Read on Twitter
This is sad. @EvansRyan202's obsession with me, although slightly bizarre, has been a highlight of Twitter. Every time I write an article, there's a response. I don't usually see his tweets, so friends tend to keep me abreast of the psychodrama. But all good things come to an end
This was one of my favorites from @EvansRyan202. And so I started to feel a bit empty when he wouldn't immediately offer an insightful retort to one of my articles. Was I doing something wrong? I should have savored the moments, while they lasted https://twitter.com/shadihamid/status/1243561914480943105
Fortunately, one of my most consistent trolls is Turkey expert @NicholasDanfort, and I do believe he's still rather reliable in this regard. That said, it takes a bit more effort to enjoy Nick's me-focused tweets, since he has me blocked (which, admittedly, was a sad development)
Intriguing to me that those with a consuming animus towards both Erdogan and Trump seem unable to modulate their feelings toward me. Both leaders are bad, but I believe academics should be careful about letting personal bias distort their analysis https://twitter.com/heissenstat/status/1322208015332888578
Similarly, if your academic work is focused on right-wing populists but you also have a personal hatred of right-wing populists, then your research and writing on the topic will be inherently unreliable. To put it simply, you can't properly analyze that which you hate the most
There are few things I think are more important in academic work than this. You need to make a conscious effort to strip yourself of irrational dislike of your topic. If you hate populists, why devote your life to studying them? If you hate Palestinians, don't study them! Etc.
People who hate Trump are, quite literally, the worst people to follow if you want to understand Trump and his supporters. Unfortunately, this has made mainstream coverage of Trump somewhat unreliable. They may try to wall off their hatred, but it's difficult
Some people aren't interested in accuracy. Truth is a means to justice and not an end in of itself. I think this is actually defensible (although not my own approach) if you're clear about your premises. But at least be clear about them and say you're an activist not a journalist
I get the impulse behind suspending straight analysis or coverage of Biden vs. Trump in the lead-up to an incredibly consequential election. I've gotten the response privately quite a bit: Shadi, we agree with you, but *can't you wait until after the election?*
