Writing with myself

Go read this post by Ezra Klein. Don't forget a lava lamp or something as a house warming gift.

Come back later and I'll give you some thoughts.

Are you done? Good.

For the most part I agree with Ezra, but I think he places to much blame on the bloggers and not enough on the readers themselves. Sure, blogs "encourage polarization and extremism rather than debate and understanding" but that's, in part, because that's what most readers look for. People on both sides of the political fence want that reinforcement that their views are correct, not to further themselves on the road to enlightenment. Bush or Boxer (whichever side you choose) are golden and can do no wrong.

Maybe I'm off base here. I've been doing this for less than a year, have a couple of readers and rarely get a comment. But it seems in this age that political thinking goes backwards for most people. Your party throws out an idea or does something right or wrong. Then the loyalist take over and attempt to justify this new policy that suddenly exists. It is not a question of "if A than B," but rather "There's B, now help me find A."

I would like to think, for example, that we all agree that torture is wrong. And what makes me sad about those who currently try to justify it is not their stance on the issue, but the feeling that if no one's hand had been caught in a prisoners butt in Abu Ghraib, that they wouldn't have to struggle to make excuses in the first place. And when logic fails, it's just because "the Donks" are stupid or the "Rethugs" are crazy.

And no, I'm not saying that we never should have learned about Abu Ghraib. What I mean is that if it had never happened in the first place.

Bloggers are not here to replace the media, and those on the right who think that need to take a deep breath. Politically charged rhetoric and the views of one man on the street of Iraq are not a news story, unless that particular news story happens to be about that person. And even that is hardly news, it's simply a view of one person's life.

Following the mad dash to reality TV, it should come as no surprise that the blogosphere has done what it has done. It is the ultimate in reality, where you can read what a Tennessee professor has to say about the world or a left wing activist's take on the DNC race. It is like having a conversation at a coffee shop where you bring your own cup of joe and everyone who wants to can watch and comment on it.

But I agree with Ezra. I like blogs. They are fun to read, and for those of us who languish in obscurity, it is a challenge to write a piece that gets noticed, or better yet commented on. I would love to hear what people think of what I say here, even if it is dismissed as partisan hackery or written on an eighth grade level. Believe it or not, I would love for people to point out when I'm wrong.

And the snark that Ezra mentions? Guilty as charged.

But enough about me...