Now that I'm fairly caught up with most of my political blog-reading again, I'm amazed and not a little disappointed to note how many folks in those sections of my blogroll seem to be getting off on mocking the Ann Althouse-instigated aspect of the Clinton gathering whilst totally ignoring the appearance-of-racism aspect pointed out by Liza and Pam, among others! (Once again, beloved Zuzu is an exception that proves the rule.) [Update: Here's Angie's take, and finally, finally an actual attendee, Barbara O'Brien, speaks to the subject as well.] [Update #2: Here's attendee Jessica Valenti's response, which I'm glad to see as she was the object of the boobie-based attack so I can understand her having been preoccupied with that.] I know how we bloggers all love to talk about ourselves, but it's almost like the combination of boobies and the opportunity to make fun of right-wing blogtopia (y!sctp!) was just too irresistable. It's guaranteed "ratings fodder" during a time when many bloggers just happen to be running fundraisers. And it's easy, like a comedian making fart jokes for cheap laughs, or a comic book artist resorting to tons of fight scenes because he can't think of another way to convey action.
But you see, every time liberal bloggers (particularly A-list, widely-read ones) do this sort of thing - expending so much energy making fun of the motes in someone else's eyes to the absolute exclusion of examining the logs in our own - I think we lose a little more credibility among those not in our inner circle, and look even more like the political version of Just Another Kind of Fandom that we have in large measure become.
I like to call it Wonkdom; the one-to-many mechanisms are the same (it's just blogging tools replacing apas and zines), the in-joke community feel is similar, you have your wanna-be sense of entitlement that leads to blogads and junkets and blog-begging fundraising drives... it even has its fans-turned-pros aspect! And while fandoms are certainly fun to belong to and great mutual-support networks - I've been involved in enough of them in my lifetime to agree there! - they're also easily marginalized and self-marginalizing and actual citizens (does Wonkdom refer to non-bloggers as "mundanes" as well?) will never truly take them seriously, nor should they.
That said, I should add I have no intention at this point of abandoning reading and enjoying any of the blogs that seem to have this blind spot, as they still write terrific stuff on other topics, and I still genuinely like the bloggers involved, even at times when some of them don't seem to like each other. Sometimes I just get a little frustrated, is all. After all, I'm sure there are quite a few times when y'all get frustrated with a post I make, and I'm glad you still read Pen-Elayne.
That's also why I'd never ask anyone else to financially support a personal hobby that I've never laid out any money to pursue, and to which I give my time voluntarily and happily without expectation of reward. It's not just the idea of independence, it's the fact that, if I write a really out-of-line post, my conscience is the only thing I need answer to for it. My idea of blog-begging will continue to be "please let me know of any executive assistant jobs available in the NYC area." Because I believe, to the extent that I will ever pay for anything having to do with blogging, that should come from my income, not yours and not some corporation's ads. And it's all to the good if bloggy connections can lead me to a better day job. Because to me that's what blogs are about - not advertising, not making money, not even "turning pro," but strengthening a sense of community.
But you see, every time liberal bloggers (particularly A-list, widely-read ones) do this sort of thing - expending so much energy making fun of the motes in someone else's eyes to the absolute exclusion of examining the logs in our own - I think we lose a little more credibility among those not in our inner circle, and look even more like the political version of Just Another Kind of Fandom that we have in large measure become.
I like to call it Wonkdom; the one-to-many mechanisms are the same (it's just blogging tools replacing apas and zines), the in-joke community feel is similar, you have your wanna-be sense of entitlement that leads to blogads and junkets and blog-begging fundraising drives... it even has its fans-turned-pros aspect! And while fandoms are certainly fun to belong to and great mutual-support networks - I've been involved in enough of them in my lifetime to agree there! - they're also easily marginalized and self-marginalizing and actual citizens (does Wonkdom refer to non-bloggers as "mundanes" as well?) will never truly take them seriously, nor should they.
That said, I should add I have no intention at this point of abandoning reading and enjoying any of the blogs that seem to have this blind spot, as they still write terrific stuff on other topics, and I still genuinely like the bloggers involved, even at times when some of them don't seem to like each other. Sometimes I just get a little frustrated, is all. After all, I'm sure there are quite a few times when y'all get frustrated with a post I make, and I'm glad you still read Pen-Elayne.
That's also why I'd never ask anyone else to financially support a personal hobby that I've never laid out any money to pursue, and to which I give my time voluntarily and happily without expectation of reward. It's not just the idea of independence, it's the fact that, if I write a really out-of-line post, my conscience is the only thing I need answer to for it. My idea of blog-begging will continue to be "please let me know of any executive assistant jobs available in the NYC area." Because I believe, to the extent that I will ever pay for anything having to do with blogging, that should come from my income, not yours and not some corporation's ads. And it's all to the good if bloggy connections can lead me to a better day job. Because to me that's what blogs are about - not advertising, not making money, not even "turning pro," but strengthening a sense of community.
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