Yeah - What She Said

Once in a while I find that rather than writing my own particular entry for the day, I would do this site and anyone who stumbles across it a better service by simply posting a link an entry writing by someone else within the liberal blogging community; if not for any reason other than someone else is saying it a lot better than I am.

After reading BlueGal’s latest post, I’ve decided May 8th 2006 is one of those days.

She keyed a post today that reminds me a lot of who is perhaps my favorite columnist, Mark Morford was writing about during the time around the 2004 presidential election (please read this one specifically). He noted specifically the difference between blue and red voters, not necessarily geographically but culturally, educationally and in terms of overall societal value.

I mean, let’s just take a sample: almost of the cultural centers, college towns, scientific organizations, leading newspapers, faculty members, etc, all voted blue. The Pat Robertson’s, creationists, social conservatives, racists, (see Bob Jones U), Nascar dads, and Brittany Spears, all voted red.

Speaking about (and accurately for) the liberal blogosphere, Blue Gal highlighted not only the impact liberal blogs have had on the corporate media, but also the sharp contrast between the way we approach political discussion in both our presentation and intellect, versus the all drama, primal brain-tapping approach of the Right. Listen to the types of discussions Bill Maher has on his show, and then immediately pop in a tape of Bill O’Reilly earlier in the day and you’ll get an intellectual contrast I couldn’t even begin to describe here.

Here is some of what she said, and I hope you’ll read more at her site:

“…Without the lefty blogs, MSM (and by the way, folks, nobody even SAID "MSM"
before we came along, they were just the "M" and they got away with a lot more than they do now) would never have covered the Kaloogian fake photo of "Baghdad," Bush's fake "interview" with our troops, and, um, don't get me started about you-know-who. And you also know I'm just scratching the surface here. Needless to say Joe Lieberman wishes we would just go away…

But there is another connotation for "respect" and that we may never get. I hate to inform you, lefty blogospherians, but we are also the intellectuals of our society. That may sound snooty, but when Stephen Colbert says that "reality has as well-known liberal bias" and says that he "trusts his gut more than his head" he is talking back at us, directly and specifically. Critics stress that Colbert is pretending to be right-wing a la Bill O'Reilly, but more than knee-jerk conservativism, what Colbert is lambasting is O'Reilly's anti-intellectualism. Anti-intellectualism has a long and cherished history in American politics. Elections are won by being the guy everyone wants to have a beer with, rather than the one with the best ideas…

The challenge of the internet, and particularly the blog, is that you are capable, and I would argue, therefore required, to name your sources and back up your bullshit. The tightness of our community is also its control mechanism. If you lie, if you plagiarize, you will be caught and you will be outed. The internet is no respecter of persons, it respects the truth.

We bloggers as intellectuals will never get any "respect" in that sense. Those who think their vote on American Idol is as valuable as their vote for President will never respect us…"

Read on.