Andrew Potter rants against the power of bloggers, in the context of all these recent gaffes that have been rising to the surface:
AP: What worries me, though, is that we're seeing the "democratization" of politics, in the most literal sense of the word: The people -- the great idiocratic mass of mouth-breathers out there frantically swiping the drool off their keyboards as they Google around for "dirt" -- are running the campaigns now. There aren't war rooms anymore, directed by parties with smart, educated, responsible adults in charge -- it's Hobbes' state of nature as imagined by Mike Judge.
Ooh-hoo-hoo lah-dee-dah.
Us little people are participating in the political process, doing what journalists and politicos have been doing for years. The HORROR.
Gimme a break. As if journalists don't do the same thing. Sure, they do it in a more professional way-- I'll give them that-- they do get paid for it after all-- but it's the same thing.
You can almost hear their sniff of contempt for us unwashed masses ( he makes it sound we're the cast from Les Misérables). It's like bloggers are just slightly more evolved than Homo erectus. Heck, why are we given a right to vote anyway? We only have a brain stem to breathe, according to these guys.
SR: I actually think it's A-OK for the media to maintain a few measly standards that separate them from the likes of 'chubbylover69' and the rest of the self-defined blogsphere press gallery. One of my pet peeves is the habit of mainstream media 'reporting' on bloggers who have posted rumours without source or sense of motivation.
You mean the way the MSM quotes "anonymous sources" and diffuses their biased slants without anyone ever questioning the motive of their journalists?
We all know that there are many journalists have political biases and that they operate on them. How come nobody in the MSM reports on their motives? (Especially if they're left wing!)
And I love this line from Scott Reid:
That reminds me: what are the three things you need to be a blogger? Your laptop. Your basement. And your virginity.
No writing, research or critical thinking skills needed whatsoever. We're all single, jobless nerds who haven't cut the apron strings.
Is this guy for real?
H/T: Dr. Dawg via StageLeft.
