ENJOY THESE LETTERS from the National Post in response to Matt Welch’s piece. Note the linguist who says a number of unflattering things about Chomsky’s professional persona and then adds:

Welch’s most important point, however, is that because of Chomsky and others like him, dissent has itself become discredited. Its state is parlous if not terminal. Without credible and dispassionate dissent, government tends inexorably to excess. So do academic theories. Chomsky’s legacy may yet prove to be an ironic one: that U.S. government and that of the West generally may slip into true tyranny for lack of balance.

Yes, yes, yes. Dishonest and sloppy dissent isn’t just cheesy. It’s destructive. That’s why there’s no value to “dissent” generally, independent of its substance.