Why Do We Need Blogs...

... to supplement and keep and eye on the MSM?

No need to look further than this joker.



You can almost smell that odd MSM combination of fear and contempt from neophyte - I'm sorry... "fledgling" - columnist Ken Fuson in today's Register. Crap, all of that money for J-School down the toilet!

Long distance call to Vieques, Puerto Rico: "My God, Rekha!!! What'll we do??? Those bloggers have stolen the keys and the meds and the f-ing lunatics will be running the asylum if we don't... don't... uh, don't... Okay, I'll calm down. Yes, I'm listening. Okay... yeah, I got it. Just stick to lame attempts at satire, ad-hominem pompous attack, reductionist redirection, strawmen and the same old tired liberal elitist claptrap. Thanks Rekha, see you next week. Say hi to Rob for me."

A frightened but fair minded fledgling columnist's tutorial to his readers on blogs and bloggers:

Perhaps you have not heard of blogs. The name derives from a combination of "blather" and "logorrhea."

Oh man Ken... that's rich. Very witty indeed. I can really see the work you put into that.

This has proved to be a boon to people who apparently are (A) unemployed, (B) independently wealthy, or (C) no longer content to wait on hold to get their daily fix of attention from a radio talk-show host.

I personally am gainfully employed, am not independently wealthy and have not spent more that a couple of hours of my life listening to Rush or any other right-wing talk radio. I mostly - God help me - listen to NPR.

Let's put it another way: You know those people who like to write letters to the editor? A blog allows them to write letters all day long, on any subject they choose, without worrying about having the profanity removed or having any of their lunatic rants checked for accuracy.

"...those people who write letters to the editor..." You mean your readers who give a damn enough to respond...? Profane lunatic ranters...

Careful Ken, your disdain is showing.

Seriously son, (hey Ken, you don't mind if I come right back at you with an equally condescending tone, do ya...?) not even a nod in your piece to the real journalistic work being done by bloggers from across the political spectrum? You don't have to look far. Hell, I'll pick one example from today. Look at this and learn something.

As for accuracy... Either you haven't done your homework, you're dishonest or you're just not too quick on the uptake. Any fact-based piece on any blog with any kind of readership gets fact checked mercilessly the very day it's published.

And many confused citizens eventually conclude that it's easier to watch "The Price is Right" in their underwear than try to stay informed. (Emphasis mine)

Now you see, don't you. Those damned bloggers are confusing our poor, bonehead, li'l Abner/Daisy Mae, cretinous, Midwestern, middle-class citizen-readers.

That's right, we're making it hard and driving those frustrated dunderheads away from current events to watch daytime game shows.

We're also trying - in our humble way - to make it harder for cub columnists to cop such a superior attitude so quickly out of the gate.

Welcome to the opinion page of the Des Moines Register. Courage Ken... courage.

Update: Kris from Random Mentality chimes in:

Okay, enough is enough, Mr. Fuson. Pajama (or in your case, underwear) jokes aside, are you being deliberately obtuse or simply lacking the fundamentals in research for your column.

.Ouch!

Also check out 29 and Joe at Roth & Co..