Wednesday, January 19, 2005
The Worth of Blogs
Kevin at Smallest Minority and I have been arguing about the actual impact of blogs for about a week now. Most of this was through comments sections at this site but there were a few arguments made by email. You can review these arguments in these posts: Not To be Elitist and More Blog Infighting.
Obviously, Kevin and I have differences on the affect of what we do. I, basically, don't think there were swing voters in the last election. By the time the election rolled around, most people voting for Bush would not even consider voting for Kerry, even though they had never heard of Swift Boat Veterans or Rathergate.
This brings me to a further point, because in the midst of our argument Andrew Sullivan has managed to say something really stupid. His post today (scroll down and read What Blogs Can Do) contends that we are all partisan shills and never disagree with one another, because we are all goose-stepping bloggers.
Now I have to work, spend time with friends, and all the normal crap that happens in life, so blogging takes some time out of my schedule, as I would assume it does Kevin's. We have argued the crap out of this, and may continue to do so, Sullivan aside. Not all of us are former New Republic editors or NYT columnists, so there is probably more pressure on small blogs than Sullivan or even The Corner at National Review. That's their job (and if anybody wants to pay me to sit on my ass and type this shit, just let me know.)
To understand how wacky Sullivan has gotten, look at the final lines of the post:
Now, Sullivan got on my tits around the election, with the "if you're against gay marriage, you're just a conservative homophope" crap. I don't care, really, just shut up about it. Well that is exactly what Sullivan would not do. Now he is completely obsessed by Abu Ghraib and does not hesitate to use the most hysterical hyperbole to describe it.
Now take a look at NZ Bear's Ecosystem. There are a lot of blogs out there. I get referrals from strange porn blogs and Mexican political blogs in Spanish. It's weird.
Main Point
For Sullivan to be so ignorant as to ignore any blog that scores under 150,000 hits a day is just elitist, and shows he's more MSM than anyone. As I previously stated, Kevin and I have been arguing for awhile and, I suspect, that he will change my opinion but will not completely change my mind. But if Sullivan will link to Wonkette (which I won't) and never Smallest Minority or TFS Magnum (who hasn't been blogging that long) or any number of fine blogs, that should show the shallowness of his scope.
And while I may me a 2A shill, can anyone doubt that Sullivan would use any argument, whether liberal or conservative, judicial or legislative, to accomplish his goal of state acceptance of gay marriage?
If he can't find a "solvent of this rigidity" in the blogosphere, he's simply as ignorant as Dan Rather is.
My final point is, that in the face of these kind of specious claims about bloggers, who of course are all right-wing hacks, I tend to side with Kevin on this. Powerline and Little Green Footballs had an influence. Our argument is a question of degree.
Sullivan's argument is just ignorant.
Obviously, Kevin and I have differences on the affect of what we do. I, basically, don't think there were swing voters in the last election. By the time the election rolled around, most people voting for Bush would not even consider voting for Kerry, even though they had never heard of Swift Boat Veterans or Rathergate.
This brings me to a further point, because in the midst of our argument Andrew Sullivan has managed to say something really stupid. His post today (scroll down and read What Blogs Can Do) contends that we are all partisan shills and never disagree with one another, because we are all goose-stepping bloggers.
Now I have to work, spend time with friends, and all the normal crap that happens in life, so blogging takes some time out of my schedule, as I would assume it does Kevin's. We have argued the crap out of this, and may continue to do so, Sullivan aside. Not all of us are former New Republic editors or NYT columnists, so there is probably more pressure on small blogs than Sullivan or even The Corner at National Review. That's their job (and if anybody wants to pay me to sit on my ass and type this shit, just let me know.)
To understand how wacky Sullivan has gotten, look at the final lines of the post:
But the blogosphere had the potential to be a solvent of this rigidity.
Instead, it has become yet another reflection of it (with a few honorable
exceptions). Or have I missed some blogs in this regard that deserve more
exposure?
Now, Sullivan got on my tits around the election, with the "if you're against gay marriage, you're just a conservative homophope" crap. I don't care, really, just shut up about it. Well that is exactly what Sullivan would not do. Now he is completely obsessed by Abu Ghraib and does not hesitate to use the most hysterical hyperbole to describe it.
Now take a look at NZ Bear's Ecosystem. There are a lot of blogs out there. I get referrals from strange porn blogs and Mexican political blogs in Spanish. It's weird.
Main Point
For Sullivan to be so ignorant as to ignore any blog that scores under 150,000 hits a day is just elitist, and shows he's more MSM than anyone. As I previously stated, Kevin and I have been arguing for awhile and, I suspect, that he will change my opinion but will not completely change my mind. But if Sullivan will link to Wonkette (which I won't) and never Smallest Minority or TFS Magnum (who hasn't been blogging that long) or any number of fine blogs, that should show the shallowness of his scope.
And while I may me a 2A shill, can anyone doubt that Sullivan would use any argument, whether liberal or conservative, judicial or legislative, to accomplish his goal of state acceptance of gay marriage?
If he can't find a "solvent of this rigidity" in the blogosphere, he's simply as ignorant as Dan Rather is.
My final point is, that in the face of these kind of specious claims about bloggers, who of course are all right-wing hacks, I tend to side with Kevin on this. Powerline and Little Green Footballs had an influence. Our argument is a question of degree.
Sullivan's argument is just ignorant.
