I HAVE never done this before.
Oh, I have praised the work of Cavalier Daily writers and editors, but I do not believe I have ever been as rough as I was last week on Jamie Dailey and the editors who published his column ("Discrimination by interpretation," March 25) and then come back the next week to praise the same writer for another column ("An act unscripted," March 31).
The problem with the first column was Dailey's lack of evidence to support the assertions the column made. The next column, praising Elizabeth Taylor for many things, but mostly for her works on behalf of people suffering with AIDS long before that became fashionable, did not make that mistake.
"With her fame, her beauty and her money," Daily wrote, "Taylor could have ignored AIDS victims, but she did not. In this virulent climate of stigma, prejudice and misinformation, Taylor and a handful of other courageous voices stood unwaveringly with victims of AIDS."
He did more than say there was a "virulent climate of stigma"; he gave examples. "Victims of the disease were shunned by society," Dailey wrote, "In a prominent case in 1985, a 14-year-old named Ryan White, a hemophiliac with AIDS, was barred from school. His fight to attend school was met with immense cruelty."
In a perfect world, Dailey might have given examples of that cruelty. But Dailey did mention William F. Buckley's call for people with AIDS to be tattooed for identification - drug users on their arms, gay men on their rear ends. Dailey gave an example of one of the many people who said AIDS victims deserved the disease because they had engaged in immoral behavior. After all, as Dailey pointed out, many people thought only gays, prostitutes and drug addicts could get AIDS.
I did not fact check Dailey's column, but he certainly seems to have offered context and facts to support his position. It was a nice touch to point out that Taylor raised as much money for AIDS research with one fundraising dinner in one night as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention spent on AIDS research in a year.
It was well done.
I particularly like the way he worked in a subtle dig against the people who complained about that other column.
"As soon-to-be college graduates," he wrote, "we must follow in the footsteps of Taylor and use personal success to lend a helping hand to those who are persecuted and those who are stigmatized. Like Taylor, never abandon the oppressed because of societal criticism and never stop fighting for those less fortunate. While lending your voice to those too afraid or too marginalized to use their own, keep her wise words deep in your heart: 'I will not be silenced and I will not give up and I will not be ignored.'"
I heard an echo of his response about that other column: "I stand behind my views in the column and I will always stand up for the rights of the gay community and other oppressed minorities."\nStanding up for the oppressed, minority or not, is a noble thing. It works better when the person standing up brings some facts - an argument, not just repeated declarations.
Taylor provided an example there, too. When lots of people thought AIDS could be contracted through a kiss or a handshake, Taylor arranged to be photographed shaking hands with an AIDS patient.
Maybe it is only because Dailey was less passionate when he sat down to type the second column, but I prefer to think it is because he stopped to think. It is one thing to vent about an important issue. It is something altogether different
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