Doug Thompson, the founder of Capital Hill Blue has a personal blog, Blue Ridge Muse. He did a post on what blogs are evolving into, and what they provide us with. There of course isn't a set of rules for blogging, that wasn't Doug's point. He also addressed the "language" that he reads..stating most of the people seem so angry and speak so negative and violently.
At first I was like..what a friggin prude..but then, I thought about it for a couple hours off and on. Its true..people say things on the net they would never utter in public, much less a public forum. Its the anonymous nature of the 'net. Hiding behind a computer. He brought up some of the Biggies..Kos, HuffPo, Wonkette. He said when he reads the comments he is bothered by them. He is bothered by the Disinformation that is posted, the hate and racism that abounds out there. He did give the plus side, such as when bloggers busted Dan Rather on his evidence regarding the Shrub, and other incidents where bloggers have provided political information that the MSM was missing or just not covering for what ever reason. But the fact that misinformation or disinformation gets circulated rapidly in blogland as truth is one of the major shortcomings of this media. I try to link to my research or purported facts, but a commenter that just slaps up bullshit numbers and then makes a racist or homophobic comments to top off his rant..I hate that more than anything...
Lately I have had a few of the "haters" hanging about on this blog. I get nasty when they get nasty, I can sling shit with the best of them. I try to keep it above board and on topic, but I do see more and more where both sides can get down right racist or mean-spirited and verbally violent to the point that you wonder if the blogger is a danger to society ala John Hinkley or any other whackjob walking the streets believing the lies that fit his or her vision of society. Its the reason I turned on moderating of my comments. I do not want "them" to feel they have a forum for their sick lies and innuendo's. I also have to remind myself not to sink to their level.
But..I do feel better when I rant about Krazy Karl, Rummy or Dead-eye Dick and of course the top jackass himself..the Shrub. I release tension when I verbally bitch-slap one of them for something stupid they say or do. Doug gives percentages of why and what people blog about. I am one of the weirdo's that blog for both reasons..fun and politics. I have the "other" blog that addresses my life, my fixation with sports or innane humor found in daily life and then there is this one..the political one. I would never want to deliver lies..or even half-truths. I want to be better than that, better than the scoundrels I rant about. I see nothing wrong w/parody however. I think its a good thing and it serves a purpose as well.
I am not a journalist..very few bloggers are. To me, that means we can play fast and loose with certain rules, like being balanced and using profanity-free language. I don't care if the "other" side gets equal time, they won't on my space. I use shit,fuck and asshole in my real life daily..yes, I have very little class at times. If the "other" side does something good or noble, I might or might not blog about it. If they do something illegal or immoral I am damn sure going to bring it up. I feel thats my right as a blogger. I do not however, want to disseminate lies. If any of the biggies like Kos or HuffPo were busted for posting disinformation I would be upset and call for their heads on a platter. The reality is I would probably just quit reading them. We need to keep our moral ground higher than the people we rant about. Or we just become..them.
