My co-blogger, Arnold Kling, posted today about a blogger named James Wolcott. Mr. Wolcott appears to be someone who is deeply troubled by those who would use stereotypes to make their case. But because I didn’t know who Mr. Wolcott was, I started exploring the web to learn more about him. It didn’t take me long to find a post by Wolcott that dispels the idea that he doesn’t like stereotypes.

In discussing the Cato Institute’s economists’ letter against the Obama “stimulus” bill, Mr. Wolcott writes:

The photo on Cato’s website of Senators Jim Bunning and Roger Wicker holding up the ad as if it were an encyclical issued from Milton Friedman’s crypt was irrefutable proof that nothing hits the G-spot of white-haired guys with thin lips and mean glasses quite like a dose of free-market fundamentalism first thing after coffee.

Notice the cruelty in the above. For example, “Milton Friedman’s crypt” rather than “Milton Friedman’s grave.” Notice also the physical stereotypes: “white-haired guys with thin lips.” Wolcott’s stereotypes are a substitute for thought.