on the effects of male-to-female gender reassignment surgery on athletic performance but, really, it could apply equally well to a large swath of the political blogosphere.

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About James Joyner
James Joyner is the publisher of Outside the Beltway and the managing editor of the Atlantic Council. He's a former Army officer, Desert Storm vet, and college professor with a PhD in political science from The University of Alabama. Follow James on Twitter.

Comments

  1. odograph says:

    Man, sometimes you build your page rank in strange directions.

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  2. “If the trans community really does want to help educate, inform and guide public policy, as they should, a little less fury, derision and anger might help.” – Andrew Sullivan

    Well, that and a mirror.

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  3. Steve Verdon says:

    I don’t see a big issue with the tone, to be honest. Yes its rather curt and there is the one snide (transexuals might know a bit more about being a transexual than you) jab at one point, but overall it is informative and from what I’ve read, accurate.

    Maybe Sullivan needs to upgrade his asbestos suit before plugging into the internets. Unless he’s omitting the worst parts of the e-mail…which would be a bit odd especially in a general blog post on civility and effectiveness.

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  4. Phil Smith says:

    Really? Andy thinks that was uncivil? All the emailer said was that “[trans people] might just know a little more than you about the effects of hormones and surgery”.

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  5. Michael says:

    I’m shocked, shocked I tell you, to discover incivility on the Internet!

    Seriously, I’ve gotten much harsher responses due to screwing up a math equation on Slashdot.

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