This is an interesting and thoughtful post about how people form hard and firm opinions about other people, usually on irrational bases, and how these become driving forces in their other opinions, on things that they allegedly find very important. I appreciate that deBoer includes information that could put himself in a negative light, and that he acknowledges this. Acknowledgment of flaws is challenging and healthy, although theatrical self-abasement is not.
Some of the people he talks about I'm more familiar with than others. As far as Glenn Greenwald goes I'm sure you could call him "abrasive." I've agreed and disagreed with him and in other cases haven't cared enough about the topic at hand to crawl through the verbiage. I've never felt personal hostility towards him, though. Rightly or wrongly I interpret a lot of his personal mannerisms as being medium-high functioning on the Autism Spectrum, which I identify with. So that might be a more complicated example.
No one is completely balanced in their judgment on other people, and I'm sure I'm not either. Some of my judgments have changed, though. For instance back in the 2000s I was a pretty keen supporter of Howard Dean. This meant deflecting a lot of criticism, some of which was genuinely stupid and shallow. (The Iowa scream? Really?) But as time has gone on I've been more disappointed, especially with his unfounded and hyperbolic speculations about Florida and COVID. Was I wrong all along? Or does trying to stay in good with Democratic elites eat away at your soul over time? Probably a little of both. There does come a time when politicians are better off calling it a day.
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DeBoer's article was interesting and well thought out regarding his conclusions about people either not making, or avoiding, rational arguments in relation to their reasons for attacking others. I agree with you that it was good he confessed to his own negative behavior before he went on to delineate his argument, but at the same time I was shocked at what he confessed about the false accusation he made about Malcolm Harris. I dug far enough into that business to satisfy a brief curiosity but no further. After that incident it was pretty easy to understand why his readers on twitter didn't even want to find humor in his remark about doxxing someone else. Who knows but they may have thought he really did know the person's real name. It's hard to remain private on the internet.
We all change with time and it's certainly true that we discover things we hadn't noticed before in books we re-read, never mind people who change at least as much as we do ourselves. Politicians are historically hard to pin down but I agree with you that there's a time to just put one's public opinions on hold. He's not even in office anymore, is he? The famous actors I have the most respect for lately have been those who have just got on with their next film project and have avoided the shifting sands of current events. Of course, that only seems to work if one avoids social media.
There are instances where I have to conclude that it's not my place to absolve, or for that matter to not absolve, where forgiveness has to come from someone else if it comes from anywhere. This is one of them. For one thing, how much of a factor was his going off his antipsychotic meds? Because that is something he would bear responsibility for, and some people apparently do need medication so as not to hurt themselves and others. On the other hand, these are high-test narcotics and probably over-prescribed. So I have to judge in some ways and withhold judgment in others. It's good that he at least has told his readers to leave Harris alone.
Eugene McCarthy is an interesting figure because he ran for president for two or three consecutive cycles and when it became clear he wasn't getting anywhere he walked away from organized politics and basically everything connected with it. Whether he did as well with his interests afterwards, he at least freed himself from having to always follow the fashion. As you point out, actors can be better off keeping a low profile as well. Witness Seth Rogen abandoning friend James Franco over sex harassment claims he doesn't actually appear to believe.
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