Monday, February 01, 2010

Noted Blogger Directs Nonspecific Anger


At unidentified people.

From Eschaton here:

Blogging In The Age Of Obama

I admit it can be a bit annoying at times, not as bad but in some ways similar to blogging during primary season. There are people who think they are noble truthtellers for explaining how Obama is the awesomest ever, and people who think they are noble truthtellers for pointing out how foolish we all were for voting for him instead of... well, not quite sure who we were supposed to vote for. I'm not writing this in a Broderesque "nuts to the left of me, nuts to the right, must mean I'm just right" way. People can legitimately believe Obama is awesome, and they can legitimately believe he's awful, having different priorities, interpretations, and understanding of things which can't necessarily be known. In other words, people can disagree about stuff! This does not bother me. What's annoying is getting from both sides an accusation of being some kind of a sellout or dupe. By both sides I don't mean all people, I mean in the sense of coming from some people from both directions.


I'm not quite sure what Duncan is so cranky about. After all, based on the well-documented comments and linking habits of Eschaton and several other A-List bloggers, as far as I can tell there are only, what, maybe five or six blogs left on the face of the Earth.

And since there are only five or six blogs left on the face of the Earth, can't they all just go in a room, work out their differences with foam quarterstaffs and trust falls and go back to "Rocking On", "More Threading" and telling us to go read what Digby wrote?

9 comments:

karen marie said...

Eschaton? Che cosa è quello?

Fran / Blue Gal said...

Not to, um, piss in the wind or anything, but when you write posts like this, it really interferes with Duncan's ability to quantify the number of subway stops between him and his next public sporting event.

Then again, so does getting more than two emails a day asking why he doesn't praise/chide Obama more. It's an incredible burden, especially when you consider the tremendous importance of speaking with one voice, and we all want that voice to be Duncan's. That's why those of us who actually write actual posts on an actual daily basis consider the good of the larger blogosphere of which we are all a part and refrain from attacking he who is usually far too busy to speak for us or even write something, anything, anything at all, in exactly the same manner that he considers the good of the whole left wing blogging community by linking and encouraging those with less traffic than him.

Happy Blogroll Amnesty Week, Duncan. We couldn't and wouldn't do it without you.

And you too, DG. Rock on.

Fran / Blue Gal said...

Oh, sorry. I meant, spit in the wind, of course.

darkblack said...

I must confess that I don't follow this fellow, but then I'm not in the market for one-stop in-and-out information dissemination.
I also don't follow the other 'big blogs' for various reasons...Some wonderful people there, but I'm far too involved with my own weltanschauung to adopt theirs.
Truthfully, I think that this represents what happens when the demand for ready answers and (to an increasing degree) the validation of subjective opinion outstrips the supply.

But they shouldn't take it so hard...

;>)

Rev.Paperboy said...

y'know, back in the dark days of 2001 when I first started reading these things on the "Internet" called "weblogs", I was first directed by TIME to the journal of a certain Tennesee Law Professor - whom I swiftly ascertained to be "crazy" - but something there also pointed toward Atrios and the great community of commenters there at the time. Atrios was probably the first blog I read regularly, and I still check in to scan the comments and stuff, but, really, Duncan has jumped the shark.
On the rare occasions when he does actually post something more than "what Digby said" or "rock on" or some one line redirect to a news story, he seems to take little joy in things. While I'm always interested to know what he is barbecuing up on the roof or what the parking in his neighbourhood in Philly is like today, I really wonder if this is the best he can be bothered to come up with, then why bother at all?
I never got into Kos - there is just too much there there to sort out - and I've quit reading other big blogs like Firedoglake since it became a monolith with 200 comment threads, but I did spend a lot of time on the comments at Atrios once upon a time and it did inspire to start up my own humble little soapbox.
These days, I'm more likely to read blogs of the the Atrios disciples like Thers and Attaturk than bothering with another long thread of comments consisting mostly of "Frist" and "Oh that is so true."

On another topic - the podcast is a giant bowl of awesome covered in win sauce - get it on iTunes so I can subscribe! pretty please?

Fran / Blue Gal said...

Dude, it's on iTunes. Search the podcast directory for "Driftglass" and you'll find it. xo

gruaud said...

I dropped Eschaton years ago. I don't need a middleman to know which way the wind blows.

Greendayman said...

Elitest Bloggers... now with podcast.... the rest of you poor, ignorant newbie, next-gen, blogging fuckers - get a real job. There's only so much Pay-Pal to go around.

HellOOO, we need an audience. 200+ comments is a good thing.

Driftglass - love your stuff... always makes me think. I browse a lot and you are definitely one of the best, but, Duncan's bullshit is enough to make me Gag. And BlueGal just reminds me of my former wife who always bitched at me for not doing something or doing something that I was not supposed to. Loved her.. and her IQ was 155. Fran... I have tried, but this is just not going to work. So, bitch me out again and prove me right.

Then write something that 200 people will comment on. It is the only way we will beat these corporate motherfuckers.

Rev.Paperboy said...

thanks Blue Gal (you too Driftglass) I should have actually looked again on itunes before begging for action. Keep up the fine work!