I'm not dead, at least not yet. I have tried to post something every day since January 1, but I've fallen hard this week. In the end, I guess what matters is not quantity, but quality. From now on, I will post when the mood strikes. Check back as you will.
It would be easy for me to blame my lack of posts on work, or a busy vacation week, or the podcast. But I would be lying. The simple truth of the matter is that I no longer believe I have anything to contribute to our conversations here. Only about 40 of you read this blog, which is fine. I know almost all of you personally, enough so that you know where I stand politically and personally on any number of issues. We've been over it, time and time again. If you're not sure, go back to Sept. 2003 on this blog or June 2002 on the Dattblog and read all about it.
When I started blogging for a wide audience in September, 2003, I honestly believed that my posts could make a difference not just to my friends and family, but to the world at large. I knew that people would always disagree, but I wanted to make the debate a little more intelligent. But I failed, and Hugh Hewitt failed, and Michelle Malkin and the guys at Powerline failed. Why? Because the stupid and the emotion-driven still have the upper hand.
I realized this tonight as we watched a recording of 'The View'. I don't make it a habit to watch the show, but I read that Rosie O'Donnell made some wild comment about a 9/11 conspiracy and I wanted to see for myself. So there she was, in all her bitter lesbian dog splendor, talking about Iraq, President Bush and 9/11 as if she has two brain cells to rub together. And the audience loved it.
You could look at the people who would take the time to sit and watch a filming of 'The View' and conclude that Rosie could proclaim herself Satan's sex slave and they would cheer. But they are not unique. Watch Bill Mahr and you'll see the same thing. To quote Christopher Hitchens, "It's the stuff only stupid people find funny."
Now go to any liberal blog (any of them) that posted about Tony Snow's cancer and read the comments. Come away and tell me that those of us who know the score are making progress.
I probably had a point when I started this, but I've lost it. I'll keep talking, because evidently all you have to do is keep moving your fingers or lips and if you're base enough, the unruly mob will love you.
Posted by Matthew at March 30, 2007 09:22 PMTrackBack URL for this entry:
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"unruly mob"
In Germany in the late 60s the unruly mob consisted of people marching on the streets demanding change.
The mob was called "ausserparlamentarische Opposition", meaning "opposition outside of parliament" and abbreviated APO.
Today that mob is regarded as a respectable group and we all have to look at them as heroes.
It didn't occur to the mob or to their current fans that they could have voted for the change they wanted.
Or rather, it did occur to them, and they knew that the vast majority didn't support their ideas. And for them "democracy" was only a weapon against minority rule, not a a sign of respect for majority opinion.