No, ignoring the crazy doesn't make it go away.

Over the weekend, a lot of good stuff was written about this absolutely awful op-ed in the Times, but this passage really stands out as particularly bad:

Imagine, if you will, the domino effect that would ensue if liberals and moderates simply tuned out the demagogues. Yes, they would still be able to manipulate their legions into endorsing cruel and self-defeating policies. But their voices would be sealed within the echo chamber of extremism and sealed off from the majority of Americans who honestly just want our common problems solved. They would be marginalized in the same way as activists who rant about racial purity or anarchy.

This is just wrong.

I don't know any liberals that watch Fox News, read the National Review or the Weekly Standard, or listen to Rush Limbaugh -- and those outlets aren't the slightest bit marginalized. Yes, they're part of an "echo chamber of extremism" -- but out of that poisonous echo chamber comes noxious lines of attack which invariably become part of the national debate.

Anyone who followed the wingnut jihads against Dan Rather, the Ground [sic] Zero [sic] Mosque, ACORN, Van Jones or Elizabeth Warren would know this.

Ignoring the crazies who contribute to the echo chamber -- like Putz -- doesn't silence them, it just makes it easier for them to spread their disinformation.


More thoughts here.