Non sequitur
fredag, oktober 10, 2003
I learned a new english phrase today. "non sequitur". According to Websters Unabridged, it means:\Non seq"ui*tur\ [L., it does not follow.] (Logic) An inference which does not follow from the premises.
So how did I learn that? The allmighty salon.com ran an article about this amusing war of phonecalls in the US of A, where Republican party folks, and FOx and NY Post news-crew are in an open battle with the organization Moveon.org, which cites itself as working to bring ordinary people back into politics.
Moveon has called on people to call texas republican Tom DeLay's office to ask about an important case, while that office is now forwarding all calls about this case to moveon.org.
- There's that sick feeling again.
In the wake of this, salon is keen to interview those involved:
"According to DeLay spokesman Stuart Roy, MoveOn is getting what it deserves. "They like to generate the phone calls but they don't like to receive them," he says. "It seems to me that public debate is a two-way street." He dismissed the notion that, as citizens, MoveOn's members deserve to have their opinions heard by their government, noting that none of the calls came from constituents in DeLay's home district.
But since DeLay holds one of the most powerful positions in the United States government, doesn't he have an obligation to all Americans? Roy's response was a non sequitur. "Do you have an obligation to all Americans at Salon.com?" he asked.
The answer to Roy's question, clearly, is no, since Salon is an online magazine with a responsibility to its readers, and not a high-ranking official in a representative democracy. But the question of whether DeLay has any responsibility to hear the views of dissenting citizens rather than play tricks on them remains open.
If you want to ask him yourself, his office number is (202)225-4000."
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