Like many Jewish families across the world, my family celebrates the beginning of the Sabbath with a festive Friday night dinner. Since I was a little kid, the dinners, traditionally a time to celebrate the completion of the week and reconnect with family, were always particularly enjoyable because I could use the gathering as a forum to run my mouth on an array of self-indulgent topics which my family later termed, "Josh's Weekly Monologue."

During these ramblings, which ranged from thoughts on my Bar Mitzvah haftorah portion to the injustice of extended time on the SATs, my mother would try to ignore me in the hopes that eventually I would go away; my sister Ellie would sometimes laugh, but mostly just cry; my father would patiently engage me, hopelessly trying to make sense of the madness; and my sister Abby would yell at him for encouraging me before storming off from the table. And thus the idea for a column was born.

After several years of trying, I managed to convince a few reasonably smart people at a major collegiate newspaper to give me the opportunity to do essentially the same thing in print every week. I wrote these monologues under the moniker "Am I Wrong?" in reference to the trademark line used by John Goodman's character, Walter Sobchak, in the film The Big Lebowski.

Naturally, this moniker opened the door to numerous responses that represented two schools of Lebowski-inspired thought: "Of Course You're Wrong," or my personal favorite "You're not Wrong, You're Just an Asshole," both of which have certainly been true to varying degrees over the past year.

Now, as I get ready to leave Cornell I want to take the opportunity to revisit a few of my more controversial columns and consider whether, on the whole, I was wrong, right or just an asshole.

1. Judith Miller in Jail: In my first column this year, I argued that Miller, The New York Times reporter jailed for refusing to identify her White House source in the Valerie Plame leak investigation, was a criminal and should not be able to claim any special protections for being a reporter. It was subsequently proven that Miller had been co-opted by numerous members of the Bush Administration, and was serving less as a reporter than a mouthpiece for the White House's agenda. She was fired by The New York Times, and her source was indicted for perjury and obstruction of justice. Verdict: Not Wrong.

2. Bashing Gay Cowboy Movies: Prior to the release of Brokeback Mountain, I criticized the movie and choice of actors for advancing what I saw to be a disingenuous and condescending acceptance of homosexuality. Several months later, the film became a cinematic and cultural phenomenon, was embraced by homosexual and mainstream heterosexual culture alike and facilitated a great deal of dialogue on the treatment of gay people in our society. Besides, 50 million gay cowboy fans can't be wrong, can they? Verdict: Wrong.

3. Collegetown Bagels: That's right, the place of business formerly referred to in this space a "The Off-Campus Bagel Establishment" was really our very own CTB. When I criticized the establishment for its sometimes sub-par service, its occasionally hefty prices and suggested that the Collegetown coffee and bagel landscape could use some fresh competition, I was unprepared for the firestorm that followed. To those of you who can no longer pick up copies of The Sun in CTB-proper, I apologize. From what I have heard, not much has changed in the store since my last visit. But, despite the fact that Starbucks has recently moved into Ithaca (albeit about two miles from Collegetown), there is still a line around the block from CTB every Sunday morning. The Free Market seems to have spoken and I know that I should swallow my pride, but as someone wiser and triter than I once said: "I love you means never having to say I'm sorry." Verdict: Push.

Overall, I think that I have been right a few times and wrong probably a few more. On a typical week, though, I hope to have been somewhere in the middle. I hope that I laid out the best argument I could for my point of view, but also that I left room to listen and consider the other, reasonable perspective. I hope that I was speculative without being a contrarian. I hope that I was passionate when writing about political issues, but that I never walked either party's incoherent line or advanced an ideological agenda. Perhaps most importantly, I hope that I wasn't always too boring, but also that I never wrote anything to be offensive or purely for shock value.

Finally, I would be remiss not to thank the people who have played important roles in this column's development over the year. To the editors: Zach, you always did your best to ensure that I didn't publish total garbage on a weekly basis and you have always led by example in your writing. Carlos, the fact that your command of the English language is far superior to mine embarrasses me every week; you personify the best that Mexican guest workers have to offer.

Erica, thank you for giving me this opportunity and for sticking by me even against your better judgment. I know that I did not always make it easy to do so. To my degenerate friends and neighbors: I am indebted to you for inspiring any number of these columns through your words and deeds. I particularly need to thank Jared, Jarrett, Jeff and Jeff for letting me steal their cars to go work at The Sun.

To my family, thanks for giving me the same range of feedback you gave me at the Friday night dinner table.

And to any and all of you that have read this space from time to time, it's been an interesting year for me and I appreciate that you were a part of it. Be well.

Joshua Dugan is a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences. He can be contacted at jbd26@cornell.edu. Am I Wrong? appeared Wednesdays.

Archived article by Joshua Dugan