Helen Rittelmeyer is “worst ever” and “complete moron”

I’m sorry Helen.  I was going to write a great big gushy hugs-and-kisses post about your unrepentent genius but I guess that’s not what you look for in a blogger.  And then, how could I have raced past your (Best Ever) blog wearing my “OMG HELEN RITTELMEYER MARRY ME!” t-shirt?

If the League is too huggy, or this “corner” of the blogosphere in which we reside is too huggy, well…how?  I mean, some of it is, but a lot of what gets written is just conversational rather than overtly confrontational.  I don’t see people lavishing one another with unadulterated praise.  I see people disagreeing with one another but doing it politely.  Is that the problem?  Would you like some more bar-room brawls?  Is all this gentlemanly behavior just too fucking boring? Cause I can arrange for Freddie and John Schwenkler to start taking shots at each other again.

What I want to know is who exactly is calling who “genius”?  Where is this “gushing” you speak of?  I mean, some commenters can be rather nice this way sometimes, and we appreciate the feedback (good and bad) but others can be downright brutal.  Be specific, because the way I see it it’s not so much about “gushing” around here, it’s about tone.  And there’s a difference.  I remember when Stacy McCain was pining over you on his blog a while back and I think Freddie referred to him, in very gushing terms, as a “tedious nothing.”   (That was genius, Freddie.  Man you are a frickin’ genius.)

Maybe we should all just be more like Richard Spencer.  He’s a genius, too.

(Note: I actually really enjoy Richard Spencer’s stuff.  But he’s not very huggy.  He’s almost as cantankerous as Helen.  He’s also not prone to the shouty inanities you see come out of the neocon blogosphere.  Maybe there is a balance to be struck.)

I realize this is just your way of pointing out what you consider to be mediocrity.  Okay.  But I’d also say that combativeness does not in and of itself breed quality.  And it’s way, way easier to just go combat-mode and attack everything you see without offering anything substantive as an alternative.

Mediocrity takes many shapes.

I really liked your post by the way.  It was dreamy.