Re: Biased journalism, or let's try to ask Declan some questionshe can sink his teeth into

["Eric M. Bennett" <ericb@pobox.com>]

Declan wrote:

>Yes. Antitrust enforcement has a history of being protectionist too.
>
>-Declan
>
>On Mon, 20 Jul 1998, Eric M. Bennett wrote:
>> I think it is interesting in this light to consider Boeing and McDonnell
>> Douglas.  In May, our good friend Slade Gorton (R-Washington) urged Clinton
>> to ensure that the merger would get an "impartial" evaulation from U.S.
>> authorities after comments were made by E.U. officials that a merger might
>> negatively affect competition.  Both Gorton and the E.U. have obvious
>> political incentives (protecting another potential monopolist on Gorton's
>> home turf vs. keeping a foreign company from biting into sales of Airbus
>> Industries).

And so what am I supposed to do in a situation where it appears both sides
are taking their positions for what I believe are the wrong reasons?  If I
were an idealist, I might argue against both of them.  But as a more
practical matter, I should probably support whichever side reaches the same
conclusions I do, even though I think they are taking that position for the
wrong reason.

I like to fight for the ideal when I think there is a chance of making
progress towards it, but I certainly don't want to be unrealistic either.
With regards to Microsoft, I believe that antitrust action is justified, so
I'm going to support it even if the DOJ is mainly motivated for the wrong
reasons.  I think a lack of action is more dangerous at this point than
taking the right action for the wrong reason.




--
Eric Bennett (http://www.pobox.com/~ericb/), Cornell Biochemistry Department

Windows 98 is not the first product Microsoft has botched, nor will it be
the last.  But it is the last straw. . . . Users who do install it do so at
their own risk, and IS departments are not offering support.
- Scot Petersen, PC Week Magazine