Hendrik Hertzberg vs. the Styx

In the last post, I made refence to this article by Hendrik Hertzberg, where he said some nasty, ignorant things about Lieberman.

Well, I couldn't let that stand. So I wrote a letter to the Newyorker. The tone of my letter was a bit strong because for all the years I've read the NY I have seen them only publish 1 or 2 an issue, and the only people they print have the status level of college presidents and heads of state; hence I assumed I was just sending off a hot email into the echo-less void.

Turns out, hey, they actually sent my email to Hertzberg and he responded to me. I reprint below the complete interchange. Comments for clarity are in italics.

I. Letter to New Yorker, Friday July 21, 6:54 pm (20 minutes before Mincha at shul)

Subject: Hertzfeld went over the line

Yes, I spelled his name wrong in the subject line, even though I spelled it correctly in the text of the letter; this is foreshadowing

To the Editors of the New Yorker:

Hendrik Hertzberg's article about Senator Lieberman in the most recent New Yorker (found online here) was an open an attack on an Orthodox Jew that I have seen in a mainstream magazine. There is much to criticize Lieberman about, but Hertzberg's article is filled with such bile that I found it as frightening as reading Pat Buchanan.

A prime example of Hertzberg's hatred is when he makes a moral equivalency between Bill Clinton's adultery and Lieberman's divorce (an absurd claim on its face). Hertzberg states that Lieberman: "had the gall to cite differing 'levels of religious observance' as the only specific reason he was willing to give for the divorce."

Gall?! Why is that gall? I guess it is when you discredit religious observance in general and use it as a subterranean attack against honest people (like Lieberman). Who's next?

Hertzberg should be ashamed of airing the darkness of his mind and the New Yorker should show more judgment into allowing such things to be printed without a caveat ("Warning - Ignoramus Alert" would be nice).

Respectfully submitted,
[The Styx]

II. Hertzberg's response, Monday, July 24, 2006 10:25 AM

Dear Mr. [Styx]:

Your letter (appended below) was forwarded to me by "The Mail." Thanks for writing.

I see your point about "a moral equivalency between Bill Clinton's adultery and Lieberman's divorce." You're quite right. On the face of it, divorce is of course worse. Divorce tears a family apart and forces the children to shuttle back and forth between one parent and the other. Adultery is awful too, and it's hard on the kids too (especially when sanctimonious holier-than-thou types drag it out into public view and rub the kids' faces in it), but on the face of it it's not in the same league as divorce. Adultery, per se, is more a bump (or a big, nasty pothole) in the road, a road to which both spouses are committed "till death do us part," in contrast to the sort of person who is more committed to "religious observance" than to his own flesh-and-blood family.

Sincerely, Hendrik Hertzberg aka "Hertzfeld"

III. My Response to Hertzberg, Monday, July 24, 2006 11:30 AM

Dear Mr. Hertzberg

First, thank you for your reply.

Second, I do wish to apologize for spelling your name wrong in the subject line of the email I sent.

As someone whose name is frequently misspelled, I too feel the pain and shame of having a misspelled name.

I am sure you agree that having one's name misspelled or misattributed is actually a far worse moral crime than adultery or divorce combined.

Third, after seeing your reasoning below, I have come to agree with you. I no longer think you are an amoral bigot with underdeveloped abilities in reasoning and judgment. Any thoughts I had that you should not be allowed to offer opinions or analysis - based on your substandard quality - have been changed. Even though the rise of blogs has shown that opinion and analysis no longer be sought in the mainstream media where antiquated notions of authority and ability hold sway, I no longer think of you as one of those obsolete clowns.

Good luck to you, sir, in the years ahead

[The Styx]