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Sheesh, I take a week off, come back and everyone in blogland is fighting—even more than usual! First, we have Barry Ritholtz and John Carney debating and possibly betting on the role that the Community Reinvestment Act played in the housing blow-up. Steve Sailer has also joined the fray.

Now a fight has broken out between ZeroHedge and CNBC’s Dennis Kneale. Actually, as fights go, this one is a pretty pathetic. It’s transparently obvious that Kneale is trying force a confrontation where it’s completely unnecessary.

That’s what galls me about CNBC. They can’t just tell us they news. No, that would be too easy. Instead, they have to trick us into watching fights thinking that’s the only way we’d pay attention.

I’m not being paranoid here. A few weeks ago, we found a video where Dennis Kneale freely admitted that stories need “conflict, drama and struggle” to fool people into learning good information (the video has since been removed, so you’ll have to trust me that’s what he said). Do they really need to insult us this way?

Perhaps he’s right.

Unfortunately, ZeroHedge fell for Kneale’s bait and their readers are in a tizzy. Trust me, I see their point and from the emails Tyler posted, it’s clear that Dennis isn’t being truthful about Tyler’s “dodge.” Well, what did you expect from someone who’s trying to force “conflict, drama and struggle”?

In my opinion, Tyler’s response is all wrong. The problem is he’s missing Dennis’ agenda. Tyler wants to have a high-minded discussion of the issues and not on Dennis’ home turf. Well, that’s a noble idea but it won’t get you anywhere with Dennis Kneale.

As usual, Monty Python is way ahead of us. This is from the Argument Sketch where a man pays to have an argument and is disappointed by what he gets:

M: Oh look, this isn't an argument.
A: Yes it is.
M: No it isn't. It's just contradiction.
A: No it isn't.
M: It is!
A: It is not.
M: Look, you just contradicted me.
A: I did not.
M: Oh you did!!
A: No, no, no.
M: You did just then.
A: Nonsense!
M: Oh, this is futile!
A: No it isn't.
M: I came here for a good argument.
A: No you didn't; no, you came here for an argument.
M: An argument isn't just contradiction.
A: It can be.
M: No it can't. An argument is a connected series of statements intended to establish a proposition.
A: No it isn't.
M: Yes it is! It's not just contradiction.
A: Look, if I argue with you, I must take up a contrary position.
M: Yes, but that's not just saying 'No it isn't.
A: Yes it is!
M: No it isn't!
A: Yes it is!
M: Argument is an intellectual process. Contradiction is just the automatic gainsaying of any statement the other person makes.
(short pause)
A: No it isn't.
M: It is.
A: Not at all.

I’m all for a good fight. They can illuminate and be great TV. But cramming histrionics down our throats ain’t the right way. It’s bad TV and not very enlightening. Dennis Kneale has dumbed down his own standards and still failed to meet them.

Yes, Beaker deserves to be mocked, but not for the reasons he wants us to use.

Posted by edelfenbein at July 1, 2009 8:46 AM