Sunday, May 07, 2006
A WaPo reporter walks into a bar...
Thers has posted a follow-up about the Online Integrity project at his blog, metacomments.
Excellent point - and there's my issue with the whole, big, ever so important kerfuffle about civility and the blogosphere: Who gives a flying rat's ass?
Look, there's a world of difference between content and delivery, to be sure. But you can bet that in any given bar, in any given city, on any given night, there are thousands of "regular people" discussing the same topics we're discussing and using the same, coarse vernacular. It doesn't matter what their political leanings are, some people will curse. Does that negate the validity of their arguments? You're fucking right it doesn't. The same applies to blogs, Left or Right.
So, if you go to my blog and you're put off by the fact that I call the executives at Exxon-Mobil "greedy fucks", but fail to understand the point of my post - that E-M pays their CEO 40x more in a year than they spend on researching petro-alternatives - maybe the problem is with you, the reader, and not my "lack of civility".
The difference lies in content and intent, in my opinion. Call it ethics, since that's such a cause celebre, lately. I don't care if a blogger on the other side of the aisle says, "Fuck Ripley! He's a tree-hugging Commie and a traitor!" It's fiery rhetoric and I use it myself - these are scary, trying times and we need to vent. But when some fuck-monkey at LGF says "we should turn Iraq into glass/if we kill all the ragheads, we'd have a better world"... that's uncivilized, kids. When the Jan Brady of socio-political discourse, Michelle Malkin, makes the effort to post personal contact information on her site, knowing that some unhinged, lunatic fringe patriots will take it upon themselves to threaten the SAW kids, that's uncivilized. When Fred Phelps calls for the execution of all homosexuals, that's uncivilized.
You want truly uncivilized typing? Look no further than Judith Fucking Miller and the rest of the MSM glory hole attendants who calloused their fingers for BushCo between 9/12/01 and today. I'm not much of a Mary Scott O'Connor fan but she's a fucking saint compared to Judy Miller and Robert Novak.
Remember theCoronation Inaugural Concert in January, 2005? Bret Scallions, front man for Fuel, said, "Welcome to the greatest fucking country in the world!" Oh, my... people tut-tutted and put their finger tips to their lips in feigned surprise and disbelief. Such language these rocker types use! But was Bret uncivilized? Not at all - sure, it may have been vulgar, by definition, but it was surely a decent, albeit dubious, statement (given the state of America since 2001).
[I think Fuel is a great band - their debut album is one of the most quirky and original hard rock albums I heard in the 90's. I saw them live in Dec, 2001 and was surprised by Bret's onstage persona, though. He was rather bar band-esque and had... I guess, a sterotypical "dumb rocker" aura about him. I could be wrong, it's just the feeling I had, watching and listening to him. No offense, Bret - maybe it was 9/11 aftershock you were dealing with.]
Thers is absolutely correct, and I'll amplify his statement. The traditional media will always look upon bloggers as uncivilized. We're also unfettered by boards of directors and the fear of losing a fucking dollar or two. I pay for my site and I blog/podcast because I am deeply disturbed by and concerned about the state of affairs in the world today. Most of the time I enjoy writing and the creative outlet of podcasting. (Yeah, yeah... I'm working on one, give it some time.) And sure, just like the traditional media, I enjoy knowing that there are people who agree with my views - but I don't panic if someone disagrees, or worry about losing a reader or pissing off some arrogant, greedy fuck in DC or Big Biz. If the morality terrorists at Family Research Council or some overpaid snake oil lobbyist want to point their fingers at me and cry "Boycott!", I could care less.
The traditional media's job, in my opinion, is to question authority and hold The Powers That Be accountable, then let me know why I should do the same. If I want fatuous, obsequious hyperbole, I can log onto Fox News or GOP.com and let the Republicans drop their manly balls into my mouth. I don't need the NYT, WaPo and every other "respectable" journalistic outlet to pimp the party line to me.
The online integrity project is nothing more than an exercise in reputation masturbation. No self-respecting blogger is going to cross the ethics line - if they do, they'll find themselves chin deep in scorn and short on readers. And if you're thinking, "Malkin did it!", I'd submit that Michelle Malkin has no self-respect, to say nothing of respect for others.
I think I can safely say that not one of the signatories on this site, parody that it is, would even entertain the notion of causing any kind of harm to anyone, public or private. We may be unhinged but we're not cruel or inhuman. So, when WaPo publishes another article about how uncivilized I am, I won't think twice about typing "FUCK" as I'm posting an article about equal rights, social justice, environmental damage, government corruption and the piss poor job the Republicans have done in the last 5+ years.
I've been drinking beer while I type this. I hope we don't have to read an article about the Drunk Left Blogosphere anytime soon.
Rip -
Thers has posted a follow-up about the Online Integrity project at his blog, metacomments.
And I just do not like the idea that the question "where are all the civilized bloggers?" should be granted any legitimacy at all. We ARE "civilized." Some of us may may swear, or use crude language, but so...? Many of us don't. MyDD doesn't, usually. But now MyDD is no longer a blog that "we" can point to as "civilized," because it isn't "over there"! The fact that Poonawalla considers Chris Bowers a "fellow traveler" is appreciated, but will this distinction be appreciated by the next Washington Post reporter who peers at the Left Blogosphere disdainfully? Permit me to doubt it.
Excellent point - and there's my issue with the whole, big, ever so important kerfuffle about civility and the blogosphere: Who gives a flying rat's ass?
Look, there's a world of difference between content and delivery, to be sure. But you can bet that in any given bar, in any given city, on any given night, there are thousands of "regular people" discussing the same topics we're discussing and using the same, coarse vernacular. It doesn't matter what their political leanings are, some people will curse. Does that negate the validity of their arguments? You're fucking right it doesn't. The same applies to blogs, Left or Right.
So, if you go to my blog and you're put off by the fact that I call the executives at Exxon-Mobil "greedy fucks", but fail to understand the point of my post - that E-M pays their CEO 40x more in a year than they spend on researching petro-alternatives - maybe the problem is with you, the reader, and not my "lack of civility".
The difference lies in content and intent, in my opinion. Call it ethics, since that's such a cause celebre, lately. I don't care if a blogger on the other side of the aisle says, "Fuck Ripley! He's a tree-hugging Commie and a traitor!" It's fiery rhetoric and I use it myself - these are scary, trying times and we need to vent. But when some fuck-monkey at LGF says "we should turn Iraq into glass/if we kill all the ragheads, we'd have a better world"... that's uncivilized, kids. When the Jan Brady of socio-political discourse, Michelle Malkin, makes the effort to post personal contact information on her site, knowing that some unhinged, lunatic fringe patriots will take it upon themselves to threaten the SAW kids, that's uncivilized. When Fred Phelps calls for the execution of all homosexuals, that's uncivilized.
You want truly uncivilized typing? Look no further than Judith Fucking Miller and the rest of the MSM glory hole attendants who calloused their fingers for BushCo between 9/12/01 and today. I'm not much of a Mary Scott O'Connor fan but she's a fucking saint compared to Judy Miller and Robert Novak.
Remember the
[I think Fuel is a great band - their debut album is one of the most quirky and original hard rock albums I heard in the 90's. I saw them live in Dec, 2001 and was surprised by Bret's onstage persona, though. He was rather bar band-esque and had... I guess, a sterotypical "dumb rocker" aura about him. I could be wrong, it's just the feeling I had, watching and listening to him. No offense, Bret - maybe it was 9/11 aftershock you were dealing with.]
Thers is absolutely correct, and I'll amplify his statement. The traditional media will always look upon bloggers as uncivilized. We're also unfettered by boards of directors and the fear of losing a fucking dollar or two. I pay for my site and I blog/podcast because I am deeply disturbed by and concerned about the state of affairs in the world today. Most of the time I enjoy writing and the creative outlet of podcasting. (Yeah, yeah... I'm working on one, give it some time.) And sure, just like the traditional media, I enjoy knowing that there are people who agree with my views - but I don't panic if someone disagrees, or worry about losing a reader or pissing off some arrogant, greedy fuck in DC or Big Biz. If the morality terrorists at Family Research Council or some overpaid snake oil lobbyist want to point their fingers at me and cry "Boycott!", I could care less.
The traditional media's job, in my opinion, is to question authority and hold The Powers That Be accountable, then let me know why I should do the same. If I want fatuous, obsequious hyperbole, I can log onto Fox News or GOP.com and let the Republicans drop their manly balls into my mouth. I don't need the NYT, WaPo and every other "respectable" journalistic outlet to pimp the party line to me.
The online integrity project is nothing more than an exercise in reputation masturbation. No self-respecting blogger is going to cross the ethics line - if they do, they'll find themselves chin deep in scorn and short on readers. And if you're thinking, "Malkin did it!", I'd submit that Michelle Malkin has no self-respect, to say nothing of respect for others.
I think I can safely say that not one of the signatories on this site, parody that it is, would even entertain the notion of causing any kind of harm to anyone, public or private. We may be unhinged but we're not cruel or inhuman. So, when WaPo publishes another article about how uncivilized I am, I won't think twice about typing "FUCK" as I'm posting an article about equal rights, social justice, environmental damage, government corruption and the piss poor job the Republicans have done in the last 5+ years.
I've been drinking beer while I type this. I hope we don't have to read an article about the Drunk Left Blogosphere anytime soon.
Rip -
Comments:
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You were totally shitfaced drunk? Well, that explains everything and now I can completely dismiss your point. HAHAHAHAHA, looser!
Fuckin' A, dude!
Bloggers cursing: pissed off.
>2400 dead in Iraq: fucking obscenity.
MSM sucking GWBush's dick: crack whores.
and:
God to Phelps at the Pearly Gates: "Dude, you are so fucked!"
Bloggers cursing: pissed off.
>2400 dead in Iraq: fucking obscenity.
MSM sucking GWBush's dick: crack whores.
and:
God to Phelps at the Pearly Gates: "Dude, you are so fucked!"
the piss poor job the Republicans have done in the last 5+ years.
The republicans have held the congress for a decade, haven't they? Congress has become nothing more than a tool of the regime, and that's not just the republicans.
The republicans have held the congress for a decade, haven't they? Congress has become nothing more than a tool of the regime, and that's not just the republicans.
# posted by 
: 3:02 PM
: 3:02 PM
The republicans have held the congress for a decade, haven't they?
True, but it wasn't until the king took the thrown that everything really started going to hell.
I signed on here and not there because honestly, I don't need anyone to tell me not to publish someone's personal information. And I certainly don't give a flying fuck if a bunch of winger blogs "shun" me. They hate me anyway just because I'm not them. Anyway, I'd lose real quick the first time some idiotic winger threatened to rape my children- yeah that's real fucking civilized.
I'd rather hang with booze guzzling fuckaholics than someone trying to muzzle me because the fact that I'm liberal is "disruptive". The added benefit is that I can similary guzzle booze while sitting naked and practicing my sailor talk. Oh, I know my mama's proud now!
True, but it wasn't until the king took the thrown that everything really started going to hell.
I signed on here and not there because honestly, I don't need anyone to tell me not to publish someone's personal information. And I certainly don't give a flying fuck if a bunch of winger blogs "shun" me. They hate me anyway just because I'm not them. Anyway, I'd lose real quick the first time some idiotic winger threatened to rape my children- yeah that's real fucking civilized.
I'd rather hang with booze guzzling fuckaholics than someone trying to muzzle me because the fact that I'm liberal is "disruptive". The added benefit is that I can similary guzzle booze while sitting naked and practicing my sailor talk. Oh, I know my mama's proud now!
I can similary guzzle booze while sitting naked and practicing my sailor talk.
Say...whatcha doin' aftah?
Say...whatcha doin' aftah?
After some proper foot stamping (and a couple more shots) I'll be looking for your hossenpfeffer under those damned bushes.
And quit looking at me that way! You're making me blush.
And quit looking at me that way! You're making me blush.
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