Almost Reasonable

I just read Hering's editorial on the Albany City Council, and I have to say I'm almost impressed with how sane it is. Almost.

Two things: First, ultimately, he is not charitable in his argument - he does not consider that there may be valid reasons for all the things he deplores. This is actually a really common mistake in writing that I've noticed.

Second - and this really, really annoying - there was this quote:

"There is not an argument in the world that cannot be made in three minutes."

That is profoundly anti-intellectual. Am I surprised? No. Am I annoyed and disappointed? Yes.

Actually, I'd argue that most arguments worth making take more than three minutes. If Hering had limited himself to the context of a City Council meeting, then I might be more inclined to agree. But beyond that, it's pretty obviously a case of obnoxious oversimplification.