Been there, done that

An assistant professor of history writes here about the deluge of mindless hate mail he got for an op-ed critical of Bush. He concludes:

"So I suppose what gets me the most about this whole ugly episode is the creeping realization that some members of the audience "out there," the people that I've always felt we have a duty as professional historians to reach, want nothing more than their prejudices confirmed, one way or the other. Leave the argumentative politesse, the respectful disagreements, the open-mindedness, and the whole idea of a disinterested dialogue in the seminar room. Tell me what I want to hear, and if you don't, well then, you're a "pathetic creep." It's a challenge I've never considered until now, but it helps explain why so many academics stay in the tower."

Need one remark that the same is plainly true of much of the blogosphere?

UPDATE: A reader comments: "I knew this would happen a long time ago when talk radio first took hold. It has empowered the previously mute pent-up malcontents suffocating in America to vent with impunity. If you spit on the sidewalk, you can be fined. If you spit verbally on decent people, you are applauded by other sputum-laden verbal wheezers."