When Andrew met Sarah

Patrick Appel responds to John Schwenkler:

Many people believe, or have sympathy for, one sort of conspiracy theory or another: there is global warming denialism, anti-vaccine parents, Holocaust denial, believing that FDR caused the Depression, UFO believers, 9/11 truthers, Obama is a Muslim rumors. The list goes on and on. Most people realize how out of the mainstream these views are and don’t air them publicly. But Andrew is among the most intellectually honest bloggers I know, in that he blogs what he thinks, whatever that may be. He’s fearless. For better or worse –in my opinion for better– Andrew doesn’t have much of filter. The Dish is the blog equivalent of “The Truman Show.” Andrew isn’t going to hide his prejudices. So, while I believe that Andrew has gotten this story very, very wrong, and I find this attacks on the MSM for not adequately covering Sarah Palin’s birth canal a non sequitur, these are risks Andrew runs by blogging the way he does. Personally, I wouldn’t have him write any other way.

Read the whole thing.  I think Patrick is pretty much dead-on, which – given his position – isn’t really surprising.  But it’s testament to Sullivan and Appel both that such candor is welcomed and even encouraged at the Dish.