Not Okay
"John Kerry is a sphincter. Okay, that's a bit juvenile."
--Jonah Goldberg, NRO.
"I suppose in John Kerry's world good diplomacy lets the boys in the bar finish raping the girl for fear of causing a fuss. Okay, that was unfair."
--Jonah Goldberg, NRO.
This slimeball rhetorical device should become known as the Jonah Goldberg Limited Takeback, in which you assert something vulgar and provocative, then acknowledge you stepped over the line without withdrawing the original slur. Sort of like spitting at someone, then saying, "Gee, I guess my saliva went a little too far."
Someday I hope to visit the ruins of William Buckley and ask him how it came to this at National Review, from Evelyn Waugh, Joan Didion, and Arlene Croce to Jonah Goldberg wallowing in himself.
http://jameswolcott.com/